What is conflict?
My definition of conflict is a disagreement or a clash between two opposing groups in which they perceive a threat to their needs, interests, security or concerns. Conflict sparks from changes that are made within labour market, economy, society, technology and organisations usually create conflict.
Conflict at school
During my time in A-levels, I was apart of a group project. This required us to work as a team and come together with group ideas. Firstly one of us had to be the group leader who was in charge of the project and had to decide what we all had to do. We all wanted to be the team leader but we could not decide and this was already creating arguments. Everyone in the group has different opinions on the way we should work towards the project and we were not all agreeing with each other and coming to a final decision. This obviously took us longer than expected. We had to prepare the project and present it in 10 days. The only fair way to pick the team leader was to toss a coin at the end to avoid any further clash. A lot of research was required and this had to be done individually and we all were dependant on each other and if one person failed to do their bit of work it would affect the project. One of the group member did not do their part and I could tell that she was not even interested from the start. The rest of us did not know what to do because we only had 2 days to get all the research together and one part was already missing. We had to end up telling the teacher about the situation and ask for more time. The teacher agreed in the end and gave us an extra 2 days. So we demanded her to get the work done otherwise she would get no marks and this suddenly bought fear upon her and she managed to do it on time
Different sources of power
· Reward power is one solution to tackle conflict within an organisation and maintain achievement in the business. When an employee is rewarded through recognition, a good job assignment, a pay rise, or additional resources to complete a task, the employee may remain satisfied through with orders given and remove negative outcomes and responses which may cause disagreement. An example of reward power would be a manager giving a pay rise to a certain group to have a task completed on time. Reward power has the ability to give other people what they want, and hence ask them to do things for you in exchange. (negotiation training, 2009)
· Coercive power is the same as reward power, only it uses punishment instead of rewards. The fear that these threats will be used is called coercive power. Although it is often seen as negative, it is also used to keep the peace. One example is a manager who is in charge of a small team in a division of a bank. She was aggravated with the long hours and with the many changes to internal banking system that prompted her and her team to work longer and harder, while still not getting any additional compensation. The team was running low on motivation and high on frustration. Out of desperation and after weeks, she made threats to employees in hopes of quickly remedying the situation. She called an office meeting and told members of her team that if they didn't "snap out of it," they'd be punished with additional weekend work.
· Expert power is the strength that knowledge and perception which one person attributes in a specific area. If members of your team see you as a true expert, they will be much more interested when you try to persuade them to do something. For example the expert knowledge of ‘functional’ specialist such as the management accountant. (Mullins, 2007)
· Legitimate power is based on your rate and position in the hierarchical structure of an organisation. People at higher levels have power over the people below. This power can be used in day-to-day business. It is mainly based on the role of the leader rather than the nature of the personal bond with others. Although legitimate power increases with added responsibilities, you can decrease that power if you fail to meet all of your responsibilities. An example of Legitimate Power would be a police officer who has the authority to arrest a suspect. (tpub, 2009)
· Referent power is maintaining a positive image towards other members and building loyalty. It is based on a high level of identification with respect for the power holder. You can enhance that image by displaying charisma, courage, and charm. For example soldiers fight in wars to defend the honor of the country.
Five strategies to tackle conflict at work
It is important for an organisation to try and reduce conflict in a workplace to avoid any disagreements and de-motivation within employees. The different ways are:
Human resource management policies and procedures- One way to overcome conflict within a workplace is to ensure the HR department sets out clear and fair polices and procedures for their workers. For example ensuring an equal pay policy would reduce matter of conflict between managers and their staff. There have been many cases where female staffs are paid lower than male even though they have the same job role and responsibilities. If an equal pay policy was set out then staff would not have to worry about being discriminated due to gender and this would not cause any arguments. Other examples are recruitment and selection and ensuring people are selected for the job entirely based on their application form and experience.
Clarify goals and objectives –Employees must be aware of the business aims and objectives that are set by managers ensuring everyone is clear as to what is expected of them in their job. This helps avoid misunderstandings and conflict. Occasional feedback must be given to all staff to certify where they are currently standing at and to take in any improvement that could be made. (Mullins 2007)
Grievance policy and procedure- A grievance procedure is a process that lets you make complaints to, or raise problems with, your employer. This is a guide to how grievances should be handled in the workplace. This procedure is designed to help both the Company and staff deal with grievance issues in a fair and consistent manner. Problems such as terms of employment pay and working conditions However, it is often a good idea to try to sort out the problem by having an informal chat with the relevant people, like your manager, to see if that helps. (indirect, 2009)
Non monetary rewards- Rather than financial resources non monetary rewards may be used to allow better job performance and satisfaction for the staff. For example learning and developing new skills in order to advance is one way to avoid any conflict. A flexible schedule or the occasional afternoon off can help employees meet some of these obligations. By allowing some flexibility in an employees schedule you can increase their desire and motivation. In today's high paced work environment, employees consider recognition of their work and efforts.
