Impact of Culture on Employees, Good Communication to Prevent Workplace Conflicts - Essay Example

Introduction The seminar this week is critically exploring the concept of organisational culture. The paper is focusing on issues such as culture, importance of organsational culture, impact of culture on organisations and employees as well as change management. In this paper, I have touched upon on all the aspects related to workplace change and especially focused on issue of workplace conflict and how it could be mitigated through a good communication process. The paper would first and foremost discuss the issue of organisational culture and how it helps in shaping the views and values of an individual as well as group within an organisation. In order to understand workplace conflict, it is important to focus on the aspects of organisational culture, as it plays an important role in creating or resolving conflict situations. Further, organisation culture also has impact on the organisation as well as the employees. The basic characteristic of an organisation is defined by its inherent culture, which is also reflected in the people working or associated with the organisation. Thus, the success of an organisation is largely dependent on the values and culture of the organisation that is translated to its people and client. In order to initiate a change in the organisation, it is imperative to focus on the concept of change management. It should be noted that change management although being initiated internally also impacts the external environment of the organisation. As conflict situation may arise due to various organisational problems, it is important to resolve them by initiating change management. Conflicts in the workplace is inevitable, however, it can also be solved through effective and efficient communication process. The paper therefore, would focus on how a good communication process may help in resolving conflict situations in an efficient manner. Organisational culture Organisational culture is a theory created by researchers to understand the values, attitudes, psychology, beliefs or even an experience of being in an organisation. In general view, it can be considered to be a shared values or norms of a group or individual within an organisation. Although it is not very concrete to explain or define, it can be defined as an observation or any powerful force that an organisation possesses. It can be said to be consisting of the shared values, symbols, beliefs, or behaviors, culture route to an individual’s decision or action which can be at an unconscious level. With the result, it may affect company’s success or its consistent stability. Others define culture as glue that helps holding everyone together. While other consider it to be compass that gives direction. It mainly operates outside of our awareness; culture helps create a common ground for its members or people. It diminishes uncertainty by providing a language for translating issues and events. It gives a sense of order that helps members achieve the expectation set. It gives avenue to contribute for unity and continuity. It also offers vision towards which a company should proceed. In terms of observation, culture is an apparent phenomenon that grows within an organisation, while the strategies and behavior can be supported or managed to gain the organisational goals (Jones 2003). Many hurdles can be associated while attempting to manage or imbibe organisational culture. As per the research conducted the efforts could establish various impacts. It has been found that there is a possibility of huge management sophistication; on the other hand, evidences have been seen that relates to employees becoming more aware for resisting to change. Also, they develop unique or better methods to deal with the situation. It can be a possibility wherein, some employees together approve or accept values from the management, which can be targeted to improve their career growth (Ogbonna & Harris 1998). Impact of culture on organisations and their employees Organisational culture can be defined as the environment formulated in the workplace by constant communication or interactions with employees or staff working in a company. Organisational culture can be defined as the life experiences, weaknesses, strengths, upbringing, education, and other things experienced by them during their tenure in a firm. Although leaders play a pivotal role in crafting the organisational culture by their behavior or actions, a large part is also contributed by employees (Schein 1995). The connection between organisational effectiveness and culture can never be undermined. Research has indicated that culture has huge influence on the performance of a corporate. While explaining the theory of culture and effectiveness, Denison (1997) co-relates four cultural aspects together which are involvement, adaptability, consistency and mission. Consistency and involvement focus towards the internal dynamics within an organisation, but on the other hand, adaptability as well as mission generally targets the relationship between external environment and the organisation. Denison (1997) opines that effectiveness can be also termed to be a function of the beliefs and values that is upheld by members of an organisation; practices and policies evolved by the organisation; the translation of beliefs and core values into practices and policies in a stable manner; and the relationship of beliefs and core values, practices and policies, also the environment of the organisation. Therefore, an integrative structure that takes into consideration the four cultural aspects focusing on flexibility, change, direction and stability provides a better understanding and can help predict the impact within an organisation's culture. The success factor of an organisation is inter-relationship between individual’s