Organizational Theory - Essay Example

How to Pick a Good Fight, an Analysis This is a descriptive essay that postulates that having the right amount and the right kind of conflict is desirable for growth an organization. Most conventional organizational researches and theories have encouraged that having a conflict-free organization would result to more productive and efficient employees but Joni and Beyer (2009) begs to disagree and even assert that “a peaceful, harmonious workplace can be the worst thing possible for a business” (p.50). This article looks at how conflict could work for a company and how conflict management would be crucial to make the most out of these conflicts; and how these conflicts could turn the tide and strengthen the organization. I. Statement of the Problem Joni and Beyer (2009) state that complacency is the major predictor of poor performance of an organization.

Although alignment is important, a balanced conflict creates raucous among employees that boosts energy and creativity. But both researchers also pointed out that not everything is worth fighting for. Leaders should only choose conflicts that are fruitful endeavours for the company in that it one, focus on the future; secondly it is material, and lastly, it has a noble purpose (Joni and Beyer, 2009, p. 50-52). The researchers also were able to come up with their own assessment tool. Since this is a qualitative research, they exhaustively defined the use of their terms.

For instance, to ‘pursue a noble purpose’ means to “make your fight about improving the lives of the customers” (Joni and Beyer, 2009, p. 51), and relates to the principles of corporate values, respect, and urgency. Focusing on the future is quite self-explanatory but they still define it as the ability of an organization to forget about the past power struggles and to move on, and focus on what is ahead. It answers the principles of possibility, uncertainty, and charisma. Making it material answers the principles of value, complexity and change (Joni and Beyer, 2009, p. 52- 53). It is defined as “something that creates lasting value, leads to a noticeable and sustainable improvement, and addresses a complex challenge that has no easy answers” (Joni and Beyer, 2009, p. 50). II.

Description of Procedures Because of the qualitative nature of the study, Joni and Beyer (2009) made use of primary sources from various companies—press releases, profiles, and case studies; and secondary sources—articles from newspaper and business journals. These are then used throughout the study as examples and basis for their arguments. III. Flaws in the Procedural Design Though the research was able to present a well-organized research with factual basis, and specific statistics to support their assumptions, the lack of quantitative analysis still made me believe that there is a lot of room for improvement to really merit that indeed conflict—in itself is good for the company.

It undermines the capacity of the leader, leadership roles, organizational culture, and relies more on effective conflict management. IV. Limited and Justifiable Conclusions The conclusion given by Joni and Beyer (2009) suggests that harmonious relationship within the organization often times leads to complacency and that leaders, good leaders have to push their employees that it creates ‘positive conflict.’ Reference Joni, S. A. and Beyer, A. (2009). How to Pick a Good Fight. Harvard Business Review, 87 (12), p. 48-57.