Conflict Resolution - Essay Example

Conflicts between employees, small groups of employees, or employee unions and employers are manageable because of existence of recognized frameworks that each party can resort to for resolution. Conflicts however threatens an organization’s sustainability when none of the involved parties are willing to be involved in a resolution and existing resolution frameworks are perceived to be incredible. Such was the conflict situation that I experienced in one of my former work environments. The organization had a strong internal workers organization that served both as a union and as a welfare organization.

This identified diversified interest from both employees and the organization’s management. Politics among employees led to polarized alignment with two major opposing groups as the union headed for its elections. Incumbent union leaders were seeking reelection but their main rivals had accused them of working with the management to embezzle union funds and undermine employees’ rights. The political environment became more polarized as rumors spread that the organization’s management was planning to influence elections results in order to retain the incumbent office.

An unidentified group, in masks, then invaded the pooling station, disrupted counting of votes, and physically abused electoral officials. A massive protest then followed this on claims that the management had interfered with the election results to favor the incumbent office. The opposing group of aspirants then mobilized employees to sabotage work and threatened violence and destruction of the organization’s property if the management failed to either recognize them as leaders, or organized for fresh elections that had to be free and fair.

Cause of the conflict The problem in the case was a conflict between the organization’s management and the employees’ fraternity who believed that the organization was misusing its powers to retain a weak leadership that it could continue manipulating in order to exploit employees. The problem identifies a conflict involving three groups in the organization. Employees did not like the way their leadership was managed and the relationship between their incumbent leaders and the organization’s management.

This difference in management of the union developed a disagreement between a large percentage of employees on one side, and the management and the incumbent leaders on the other sides with support from some employees who were accused of being beneficiaries of the management’s influence, or of being cowardice. This difference polarized the political environment into the elections and was therefore a cause of the resultant conflict between the employees who sabotaged the organization’s operations, and the management.

Perceived management’s direct involvement in interfering with the election results is another identifiable cause of the conflict. The organized demonstration was, however, the immediate cause of the conflict that involved a disagreement between the administration and employees. Employees accused the organization’s management of exploiting them and using their leaders to suppress their possible opposition, and demanded that their choice leaders be given an opportunity, and the management stops oppressing them.

Approach to resolving the conflict The management, of which I was part, applied an authoritarian approach to resolvi