Conflict of Implementing Software System into ADSA - Case Study Example

Case Analysis on the Conflict of Implementing Software System into ADSA Summary of the pertinent facts of the case The case is regarding a conflict in the organization of Abu Dhabi Security Authority due to implementation of new software. The organization was formed in May 2007 and works under the support of the President of United Arab Emirates, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, and the Deputy Supreme Commander of armed forces of UAE. The ADSA is responsible for handling the security measures of Abu Dhabi; it protects the infrastructure and asset of Abu Dhabi both on the sea and land. It protects Abu Dhabi from any potential threats that may occur due to an external element on the critical operations performed by the government. The organization world’s leading human capital and technology for its operations and has also entered into strategic partnerships with stakeholders, local and federal government agencies. In 2008 Prof. Mohamed Naser the chairman of ADSA has asked the IT department to change the system they were normally using and replace the manual work with a high tech software system. The Procurement and the HR department was greatly in need of an improved IT system to lessen their tedious manual work but the finance department was not that much affected by this kind of problem that was faced by the other departments. The new software that IT department was on the process of implementing could result into more of work efficiency and minimize the time needed to handle the tasks. The operations of Abu Dhabi Security Authority were greatly influenced by the government of UAE. The government had already implemented an e-platform for all the emirates including Abu Dhabi for easy private and governmental transactions. The Government has plans to launch an ERP system for all the local companies which would be flexible, comprehensive, modular, customizable, and secure. It would contain solution for human resources, inventory control, and financial data handling. This software is easy to install and can work on any network or hardware and does not require any complicated integration methodology to be used by the IT department. Hence there is a relevant pressure from the government to launch their suggested ERP system into ADSA’s operations. Engineer Adel being the IT committee head do not support the installation of new high tech software but feels that the Government proposed ERP software is the best solution for the organization. Following an authoritarian leadership style he do not really bother what the other committee members feel, and being close to the Chairman of ADSA he tries to impose his decision and thoughts on other members. Engineer Abdulla is the IT application system head and he is on the favor of launching this software. Salem Mohammed is the finance director at ADSA his opinion is that the installation of this new software means that starting from the scratch and is costly measure and also not officially approved. He is keener towards continuing with the same finance systems has already used by the finance department. Engineer Abdulla had implemented a modified software version of the original software that was used by the organization which detected a fraud in the finance department and led to termination of two of Salem’s subordinated. This led to fierce rivalry between the two heads and their respective departments. The IT department’s members thought that this software would be very efficient and effective but the other department’s favor felt that this software would result into compulsory redundancy specially of the senior executives. Engineer Adel favored none of the two parties but stated that the new software would initiate more work which the employees would not be ready for. Meetings were held for deriving at a solution whether to implement the software or not, but no clear solution resulted. At the end due to forced implementation of the new high tech software into the system Engineer Abdulla was terminated. He tried to impose his idea and stated that he would not aloe any IT support to the departments if they do not agree with the installation of the new software. There was a lack of coordination between both the parties. They were not considered with what is good for the system but was more bothered about stating their point right. The system which increased work efficiency and reduced the work load should have been considered by the departments rather than relying on what the government wanted to implement. Appraisal of the situation The situation that had occurred in ADSA was mainly caused due to a conflict between the two departments. This conflict resulted into disagreements even to the extent of warning the individual members of the department not to support the installation of the high tech new software. The strategy that should have been adopted by the committee head or the management was effective conflict management. There are some theories that govern the conflict management such as Kilmann and Thomas (1975) and Pace (1983) theories. They in their theory stated that there are five conflict management styles that an organization can adopt depending on the system. The first style is tough battler or competitor, this style emphasizes more on winning as the only goal for the competitor is to win even at the expense of others. The second style is collaborator or problem solver. It focuses more on finding mutual solution for the problems faced by the group members; it is not concerned with winning or losing. The third style is maneuvering conciliator or compromiser. In this style the person stands for the entire group even at the individual expense, a more of giving in situation arises in this form of style (Prechtel, 2012). The fourth style is friendly helper or accommodator. In this style there is no existence of personal goals but more focus is on maintaining harmony in the group. The last style is of avoider or impersonal complier, in this the conflict is seen as a negative entity and the person removes himself completely from the situation with an attitude of not being involved (Morrill, 1996). Jay Hall (1969) had stated five different conflict management styles in his theory. The first is a team management style where there is a concern for both the people and goals. The second style is termed as middle of the road management which is a moderate version of the first style. The third style is task management style where the emphasis is more on goals than on the individual. Figure 1: Jay Hall Conflict Management Theory (Hall, 1973) The fourth style is country club management style where the focus is to emphasize people to the detriment of goals. The fifth style is impoverished management style which de-emphasizes on people or goals. When the organization is performing well the first two management styles are adopted whereas the unbalanced styles are adopted when the organization is under pressure. There were eight techniques designed for effectively solving a conflict by Robbins in 1974, those were problem solving, super ordinate goals, avoidance, smoothing, compromise, authoritative command, altering the human variable, and altering structural variable. The main problem that was seen in this case was that the decision of whether to implement the ERP system or the system designed by the IT department was not taken properly. Another main reason for the conflict was that there was a lack of group thinking it was more of an individualistic approach. The leadership style was not appropriate for managing such a conflicting group, a more of democratic or affiliated leadership style was needed to make affective decision making by including the ideas of all the employees, but in this case the leader followed a more authoritative approach. There are various ways of strategic risk management, the method that ADSA followed was avoiding of risk which led to