Good communications, consultation and involvement in decision making- Managers need to involve their staff with decisions that are made so they feel that they are involved. For example, if a Manager isn't communicating much with the employees, the employees might begin to dislike the Manager and not show any interest in the job. This would automatically cause conflict and disagreements between the manager and employee.
Conflict on Big Brother!
During the reality series Big Brother in 2007 was one of the major conflicts I had ever seen on live TV and highly controversial. The two celebrity housemates Shilpa Shetty and Jade Goody who were involved had many loud arguments and disagreements in the house which lead to spiteful moments, anger and tears. Housemate Shilpa Shetty had been subjected to bullying, allegedly with racism from a few other girls in the big brother house. The complaints received by UK viewer’s detailed concerns over the racial row and showed how furious they were over the situation. This sparked even bigger widespread anger and demonstrations in India, where the alleged racism was reported on the news and led Big Brother's main sponsor Carphone Warehouse to suspend its sponsorship of the show. The conflict was not only just between the housemates but had become a serious issue. (guardian, 2007) .One of the strategy used to resolve the conflict was by the Channel 4 spokesman who apoligised and agreed that participants should be made aware of the controversy, and by evicting housemate Jade goody off the show as punishment and to solve the issue. I think the strategy was effective and the right thing to do as it worked and Jade was out of the show which caused all the chaos to settle.
Conclusion:
A clash of interests, values, actions or directions often sparks a conflict. Conflict can often bring down a business if it is not dealt with cautiously. There are many different strategies to overcome conflict if it occurs. Sometimes Conflict allows an organisation to become a better place to work in because it allows people to speak their minds and have their views to clarify a point.
Reference:
Negotiation training (2009) Coercive Power and Reward Power Tactic [online]. Available from: http://www.negotiationtraining.com.au/articles/coercion-tactics/ Assessed 6 December 2009.
Mullins, L. (2007) Groups, teams and leadership, Eighth edition, Chapter 10, pg 388
Tpub, (2009) Legimtate power [online]. Avaibale from: http://www.tpub.com/content/advancement/14144/css/14144_68.htm Assessed 10 December 2009.
Nidirect, (2009) Grievance precedures [online]. Available from: http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/index/employment/resolving-workplace-disputes/grievances/grievance-procedures-introduction.htm Assessed 15 December 2009.
Mullins, L. (2007) The organisational setting, Eighth edition, Chapter 3, pg 98.
Guardian (2007) Carphone axes Big Brother deal [online]. Available from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/jan/18/business.marketingandpr Assessed 19 December 2009.
My definition of conflict is a disagreement or a clash between two opposing groups in which they perceive a threat to their needs, interests, security or concerns. Conflict sparks from changes that are made within labour market, economy, society, technology and organisations usually create conflict.
Conflict at school
During my time in A-levels, I was apart of a group project. This required us to work as a team and come together with group ideas. Firstly one of us had to be the group leader who was in charge of the project and had to decide what we all had to do. We all wanted to be the team leader but we could not decide and this was already creating arguments. Everyone in the group has different opinions on the way we should work towards the project and we were not all agreeing with each other and coming to a final decision. This obviously took us longer than expected. We had to prepare the project and present it in 10 days. The only fair way to pick the team leader was to toss a coin at the end to avoid any further clash. A lot of research was required and this had to be done individually and we all were dependant on each other and if one person failed to do their bit of work it would affect the project. One of the group member did not do their part and I could tell that she was not even interested from the start. The rest of us did not know what to do because we only had 2 days to get all the research together and one part was already missing. We had to end up telling the teacher about the situation and ask for more time. The teacher agreed in the end and gave us an extra 2 days. So we demanded her to get the work done otherwise she would get no marks and this suddenly bought fear upon her and she managed to do it on time
Different sources of power
· Reward power is one solution to tackle conflict within an organisation and maintain achievement in the business. When an employee is rewarded through recognition, a good job assignment, a pay rise, or additional resources to complete a task, the employee may remain satisfied through with orders given and remove negative outcomes and responses which may cause disagreement. An example of reward power would be a manager giving a pay rise to a certain group to have a task completed on time. Reward power has the ability to give other people what they want, and hence ask them to do things for you in exchange. (negotiation training, 2009)
· Coercive power is the same as reward power, only it uses punishment instead of rewards. The fear that these threats will be used is called coercive power. Although it is often seen as negative, it is also used to keep the peace. One example is a manager who is in charge of a small team in a division of a bank. She was aggravated with the long hours and with the many changes to internal banking system that prompted her and her team to work longer and harder, while still not getting any additional compensation. The team was running low on motivation and high on frustration. Out of desperation and after weeks, she made threats to employees in hopes of quickly remedying the situation. She called an office meeting and told members of her team that if they didn't "snap out of it," they'd be punished with additional weekend work.
