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Dispute resolution and conflict management
Reflection on conflict management
Dispute resolution and conflict management
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Look up the word conflict in the dictionary and you will see several negative responses. Descriptions such as: to come into collision or disagreement; be at variance or in opposition; clash; to contend; do battle; controversy; quarrel; antagonism or opposition between interests or principles Random House (1975). With the negative reputation associated with this word, no wonder people tend to shy away when they start to enter into the area of conflict. D. Jordan (1996) suggests that there are two types of conflict: good, which is defined as cognitive conflict (C-type conflict) and, detrimental, defined as affective conflict (A-type conflict). The C-type conflict allows for creativity, to pull together a group of people with different opinions or ideas, to combine and brain storm all thoughts to develop the best solution for the problem. The A-type conflict is the negative form when you have animosity, hostility, un-resolveable differences, and egos to deal with. The list citing negative conflicts could go on forever. We will be investigating these types of conflicts, what managers can do to recognize conflict early, and what strategies they can use to resolve conflicts once they have advanced.
Recognizing conflict in the business environment
Recognizing and understanding what causes conflict in the business environment during its early stages, is the key to fast resolution of the issue. There are many warning signs. Lundine (1996) highlights five early detection signs.
· Romantic relationships between employees, i.e., perceptions of favoritism and morale problems can occur among employees, and there is a built-in potential for discrimination or harassment charges.
· Inconsistent performance levels, i.e., fluctuation of monthly sales levels or decrease in pace/speed of work output.
· Excessive time spent on non-work related duties, i.e., personal phone calls or appointments, Internet surfing or excessive breaks.
· Pattern of unhealthy social activity, i.e., excessive drinking, and drug abuse.
· Changes in normative personality traits, i.e., a typically outgoing person withdraws from socialization.
Some causes of conflict
Warning signs are always valuable aids in recognizing when conflict may be just around the corner. Conflict can manifest itself when you mix a group people with different personal beliefs such as religio...
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Hocker & Wilmot, 2007, Poole, & Stutman, 2005 Folger and 2007 Cahn& Abigail. "Interpersonal Conflict and Conflict Management." Devito, Joseph A. The Interpersonal Communication Book. Boston: Pearson, Allyn & Bacon, 2009. 276.
In several occasions, conflict occurs in the communication of one or two people. Several people have thought of conflict as cases involving pouring of furious anger in a communication process. Nonetheless, conflict is the misinterpretation of an individual’s words or values (Huan & YAzdanifard, 2012). Conflict can also be due to limited resources in an organization (Riaz & Junaid, 2010). Conflict may as well arise due to poor communication or the use of inappropriate communication channel of transmission of information between the involved parties. Management of conflict has various conflict management styles that include avoidance style, forcing style, passive-aggressive style, accommodating style, collaborating style and compromising style. Workplace conflict comes in two different kinds: task involving conflict, which focuses on the approaches used in resolving the problem and blaming conflict that has the aspects of blame and never brings element of resolving problems between the conflicting parties. In the perception of several individuals, relationship conflict is negative.
Abigail, R. A., & Cahn, D. D. (2011). Managing conflict through communication. 4th Ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Conflict, when managed effectively, can be constructive. Conflict theorists have labeled this type of conflict as “C-Type Conflict or cognitive conflict” (Amason, Hochwarter, Thompson & Harrison, 1995, p. 22). Conflict of this type is usually centered on issue or opinion related differences and has a positive effect on the team. It increases team member involvement by allowing each member to speak his or her opinion or idea and evaluate the opinions or ideas of others. People change and grow personally from dealing with this type of positive conflict and team cohesiveness is created. Ultimately, “C-Type Conflict” results in a solution to the problem or agreement amongst team members.
Interpersonal conflict is very common with many relationships. It occurs when two people can not meet in the middle or agree on a discussion. Cooperation is key to maintaining a healthy debate. More frequently; when dealing with members of your own family, issues arise that include conflict and resolution. During this process our true conflict management style appears “out of thin air”. (Steve A. Beebe, 2008, p. 191).