giving more priority to the government ERP system rather than implementing their own software system. There was even lack of coordination between the middle management and the upper management. A more strategic approach was required to resolve the conflict between the two heads and incorporate both their ideas for a feasible decision to achieve the common goal. The main aspect of the decision making was to focus on resolving the conflict that had occurred between the finance and the IT department and this was only possible through a sound conflict management style. Adel being the decision maker should not always have followed an authoritarian leadership style but in this situation a democratic leadership style would have been more effective. Engineer Adel being the committee head should have adopted a collaborator and synergistic conflict managements style to effectively decide on the problem that had occurred in the situation rather than being egoistic and imposing his thoughts on the fellow group members (Hall, 1973). Plausible alternative strategies and likely consequences The alternative strategy that could have been the best for this situation was a more democratic approach of the committee head Engineer Adel and the Chairman of ADSA. The individual goal should have been left aside and more focus was required on the well being of the group. ADSA was responsible for the security measures of Abu Dhabi and for maintaining its quality of service it is highly essential that the operations internal to an organization are performed very effectively and the least time possible. The ERP software that was supposed to be implemented by the government was an effective measure but whether it would benefit the organization as a whole or not that needs to be analyzed. On the contrary the high tech software that was being designed and implemented by the IT department was supposedly going to increase the task efficiency and would make the work of all the departments simpler. The ERP software would provide a simpler platform for sharing of information by other channels, and would not result into any kind of redundancy in the system. The strategy should of firstly identifying what was the key issues between Abdulla and Salem that had led to so much of controversy for the implementation of the software into the system. The main issue was the fraud that Abdulla identified in the finance department through his modified software. In this situation there was active participation required from the members belonging to the two members. The high tech software implementation should ensure that there would not be any kind of redundancy in the system and that proper training should be imparted in the employees before the software finally is implemented. A test run of the software was essential before even arguing of how much effective the software is compared to the ERP. This test run should be carried on with the employees of ADSA who are going to operate the software and an effective poll should be taken after demonstration of whether the new technology is more effective than the software already used by the departments or not (Hoffman, 2007). A more of collaborative conflict management style would have resolved the issue where both the heads could have collaboratively exchanged their ideas and come up with a solution keeping the goal as well as the people in mind rather than their individual goals. The committee head Adel instead of deciding on the situation based on his preference of adopting the ERP software proposed by the government should have followed a democratic approach where he could even analyze the views of the members and then taken a sensible decision (Bonnici, 2011). However all this alternative strategies would have a negative impact in the sense that there would have been more of conflict between the two parties and the members would have dragged in to restrict any such demonstration of the software. If people supported the idea of Abdulla’s than it would have resulted into a lot of unrest in the organization (Iqbal, 2011). This would in turn result into the finance department boycotting the system. Adel was not in favor of anybody but indirectly supported Salem so this might bring down the motivational level of the IT department which would result in to decrease in their work efficiency. Recommended choice of action and strategy with a justification The recommended strategic approach to the situation is an official approval of the technology that caused the conflict in ADSA. This is only possible through the Chairman of ADSA. He can take the demonstration of the software and since he was already in favor of implementing high tech software can carry forward the demonstration to the government and other external signatories who are the factors that can affect the operations of ADSA. If the software to be implemented is government approved that it would lower down the level of confliction in the organization (Francis, 2011). Even the management should ensure that the implementation of this new high tech software would not result into any kind of redundancies in the situation which was the major aspect of the members for going against the implementation of this software. Another recommended strategy would be that Adel was delaying on taking decision and tried to keep only his point of view which made Abdulla so much irritated that went out and took the step of not providing any IT supports to the departments if they do not accept the installation (Kano, 2013). This situation could have simply been avoided by having an open discussion with the group members who has already taken the demonstration of the software about what they think regarding the efficiency of the software. This in turn would result into a quick and more feasible decision because it would have been on the basis of the thoughts that the individual members had rather than the department heads who were striving just to prove their point of view right (Smucker, 2006). The conflict between Abdulla and Salem could have resolved by having a friendly discussion with the two heads and to arrive at a conclusion in which some ideas of improving the financial data analysis of the department can be effectively incorporated into the software that was designed by Abdulla. This strategy would reduce the total conflict of the system and the best solution keeping in mind the group’s common goal could have been implemented into the ADSA system. Analysis of generalizations The case deals with different circumstances that are caused when an organization has a poor leadership style. Often the success and growth of the organization totally depends on the leaders and how well they communicate with their group members. The case clearly is an example of how a small issue can lead to a serious conflict if not handled well. Individual goal can never been success to an organization if the members do not seek towards a common goal. The stoppage of work in ADSA is a result of the lack of communication between the team and the heads, and improper handling of the risk by the management of ADSA. References Bonnici, C.A. (2011). Creating a Successful Leadership Style. USA: R&L Education. Francis, C. (2011). Conflict Resolution and Status. Silhouet: Vubpress. Hall, J. (1973). Conflict Management Survey. UK: Teleometrics Intl. Hoffman, S. (2007). Classical Motivation Theories. UK: GRIN Verlag Iqbal, T. (2011). The Impact of Leadership Styles on Organizational Effectiveness. Germany: GRIN Verlag Kano, E. (2013). Leadership Styles. UK: GRIN Verlag. Morrill, C. (1996). The Executive Way: Conflict Management in Corporations. USA: University of Chicago Press. Prechtel, D. (2012). Where Two Or Three Are Gathered: Spiritual Direction for Small Groups. New York: Church Publishing, Inc. Smucker, D. (2006). The Sociology of Mennonites, Hutterites and Amish: A Bibliography with Annotations. Canada: Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press. Read More