Leadership and Managment - Assignment Example

Introduction Effective managers should possess good interpersonal skills since they deal with people on a daily basis. However, research has shown that “a study of top executives at six Fortune 500 companies sought an answer to the question: Why do managers fail? The single biggest reason for failure according to these executives is poor interpersonal skills,” (Robbins, 1993, p. 2). As such, this paper seeks to analyse a scenario which involved interpersonal behaviour of people which was witnessed by the writer while he was working as a sales representative in a large chain supermarket called Millennium Supermarket. The paper starts by describing the scenario and the problem that was witnessed as a result of this poor interpersonal communication between the sales manager and the sales representatives. Description of the scenario The writer worked as a sales representative in the sales department of a large chain supermarket. There were five people in this group including the sales manager. It comprised of the following people listed in the table below. Person Position Character Mr Martins Sales Manager Sociable but rather an authoritarian manager Jack (The writer) Sales rep Quite introverted, friendly, polite, conscientious Philip Sales rep Less experienced but learns fast. Abel Sales rep Very sociable, experienced, informal leader, vocal about employee rights Due to the rising demand of the supermarket’s own brands, this group ended up performing more work than usual. The company sought to minimise labour costs by not hiring more workers but to give incentives to the team already working in the supermarket. Workers in this group were promised a quarterly bonus calculated from the percentage increase in sales during that period. The workers were also supposed to get payments for overtime every month. However, this was not the case four months down the line since this promise was made. A conflict ensued as a result of this whole situation. The issue was mainly between Mr Martins the sales manager and Abel the sales rep though the other members of the sales team had similar sentiments related to the issue of incentives and compensation for overtime. The conversation below triggered the whole conflict though it was developing slowly while the group members thought that amicable measures will be put in place to address the situation which was never done. Abel “Mr Martins, may I remind you that it is four months now after you promised us some incentives for performing extra work for the betterment of the company. Mr Martins I am the only person with the authority to address that issue. You must wait to hear from me otherwise you want to challenge my authority. The writer But I also think that it is good for the team members to raise their sentiments so as to avoid conflicts in the organization Mr Martins “Do you also want to teach me how to manage this shop?” Abel (Losing patience). I think you want to short change us in this case. Anyway let us wait and see. Mr Martins “Like I said may authority should never be challenged over such issues.” Thank you. Morale declined in the group after this conversation with the sales manager. Abel the most vocal and experienced left the company the following month and this posed a major challenge to get a replacement of a person with experience like him. Conflict process In a company, the objectives, values and needs of groups and individuals do not always coincide hence the existence of conflicts (Armstrong, 1994). Clashes in organizations are normal and they should not be suppressed. A conflict can only become counterproductive when it is suppressed by the leader. In the scenario described above, it can be noted that the type of conflict witnessed is group conflict which is related to collective disagreement over something by a group of people in the organisation. According to Robbins (1993), the conflict process is comprised of five stages namely: potential opposition or incompatibility, cognition and personalization, intentions, behaviour and outcomes. This section of the paper looks at each stage and applies it to the case scenario given above. In as far as stage 1 which deals with communication is concerned, it can be seen that the sales manager is too authoritative and this has been compounded by the structure of the team. The group members have diverse goals and it can also be seen that a close style of leadership used by the manger which is tight has fuelled the conflict. Personal variables such as authoritarianism displayed by the manager demonstrate low esteem among the members of the group. Stage 2: Cognition and personalization The conditions stated in stage one negatively affects something that team members care about and it has become a source of opposition and incompatibility. In this case, conflict is perceived where the team members have become aware of the conditions that create opportunities for a conflict to arise. Stage 3: Intentions The conflict handling intentions in this case are five and they include the following: competing, collaborating, compromising, avoiding and accommodating (Robbins, 1993). In a competing scenario, the other party will be only concerned with his or her own interests at the expense of others. However, this is not the case since the sentiments of the team members are genuine. In terms of collaboration, both parties should come to a mutual understanding towards resolving a conflict but this is not the issue in this case. The manager sees the existence of the conflict but deliberately tries to avoid it. The manager tries to ignore the sentiments raised by the team members. In as far as the aspect of accommodating is concerned, it can be seen that the other party tries to appease others through placing their priorities on top of his. The other aspect is related to compromising where each party tries to give up something as a way of resolving the conflict. Stage 4: Behaviour This stage deals with behaviour where it can be seen that the conflict becomes visible in the organisation. In this case, the behaviour of the team members has negatively changed since there is low morale in the organization after the encounter described above. Stage 5 Outcomes The outcome in this case scenario is negative. Morale in the group has drastically declined. Abel the most experienced worker has resigned as a result of this particular conflict which brings us to the conclusion that this type of conflict is destructive rather than constructive. Application of theory and analysis of managing group conflict Conflict is something that is normal in all companies and the leader has a role to solve such conflicts. Good communication skills are essential in order to solve group conflicts (Werner, 2003). Communication involves the exchange of information between parties involved in a certain conflict. In order to solve group conflicts, there are certain steps that can be taken by the leaders. There are three ways of solving inter-group conflict namely: peaceful coexistence, compromise and problem solving (Armstrong, 1994). Peaceful coexistence The measure is designed to iron out differences that may exist between parties and emphasise mutual understanding among the members of the group. The manager has the responsibility of encouraging people in a group to: learn to live together, to share information and exchange views and to move freely between groups (Armstrong, 1994). However, in the given case described above it can be noted that there is a wide gap between the manager and the members of the team. Compromise A conflict is usually resolved through negotiation or bargaining and neither party wins or loses (Armstrong 1994). In this case, the manger was supposed to take into consideration the interests of the members of the group. This strategy is meant to fulfil the needs of all parties involved in a conflict. This helps to improve their level of job satisfaction. However, the manager is adamant that his is the sole person who has the authority to address the issue raised by the team members. Problem solving The other strategy that can be used by the manager to solve a conflict is problem solving. The manager should attempt to find a long lasting solution to a problem rather than just be accommodative to different views without providing lasting solutions to the problem that exists (Werner et al 2007). The manager failed to utilise this particular strategy in the above mentioned scenario. Conclusion In an organisation, it can be noted that conflict is inevitable but it can be solved amicably depending on the leader’s capability and interpersonal skills towards finding ways of resolving conflicts. In the scenario described above, it has been noted that the leader is too authoritarian hence he could not listen to the views of the members of the team. This created the conflict described above. Therefore, it is recommended that the leader should implement the following measures in order to avoid a similar situation in the future. Recommendations The manager should improve his listening skills so that he can interact effectively with other members of the team. It is also recommended that the manager should be impartial when solving problems of this nature since they negatively affect the performance of the workers if they are not solved. The manager should change the leadership style from authoritarian to democratic participatory leadership style that is accommodative to diverse views of the members of the organization. References Amos, TL et al 2008, Human Resources Management, 3rd Edition, JUTA: CT. Armstrong, M 1994, Improving organisational effectiveness, Kogan Page: London. Kleynhans, R et al 2007, Human Resource Management: fresh perspectives, Prentice Hall: CT. Kritzinger, E, Bowler, A & Goliath, D 2003, Effective Communication: Getting the message across in business, Afritech: CT. Robbins, SP 1993, Organisational behaviour: Concepts, controversies and Applications, 6th Edition, Prentice Hall: NJ. Werner, A Et al 2007, Organisational behaviour, 2nd Edition. Van Schaik Publishers: CT. Read More