The Key Problems in Inspiration and the Nature of the Conflicts - Case Study Example

Management Report - Base on Case study Table of Contents The Key Problems in ‘Inspiration’ and the Nature of the Conflicts 3 Recommendation 6 References 9 The Key Problems in ‘Inspiration’ and the Nature of the Conflicts In the hair and beauty salon named ‘Inspirations’, Alison Burns co-ordinates as well as manage the operations of the salon. She was also appointed as the manager of the salon. Being a manager, she wanted to ensure a better working condition for all the employees of the salon. In addition, she aimed at proving that payment is not the only way to motivate employees. Alison has eleven employees under her observation in the salon. In the case of first permanent employee, Sally Bishop, who worked as a hair stylist, Alison has developed a strong bonding with her. On the other hand, for the other employees, Alison was not able to generate such same types of bonding through working. There was another problem occurred when new employees joined in the salon. There was typical problem according to the ‘generation gap’. The tenth employee of salon, Simon Wilson was just twenty years old a trainee hair stylist and Alison was working in this styling industry for long twenty years. Here the situation was quite clear that ‘Inspirations’ included employees from different ages, and this was a good sign. On the other side, the manager, Alison wanted to develop a healthy working environment within the salon, but implementation of new thoughts has been needed for re-venturing as well as welcoming the new-comers in this styling industry. In this regard, ‘generation gap’ has been identified an as important problem (Tilly, 2005). Additionally, Alison as a manager of the salon desired to generate a healthy working condition within the workplace. As a co-ordinator as well as manager, she wanted enhanced development for the salon along with its employees. The employees are identified to be ineffective in providing services on the basis of the needs of the customers and organisational objectives. In this respect, each and every employee is recognised to lack understanding about the goals as well as objectives of the organisation or the tagline of working together. Additionally, every employee is needed to follow some basic regulations within the organisation or salon, so that operations are performed in accordance with organisational goals. In this context, every employee must follow these regulations for organisational effectiveness (Gleditsch & et. al., 2002). Alison has a firm believe that along with salary and remunerations, an effective workplace environment is also identified to be an important motivator. Alison as an experienced hair stylist as well as manager of the salon having the belief that payment is not the only motivator is recognised to be ignored by the employees. In this developing world, people are identified to be money oriented as well as materialistic. According to their thoughts, money is the main motivator. In this respect, the situation within the salon concluded that there was a vast difference in between the thoughts of manager and the thinking process of young trainee employees. This particular situation also concluded a conflict in between the employees and the manager of the salon (Goodwin & et. al., 2004). In addition, work distribution pattern of the organisation is also an important consideration for ensuring that business operations are performed in a systematic manner. Contextually, Alison has the responsibility to distribute all the work within the salon among the employees systematically and on the basis of competency. In this case of the salon, it has been identified that conflicts have increased due to the fact that the first permanent employee of the salon was responsible for performing various activities. On the other hand, new joiner named Simon is seemed to be confused about their job roles. Because of that, conflict raised between Maria and Simon, which adversely affected the organisational performance to a large extent. In addition, complexities have been observed due to destruction of chain of command. In this context, ineffective chain of command has been determined to be an important reason for lack of coordination amid the employees within the organisation. Decentralisation has been also recognised to be a problem leading to conflicts within the operational process. Alison has four shops within 22 mile area and accordingly, the manager faced complexities in managing as well as controlling the operations of the shops in an effective way. Her basic norms are based on trust. However, her other employees did not trust each other. On the other hand, Alison believed in informal work culture, but the employees are identified to be inappropriate in performing operations based on organisational norms (Hironaka, 2005). Employees are recognised to be having different perception and attitude among others for cultural difference owing to which personal as well as professional life is identified to be different. In this regard, the manager is needed to develop an effective workplace culture, so that the employees are able to perform their operations cooperatively and as a team. In this regard, it has been identified that Alison has a strong relationship with Sally, but not with the rest of each employee of the salon (Laitin, 2007). Alison divided her employees as per their experiences as well as salary payments. This was a normal tendency of the managerial work in terms of the organisational culture as well as structure. Based on organisational design, transparency among the employees within the organisation is needed to avoid unnecessary conflicts. Transparency in terms of salary or organisational norms is needed to be clear to the employees, as lack of transparency may lead towards conflict situation (McAdam, 1983). For the rising conflict situation within the salon, it is quite essential to maintain customer satisfaction on a regular basis. In