ethics and the culture within the organisation. Degree by which an organisation’s values matches up with the values of an individual who executes work for the company provides information to answer question that relates to individual’s match to the work spec. Organisation will keep operating productively given a scenario wherein its key values are provided and shared with the members. Concluding this, employees have to feel comfortable with the behavior that has been imbibed by the organisation so that he or she is motivated and the productivity within the group remains high. Organisation that are high functioning comprise of individuals who have overt behaviors and are consistent with the covert values (Graf 2005). Casey (1999) opines that primary processes and its effects on the so-called "new organisational culture" which is organized on the basis of the practices and principles of Total Quality Management (TQM) and have increasingly put across as corporate organisations during 1990s. He analyzes the effects of the cultural practices within an organisation which can be termed as family or team. Further, cases are discussed with the employee to further understand their role in integration, corporate discipline, and control. He refutes the conventional view which states that practices within a new culture and its purported reformation for specialised, hierarchical, conflict-ridden workplaces that are traditional industrial organisations can empower employees and also provide them with meaningful relationships. On the contrary, the new designer practices is said to serve as processes of discipline, regulation, and control of employee. Large organisations have dominant culture that is shared by most companies. Subcultures which reject these dominant cultures are also defined as countercultures. Organisational cultures that are strong are the ones where these core values of culture are believed in great majority by organisational members. Strong culture increases the behavior within an organisation consistently and also reduces turnover. Although, strong cultures can be not that adaptive to change and can create hurdles to diversity. It can also create barriers for any successful mergers or acquisitions planned. (LaRue & Ivany 2004). Change Management Change management is depicted as creating or making changes within an organisation that needs to be undertaken in a planned or systematic manner. It is also described as a science or art for initiating changes into a system within an organisation. This is conducted through an orderly, planned and systematic manner for making a sense in an organisation and for creating a common platform to the employees, vendors, suppliers and customers (Pettinger 2004). These changes are internal and are affected inside an organisation. Although, most of these changes can impact some external environment and even change the entire organisation, essentially these changes takes place within the internal setup of a company (Kotter 2002). For instance, if an organisation decides to raise the prices of its services or products, it would be seen as an internal change initiated by the management but would invariably impact the external factors i.e. customers or market pricings. Some more internal organisational decisions that may affect the external environment include laying off employees, augmenting production, diversifying and expanding business, changing the management of the company etc (Rieley & Clarkson 2001). In order to create change management, an organisation should be able to understand various arts and sciences such as the psychology of the customers and the market, sociological impact of its decision, business administration, technological innovations, economies, human resources development as well as organisational behavior. Experts opine that changes done in an organisation comprise of several stressful activities that a company has to endure (Taylor & Hirst 2001). The process of change management may involve creating a planned approach for initiating changes within an organisation. The major objective of change management is to provide maximum benefits to all the stakeholders involved in the change process as well as minimise the risks associated with the implementation of the change (Paton & McCalman 2008). The subject of change management mainly deals with the changes in human capital and therefore has many psychological and perception-based implications. The process of change management requires through planning and implementing the changes in a sensitive manner so that the people involved in the change process are not impacted. In case the changes are forcibly introduced, it might result into various issues within the organisation. Therefore the changes need to be realistic as well as achievable (Green 2007). The structure used by organisational change management helps in preventing resistance and thus also reduces the chances of failure for the project as well. However, it has also been seen that many times a business implement changes without communicating them first to the stakeholders being impacted by such changes. This further result in creating discords and higher employee turnover rate within the organisation (Ledez 2008). Therefore, it is essential to implement the right change management method while initiating changes within an organisation. Some of the commonly used change management methods are consultative, collaborative, coercive and directive changes. In consultative change the views of the stakeholders are sought for, while in collaborative change the stakeholders are actively involved in the process. Coercive change means that the stakeholders are only informed about the changes and asked to obey these changes. Directive change on the other hand means that the stakeholders are told about the changes and the reasons for undertaking such changes (Paton & McCalman 2008). In order to initiate organisational changes in a successful manner a company might have to face various challenges. It has been witnessed that most changes fail due to the lack of communication, perceived complexity, issues within the management, absence of goals and objective as well as technical problems. If the changes are not communicated or initiated in a proper manner, it may result into resistance from the employees and customers. If the employees or the customers are unwilling to participate in the change process, then it would become very difficult for a company to initiate any changes and even if they do, it would result in a failure (Burnes 2004). Initiating change management process is a difficult one. However, with careful planning and implementing the change initiatives in a sensitive manner the company may affect the changes easily. The changes should be realistic and achievable and should be initiated in such a manner that it does not create problems for the stakeholder involved in the process (Carnall 2007). While implementing staff changes within the company, it is essential to create an environment of trust and belief. Further, the process should be transparent and the management should discourage any kinds of rumors surrounding the changes. The entire process should be consultative in nature, with the existing staff members being asked for their feedback for the proposed changes (Carnall 2007). Conflicts in the workplace Addressing and recognizing the issues that is responsible for conflict in the workplace is an important issue. If neglected it can impact the working environment and productivity. People mostly fear conflict and seem to avoid at all times. Experts opine that conflict is a normal phenomenon and can be considered to a natural part of personal and normal life. Conflict if addressed rightly and handled in a righteous way can be an added benefit (Wall & Callister 1995). A conflict in the workplace comes up when an individual or a group consider their goals, opinions or values being misled or let down by interdependent people. Although conflicts at workplace can emerge at any levels within and between organisations (De Dreu & Gelfand 2007), not knowing the fact that these conclusions can generalize at all levels of analysis. The center of the essay or the focus is to further discuss and understand some of the impact of conflicts on interpersonal or on a small group level. Conflicts at workplace can be due to resources scarcity that can be responsibilities, budgets and status, it can be due to the value such as religious convictions, political preferences, or morality. It can be about insights or infact the method or rule by which perceive the world and can be combination of issues (De Dreu & Gelfand 2007). Some of the combinations of the issues can give rise to task-related conflicts. This can about the conflicts that a team is managing its job, of certain pros and cons of a task, (Jehn 1994). Some of the other combinations can give rise to relationship conflicts. This is about conflict of people and their values, or even humor (Simons & Peterson 2000). In case the conflict is task-related, or even it is person-related, it can be segregated by the way it can be managed. Deutsch (1973), in the Theory of Cooperation and Competition, stated that people can view interdependent relationship involved through shared interests or common goals. They may like to swim and sink together, which is other words, can be cooperative outcome interdependence. On the other hand, they can view interdependent relationship as growing opposing goals and interests. In this case, one person swims, the other sinks or and vice versa, this can be stated as competitive outcome interdependence. In the case where, people think of cooperative outcome interdependence, they value themselves and also their counterpart’s opinions, interests, and values. While in conflict, they are always engaged in negotiation, debate or even deliberating points of view, which can be seen as seeking solutions for all rather than one particular person. In case where conflicting parties state that competitive outcome interdependence, they most likely value relative advantage. In order to derogate the opinions, interest and values of the peers. In perceived competitive interdependence, conflicting parties engage in bolstering or bargaining, even derogate peers idea and also ridicule other’s values (De Dreu, Weingart & Kwon, 2000). As a result, both task-related conflicts and relationship-related conflicts parties, often time perceive that either competitive or cooperative goal interdependence and its, concomitantly are less constructive.  At workplace and any setting, one is likely to see some forms of conflict. Conflict can be due to the decisions, directions, ideas, and actions. This can be termed as substantive conflict as it works around disagreements on the substance of issues. On the other hand, second form can be termed as personalised conflict which is also termed as personality conflict. The substantive conflict can occur in any issue, but the moving force is that parties disagree about an issue completely. This can be bad or good. If this is handled correctly parties who are in conflict can create people around them to resolve an issue by creativity better than the ones trying to resolve solely. Also, substantive conflict, if handled properly can be productive, while personalized conflict is never good (Simons & Peterson 2000). There are many reasons for this. In case of personalised conflict, the issue is fuelled by emotion, which can be an extension of anger or frustration. And often builds a perception of a personality, of its character or motives. When these conflicts are personalized, every party becomes suspicious. As personalised conflicts are about emotions, problem solving cannot be