Could Babatunde Have Avoided the Conflict at Vidsoft - Assignment Example

Title: Organizational Behavior Student’s Name: Instructors Name: Course Code and Name: Institution: Date Assignment is due: Could Babatunde have avoided this conflict at Vidsoft? How? Employee personalities play a very important role in the achievement of the goals of an organization. Organizational behavior studies postulate that most of the problems in an organization are caused by the leader’s inability to map correctly the employee’s personality traits. If it’s not this, then it’s the inability of the manager or the leader to take appropriate action when a certain personality begins to manifest negatively (Miner 2005, pp.47). Indecisiveness in a manager is intolerable because it creates a host of problems that can actually destroy an organization. The conflict in Vidsoft, with all its characteristics of a catch 22 situation is controllable. This is because it is more of a personality problem than an organizational problem. This is not to deny the fact that it has escalated and mutated into an ugly monster that threaten the morale and employee trust in Vidsoft. Looking at it from the organizational behavior lens, one can see the management loopholes that have created this monster in an otherwise stable department. Emotions have played havoc in this scenario and an emotionally adept manager can salvage the situation and resolve the conflict. Or to put it otherwise, the unfortunate situation could have been prevented in the first place (Miner 2005, pp.47). Babatunde could have prevented the conflict that arose in his department. He could have done this by acknowledging the different personalities that are clashing in this case. This is because as this paper records elsewhere, the key to managing people effectively is to understand their emotional makeup or composition. The second step after understanding the emotional make up is to work along the lines of emotional wiring that will bring the appropriate result, or as in this case, to prevent a potentially explosive conflict that can ruin the careers of the employees involved. First and foremost, knowing that Hsu is a problem employee in the area of relations, he should have learned to handle him from the very beginning. Alex Hsu being a non team player should not have been left to manipulate his way in Vidsoft. According to psychologists and organizational behaviorists, Hsu is a bully manipulator who wants to have his way at the expense of everyone else. Hsu, being a non team player will probably get along with very few people. His inability to respect those he sees as inferior to him is due to his inferiority complex. Inferiority complex mixed with aggressiveness and arrogance is potentially harmful to an individual, and quite destructive to the organizational culture. This is because an organization is supposed to function like a family and when one cog is out of line, the whole setup is potentially doomed (Miner 2005, pp.47). Babatunde could have prevented the conflict by moving Hsu to the division without a manager. Only that he should have done it before Alex came to him. This is because Hsu being of average ability but taking an exaggerated view of his abilities can not be able to respect Li. Not because she is lacking in her abilities, but because Hsu cannot find within himself to respect her because he thinks that she is undeserving because she does not have a background in computers or science for that matter. Li is of submissive character that is why she breaks down when they have the meetings between the three of them. Although she scores high on other leadership areas, this is an area that she fails miserably and one that can derail her career and the organization. The other thing or option that Babatunde could have adopted is to have considered hiring outside the firm as is the custom when no one deserving is found within the firm. This could have at least given peace to Hsu.This is because at the core of things, Hsu thinks that he is good material for manager. He thinks that he has been with the company for a longer period than Li. He also thinks that because he has a background in science, he is more suited for the manager’s job than anyone else in that company. His tantrums are actually meant to draw attention to the fact that he is qualified and deserves more than he has been currently offered. The problem is that he cannot make a manager being a non team player and given his emotional standing and make up. The solution then would have been to bring in an outsider manager as the company stipulates when no one is found worthy of the position in the firm. The other option which Babatunde could have taken would have been to take Hsu for counseling, or even better to take both Li and Hsu for personality counseling, but take them separately. How can Vidsoft prevent this type of problem from happening again? This type of a problem has been caused by a leadership failure. The three leaders involved, Li, Alaji Babatunde and James White have all failed in one way or another. But the leader who has failed most is Babatunde. This is because he knows the personalities involved in this conflict. He has let Hsu manipulate the situation in Vidsoft to the extent that there is a conflict. He has also resolved to a dialogue between Li and Hsu. It should be remembered that he made his decision to promote too early and promoted Li even when she had misgivings about her ability to manage. Li has also failed because she has been pushing her problems to her manager. Breaking down in front of a personality like Hsu is also a career blunder that she should not have made. James White, who is very competitive and who often gets involved in departmental affairs to rescue a potentially explosive situation, has failed because his input in the conflict at hand has been minimal. The paper has first gone to a considerable length to give the postmortem