addition, Alison is identified to be receiving a large amount of complaints from the customers in terms of dissatisfaction, which is an important sign depicting the ineffectiveness of the organisation to perform operations in an effective way. In this regard, lack of satisfaction is also recognised to be an important issue for conflict within the organisation (McAdam & et. al., 2001). Absenteeism is another serious problem for any organisation. It is harmful for the organisation to provide the required services on the basis of the needs of the customers. Absenteeism has been a vital problem for the salon. Absenteeism is a problem raised due to conflict between employees, lack of communication with the authority along with lack of proper incentives (Mann, 2005; McAdam, & et. al., 2001). In this regard, from an effective analysis of conflict faced within the organisation, it has been identified that the key areas on conflict are generation gap, customer dissatisfaction and absenteeism Recommendation To resolve these problem areas, Alison, who is the manager of Inspiration named salon must incorporate some effective measures within the system. In addition, Alison is needed to formulate certain recommendations based on which the operations of the organisation can be performed in an enhanced manner (Noel, 2005). According to the problem area i.e. ‘generation gap’ faced by the salon, Alison as an experienced manager has planned to recruit individuals representing different age group, so that business operations are performed in a competent manner. Accordingly, for mitigating generation gap, employees are needed to be provided with effective training as well as development program based on which the employees can manage their operations with effective cooperation. Moreover, to avoid such type of situation, Alison must know her employees through regular interactions and consultations. By conducting meeting, she would able to know the employees’ problem areas, their expectations, as well as their working style. Regular basis interactions would help to build a strong bonding and good relationship between the employees and the manager (Naimark, 2001). Alison should be accountable for employee interaction and she should be responsible to communicate the employees about the organisational objectives. With the training classes, Alison should conduct extra some classes that include grooming sessions, relationship building sessions along with consultations. This would help to motivate all the employees as well as through this kind of sessions; Alison would able to transfer her axiom “money is not the only motivator” to the employees (Oberschall, 2007). Moreover, she should be accountable for other thing such as ‘recognition’, as employee recognition is essential for motivating employees within the organisation. If Alison does not agree to provide incentives to the employees, then she should follow some other measures to motivate employees. She would adopt certification or recognition for the employees to motivate them towards the work (Marshall & et. al., 2003). Work distribution was another tough job to the manager and accordingly, Alison should ensure effective work distribution on the basis of her experience level. Along with that, she is also required to provide salary on the basis of their competency level. To avoid conflict among the employees based on work distribution and salary, Alison should incorporate some motivational culture within the work culture of ‘Inspiration’. Transparency within the organisation was always needed for avoiding conflict situations among the employees of the salon. According to the B. F. Skinner’s theory, motivation is divided on two types that include positive reinforcement motivation and negative reinforcement motivation. Alison lacks negative reinforcement manager behaviour, which indicates punishment for negative reinforcement. On the other hand, positive reinforcement indicates reward for better work (Pardee, 1990). Alison should introduce a training session for the new comer of the organisation for having an effective understanding about organisational objectives. In addition, she must develop some behavioural regulations for its employees to avoid any types of conflicts in between the older employees as well as the new employees of the salon. In this regard, Alison implementing positive reinforcement will be facilitated in building an appropriate workplace culture to avoid absenteeism among the employees. In addition, the problem of absenteeism can be mitigated by developing a healthy relationship amid the employs (Ball, n. d.). References Ball, B., No Date. What actually is Motivation? A Summary of Motivation Theories, pp. 2-25. Gleditsch, N. P. & et. al., 2002. Armed Conflict 1946-2001: A New Dataset. Journal of Peace Research, Vol. 39, Iss. 5, pp. 615-637. Goodwin, J. & James, J., 2004. Rethinking Social Movements: Structure Meaning and Emotion. Lanham. Rowman and Littlefield. Hironaka, A., 2005. Neverending Wars: The International Community, Weak States and the Perpetuation of Civil War. Harvard University Press. Laitin, D., 2007. Nations, States and Violence. Oxford University Press. Mann, M., 2005. The Dark Side of Democracy: Explaining Ethnic Cleansing. Cambridge University Press. Marshall, M. G. & et. al., 2003. Peace and Conflict 2003. University of Maryland, CIDCM. McAdam, D. & et. al., 2001. The Dynamics of Contention. Cambridge University Press. McAdam, D., 1983. Tactical Innovation and the Pace of Insurgency. American Sociological Review, Vol. 48, pp. 735–54. Naimark, N., 2001. Fires of Hatred: Ethnic Cleansing in the 20th Century. Harvard University Press. Noel, S., 2005. From Power Sharing to Democracy. McGill University Press. Oberschall, A., 2007. Conflict and Peace Building in Divided Societies: Responses to Ethnic Violence. Routledge. Pardee, R. L., 1990. Motivation in the Workplace. Synopsis of Selected Motivational Theories, pp. 1-15. Tilly, C., 2005. Identity, Boundaries, Social Ties. Paradigm. Read More