Organizational Behavior - Impact of Conflicts at Workplace and Conflict Handling Styles - Essay Example

Organizational Behavior Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Code: Date of Submission: Introduction The behavior of employees at workplace is influenced by a number of factors. These factors can be both internal and external and this affects the productivity of the employees at workplace. The personal attributes affect the productivity of the employees since it influences the motivation and working relationships at workplace (Kreitner & Kinicki 2014). The attribute selected in this assignment is the conflict style and this means that the styles of managing the workplace conflicts will be discussed in details as well as the impact of the conflicts to personal outcome and the outcome of the organization. Impact of conflicts at workplace Conflicts at workplace are inevitable. This is because the employees come from different backgrounds and this means that they handle different situations differently. This affects the productivity of the employees at the personal level and outcome of the organization. Based on self experience, conflict affects the working relationship with other employees (Hughes et al 2012). This is because of the different interests that can lead to poor working relationship thus affecting the outcome of the organization at large. However, there are positive conflicts that can help to improve the quality of decisions especially at team level. This is because the different opinions which are provided can help to develop competent decisions which are made. Another impact of conflicts at workplace is that conflicts affect the motivation of the employees both at the personal level and the organizational level. Based on self experience, conflicts affect the sharing of information and hinder free working atmosphere. For instance, when the team leader always conflicts with the team members, the team members will find it hard to give their constructive opinions effectively (Huczynski & Buchanan 2010). This affects the motivation of the team members affecting the personal outcome since the employees will not be committed to offer their best skills. Furthermore, conflicts at workplace affect the behavior of the employees in terms of the attitudes they have towards one another. This is because some of the employees will fear speaking their minds fearing that if they speak their personal opinions will lead to conflicts with other employees. This implies that the employees will have negative attitude towards each other because of fear and this affects the quality of decisions which are made (Neal 2014). However, personally I think that there are some urgent situations which do not require divergent opinions like when there is need to make urgent decisions. It is therefore important for the human resource manager to ensure there is good working relationship among the employees. Furthermore, conflicts at workplace lead to stress among the employees. If there is no effective organizational policy and procedures that should be followed when solving the conflicts there will be favors (Graen et al 1982). This is because the employees will not have confidence in the management thus they can be stressed. The impact of stress is that there will be increased absenteeism hence affecting the personal outcome at workplace. However, to some extent conflicts improve the commitment of the employees so that they can avoid conflicts with other employees in a team who perform well. This means that conflicts can be good as they help to improve the commitment of the employees (Hayes 2010). Types of conflicts at workplace There are various types of conflicts that can occur at workplace. The first type of conflict that occurs is the leadership conflict. This is the conflict that arises in teams when the leaders have different opinions. This is because the different leaders have different ways of leading their teams. When the leader of the team has different leadership style as compared to the cofounders, then there will be conflicts (Hayes 2010). This conflict affects the motivation and personality of the team members leading to low organizational productivity. The other type of conflict at workplace that affects the personality of the employees is interdependence conflict. This is the conflict that occurs when one of the team members do not perform their duties as required (Schutte et al 1998). According to basic organizational model, in any team there is an input, processes and outcome. In this case, when one of the team members does not perform his or her duties as required like submitting the reports in time can lead to conflicts. The basic organizational model is indicated in the figure below. (Schutte et al 1998) The other conflict style at workplace is the work style conflict. Employees have different ways of doing their things. For instance, there are employees who approach their work as a team and there are those who approach work based on the individual approach. In this kind of situation, there is likely to be a conflict just because of the differences in approaching work (Brooks 2008). However, this can be managed by ensuring that the organizational policies are followed when doing tasks. Furthermore, the other workplace conflict that is experienced is cultural based conflict. This is the conflict that happens based on the cultural differences among the employees. This is because of the workplace diversity that affects the approaches which are employed by the employees. In this situation, the outcome of the employees can decline if there is no standard organizational culture that should be adopted by the employees. The organizational culture is important as it helps to ensure that the employees behave have the same culture and this will help to manage the workplace conflicts which can otherwise affect the performance of the employees (Taylor & Hansen 2005). In this context, conflicts at workplace are inevitable. It is also important to understand that not all the conflicts at workplace are negative. There are conflicts which have positive impact on the outcome of the organization (Taylor & Hansen 2005). For instance, when the employees conflict because of the different views and opinions which are provided, then the conflict is positive since the final decision which is to be reached will be of high quality. Typologies of conflict handling styles From the research that has been conducted, it has been determined that conflicts at workplace can be managed effectively. There are various styles that can be used to handle the conflicts at workplace. The following are the styles of handling conflicts; Integrating style: This is the conflict handling style whereby there is high