Conflict Management in Businesses - Essay Example

Table of Contents Abstract 2 Introduction 3 Different Approaches to Conflict Resolution 4 The Collaborative Approach to Conflict Resolution 5 Establishing Context of the Conflict 6 Different Types of Power Bases in a Conflict Scenario 8 Communication methods in resolving Conflict 9 Analysis of Case Scenario 11 Conclusion 16 Appendicies 19 Figure 1 19 Case notes. 19 Figure 2. 22 Description of Belbins team roles 23 Figure 3. 24 Conflict Resolution plan outline 24 Abstract This paper reviews current conflict management theory and then applies a Collaborative approach to Conflict resolution in a difficult case scenario involving tension within an administration of the hiring of a successful executive who does not comply with company business culture. Introduction Conflict Management in businesses is often seen as a secondary activity only addressed when the need rises. This is a misguided approach as current research is starting to reveal since conflict within the workplace is one of the largest problems that afflicts modern businesses. One recent statistic suggests that up to 60% of managers time is taken up resolving conflict in the work area( Fiore. 2006. p.1). Another study showed that interpersonal conflicts are the principal cause of all work place problems.(Rahim.1990.p.1) This problem is not insular in its effects; conflicts within the workplace have a huge affect on the overall productivity of the business enterprise. Reducing the conflict then, becomes of great importance not only in the interest of harmony in the workplace but in terms of the actual efficiency and productivity of the business. Given the great importance of conflict management it is important to have a firm understanding the theoretical principles that underly its management and how these are applied in a difficult case scenario involving a complex workplace situation. This paper, will review the current strategy to approaching conflict in terms of theoretical models available and how these are applied in action to the case scenario as a demonstration of the principles.By applying this theoretical and then applied approach. it is hoped that a better understanding can be reached of this complex problem. Different Approaches to Conflict Resolution There are number of models available to approach the theory of conflict management. There is some debate on how best to classify these approaches. Some have employed a Five part classification and “have generally differentiated conflict behavior into collaborating, compromising, competing, accommodating, and avoiding approaches (Thomas & Kilmann, 1978.p.1145). Or,alternatively integrating there is the tripartite system of , obliging, dominating, avoiding, and compromising approaches (Rahim, 1983.p.370). While these approaches have their strengths and weaknesses, a simpler and more compelling approach through its clear dichotomy is to have these groups classified as either Competitive or Collaborative. The traditional approach which has been to use a Competitive approach with the ideas of distributive justice, where the loss of one party is seen as the gain of the other has tended to escalate conflict more than newer models employed(Deutsch, 1973.p. 256). The older approach is not necessarily a bad one for types of arbritation of legal issues within parties or for smaller issues. The Coercive-Force approach is decisive and quick to implement but it silences dissent which is a necessary part of creative growth within any enterprise. Its main function is with emergency issues that require immediate and firm decisions where there is little area for debate. These are generally based on company policy toward serious infractions which involve serious violations of ethics and law. Another type of approach of the competitive category is the Withdraw-Avoid approach. This entails ignoring the issue at hand with the hope that it will resolve. This is useful for only the most minor of problems and those that are non-reoccurring. Otherwise this type of approach will only lead to gradual increase in conflict until the problem is no longer manageable. Clearly this is not a wise approach in dealing with larger problems but it does set a certain threshold before which problems should be allowed to be resolved organically without the slower bureaucratic approach delaying an otherwise trivial matter. There is to a certain degree a time and place for each type of method but overall the collaborative approach with its win-win approach is most amenable to more complex problems. More complex issues are often the case in a business environment because it is important to encourage integrity of the work team and to be able to implement conflict resolution not only as a solution to an area of tension within the workplace but to discover how that contentiousness can be used to further enhance the company. The Collaborative Approach to Conflict Resolution The Collaborative approach requires a well organized strategy that employs good methods of communication and a broad understanding of all the underlying contributory factors to causing the conflict in question. There should be a Pre-contemplative part of any plan to resolve conflict followed by the Contemplative part of the plan. The Pre-contemplative part of the plan involves understanding the background to the conflict prior to actual communication with the individual parties. . This