Duke Energy International - Research Paper Example

 Duke Energy International Introduction Duke Energy International is a subsidiary of Duke Energy Corporation; one of the largest electric generation businesses in the US. It has gas distribution service in the Midwest and Carolinas and has power generation facilities in Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala and Peru. Thus, the company is really diverse both in culture and geography. As a result, factors like management, conflict resolution and decision making are of the utmost importance in the company’s management. A look into the company’s sustainability reports shows that in the case of employees, the company offers safe workplace, competitive salary and benefits, open communications, career development opportunities, fair treatment and good corporate reputation. Negotiation Strategies and Potential Conflicts Admittedly, a team is likely to develop conflicts of various kinds which will result in reduced productivity. So, in order for an organization to have an enhanced productivity, innovation, creativity and agility through conflict resolution it is necessary to have a conflict resolution strategy that defuses tension, antagonism and animus. According to Gatlin, Wysocki and Kepner (2009), there are various factors that lead to conflict in an organization; and they are the following: ineffective communication, differences in opinions, behavioral norms and expectations, and differences in working styles. A look into the Duke Energy’s profile proves that the company has a diverse workforce, as well as my team of fourteen members. While 86% of the employees are white, the remaining contains African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, American Indians, and Pacific Islanders (Duke Energy International, 2008). That means the possibility of conflicts is rather high in the organization. The company points out in its sustainability report that it tries its best to develop a workplace that respects diversity and inclusion. Despite its best efforts, the company’s diversity and inclusion policy gets a lower score than its most other areas of leadership (Duke Energy International, 2008). This indicates that the conflict resolution strategies adopted by the company are not as effective as the company intends, and hence, it is useful to analyze how the management could use various strategies to manage conflict. According to Thomas and Kilmann (1974), there are five styles of dealing with conflict. The styles are competition, collaboration, compromise, accommodation, and avoidance. Admittedly, a look into the various conflicts which often turn up in the organization proves that there are three useful conflict resolution strategies that can be adopted successfully. The said strategies are engage strategy, do-not engage strategy, and negotiate strategy (as cited in Trainer, 2010). The first and the most important strategy is the negotiate strategy that has various styles ranging from confrontation, compromise, and collaboration. The negotiate strategy becomes very necessary when the various alternatives available in a given situation are to be found. In an organization like the Duke Energy where there is considerable degree of diversity, this negotiation strategy is of utmost importance. This is so because negotiation reduces misunderstanding and lack of understanding. Moreover, a better alternative may turn out as a result of the negotiation. However, the most important point that makes negotiation the best strategy is the fact that according to studies, employees’ work attitudes and behaviors are significantly influenced by the way they perceive decisions are taken. To illustrate, Brockner, Konovsky, Cooper-Schneider, Folger, Martin and Bies (1994) proved through their study that the impact of layoff on employees’ organizational commitment was considerably smaller when the issue was properly discussed with the employees well in advance. Similarly, the study by Schaubroeck, May and Brown (1994) proved that a negative decision like a pay freeze would have a less severe impact on employee attitude if there is clear explanation for the negative decision. Admittedly, this strategy becomes very useful for the company in its effort to merge with Progress Energy. In such a situation when there is a merger, it is observed in the organization that prior to the merger; many people possess fears about the merger and its consequence on their job security. However, it is possible to overcome such issues through proper explanation regarding the purpose of merger and the possible impact of the said merger on jobs. This helps in reducing fear and anxiety which result in reduced productivity and commitment (The Daily Energy Report). The engage strategy is usually adopted when there is a possibility of collaboration among the members despite the differences in opinion. That means it is useful only when there is an atmosphere that allows mutual discussion. In fact, it seems that this strategy is useful only when there is a win-win situation and when both sides possess a degree of respect for each other. For example, the team I work in often develops two conflicting opinions in a given situation. In such cases, when there is a win-win situation, and when there is no fear of punishment or rejection involved, it is possible to discuss and adopt the best option. However, there are times when emotions are rather high and when there is no possibility of the parties involved taking rational decisions. In such situations, it is possible to adopt the do-not engage strategy that allows either acceptance or avoidance. For example, as the organization has a number of minorities based on sex and ethnicity, it is common for the so-called minorities to feel neglected or abused despite the best efforts from the part of the organization. In such situations, when there is an allegation of racial subjugation by an employee who is too emotionally disturbed to take any rational decision, the best possible way is to adopt avoidance instead of forcing him or her to engage in negotiation at that point of time. This is all the more important when the employee possesses a lose-win attitude towards the authority. By allowing the employee enough time to reach emotional stability which allows rational decisions, the time allowed acts as a cooling off period. Evidence based Management and Duke Energy Admittedly, there are a lot of chances for Duke Energy to incorporate Evidence Based Management in its work environment. As already noted, Duke Energy offers a work environment that is highly diverse in