Problems and Challenges Facing Organizations Concerning Conflict Management - Case Study Example

Case Study: Promotion Affiliation Case Study: Promotion The National Finance Division is facing a crisis in the humanresources department that requires to be fixed immediately. Two of the division employees are engaged in a tussle concerning promotion, which has led to their constant disagreements and psychological problems. The employees that are directly involved are Tania and John in which John feels that Tania’s promotion was unfair and that Tania got it because she is a woman. John, therefore, feels that there is some gender discrimination in the company as far as promotion is concerned. Since Tania got the promotion five years back, the two have not been on good working terms yet they rely on each other in their daily functions. The situation can cause disharmony in the finance division as other employees also engage in reporting issues to the two parties concerning each other. For instance, Tania supporters keep her updated of whatever John says behind her back, which makes the situation worse since the information might be exaggerated. The situation has caused a lot of stress to the two parties as according to reports. There is communication barrier in the finance division because there seem to be two groups one in support of Tania and the other John. The type of conflict that manifests itself is the interpersonal conflict. The interpersonal conflict occurs between two or more persons in the same group or various different groups (DeChurch, Hamilton & Haas, 2007). In the case under discussion, the interpersonal conflict is between Tania and John and their workmates. Most of the workmates support Tania and ensures that she is what John is talking behind her back. The conflict is mostly due to communication barrier as no concrete dialogue can take place between the two parties who end upn shouting at each other. The interpersonal conflict between the two parties is mainly due to the conflicting interest as John feels that Tania got promotion just because she is a woman. John is interested in getting the promotion and feels bad when he does not get it. The parties in conflict clash because of their attitudes towards the organization in which John feels that the university favours women promotion and that why Tania got the promotion. Two cannot resolve their personal differences and cannot set aside their personal prejudices once they reach their workplace. The model or approach for identification of the conflict is the Conflict Theory that argues that a society consists of persons that view social life as full of competition for the scarce resources. The theory focuses on the distribution of power, resources, and inequality among workmates in an organization or institution (Lewicki, Weiss & Lewin, 1992). In the case study, John competes for promotion to a position that Tania occupies and feels bad because he does not get it. Competition for the post has led to the split of the organization employees into two groups one supporting Tania and the other John, which has made the situation worse. Resolving the conflict will be difficult as Tania receives exaggerated reports concerning Johns views about her from her supporters. Similar reports get to the manager through rumours and not as official reports. The other model or approach is the modern Feminism theory, an approach that tends to recognize and favour women in political, social, and economic functions. In the case study, Jon feels that Tania got the promotion simply because she is a woman as his applications to a similar position have not been considered. The feeling of discrimination can make it difficult to address conflicts in big organizations and come up with a good resolution through various strategies (Rahim, 2015). The other theory is the critical approach that assesses the society and culture critique in various social settings. John criticizes the university’s culture and structure that he feels that it favours women when it comes to matters of promotion. Interactionism Theory is another one that can explain the situation in the case study, which explains cooperation and identity formation and conflict in a group. There is a poor social interaction between Tania and John in the case study as any attempt of face-to-face communication is impossible as it results to shouting. Any reconciliation attempt by the officers does not bear any fruits because of the interaction constraints that are present between the two. Structure and Agency approach is another one that helped identify the conflict in the case in which the current structures in the finance division influences the promotion method of the employees. In this approach, individuals cannot act as free agents but can only act in the manner dictated by the social structure of an organization. John complains that the university structure favours women a belief that made him act very rudely to Tania. The major players in the conflict are John and Tania, who are engaged in a promotion tussle yet they have to rely on each other for their work in the division. John fuels the hatred between the two by feeling jealous and attacking Tania for her promotion into a senior position. According to him, Tania got the position because of the division structuring that is in favour of women position unfair competition. He, therefore, blames feminism approach for the promotion and feels that the university is unfair to men. Tanias supporters also play a major role in the conflict as they give reports on Johns criticism on Tania, which worsens the relationship and resulting in psychological stress. The division head is also a player in the conflict since he has a role to play to make sure that the employees remain united as they carry on their activities. The major issues in the conflict are power imbalance, high motion, gender, cultural, psychological, and jealousy. John feels that there is power imbalance finance division where women are given some privileges to men hence rising to power without difficulties. The high emotion is also a major issue in the case as the two John and Tania cannot talk calmly and solve their social issues. High emotion hinders reconciliation and conflict management in an organization as argued by Tekleab, Quigley & Teslu (2009). Tania complains that whenever she tries to talk to John calmly regarding the promotion issue, they result to shouting at each other. Gender issues also arise due to the current structure of the university finance division that gives women some added advantage when it comes to matters of promotion. In fact, promotion of a woman is the cause of the communication breakdown between John and Tania since his applications for a similar position are always rejected. The university culture also facilitates the interpersonal conflict in the division as seen, by the way, the colleagues’ acts concerning the matter. The Head of the division gets the information through rumours and does not get to the root of the problem. Jealousy also exists as portrayed