is a matter of trying to understand the background to the problem, which is the contextual problem; it can be based on personal characteristics of the individuals in question or the context of the organization itself. Establishing Context of the Conflict Establishing the context in different ways is a vital first step in the the analysis of the conflict scenario. There are different types of context to consider. There is the context of the work environment, that is the the corporate culture in the business at the time, whether it be traditional or of a more informal type or a variation of either of these types. Often a conflict between individuals occurs as an outcome of conflict between personal style and , and the ideological context of the business organization . Naturally arising out of that conflict is the understanding that the personal context of the individuals in question is the other important contextual variable, that is the particular temperament of the person , their style of working, their cultural beliefs; in essence, the entire personality of the person. These are important background areas to have a firm grasp of before contending with resolution of the conflict scenario because these areas can sometimes define the very nature of the conflict. It is important that there not to be a stereotyped notion that there will necessarily be a clash between individual styles and those of corporate cultures, because according to the Belbin inventory, which it is a translator model of different personal working styles in an enterprise there is a need of diversity in the workplace. The Belbin Inventory teaches individuals an understanding of their own approach to their jobs and ideally hopes to impress that with the introspection that comes from this exercise that the individual will improve their relations with others .Through self understanding there can be cohesion of disparate elements which can better improve the process of sometimes radically different individuals working together in the enterprise. After all homogeneity in a workplace is not the goal, rather there should a variety of viewpoints is required to have a competitive company. The goal is not to let these differences be a prominent source of conflict, which interferes with the work environment. The Belbin Inventory is a useful tool but there are some detractors as will be discussed later. Understanding the the power bases of the different parties involved in the conflict is part of the pre-contemplative part of the exercise of organizing a conflict resolution strategy; it is gathering all the information from both parties. Once information is gathered, it can be assessed in terms of its own merits and weaknesses. The ideal of the collaborative approach is to understand what are the positions of each of the involved parties had what are the conflicts that exist, then to develop a group of alternative strategies, according to be a BATNA that is the best alternative to a negotiated agreement. With these best alternatives there is likely support to a system which entails knowing that outcome can be reached which is agreeable to all concerned and appeases all the different types of power bases that exist within the conflict situation . Different Types of Power Bases in a Conflict Scenario What are the different types of power bases that can exist in conflict scenario? Understanding these different power bases is part of the Pre-contemplative part of the the analyis. Power bases are varied. They can be based on personal charisma and charm. They can be based on knowledge where other people are drawn to specialized skill of the individual. There could be power based on coercive factors war consisting of the ability to administer punishment, and, on the other hand, it could be related to the power to offer rewards. An understanding of the different types of power bases allows one an understanding of how to best resolve the conflict,that is to address the power base of each individual in the group to try and bring them together in a collaborative spirit. There should be an attempt to try to bring the power bases to a more aligned position, behind the interests of the company but conflict itself should not be viewed as an exclusively bad thing . The new perspective on conflict management views aggression as an instrument of negotiation between partners. To exchange services and favors or to combine their efforts in cooperative actions, partners need to communicate their relative positions and clarify potential conflicts. Overt expression and especially the threat of aggression (e.g., in the form of punishment) are powerful tools during the bargaining process between partners. Considering the mechanisms for its control and the mitigation of negative repercussions, aggression becomes a well-integrated component of social relationships. (Aureli & De Waal, 2000, p. 5) The reason for the conflict can be some underlying structural flaw in the company enterprise. Therefore the conflict, if it is ideally dealt with the good conflict resolution strategy can bring out alternative solutions that improve the performance of the company.. The next stage in the collaborative approach to conflict resolution is the Contemplative stage which involves information gathering from the parties concerned. Communication methods in resolving Conflict "Verbal bargaining and negotiation are central ingredients to the conflict management