nature. In such a situation, it is observed that the ethnic minorities who belong to below-managerial posts often find it difficult to report everything they face in a proper manner as they fear retaliation. So, for Duke Energy, the first step in Evidence-Based Management will be the creation of such an atmosphere that allows and encourages everyone to tell truth; whatever its consequences may be. Admittedly, there are certain steps taken by the company in order to enhance support for minorities. This interest is evident from initiatives like the Diversity and Inclusion Council, African-America Network, Business Women’s Network, and Latinos (United Duke Energy, 2010). Thus, by creating an atmosphere that is conducive to reality; it is possible to start evidence based management. Once a ‘truth-telling’ environment is created, the second step in adopting Evidence Based Management is to make decisions ‘fact-based’ instead of ‘belief-based’. That means the organization should not take any decision based on the opinion or belief of the majority by ignoring facts. Instead, the best possible evidence should be sought before taking any action. The next point in EBM is to enhance experimentation and learning. According to Lind and Tyler, 1988), in order to understand the importance of such a step, it is necessary to look into the tenets of the group value theory. According to the tenets of group value theory, people tend to develop and maintain social bonds when they think there is fair treatment (p. 83). Admittedly, promoting learning and recognition show that the employer is benevolent and the employees are valid. This allows the employees to develop relationship with their employer from a long term perspective. Thus, when there is promotion of innovation and learning, there is better productivity and commitment. Creative Decision Making There are a number of factors that can hinder the process of creativity. Some such blocks as identified in Duke Energy are taboos, traditional values, and stereotyping. To illustrate, despite the best efforts from the part of the organization to promote creativity and involvement, it is seen that there arises certain degree of stereotyping among the employees that link quality of the suggestion with the quality of the employee. In addition, there are factors like centralized functions and controls, and the desire to reduce uncertainty. Admittedly, creative decision making is the result of so many social, psychological, and environmental factors. As Skinner (1972) identifies in his behaviorist theory (as cited in Winokur, 1971), creative behavior is a response to environmental stimuli. That means appropriate stimuli can lead to better creativity. However, the cognitive approach points out that creativity is the result of making unusual and new mental associations of concepts. The various stages in a creative process, according to Wallas (1926, p.65), are as follows: preparation, incubation, illumination and verification. Now, if this creative decision making process is taken in the context of Duke Energy, it becomes evident that the step of preparation involves trying to know more about the problem to be solved. As a pat of this, the problem, perspectives of the various stakeholders involved, and the immediate alternatives available are all analyzed. The second stage is the incubation stage. In this stage, various alternative solutions are sought and they are compared against each other for their merits and demerits. In fact, there are various opinions among management gurus regarding the way creative decisions should be taken. To illustrate, according to Keeney (1992, p.3), creative decision making should solely think about values; not about the available options. Selecting from alternatives is the way to select more desirable consequences from the available options; and hence, relative desirability links decisions to values. Thus, it becomes evident that instead of looking into the given alternatives, the primary focus of attention should be values. Anyway, once the options are analyzed, the next stage is illumination. That means after the analysis, the most favorable solution to the problem is identified and selected. Following this, Rossman (1931, p. 53) came up with his creativity model that has seven stages ranging from observation, analysis, survey of available information, formulation of objective solutions, critical analysis, development of new idea, and experimentation. Thereafter, Koberg and Bagnall (1981), and Bandrowski (1985) came up with their own models of creative process. An analysis of all these concepts proves that there are six steps in an effective decision-making process. They are creating a constructive environment, generating a number of possible alternatives, exploring the available alternatives, choosing the best option, rechecking the decision, and implementing the decision. References Brockner, J., Konovsky, M., Cooper-Schneider, R., Folger, R., Martin, C., & Bies, R. J. (1994). Interactive effects of procedural justice and outcome negativity on victims and survivors of job loss. Academy of Management Journal, 37(2), 397-409. Duke Energy International. (2008). Sustainability report 2008, 1-75. The Daily Energy Report. (n.d). Duke Energy & Progress Energy merge to create largest American utility. Retrieved from http://www.dailyenergyreport.com/2011/01/duke-energy-and-progress-energy-announce-merger/ Duke Energy. (2010). Our company. Retrieved from http://www.duke-energy.com/company.asp Gatlin, J., Wysocki, A., & Kepner, K. (2009). Managing conflict in workplace. University of Florida, 1-3. Retrieved from http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/hr025 Keeney, R. L. (1992). Value-focused thinking: A Path to Creative Decision Making. USA: Harvard University Press. Lind, E. A., & Tyler, T. R. (1988). The Social Psychology of Procedural Justice. Germany: Springer. Rossman, J. (1931). The Psychology of the Inventor. Switzerland: The Inventors Publishing Co. Schaubroeck, J., May D. R., & Brown, F. W. (1994). Procedural justice explanations and employee reactions to economic hardship: A field experiment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 79(3), 455-460. Trainer, J. (2010). Thomas–Kilmann Instrument Conflict Mode. CPP Inc. Retrieved from https://www.cpp.com/pdfs/smp248248.pdf Winokur, S. (1971). Skinner's theory of behavior. An examination of B. F. Skinner's contingencies of reinforcement: A theoretical analysis. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 15(2), 253-259. Wallas, G. (1926). The Art of Thought. New York: Harcourt Brace. Read More