Negotiation and Conflict Resolution in Labor - Essay Example

Collaboration style - in this style parties work together and it is a win-win situation, this style should not be used on minor issues because it is time-consuming. The avoiding style- this is a style used if chances of losing are high, it creates a lose-lose situation and should not be used in complex situations Competing for style- this is an aggressive style that creates a win-lose situation used if a quick decision is required. (McKersie, 24)From the Boulder city hospital, it is evident that the conflict between workers and the hospital was resolved in court, however, it was possible to resolve the problem through negotiations.

There are a number of techniques involved in the case and they are as follows: In the case, Davenport who is the human resource manager questions Slover about union activities in the hospital, Slover answers no, and at this point, he uses the avoiding style because he knew his chances of winning in this situation were limited, the other negotiation style evident is the case where the hospital decides to remind its employees about the rules, in this case, the hospital was using the competing negotiation style where it was a win-lose situation and the company had to make a quickly decided to stop the employees from joining the union and to discourage those who were introducing others to the union.

Finally, the accommodation negotiation style is evident where after the court case the hospital management accepts responsibility whereby Ostrowski is compensated, workers union rights are redefined and therefore this is an accommodative negotiation style where the hospital accepts the demands of the employees. Improvement of these techniques: There are a number of negotiation principles that were violated in the hospital case, it is evident that emotions take over when Ostrowksi decides to become a part-time worker, emotions make Maher not to accept Ostrowksi working as a Diem nurse who is paid a higher wage, he is replaced by a new employee named Elaine Troyer.

The other principle of negotiation states that one should not be afraid to take a risk, from the case study it is evident that the hospital was not afraid to take risks while individuals were afraid to take risks, for example, Slover was afraid to take the risk when he decides to lie about his status. (McKersie, 26)A different way to resolve the conflict: The hospital had an option to negotiate with its employees, the hospital was not ready to accept union members and yet some employees supported the union and encouraged others to join the union.

The hospital should have selected an appropriate individual to negotiate and resolve the problem, negating parties on behalf of the hospital should have been required to ignore emotions, not to ignore the needs of workers, argue about facts and concerns should be concentrated on the impacts. (McKersie, 28)Conclusion: From the above discussion it is evident that it would have been appropriate for the hospital to undertake negotiations immediately, negotiations should have been undertaken in the organization including the employees and hospital representative.

A common agreement would have been achieved without having to take the case to court.