and resolution process, Infante and his colleagues (Infante et al., 1989; Infante " (Rogan & La France, 2003) It is important to try to get the all the information possible from all the parties involved in the conflict using a number of strategies to elicit information from different individuals, by listening, asking open-ended questions that are designed to let everyone open up and arrive at a a broad base of information and then focus in on particular points with the use of closed-end questions. The idea is that it can to get each of the individual parties to understand their own position in terms of reference to the other parties in the conflict and a useful method is the Belbin Team Inventory method ( BTI) . The BTI is a system of questions that the each person has to answer in a questionnaire essentially to come to an understanding of one's own particular strengths and weaknesses. The purpose of this questionnaire is to make individuals in the conflict scenario understand what sort of category they fall under and it then gives them a theoretical model to see how their particular type of personality approaches problems and how their approach is not necessarily the only way to approach a problem, but just part of an collective strategy and it then offers ways in which to synchronize different members into one cohesive unit, based an understanding of each other's positions. Unfortunately, the reliability and validity of the instrument used to assess people's preferred team role-the Belbin Team Role Self-Perception Inventory-has recently been questioned. Senior and Swailes (1998) found that observers of team members' behaviour did not agree at all well on which role individuals were playing and individuals' own assessment of their roles did not agree well with that of observers. Senior and Swailes comment that there is very little evidence that people actually do occupy stable team roles. This conclusion is supported by a study that employed measures of personality and video observation and analysis of people taking part in business simulation exercises (Fisher, Hunter, (Doyle, 2002, p. 31) Despite these reservations the Belbin Team Inventory is a successful tool in conflict resolution as has been shown in many practical applications. Analysis of Case Scenario With his understanding of the theoretical models and applications of conflict resolution it is most useful to study a case scenario with Personal Investments (PI). In this case Dan is a middle management figure who in this scenario acts as an intermediary between the traditional members of this Conservative investment company and all others. The company has performed well in the past with steady growth over a long period of time and it has come to rely on these principles for continued growth in the future. Dan is a middle management partner who is not only proficient in his job, but also flexible and easy going and approachable. He has a good deal of personal charisma, which is his particular power base. He is able to streamline work between different members of the group in and ensures that the company runs smoothly. Dan also has some ideas about the overall future of the company as he has noticed recently that the company has started to lose some of its younger investment specialists who have moved on to less traditional companies which are out- performing this particular company. He believes that the company needs some degree of a new approach in order to catch the lost market. He's personally familiar with Rose, a young investment specialist who has had an impressive track record for the past five years with a number of different companies with her aggressive approach of taking portfolios in a new direction with fresh and innovative investment strategies. Dan persuades three traditional senior members of of the management team against their vocal resistance that she would be a good addition to the company. All three members object to her perceived lack of fit into the the conservative traditions of the company. By doing this Dan places himself in a somewhat of a compromising situation, being a friend of Rose and also responsible to his company. When Rose joins, she starts to succeed quickly taking her portfolio in a new successful direction and earning the admiration of the junior members of her team but at the same time, she manages to ruffle feathers of the senior management with her aggressive ways . She seems to convey to them that she is not part of their tradition of conservative growth. So while she is individually successful she does not blend with the senior management at all. Her power base is her talent and success and aggression but this is also part of her personal context and it is at serious odds with the context of the management culture. Dan is put into a position where he has to try to resolve the conflict which is especially compromising for him since it was he that recommended hiring Rose and he had done this reassuring the management that she would be able to fit in with the company culture that now puts him in the position of having to try and defend his rationale with criticism of evidence to the contrary . In his meeting with her he presents to her the list of concerns that the traditional management have with her approach to investment. Her reply is an immediate reactionary response criticizing those members of being unable to move with the times and suggesting that their motives arise