As human beings, we experience conflict in our everyday lives. It is a natural phenomenon of our personal and professional existence, that it becomes an inevitable component of human activity. In today’s ever-changing business environment organizations, conflict resolution styles are seen as culturally defined event. The success and efficiency of channelling conflicts, whether in a positive or negative manner, can affect the nature of it as being beneficial or destructive to us. However, if it is properly managed, it can in fact ‘increase individuals innovativeness and productivity’ (Uline, Tschannen-moran & Perez, 2003) while offering ‘interpersonal relationship satisfaction, creative problem solving, the growth of a global workforce and domestic
Thomas, K. W. (1992). Conflict and conflict management: Reflections and update. . Journal Of Organizational Behavior, 13(3), 265-274.
...he who, what, where, why and when methodologies of conducting reprimands, redirects and reinforcement of motivation. Chapter 7 showed me how to manage any type of conflict within the workplace regardless of the situation in an expedient, safe, and effective manner. I also enjoyed learning more about conflict management, strategies used in handling conflicts, and the relationship between each level of conflicts and organizational outcomes.
Before understanding how to deal with conflict, one must understand what conflict is. Conflict can be defined as, “any situation in which incompatible goals, cognitions, or emotions within or between individuals or groups lead to opposition or antagonistic interaction” (Learning Team Toolkit, 2004, pp 242-243). Does the idea of conflict always have to carry a negative connotation? The growth and development of society would be a great deal slower if people never challenged each other’s ideas. The Learning Team Toolkit discusses three different views of conflict: traditiona...
Stulberg, J. B. (1987). The Mediator's Job. In Chapter 4 of Taking Charge/Managing Conflict. Pp. 31-41 Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
Differences within the team are the major reason for conflict. This stems from differences in opinion, attitude, beliefs, as well as cultural back grounds and social factors. The Conflict can be positive which is functional and supports or benefits the organization or a person’s main objectives (Reaching Out, 1997). Conflict is viewed as positive when the conflict results in increased involvement form the group, increased cohesion, and positive innovation and creativity. Conflict tends to be positive as well when it leads to better decisions, and solutions to long-term problems.
Conflicts and disputes are one of the major aspects in society that need to be dealt with on a regular basis. When these conflicts and disputes arise in the workforce, at home, in an institute, or/and in public, there needs to be some form of resolution in order to resolve and maintain a peaceful environment. Conflicts are a part of a healthy relationship, however at times, these conflicts need to be resolved using a conflict resolution process. Although there are several processes that can be used to solve conflicts, mediation and advocacy are two of the most common conflict resolution processes that can be utilized to come to a harmonious conclusion or resolution. Even though mediation and advocacy may seem to fall under the same category, these two are individually and specifically used for certain problematic scenarios as they both uniquely utilize distinctive skills and steps.
Conflict exists in every organization as a result of incompatible needs, goals, and objectives of two people while aligning to the overall business requirements. Though disagreement is linked with negative impact, the approach has healthy considerations (Leung, 2008). For instance, some conflicts create an avenue for the exchange of ideas and creativity to meet the set organizational purposes. However, damaging disagreement in organizations results in employee dissatisfaction, turnover, and poor services and reduced productivity. The paper establishes different types of interpersonal conflict and key resolution strategies used to address the problem. Human resource managers need to have the capacity to identify different levels of conflicts and the best methods to negate them.
Swinton, Lyndsay (2006). Workplace Conflict Management: Strategy for Successful Resolution. Retrieved November 14, 2010 from http://www.mftrou.com/workplace-conflict-management-strategy.html
Conflict is unavoidable and connected to a world where different ideas and opinions are challenged. Negative conflict occurs when voices are not expressed appropriately, discussions are not in control or different parties reject moving forward with a solution. There is difficulty resolving disagreements because there are multiple reactions to disputes. However, a positive conflict supports debates without a destructive outcome. They improve communication, introduce principles that are important to others, and reduce chaos. On the other hand, the approach that a person uses to address conflict dictates the outcome they receive. Methods for resolving conflict include avoiding the problem, smoothing out a situation, competing against the ideas