by John, who feels that Tania does not deserve the post and furiously attacks her leading to psychological stress. Tania’s supporters also deliver John’s message to Tania as a rumour and do not address it officially with the management. Psychological issues result from the stress that the John and Tania experience due to their communication breakdown. The two let external parties such as Tania partner and their supporters to handle their problems instead of solving them with the management. There are various strategies that can help solve the conflict in the finance division such as collaborating, competing, compromising, and accommodation (Chou & Yeh, 2007). The competition involves the use of authority in which the aggressive individual pressurizes the other one to achieve the ultimate goal. The individual will utilize whatever means he/she thinks is the right one to solve the problem. The only precaution the aggressive individual should take is to avoid unreasonable actions. The individual should deal with the conflict with a very open mind to avoid worsening it further. In this case, Tania being the aggressive individual can initiate the resolution by using any available means that can yield good results in uniting the two. She has tried to address the issue calmly with John, but they have ended up shouting at each other. Competing strategy encourages the party to keep on pressurizing the other party and that what Tania should do. The other management strategy is the compromising strategy in which the management should come up with the best resolution for the conflict acceptable to both parties (Corvette, 2007). The parties will have to sacrifice their set goals resulting to the mutual give and take situation for the two parties. The strategy will help to reunite the employees in conflict leaving no room for more accusations. The problem with the strategy is that the parties but may ignore more creative and better ways of solving the problem. The strategy will create a peaceful environment for the parties as the solution results from a mutual agreement. Collaborating is another management strategy of finding a solution through cooperation with the other parties involved in the conflict. Communication is very important in this strategy as thorough discussion and investigation of the cause of conflict is important (Behfar, Peterson, Mannix & Trochim, 2008). The parties’ interests are of great importance to avoid compromising their satisfactions. The strategy is good because it involves communication between the two parties and any other party involved in the case such as the workmates. Accommodating strategy is another possible means to address an interpersonal conflict in which the opposing side gets what it demands as asserted by Jones & Brinkert (2007). In the case study, the management can give in Johns demands by promoting him to a similar position in the university to maintain a peaceful atmosphere. The main problem with the method is that there is a likelihood of a similar occurrence for the other employees creating another challenge for the management. The means will help reduce the tension and enmity between John and Tania creating a peaceful atmosphere for everyone to work in. If John is transferred to another department after the promotion, there will be no trouble since they will not report to each other again. Implementing the strategies will require a lot of effort by the management, the parties in conflict, and the colleagues. For the competition strategy, the management will encourage the aggressive individual to keep on insisting and pressurizing the other party to make peace and resolve their issue. The parties should be required to submit their agreements and resolutions to the management for evaluation. Implementation of the compromising strategy will require the management to come up with concrete resolutions for the two parties involved and set more rules for the Finance division. The rules can be for prohibiting spreading of rumours among the employees and avoidance of unnecessary quarrels at the place of work. A reconciliatory committee will also help in settling the issue and any other that may arise in the Finance Division through mediation according to Moore (2014). For the accommodating strategy, implementation will require the university to address the matter and promote John to the post he requires or transfer him to another division after the promotion. The management will need to review his promotion applications and recommend him for the post, which will make him more comfortable at work. To implement the collaborative strategy, the division management will collect views of many stakeholders and act accordingly. The division will set policies that will govern the behaviour of all the employees to avoid creation of more conflict once the current is solved. Good decision making is of the great essence here to strike a balance among all the stakeholders and avoid unnecessary fights among the employees (Somech, Desivilya & Lidogoster, 2009). For instance, the division structuring of the finance department that John thinks favours women will need to be addressed. No one should be given preference when it comes to promotion, but it should be a matter of merit. Once the Finance division implements all the mentioned strategies, there will be cooperation and good communication among all the workers and their seniors. The case study identifies problems and challenges facing many organizations especially concerning conflict management. Interpersonal conflict is common in many workplaces just like in the university finance division where John and Tania find it difficult to accommodate each other. The conflict can be explained by the use of various models such as the Critical and Structure and Agency approaches. The major problems in the conflict are power imbalance, high motion, gender, cultural, psychological, and jealousy. The various strategies that can help solve the conflict in the finance division are collaborating, competing, compromising, and accommodation. The strategies require urgent implementation by all the stakeholders of the National University Finance Division to arrest the situation before it worsens. References Behfar, K. J., Peterson, R. S., Mannix, E. A., & Trochim, W. M. (2008). The critical role of conflict resolution in teams: a close look at the links between conflict type, conflict management strategies, and team outcomes. Journal of applied psychology, 93(1), 170. Chou, H. W., & Yeh, Y. J. (2007). Conflict, conflict management, and performance in ERP teams. Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal, 35(8), 1035-1048. Corvette, B. A. B. (2007). Conflict management: A practical guide to developing negotiation strategies. Pearson Prentice Hall. DeChurch, L. A., Hamilton, K. L., & Haas, C. (2007). Effects of conflict management strategies on perceptions of intragroup conflict. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 11(1), 66. Jones, T. S., & Brinkert, R. (2007). 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