out an element of jealousy. She emphasizes that her portfolio is the most successful of the company and that she is really well liked by her junior members. At this point, Dan is listens to her perspective and then he tries to confront her verbal aggressiveness by suggesting that the company itself is based on more traditional growth and the conversation continues in an aggressive tone at this point. He then changes his tactic by introducing interruption of the discussion when he moves towards the door closing it, using that tactic to soften the aggression between the two of them at this point. Rose in a clear demonstration of body language walks back and forth pacing across the room diverting her aggression into an alternative direction as Dan has backed off somewhat. Dan continues with a new tactic and a softer tone and concedes to her that while her approach is successful the company's sales cultures has always been one based in a tradition of conservative change, and if she is the implement any part of her strategy it would be best if it was done more slowly to try to accommodate the traditional figures within the company. Rose takes this as an understanding that, perhaps her time of employment in the company is coming to an end since she does not not want to be in a position where she is not welcome. Dan's intent is not to dismiss her since such a dismissal would reflect badly on him and be an admission of his own failure, tries another tactic to try and bring Rose to embracing the company culture. He takes all the blame on himself and suggests that the shortcoming has been his. It is a ploy to try and awaken her own loyalty to him. The tactic works. She responds by saying that it's his personal weakness to take on the blame himself suggesting that business is a hard activity, and he should not be so taking it so personally. Understanding that her sense of personal loyalty to him is an avenue for further discussion, he suggests a follow-up meeting later on with a personal dinner in a more friendly environment. In this scenario, Dan has performed admirably as a manager placed in a difficult situation. Despite his personal power of charisma, and being able to handle the personalities and draw out loyalty in different members he is to put a difficult position of being compromised by his hiring of Rose. The very company for which he works is based on certain traditional business culture. It is on record that the he was questioned about whether Rose would be a good fit in the culture of the company. Dan went out on a limb and said that Rose would adjust and now the onus is on Dan to try and make Rose adjust to the corporate culture. In an ideal conflict scenario, there could be a measure of compromise, drawn from the opposing party but here Dan is at a distinct disadvantage as his senior members have coercive power over him of hiring and firing with their positions established firmly. The company itself has not shown any dramatic failure recently and therefore, the arrival of Rose, while to an outsider is a necessary advance in an otherwise stagnant company is not seen as a salvation. Were this a scenario where Rose came in to rescue an otherwise moribund company then Dan would be the position of greater power. Presently, the market indicators are soft, which indicate that a more cautious position be taken with regard to investments. It could be easily argued that Rose does not understand the flux in the business cycle and the need to sometimes take the more conservative approach . The burst of the tech bubble in the 1990s is a clear indicator that an aggressive strategy is not necessarily always the best one. Rose does not indicate that she appears aware that sometimes certain investment strategies that are risky and aggressive can backfire. Dan is in a difficult position since he needs to try and make Rose adjust to the corporate culture. He has taken the right approach; he's used his friendship as a point of leverage and he's working on it as a follow-up. The difficulty remains whether Rose can make the necessary adjustments. This Scenario is somewhat one-sided and not the typical text book example and for that reason it is probably more representative of the real world. Dan needs to establish with Rose the best alternative to the agreement and from there work toward achieving his goal of keeping on Rose and allaying the tensions of the senior management. Conclusion Conflict management is a vital part of the management of any enterprise. It should be given an especially high priority since it plays an tremendously important role in the in the success of any businesses enterprise. Conflict management requires a sound strategy based on the best available theoretical research and it must be administered with a careful plan. The collaborative approach to conflict management is perhaps the most applicable to the complexity of business problems because it attempts to use the conflict as an avenue to growth. Despite the best formed strategies the real world can present extra challenges that are not easy to predict. The particular case scenario examined here placed Dan the manager in charge of resolving a conflict in a very potentially compromising situation. Under the circumstances and the strictures of his relative power imbalance to the wishes of senior management he performed in an highly effective way. With more power in his hands he could perhaps effect an better speedier