taken up as all the parties are not interested in resolving the problem. In extreme cases, these parties take extreme ways in creating a new issue which can be real or imaginary. Personalised conflicts get worse over a time period, if it is not into substantive conflict. As each person expects problems, they look out for them and find it and also get people angrier (De Dreu, Weingart & Kwon 2000). In such a case, conflict in a team or even a group level can affect the general outcomes; individual may project it as dissatisfaction in their job, overall turnover and general well being such as profitability, stability or even the reputation at an organisation level. As it may be argued that relationships, or any conflicts that hurt quality of decision-making in a group should be curtailed. This is also responsible for reduction in creativity or innovation and also undermines effectiveness of the team. Task-related conflicts can have positive consequences for the team for taking a decision team effectiveness or innovation (Jehn & Bendersky 2003). Organisations and conflict are often simultaneous. Conflict may have multitude of valuable or dysfunctional consequences that can have immediate impact. The effect of workplace conflict is costly and widespread. Per the studies done, its prevalence can consume 24-60 per cent of time of the management. This again leads to decrease productivity levels, negative performance, absenteeism and in the worst case scenario death. Good communication to prevent workplace conflicts Communication is seen both as the remedy as well as the cause of a conflict situation. In order to establish a harmonious atmosphere within the organisation, it is essential to communicate in an effective manner and resolve the disputes satisfactorily. A manager therefore is required to learn the skills of resolving conflicts by undertaking an efficient communication process. Research indicates that most managers spend around one-third or half of their time focusing on resolving conflicts within the workplace. Therefore, it is crucial for managers to learn how to communicate in an effective manner and resolve conflict situations within the organisation (Coleman 2000). In order to resolve a conflict situation through effective communication, one needs to understand the perspective of the other party as well. In order to do so, it is essential to ask questions in a manner that would not upset the other party and try to solve the issues one-by-one after indulging in a healthy discussion. It is also essential to listen to the other party and not just try and speak. Listening is also an important component of the communication process. In case it becomes difficult to resolve an issue, one may consider including a third party in the conflict to get a neutral opinion about the issue. In such a situation, the third party mediator should be very careful with his communication and should provide only an un-biased and neutral viewpoint about the issue. A conflict situation sometimes occurs due to miscommunication as well. Every individual has a different though process and therefore interprets each situation in a different manner. This interpretation may depend on the characteristic, behavior, ideologies, mood and attitude of the person, which are often different from one person to another. Thus, no two employees may interpret a situation in a similar manner. Such differentiation in opinion also causes heightened conflicts among employees within an organisation (Krauss & Morsella 2000). However, the communications taking place within the workplace also consists of the additional issues regarding the employees experience about relations with other employees, the competitive and aggressive nature to get over each other to reach the top. Such behavioural aspects also create miscommunication between the employees and result into conflict situations. This leads to decline in the effectiveness of the team, individual performance and the organisational efficacy as well. Thus, communication plays a potent role in curbing conflict situations in the workplace. If a manager is faced with a conflict situation he or she needs to focus on solving the conflict through a good communication process. In case the manager is not able to undertake an effective communication process, both the sides would not be able to understand the viewpoints of each other and continue to fight over their differing opinions, resulting into wasting not only time but resources as well (Gurevitch 2001). In order to undertake an efficient communication process, the manager should be able to understand the situation in a proper manner and analyse the viewpoints of the conflicting parties. Thereafter, the manager should decipher the meanings from their viewpoints and present it to both the parties in a cohesive and unbiased manner. Once the manager is able to create put forth the point of view of both the parties, it would be easier to reach to a compromise stage. Compromise is regarded as the most important factor in resolving a conflict situation. In case the viewpoints expressed by both the parties are subjective in nature and there is no clear defining factor of right or wrong in them, it would be very difficult to arrive at a solution and grant the verdict to one party. Thus, in such situations, compromise becomes a major approach to resolve the issue. In a compromise situation, both the parties are allowed to have their say and influence the decision. This also reduces the possibility of heightened conflict as both the parties get something in return. Further, the perspectives of both the parties are addressed in the process of compromise. Therefore, the acceptance for a compromise is much likely in a conflict situation. However, to reach to a compromise situation, it is important for the manager to indulge in a good communication process (Rahim 