Conflict Management - Intrapersonal, Intergroup and Interpersonal Types of Conflicts - Research Paper Example

Conflict Management An organization consists of people with different backgrounds; as these individuals differ in their opinions and attitudes, interaction among them often leads to conflicts. Conflict, which can occur at individual, group or organization levels, discourages organizations so as to promote the spirit of competition among employees; it jeopardizes the effective functioning of the organization if it is allowed to persist for a long time (Frederiksen). Therefore, it becomes essential to resolve conflict quickly. Though there are several methods available to resolve conflicts, the ideal way is through negotiation. Thus, in order to be effective, it is important that managers possess adequate negotiation skills. Conflict may be defined as the disagreement between two or more individuals or groups over an issue of mutual interest. Conflicts may arise between two parties when: One party, say, an individual or a group, feels that the actions of the other party will either affect its interests adversely or obstruct the achievement of its goals; The goals of both the parties differ significantly or are interpreted differently; The basic values and philosophies of the two parties are different Conflicts can range from small disagreements to violent acts. A variety of factors can lead to conflicts. Some of them are: Organizational change: Organizations undergo changes due to new technological, political and social developments that affect them or due to changes in the competitive force. As people may hold different view about the change and the future direction of an organization, conflicts may arise (Mullins). Personality Clashes: Individuals’ personalities differ widely due to differences in their levels of maturity, emotional stability and their behaviour. When they do not recognize or appreciate these differences, conflicts occur. Differences in value sets: Different people have different opinions, values and beliefs. When people with contradicting values and beliefs interact with each other, conflicts are likely to occur. These conflicts are often irrational and difficult to be resolved (Newstorm). Threats to status: Most individuals associate their identity with their status in society or the organizations. When an individual feels that another person’s acts may harm or damage his image, which in turn may affect his status, conflict is likely to arise. Differences in Perceptions: People perceive different things, issues and their environment differently. When they act as though their perception is the only realty, without attempting to understand or accept another person’s view, conflicts arise (Newstorm). Classification of Conflicts Conflicts are common in all organizations and occur when people fail to arrive at a consensus regarding the organizational goals or the means to achieve them (Falletta). Organizational conflicts can be classified as follows: Intrapersonal Conflict According to most behavioural theories, people are motivated to achieve a goal either when meeting the goal results in the satisfaction of a need, or when the incentives for achieving the goal are attractive. However, this is not as simple as it seems. An individual may have conflicting needs or he may have to overcome many barriers to achieve his goals. Thus, the process of achieving goals is a complicated one. In the process of achieving his gaols, an individual may experience stress and frustration and may face internal conflict. This is referred to as intrapersonal conflict. In organizations, intrapersonal conflict can result from role ambiguity. If an employee’s roles and responsibilities are not defined clearly or if he has more than one boss who may issue conflicting orders, he may find it difficult to prioritize his tasks. This may also lead to intrapersonal conflict. Further, sometimes superiors and subordinates may have conflicting expectations from an employee. This is especially true in the case of middle managers. Subordinates expect the manager to present their view and support them before the top management while the top management expects him to support them before the subordinates. Such situations also lead to intrapersonal conflict. Interpersonal Conflict People always try to maintain their image and respect. When someone threatens their self-concept1, they try to retaliate and this leads to interpersonal conflict. Different individuals have different tolerance levels, and this depends on their personalities. Individuals with low tolerance levels get into interpersonal conflicts frequently. Often, interpersonal conflicts are the result of differences in perception and gaps in communication. Intergroup Conflict In an organization, people from different department compete for limited resources such as funds, personnel and support service. This competition often results in conflict. Sometimes, conflicts occur when one group attempts to take the entire credit for the successful completion of a task, to the completion of which another group may have also made significant contributions. Perceived inequitable treatment in matters of working conditions, rewards and status, in comparison to other groups can also lead to intergroup conflict. Negotiation – a way to manage Conflict Negotiation is a process in which one party agrees to exchange a product or service with another party in return for something. Negotiations are common in day-to-day life. In an organizational context, the most common example of negotiations is that of collective bargaining between labour unions and management. Management may agree to increase the wages of the workers by a certain amount on the condition that workers improve their productivity. Stephen Robbins in his book Organizational behaviour uses the terms ‘negotiation’ and ‘bargaining’ interchangeably (judge). Other examples of negotiations include the talks that take place between managers and subordinates, sales people and customers, and purchasing professionals and suppliers. The importance of negotiations has considerably increased in recent times with the emergence of work teams and matrix structures (HR Magazine). Two widely used approaches to negotiation are distributive bargaining and integrative bargaining, each of which are discussed in detail in the forthcoming paragraphs. Distributive Bargaining This approach involves dividing a fixed amount of resources among the negotiating parties. The significant feature of this method is that it operates under zero – sum conditions – if one of the parties to the negotiations gains a certain amount in the bargaining process, the other party suffers and equivalent loss. For example, when a purchasing officer of an organization is contacted by a raw material supplier, the supplier may quote a price which is not acceptable to the purchaser. The purchaser in turn will then negotiate with the supplier over the price. In the distributive bargaining approach, each party to the negotiation has a target point which it hopes to achieve. Each party also has a resistance point, which represents the lowest outcome that it would be willing to accept (hrsincome.org). If the outcome appears to fall below its resistance point, the party would prefer to break off negotiations rather than accept the outcome. The