of the conflict because it is essential in solving future problems in Vidsoft. Vidsoft can prevent the problem in the future by training its manager’s on emotional management (Miner 2005, pp.47). The top managers like Babatunde should be trained on how to emotionally handle all types of personalities. This is because had Babatunde been emotionally savvy in handling the situation, the ensuing pain could have been avoided. The company can also prevent the situation from happening in the future by giving managerial positions to persons with the personality traits of a leader. This means giving the position to people who don’t base their personal worth on internal values and people who are self confident. The firm can do this by personality profiling and testing. This is because the personality of a leader determines the organizational culture and is central to the success of the organization. The popular cliché is true; everything stands or fails on leadership (Miner 2005, pp.47). Compare and contract transactional vs. Transformational leadership -provide one example for each. Transactional leadership differs from transformational leadership significantly. Transactional leadership is built along the foundation of position and hierarchy. This leadership style is typified by a domineering boss who is removed in some sense from the people he or she is leading. On the other hand, transformational leadership is typified by leadership that derives its power from the creation of trust and good understanding among its followers (Miner 2007, 89). Transactional leadership is based on the idea of reciprocity, the belief that reward is the chief motivation behind any assignment done by a follower to a leader. Thus, according to transactional leadership; pay, social recognition and other rewards drive workers in the work place. Transformational leadership on the other hand succeeds through engaging followers’ hearts and minds in achieving tasks placed before them (Miner 2007, pp.89). Transactional leadership requires leaders and managers to organize tasks and organization’s activities together with their employees. It also calls for proper communication and clarification of goals to employees by the leaders. Direct control is inevitable in this leadership style. Transformational leadership on the other hand is less on direct control. It requires a different set of leader characteristics altogether (Miner 2007, 89). Transactional leadership requires leadership qualities like the ability to work out problems, to plan, to work within structures, to organize and the ability to obtain results. On the other hand, transformational leadership requires the leadership skills of persuasion, empathy, stewardship and understanding, among others. Transformational leadership is about the long term goals of the organization. It establishes a vision for the organization and follows it (Miner 2005, pp.47). Both transactional leadership and transformational leadership motivate the followers or employees in one way or another. The two styles of leadership are also based on proactivity to a large extent. Both stem from the psychological and sociological schools of charismatic leadership although they differ on the application of interpersonal skills on the leadership scale. Transformational leadership is normative and in this regard Charles Taylor or even Hitler would be considered leaders. Transactional leadership takes in to account morality and David yang of Yahoo would be considered a leader under this style. Why is emotional intelligence so important to leadership - explain. Emotional intelligence is quite crucial to leadership in particular and management in general. Daniel Goleman in his 2006 book, social Intelligence: The New Science of Social Relationships posted that emotions go a long way in influencing decisions than the rational brain. People are what their emotions are (Goleman 2006, pp. 118). Most problems that emerge in the work place can be traced to emotions. The leader who is emotionally adept will run a clean ship and will not be called often to solve unnecessary problems. Emotional intelligence enables the leader in an organization to map his employees emotionally and know their capabilities in handling situations in the work place. It informs the leader as to who to put in a particular department depending on the individual’s emotional strengths and weaknesses. Emotional intelligence is quite important to leadership because it helps leaders to handle and solve problems in the work place. This is because the emotional brain or emotions for that matter are known to hijack the rational mind and blow a typically simple situation out of proportion (Goleman 2006, pp 118). Managing people is knowing what to expect of them in different settings and scenarios. It actually involves the ability to anticipate them in advance. This quality of being able to at least anticipate people and their ‘would be’ reactions is only attained through emotional intelligence. This is because emotional intelligence like other intelligences can be developed through conscious effort. To achieve organizational goals and a measure of success in the work place, the leader must be emotionally intelligent (Goleman 2006, pp 118). References Goleman, D 2006, social Intelligence: The New Science of Social Relationships, Bantam, New York Viewed October 20, 2010, http://www.google.co.ke/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=g7y&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&q=%23+Social+Intelligence%3A+The+New+Science+of+Social+Relationships+%282006%29+Bantam+Books.+ISBN+978-0553803525&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai= Miner, JB 2007, Organizational Behaviour: From theory to practice, M.E Sharpe inc., New York. Viewed October 20, 2010, Miner, JB 2005 Organizational Behavior: Leadership and motivation, M.E Sharpe inc., New York. Viewed October 20, 2010, Read More