concern for others. This means that there should be openness at workplace and effective exchange of information among the employees so that each employee can be well conversant with the information (Rahim 1983). The integrating style is applicable when there is a problem and there is need to solve the problem in a collaborative manner. In this case, the individuals who are involved in the conflict discuss the issue with the mediator with the aim of reaching long lasting solution. However, the integrating style of handling conflicts is effective when the parties involved are willing to negotiate and discuss the conflict (Bloisi 2006). Furthermore, integrating style of conflict is most effective sine each party is provided with the opportunity to understand the perception of the other party and this can help to promote understanding among the parties. Obliging style: This is the conflict handling style whereby there is low concern for self and instead there is high concern for others. In this case, one party down plays the differences and puts more emphasis on others. This is the technique that is applied to solve conflicts where one party tries hard to accommodate the behavior of the other party with the aim of solving the problem (Rahim 1983). This means that there is win-win situation although one party has to accommodate the behavior of the other party. Obliging style is most effective when one party is willing to accommodate the behavior of the other party with the aim of getting an exchange. Dominating style: This is the conflict handling style whereby there is high concern for self and low concern for others (Rahim 1983). Unlike the obliging style, in this conflict situation one party puts more emphasis on self and little concern for the other party and this situation can be described as the win-lose situation. This is because one party gains while the other party loses (Kozan 1997). The dominating style is most applicable in situations where there is power dominance, aggression and verbal dominance. In most situations, this style of conflict handling is not applicable in many situations because it does not guarantee cooperation from both parties to the conflict. However, the dominance style is applicable when it is important to safeguard the interests of the organization and maintain its performance. The party that loses should abide by the agreement hence solving the conflict situation. Avoiding style: This is the conflict handling style where there is low concern for self as well as low concern for others. Avoiding style is considered as withdrawal style since the parties involved have less concern to self and others because there is no personal satisfaction as well as the satisfaction of the others. The avoiding style is most effective when the effects of confronting the other party are high as considered to the effects of not solving the conflict (Green et al 2001). Avoiding style is not applicable in many situations since avoiding solving the conflicts eventually leads to big conflict at workplace. Compromising style: This is the conflict handling situation whereby there is concern for others and self. The situation in this case is the give and take. This means that the parties involved in the conflict have to be submissive because of the concern for others (Rahim 1983). A mutual agreement is reached and both parties win since they are concerned with the welfare of the other party. Compromising style is effective when there is interdependence situation where the success of the other party depends on the success of the other party. This means that both parties have to be concerned with others and self when solving the conflict. Reflection on own strengths and weaknesses Considering on the attribute above, I can reflect on self strengths and weaknesses. The first self strength is ability to satisfy the needs of the co-workers. This is important because it helps to ensure that there is good working relationship since conflicts will be minimized (Cosier & Dalton 1990). For instance, I possess the skills of identifying the needs of the co-workers and avoid doing things that can lead to conflicts. In addition, I also possess the strength of avoid of being on the spot. This is because being on the spot can lead to making decisions that can lead to conflicts with co-employees. However, being out of the spot can also affect personality (Cosier & Dalton 1990). The other strength is that I give some and take some. This means that I consider the concern of self and concern of others and this helps to solve any disputes that can arise. I also posses team working skills and this helps to get along well with co-workers thus managing the conflicts at workplace. However, there are self weaknesses based on the conflict as a workplace attribute. The first weakness is using the power influence to get things done according to my ideas. Because of the sources of power, I have always influenced the decisions which are made in teams. The other weakness is that I win some and lose some and this means that I have sympathy and consider the concern of other employees. The other weakness is that I don’t always argue with co workers to understand the effects and reasons behind my position (Kolb & Putnam1992). It is important to discuss with co-workers regarding the merits of my position so that there can be give and take and avoid the conflicts that can arise when discussing with other employees. Despite these weaknesses, the conflict attribute has not affected my outcome much. Conclusion Conflicts at workplace are inevitable. At many workplaces, there are conflicts which have positive and negative impacts. The outcome of conflicts at workplace on self is that it leads to poor working relationship, low motivation and leads to stress that affect the productivity of the organization. The main causes of conflicts at workplace include cultural differences, different approaches to leadership and interdependence. On the other hand, there are various styles that can be used to handle conflicts. These styles include integrating style, obliging, avoiding, dominating style and compromising style. These styles can help to manage the effects of conflicts at workplace. References Bloisi, W 2006, Management and OrganizationalBehavior. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill. Brooks, I 2008, OrganizationalBehavior: Individuals, Groups and Organisation. 4th edn, Harlow: FT Prentice Hall. Cosier, R.A & Dalton, D.R 1990, Positive Effects of Conflict: A Field Assessment”. 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Taylor, S. & Hansen, H 2005, Finding form: Looking at the field of organizational aesthetics. Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 42, No. 6, pp. 1211–1231. Read More