resolution but given his institutional constraints he performed extremely well. He kept the lines of communication open and struck a chord of loyalty in an otherwise maverick employee. Appendicies Figure 1 Case notes. Personal Investments (PI) is a traditional investment company that has established a reputation over a long period of time making steady investments and has shown great steady growth throughout its history. Its senior partners are representative of that conservative tradition. They believe that the fashionable high risk strategies of investment are largely unreliable and fickle. Not easily swayed by the fads of the day the senior management at PI have lived by the creed that it is more important to establish a good long term strategy based on solid performers and see growth occur over the long term. This strategy has served the company very well for a number of years now; however, in recent times. the company has seen the loss of a number of its investment specialists to other companies that have a more adventurous approach. The intermediary manager Dan has been invested the responsibility of mediating between various different parties in the company. His personal power base is one of a combination of professional competence but allied with the ability to bring together different people in the company and make them understand each others points of view. From his own personal life, he is friends with the Rose, an aggressive investment specialist from another company, whose history over the last half decade has been of moving from one company to another with great results. She has shown for every company for whom she has worked that she is able to produce great results Thinking that she might be the ideal addition to the company to introduce the modern way of doing things to this traditional company which has seen some losses because of its traditional approach he recommends her for hiring. The problem occurs when over a short period of time she proceeds to alienate the senior traditional partners with her aggressive individual approach towards investment. Her approach has really been a big hit with the younger investment specialists on the company , but the company management is based on more traditional principles. Their power base is of a more important scale than any others. She's essentially gets results but her weaknesses are that does not want to bring others along to her philosophy. So she has managed to rub all the other partners in the wrong way at every turn by her personal style which is one of aggressiveness which is not in keeping with the traditional family based company which also object to her singles lifestyle. A number of individuals in the company's management have complained about her . , Jack is put in a position of an ultimatum: he has gone out on a limb to recommend Rose against the resistance of the three senior management officials who would say that she would not fit with the company culture. The predictions of these officials has been in a way a self fulfilling prophecy even though she is good at her job. Presently, the market seems to be soft and this favors a more how traditional approach and less aggressive approach. Jack understands this and weighs the concerns of the Company on the one hand and the talent and success of Rose on the other. When he is engaged in a meeting with her to try and reach some sort of conciliatory position Rose immediately strikes the aggressive position saying that she has always been this way but that she gets results: the only thing that matters to her mind. Dan tries to gently bring her down to his position. He suggests that the while her approach is successful,l it has to fit in with a company culture, and perhaps it would be better if she could try to convert them slowly, rather than try to challenge them and make the defensive. At this point there is some tension in the meeting and Dan tries to defuse it by changing his body language by moving toward the door to close it, so it takes the energy out of that particular confrontation that's started to materialize between the two of them. At this point, Rosa has extra energy which she clearly expends walking back-and-forth. Her energy is expended in this way and Dan's tactic has diffused some of the tension in the room. Dan then uses a new strategy taking a self deprecating approach and blaming himself for the troubles that have occurred. . He frames discussion in this way and asked, he tells her that. Perhaps it's been his failure. Immediately, Rose strikes up a sympathetic pose where he claims that he always blames himself and it is not his fault. At this point, Jack realizes that he has struck her position of loyalty to him and he attempts to expand the discussion in a more friendly environment later at his place for dinner; essentially he tries to build a sense of communion. Figure 2. Description of Belbins team roles Roles Team-role contribution Allowable weaknesses Plant Creative, imaginative, unorthodox. Solves difficult problems. Ignores incidentals. Too preoccupied to communicate effectively. Resource investigator Extrovert, enthusiastic, communicative. Explores opportunities, develops contacts. Over-optimistic. Loses interest once initial enthusiasm has passed. Coordinator Mature, confident, a good chairperson. Clarifies goals, promotes decision making, delegates well. Can be seen as manipulative. Offloads personal work. Shaper