2002). The process of effective communication requires both positive as well as proactive approach. In case a person approaches the process through a negative mind frame, it yields negative results only. However, people who try to resolve a conflict situation through positive approach through an open communication, is able to solve the issue in a better manner (Rahim 2002). In order to conduct the communication in a successful manner, it is essential to avoid using accusations and carefully choose the right words. Otherwise, the situation may get out of hand and the conflict would be escalated further. Therefore, the manager should ask the queries in a polite manner, which would help in not making the conflicting parties defensive in their approach. Further, even when one party is on a wrong side, it is necessary not to react to their opinions in a negative manner. Instead, the manager should listen to their issues and problems as well and if found to be wrong, he should mitigate them and make them understand the point of views of the other party, without resorting to an accusing tone (Krauss & Morsella 2000). Thus, communication is considered to be the most important and valuation factor for success for an organisation. The companies which do not provide a platform or encourage open communication and endorse it as a part of their culture would face various conflict situations. It is important to remember that in case of any conflict situation, it is important to manage it through good communication. A positive approach to a conflict and an efficient communication process would help in resolving any issue and turning it in a positive manner. Further, not every conflict would end with a bad turn and has negativity around it. Some conflicts also provide insight into the changing organisational requirements and help in initiating a change process within the organisation. Reference Burnes, B. 2004, ‘Managing Change: A Strategic Approach to OrganisationOrganizational Dynamics,’ 4th edn, Harlow: Prentice Hall. Carnall, C. 2007, ‘Managing Change in Organizations,’ Prentice Hall, 307-310. Casey, C. 1999, ‘”Come Join Our Family”: Discipline and Integration in Corporate Organizational Culture’ Human Relations, 52 (2), 155-178. Coleman, P. T. 2000, ‘Power and Conflict,’ The Handbook of Conflict Resolution - Theory and Practice, Deutsch, M. and Coleman, P. T., Jossey-Bass, San Francisco. De Dreu, C. K. W. and Gelfand, M. J. 2007, ‘Conflict in the workplace: Sources, dynamics, and functions across multiple levels of analysis’, In C. K.W. De Dreu, &M. J. Gelfand (Eds.), The psychology of conflict and conflict management in organizations, New York: Lawrence Erlbaum. De Dreu, C. K. W., Weingart, L. R. and Kwon, S. 2000, ‘Influence of social motives in integrative negotiation: A Meta-analytic review and test of two theories’, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 889–905. Denison, D. R. 1990, ‘Corporate Culture and Organizational Effectiveness,’ New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Deutsch, M. 1973, ‘The resolution of conflict: Constructive and destructive processes’, New Haven: Yale University Press. Graf, A. B. 2005, ‘Building Corporate Cultures,’ Chief Executive, 18. Green, M. 2007, ‘Change management masterclass: a step by step guide to successful change management,’ London: Kogan Page Publishers. Gurevitch, Z. D. 2001, ‘The Power of Not Understanding - The meeting of Conflicting Identities,’ The Conflict and Culture Reader, Chew, P. K., New York University Press, New York Jehn, K. 1994, ‘Enhancing effectiveness: An investigation of advantages and disadvantages of value-based intragroup conflict’, International Journal of Conflict Management, 5, 223–238. Jehn, K. and Bendersky, C. 2003, ‘Intragroup conflict in organizations: A contingency perspective on the conflict-outcome relationship’, In R. M. Kramer, & B. M. Staw (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior (Vol. 25, pp. 187–242), Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Elsevier. Jones, G. R. 2003, Organisational Theory, Design, and Change, Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall. Kotter, J. P. 2002, ‘The Heart of Change, Real Life Stories of how People Changed Their Organization’, Boston: Harvard Business School. Krauss, R. M. and Morsella, E. 2000, ‘Communication and Conflict,’ The Handbook of Conflict Resolution - Theory and Practice, Deutsch, M. and Coleman, P. T., Jossey-Bass, San Francisco. LaRue, B. and Robert R. I. 2004, ‘Transform Your Culture’, Executive Excellence, 14–15. Ledez, R. E. 2008, ‘Change management: Getting a tuned up organization’, Business Intelligence Journal, 111-119. Ogbonna, E. and Harris, L. 1998, ‘Managing Organizational Culture: Compliance or Genuine Change?’, British Journal of Management, 9, 273-288. Paton, R. A. and McCalman, J. 2000, ‘Change Management: A Guide to Effective Implementation,’ 2nd edn, London: SAGE Publications. Pettinger, R. 2004, ‘Contemporary Strategic Management’, Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan. Rahim, M. A. 2002, ‘Toward a Theory of Managing Organisational Conflict’, International Journal of Conflict Management, 13 (3), 206. Rieley, J. B. and Clarkson, I. 2001, ‘The impact of change on performance,’ Journal of Change Management, 2(2), 160–172. Schein, E. H. 1995, ‘Organizational Culture and Leadership: A Dynamic View’, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Simons, T. L. and Peterson, R. S. 2000, ‘Task conflict and relationship conflict in top management teams: The pivotal role of intragroup trust,’ Journal of Applied Psychology, 85, 102–111. Taylor, P. and Hirst, J. 2001, ‘Facilitating effective change and continuous improvement: The Mortgage Express way,’ Journal of Change Management, 2(1), 67–71. Wall, J. and Callister, R. 1995, ‘Conflict and its management’, Journal of Management, 21, 515–558. Read More