area between the target the resistance points represents the aspiration range of each of the negotiating parties. Integrative Bargaining The integrative bargaining approach is based on the assumption that there exist one or more solutions to a problem that could result in a win- win situation. This is in contrast to the above discussed method of distributive bargaining approach which assumes that there can be no solution that satisfies both parties and if one party has to win, the other party has to lose i.e. nothing but a win – lose situation. An integrative bargaining approach is always preferable to a distributive bargaining approach since it helps develop long-term relationships between the negotiating parties, and eliminates differences between them so as to ensure the cooperation of the other party in the future as well. However, there are certain pre-requisites for this type of negotiation to be successful. Some of these are: the parties should be sensitive to each other’s needs; they should be honest about their concerns; they should trust each other; they should be willing to be flexible Since these pre-requisites are usually never satisfied in most organizations, the distributive bargaining approach is used more widely than integrative bargaining approach. Before beginning negotiations, the negotiator should understand the nature and background of the conflict and the circumstance that have led up to the negotiation situation. The negotiator should also identify the goals he wants to achieve for his party from the negotiation process. Putting the goals in a written form ensures that the negotiator will not be distracted from his primary objective during the process of negotiation. Likewise, the negotiator should also attempt to identify the goals that the other party is seeking to achieve through the negotiation process. By collecting information related to the opponents, their objective, possible demands and arguments, the negotiator can develop the strategy to be adopted at the negotiation table. Each party to the conflict will have certain high priority objectives. The party will not agree to any negotiation agreement which does not satisfy these objectives. The agreement that satisfies these objectives is referred to as BATNA – Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement. If the negotiator wants his BATNA to be accepted by the other party, he should be able to offer a negotiation proposal that is equivalent to or more attractive than the BATNA of the other party. After a series of discussions, both the parties finally arrive at an agreement that is mutually acceptable. The agreement is the result of several rounds of discussions and reciprocal concessions between the parties. The negotiation agreement is formally written and signed by both the parties. This is often followed by the establishment of procedures to implement and monitor the implementation of the agreement. Issues in the Negotiation Process The negotiation process may progress smoothly in some cases whereas progress may be very difficult in others. The process may be influenced by various factors such as: Biases in decision-making of individuals participating in the negotiations, their personality traits, Cultural backgrounds, and The nature of the mediator. Finally, after all the above discussions and presentations, it can be concluded that, intergroup relations in any organization are to be effectively managed and this is felt to be essential in order to avoid dysfunctional conflict and improve organizational performance. Interdependence, task uncertainty and orientation of both the time and goal are the three most important issues that basically influence intergroup relations in any organization. Co-ordination methods that are widely used for managing intergroup relations are: Departmental integration; Work Teams; Task forces; Planning; Hierarchy; and Aptly framed Rules and procedures. Conflicts are common in all organizations and the best way to resolve conflicts is through negotiations. Conflict Management Applied in Real Life: I have personally evolved after taking this course, by becoming cognizant of various possible behaviours in various situations that we come across in real life. Instead of just going with the flow of day-to-day life, the inputs from the course have made me learn to wait, analyze and then respond to situations that I would have otherwise handled in a different way. This has led to higher self-awareness and I feel I am becoming more mature in handling various situations. One major change I have noticed in myself is in various conflict situations that occur in the day-to-day life – simple things like someone at the supermarket check counter trying to push their way into getting into the line ahead. The other day I just stopped this lady who was trying to get in ahead of me instead of waiting like others in the line. On questioning her why she was doing that she mentioned that her kids are at home and she really cannot afford to have someone baby sit them and she was running late for her job, that will help her earn a few dollars and that she is a single mother, I gladly offered her my place in the line and I could see her smile very gratefully, which was a reward in itself. One more incident that I came across was when I was visiting the dentist last week – one patient came in hurriedly – apparently late and also in great pain. When the doctor’s secretary let another patient in, this gentleman started an argument with the secretary – which ultimately led to increased decibel levels and finally an argument. The secretary’s point of view was that the patient let in had an appointment with the doctor prior to this person and that the doctor himself had come in late as he was stuck in terrible traffic – one of the rare occurrences in the 8 year history that the secretary was working with the doctor. The gentleman’s point of view was that he had come in exactly 5 minutes late for his appointment and that too he had got the appointment because he was in great pain and he was to be attended. What he was missing was the fact that the doctor was running late by 30 minutes is schedule and the person let in ahead of him was a person whose appointment was 30 minutes ahead and NOT the person after this patient. The argument ensued and the decibel levels rose. Having viewed this situation externally and not being an interested party in the conflict, I was able to see the point of view of both the parties in the conflict. This was when I tried some of the techniques that I had learnt during the course. I intervened and explained the whole thing to the gentleman, who accepted that he was definitely under the impression that the person let in was the person after him. Once the situation was clarified both the parties involved were pretty much relaxed and situation did not really turn ugly, getting the doctor involved into the argument, which would have further delayed the doctor’s schedule and let to a few cancellations. I really felt happy being able to apply some of the principles I learnt in the course. Bibliography 1. (ICMR), ICFAI Center for Management Research. Introduction ot Organizational Behaviour. Hyderabad: ICFAI Center for Management Research (ICMR), 2003. 2. Bégin, Diane Sarah. "Organizational Culture Counts." 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