Challenging, dynamic, thrives on pressure. The drive and courage to overcome obstacles. Prone to provocation. Offends people's feelings. Monitor evaluator Sober, strategic, and discerning. Sees all options. Judges accurately. Lacks drive and ability to inspire others. Team worker Cooperative, mild, perceptive, and diplomatic. Listens, builds, averts friction. Indecisive in crunch situations. Implementer Disciplined, reliable, conservative, and efficient. Turns ideas into practical actions. Somewhat inflexible. Slow to respond to new possibilities. Inclined to worry unduly. Reluctant to delegate. Completer-finisher Painstaking, conscientious, anxious. Searches out errors and omissions. Delivers on time. Inclined to worry unduly. Reluctant to delegate. Specialist Single-minded, self-starting, dedicated. Provides knowledge and skills in rare supply. Contributes on only a narrow front. Dwells on technicalities. Source: Adapted from B. Senior & S. Swailes (1998). A comparison on the Belbin Self-Perception Inventory and Observer's Assessment Sheet as measures of an individual's team roles. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 6, 1-8. Copyright © 1998 Blackwell Publishers Ltd. Figure 3. Conflict Resolution plan outline 1. Precontemplative Preparation 1.1 Establishing Context. - Institutional Contextual - Personal Contextual 1.2 Recognizing Power Bases 1.3 Gathering Information – Communication techniques: i) Open ended questions. ii) Listening to both parties. Iii) Direct questions. 2. Contemplative Preparation Using BATNA to establish the minimum agreeable position for both parties as a fall back to better ensure a win-win scenario. Using Belbin Team Inventory so all parties have an introspective perspective on how best to understand differing positions from their own. 3. Resolution Working with an understanding of the overall goal and trying to reduce individual personal conflict in the debate with the use of various interpersonal techniques so that the element of negative emotion does not discolor the the proceedings. Management taking personal responsibility for mistakes in policy and being open to suggestions for improvement, to engender loyalty. Using different settings and emotional tones to better ensure the team concept and the idea that all should work for a common goal. References Aureli, F., & De Waal, F. B. (2000). Chapter 1 Why Natural Conflict Resolution?. In Natural Conflict Resolution, Aureli, F. & Waal, F. B. (Eds.) (pp. 3-9). Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Austin, R., & Gittell, J. H. (2002). 6 When It Should Not Work but Does: Anomalies of High Performance. In Business Performance Measurement: Theory and Practice, Neely, A. (Ed.) (pp. 80-103). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. Baum, K. (2003). 6 Assessing Group Conflict. In Handbook of Conflict Management, Pammer, W. J. & Killian, J. (Eds.) (pp. 129-148). New York: Marcel Dekker. (1991). Foreword. In Conflict Resolution: Cross-Cultural Perspectives, Avruch, K., Black, P. W., & Scimecca, J. A. (Eds.) (pp. ix-x). Westport, CT: Praeger. Culp, C. L. (2001). The Risk Management Process: Business Strategy and Tactics. New York: Wiley Davidson,J., Wood,C.(2004)A conflict resolution model Theory Into Practice, Wntr, Deutsch, M. (1973). The resolution of conflict: Constructive and destructive processes. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. Doyle, C. E. (2002). Work and Organisational Psychology: An Introduction with Attitude. London: Psychology Press. Fiore,T.(2006)Resolving Workplace Conflict: 4 Ways to a Win-Win Solution www.businessknowhow.com/manage/resolve.htm Frame, J. D. (2002). The New Project Management: Tools for an Age of Rapid Change, Complexity, and Other Business Realities. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Gursansky, D., Harvey, J., & Kennedy, R. (2003). Case Management: Policy, Practice and Professional Business. Crows Nest, N.S.W.: Allen & Unwin. Hall,G. (1995) Managing Conflict in Agricultural Business.2nd Large Herd Dairy Management Conference. April 6-8. Jameson, J. K. (2004). Negotiating Autonomy and Connection through Politeness: A Dialectical Approach to Organizational Conflict Management. Western Journal of Communication, 68(3), 257+. Lin, X., & Germain, R. (1998). Sustaining Satisfactory Joint Venture Relationships: The Role of Conflict Resolution Strategy. Journal of International Business Studies, 29(1), 179+. interpersonal conflict. Academy of Management Journal, 26, 368-376. Rahim, M. A. (Ed.). (1990). Theory and Research in Conflict Management. New York: Praeger Publishers. Rogan, R. G., & La France, B. H. (2003). An Examination of the Relationship between Verbal Aggressiveness, Conflict Management Strategies and Conflict Interaction Goals. Communication Quarterly, 51(4), 458+. Statt, D. A. (2004). The Routledge Dictionary of Business Management. New York: Routledge. Retrieved Thomas, K. & Kilmann, R. (1978). Comparison of four instruments for measuring conflict behavior. Psychological Reports Warner, M. (Ed.). (2001). Comparative Management: Critical Perspectives on Business and Management (Vol. 3). London: Routledge. Warner, M. (Ed.). (2001). Comparative Management: Critical Perspectives on Business and Management (Vol. 1). London: Routledge. Wenger, A., & Möckli, D. (2003). Conflict Prevention: The Untapped Potential of the Business Sector. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner. Read More