· Expert power is the strength that knowledge and perception which one person attributes in a specific area. If members of your team see you as a true expert, they will be much more interested when you try to persuade them to do something. For example the expert knowledge of ‘functional’ specialist such as the management accountant. (Mullins, 2007)
· Legitimate power is based on your rate and position in the hierarchical structure of an organisation. People at higher levels have power over the people below. This power can be used in day-to-day business. It is mainly based on the role of the leader rather than the nature of the personal bond with others. Although legitimate power increases with added responsibilities, you can decrease that power if you fail to meet all of your responsibilities. An example of Legitimate Power would be a police officer who has the authority to arrest a suspect. (tpub, 2009)
· Referent power is maintaining a positive image towards other members and building loyalty. It is based on a high level of identification with respect for the power holder. You can enhance that image by displaying charisma, courage, and charm. For example soldiers fight in wars to defend the honor of the country.
Five strategies to tackle conflict at work
It is important for an organisation to try and reduce conflict in a workplace to avoid any disagreements and de-motivation within employees. The different ways are:
Human resource management policies and procedures- One way to overcome conflict within a workplace is to ensure the HR department sets out clear and fair polices and procedures for their workers. For example ensuring an equal pay policy would reduce matter of conflict between managers and their staff. There have been many cases where female staffs are paid lower than male even though they have the same job role and responsibilities. If an equal pay policy was set out then staff would not have to worry about being discriminated due to gender and this would not cause any arguments. Other examples are recruitment and selection and ensuring people are selected for the job entirely based on their application form and experience.
Clarify goals and objectives –Employees must be aware of the business aims and objectives that are set by managers ensuring everyone is clear as to what is expected of them in their job. This helps avoid misunderstandings and conflict. Occasional feedback must be given to all staff to certify where they are currently standing at and to take in any improvement that could be made. (Mullins 2007)
Grievance policy and procedure- A grievance procedure is a process that lets you make complaints to, or raise problems with, your employer. This is a guide to how grievances should be handled in the workplace. This procedure is designed to help both the Company and staff deal with grievance issues in a fair and consistent manner. Problems such as terms of employment pay and working conditions However, it is often a good idea to try to sort out the problem by having an informal chat with the relevant people, like your manager, to see if that helps. (indirect, 2009)
Non monetary rewards- Rather than financial resources non monetary rewards may be used to allow better job performance and satisfaction for the staff. For example learning and developing new skills in order to advance is one way to avoid any conflict. A flexible schedule or the occasional afternoon off can help employees meet some of these obligations. By allowing some flexibility in an employees schedule you can increase their desire and motivation. In today's high paced work environment, employees consider recognition of their work and efforts.
Good communications, consultation and involvement in decision making- Managers need to involve their staff with decisions that are made so they feel that they are involved. For example, if a Manager isn't communicating much with the employees, the employees might begin to dislike the Manager and not show any interest in the job. This would automatically cause conflict and disagreements between the manager and employee.
Conflict on Big Brother!
During the reality series Big Brother in 2007 was one of the major conflicts I had ever seen on live TV and highly controversial. The two celebrity housemates Shilpa Shetty and Jade Goody who were involved had many loud arguments and disagreements in the house which lead to spiteful moments, anger and tears. Housemate Shilpa Shetty had been subjected to bullying, allegedly with racism from a few other girls in the big brother house. The complaints received by UK viewer’s detailed concerns over the racial row and showed how furious they were over the situation. This sparked even bigger widespread anger and demonstrations in India, where the alleged racism was reported on the news and led Big Brother's main sponsor Carphone Warehouse to suspend its sponsorship of the show. The conflict was not only just between the housemates but had become a serious issue. (guardian, 2007) .One of the strategy used to resolve the conflict was by the Channel 4 spokesman who apoligised and agreed that participants should be made aware of the controversy, and by evicting housemate Jade goody off the show as punishment and to solve the issue. I think the strategy was effective and the right thing to do as it worked and Jade was out of the show which caused all the chaos to settle.
Conclusion:
A clash of interests, values, actions or directions often sparks a conflict. Conflict can often bring down a business if it is not dealt with cautiously. There are many different strategies to overcome conflict if it occurs. Sometimes Conflict allows an organisation to become a better place to work in because it allows people to speak their minds and have their views to clarify a point.
Reference:
Negotiation training (2009) Coercive Power and Reward Power Tactic [online]. Available from: http://www.negotiationtraining.com.au/articles/coercion-tactics/ Assessed 6 December 2009.
Mullins, L. (2007) Groups, teams and leadership, Eighth edition, Chapter 10, pg 388
Tpub, (2009) Legimtate power [online]. Avaibale from: http://www.tpub.com/content/advancement/14144/css/14144_68.htm Assessed 10 December 2009.
Nidirect, (2009) Grievance precedures [online]. Available from: http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/index/employment/resolving-workplace-disputes/grievances/grievance-procedures-introduction.htm Assessed 15 December 2009.
Mullins, L. (2007) The organisational setting, Eighth edition, Chapter 3, pg 98.
Guardian (2007) Carphone axes Big Brother deal [online]. Available from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/jan/18/business.marketingandpr Assessed 19 December 2009.
