Conflict and Power: Assessing Power Imbalances

1577 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Theories of conflict management

Assessing Power Imbalances

Introduction
In today’s organizations conflict and power are important elements to the success of any company but can also create negative long term impacts if not addressed. Organizations require enough power within the leaders to get through conflict and enough conflict within individuals to create new innovations. Not all conflict is bad but when there is conflict individuals with power must assist in aligning conflict resolution to assist in understanding for everyone involved in the conflict. The need for successful conflict resolution is vital for employees so that they are capable of moving on and understanding why the conflict was overcome.
Conflict
In every organization there is a potential that there will be conflict between individuals. Conflict is a disagreement between two people. Conflicting perceptions and attitudes can be generally classed into five major styles: 1) avoidance, 2) accommodation, 3) competition, 4) compromise, and 5) collaboration, each of which is discussed in length by Engleberg, Wynn, and Schuttler (2003). Conflict can have both positive and negative influences on the people within the disagreement. The conflict in an organization can be destructive if the conflict is allowed to get out of control. Conflict is also a tool for success as it gives the organization the ability to see different viewpoints or perspectives. Its “positive or negative outcomes depend on the type of the conflict, the causes and number of people involved, attitudes of people in conflict, and other similar factors” (Rudani 2011, p. 632). Having diversity in the organization is the backbone of building a stronger organization through better problem solving and ideas.
Conflict can be competiti...

... middle of paper ...

...Theory and Design. South-Western Cengage Learning, Canada.
Engleberg, I., Wynn, D., & Schuttler, R. (2003). Working in groups: Communication principles and strategies. (3rd ed.) Boston: Houghton Miffon
Goncalves & Marcus (2013) Leadership Styles: The Power to Influence Others. International Journal of Business & Social Science, vol. 4, issue 4, p. 1-3, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, Retrieved April 18, 2014 from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/results?sid=709e0c03-380b-45c1-b76a-8d1f54e375a4%40sessionmgr111&vid=23&hid=123&bquery=Leadership+Styles%3a+The+Power+%22to%22+Influence+Others&bdata=JmRiPWJ0aCZ0eXBlPTAmc2l0ZT1laG9zdC1saXZl>
Nahavandi, A. & Malekzadeh, A.R. (1998). Organizational Behavior: the person-organization fit. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.
Rudani, R.B. (2011). Management and Organizational Behavioral. Tata McGraw-Hill, New Delhi.

Show More
Related

  • Case-study: WL Gore & Associates

    909 Words  | 2 Pages

    Robbins , Stephen P. and Judge, Timothy, A. Organizational Behavior. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. Prentice Hall. Pearson Custom Publishing. 2008 Print

    Read More

  • Five Bases of Power: Coercive, Reward, Legitimate, Expert, and Referent

    1004 Words  | 3 Pages

    Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2007). Organizational Behavior (12th ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, United States of America: Pearson Prentise Hall.

    Read More

  • Organizational Group Dynamics and Politics

    1699 Words  | 4 Pages

    Robbins, S.P. & Judge, T.A. (2009). Organizational Behavior. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

    Read More

  • Comparing Two Leadership Theories

    1017 Words  | 3 Pages

    Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2011). Organizational behavior (14 ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

    Read More

  • Team Dynamics - Conflict Resolution Strategies

    1188 Words  | 3 Pages

    Kreitner, R., & Kinicki, A., (2004). Organizational Behavior (6th ed.). New York: McGraw- Hill/Irwin. pp. 406- 441.

    Read More

  • Path-Goal Leadership Theory

    867 Words  | 2 Pages

    Kinicki, A., & Kreitner, R. (2009). Organizational behavior: Key concepts, skills and best practices (customized 4th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin.

    Read More

  • Performance Self Evaluation

    1757 Words  | 4 Pages

    Thomas, K. W. (1992). Conflict and conflict management: Reflections and update. . Journal Of Organizational Behavior, 13(3), 265-274.

    Read More

  • The Google Case: Aiming for an Evolutionary Advantage

    1812 Words  | 4 Pages

    McShane, S.L. and Von Glinow, M. A. (2009). Organizational Behavior: Emerging knowledge and practice for the real world. McGraw-Hill.

    Read More

  • Conflict Resolution

    1118 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many people enjoy working or participating in a group or team, but when a group of people work together chances are that conflicts will occur. Hazleton describes conflict as the discrepancy between what is the perceived reality and what is seen as ideal (2007). “We enter into conflicts reluctantly, cautiously, angrily, nervously, confidently- and emerge from them battered, exhausted, sad, satisfied, triumphant. And still many of us underestimate or overlook the merits of conflict- the opportunity conflict offers every time it occurs” (Schilling, nd.). Conflict does not have to lead to a hostile environment or to broken relationships. Conflict if resolved effectively can lead to a positive experience for everyone involved. First, there must be an understanding of the reasons why conflicts occur. The conflict must be approached with an open mind. Using specific strategies can lead to a successful resolution for all parties involved. The Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument states “there are five general approaches to dealing with conflict. The five approaches are avoidance, accommodation, competition, compromise, and collaboration. Conflict resolution is situational and no one approach provides the best or right approach for all circumstances” (Thomas, 2000).

    Read More

  • Examples of People with Expert Power-Is it Enough?

    1919 Words  | 4 Pages

    Ivancevich, J., Konopaske, R. & Matteson, M. (2011). Organizational Behavior and Management. NewYork, NY: McGraw Hill.

    Read More

  • Why do you Think that Downward Communication is Much more Prevalent in Organizations than Upward Communication?

    2045 Words  | 5 Pages

    Ivancevich, John, Knopaske, Robert, Matteson, Michael, Organizational Behaviour and Management (10 edition (January 30, 2013). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin

    Read More

  • Matrix Organizational Structure

    920 Words  | 2 Pages

    Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2011). Organizational behavior (14 ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

    Read More

  • Group Dynamics: Criterias for Describing a Group

    2386 Words  | 5 Pages

    Gordon, J. R. (2001). Organizational behavior: a diagnostic approach (7th ed.). Englewood Clifts, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

    Read More

  • Conflict In The Workplace Case Study

    1310 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Literature Review On Conflict Management

    867 Words  | 2 Pages

    (Asawo, 2011). Conflict can occur in any setting and as leaders in organizations guide and

    Read More

More about Conflict and Power: Assessing Power Imbalances

Open Document