Conflict as a Team Tool - Essay Example

CONFLICT AS A TEAM TOOL al Affiliation CONFLICT AS A TEAM TOOL Introduction Organizations have formed various groups within and between them that ensures that goals are achieved in a more desirable manner. These groups are tasked with specific duties and are expected to collaborate with other departments for the success of the business. While working together, some level of controll is provided to them that ensures only cooperation is done to some level. Due to the difference in opinions and work procedures within and between the teams, disagreements are bound to arise which constitutes conflicts too many organization groups. The level of cooperation and the imminent effects of these conflicts on the departments form the central discussion of the paper. Level of task independence Task interdependence can be referred to as where actions by one team in an organization or under project influences the outcome of other members. To this extent, all team members must collaborate and work together for the benefit of the organization. Management must decide on the level of acceptance that can be allowed between teams if they are to achieve a better result. The following outlined discussions can be used to illustrate the degree of interdependence between groups in an organization. Team goal commitment and team performance Task independence in most of the organizations is the link between the team commitments and team performance. In situations where the independence levels are high, teams will work together and contribute interactively to achieving the goals and objectives of the organization. On the contrary, where moderate task independence exists, team members are most likely work discretely for the accomplishment of their target (Fransen, Kirschner & Erkens, 2011). The connection between goal commitment and performance will only occur if the level of interdependence is high. It is because team commitment influences the outcome since the results are due to the collective responsibility of the entire members. The impacts that are then generated on performance are greater on the performance than if the interdependence levels were low. Due to the relationship between team goal commitment and team performance, interdependence between teams should be allowed to a greater extent as both members require one another (Halevy, Chou & Galinsky, 2011). Where the goal commitments do not relate to the performance, team members can concentrate on individual outcomes than a collective responsibility and team independence will be low. Assume two IT firms in apple and dell with both aspiring to be market leaders in technology sectors. The two organizations will become interdependent as they have a parallel commitment and the level of working together is high. Size of the organization Many firms grow and become multinational companies by opening of branches and acquiring a bigger share of the industry. Their work structure becomes complicated as they try to achieve their goals and objectives. The management though must find the right ways to ensure the organization engages other teams so that results are obtained (Halevy, Chou, & Galinsky, 2011). The various groups identified should be able to perform an independent task that leads to the final results. As the tasks are still small, operations of the different teams towards the principle objective will lead to more collaborative efforts within and between the many groups. As a result, there is a smooth flow of work minimizing interruptions and the level of interdependence between teams will be high. Other organizations though will expand their output and in this regard, the task independence will solely reduce to single groups as the size of the group increases due to the complex nature required to manage big organizations (Greer,Caruso,& Jehn,2011). For instance, Apple and Dell are almost at similar levels in the past few years. Apple products have been on the rise majorly through the Mac computers and are commanding a bigger share of the market of computer world than Dell. There are higher chances that Apple will have more employees and structures and will most probably operate on their own reducing the level of collaboration between them. Diversity and virtual operations The various teams have different capabilities as the members portray diversity in abilities. For instance, other teams have individuals with more educational level than other team members and various technical skills towards a particular problems solution (Meyer, & Schermuly, 2012). Due to this paradox, it is only important if the level of task independence between teams is allowed to the greater extent. Leaders must ensure that there is some level of information exchange between the different members if the organization is to achieve better results. The vulnerable team members can acquire new ideas and become more efficient that results in efficiency. Some organizations have also developed operations into different locations that form the virtual productions. Since there is diversity in places, the teams’ members will always work independently as the proximity does not allow collusion (Klitmøller, & Lauring, 2013). Collaborative actions are reduced in the task independence so that all the teams work towards their goal (Pinjani, & Palvia, 2013). If Apple was to operate globally than Dell, then the collaboration between the two organizations will significantly reduce unless Apple had a collaborative culture. Impacts of intergroup conflict on departmental performance A business operation requires intergroup relations between two or more teams as they are essential to the accomplishment of the organization goals and objectives. In numerous occasions, interrelations do occur to ensure the team goals and missions are achieved and in the process conflict might arise (Tsung 2013). Current studies show that conflicts can be categorized into functional and dysfunctional conflicts. Functional conflict is deemed to be constructive as it helps in identifying the weakness of the various groups within and between departments that enables corrective measures and efficiency performance (Riaz & Junaid, 2011). Dysfunctional conflict leads to the confrontation between the teams that affect the organization achievement negatively. Many factors are attributed to be the essential factors that lead to conflict between the intergroup conflicts. One major such factor is the nature of the group. The various teams have work interdependence, different specialists and have divergent views concerning different ideas while experiencing variations in objectivity. As the teams work together, the chances of ideas disagreements are high that generates conflicts (Riaz & Junaid, 2011). Other conflicts occur due to the actions of the members as they become defiant on the team aspects that will lead to resentment by other members. Outside members also generate conflicts with the intergroup members since they tend to defy the values of the groups and the members most defiantly will respond by either corrective action or defensive measures towards their group. Tsung (2013) observed that where the groups have similar interests, they will operate in a parallel manner and regard the other team with affirmative view minimizing possibilities of conflicts arising. Groups will only have a negative thought about the other teams if they pursue divergently and there is a higher chance of conflicts emerging. From Apple and Dell, the two organizations seem to have a similar objective towards their goal achievement since they both covet to be technology giants. Chances of conflicts arising are reduced as the two teams most likely will work together. The intergroup conflict results into changes occurring both within and between the teams. If the conflict was to occur from within the groups, the members will usually ignore the differences among them and work towards their target goals (Wittchen, Dick, & Hertel, 2011). For instance, Dell will resolve its disputes to remain market relevance to the apple company. As they settle their differences, they become more specialized in their production and develop allegiance towards the enterprise. Problems also arise between groups that might make them unable to find their focal point of operations towards goal achievements (Riaz & Junaid, 2011). These problems may be due to isolation and overconfidence on the side of other groups that I s a hindrance to communication amounting to conflicts. Sharing of information is reduced, and collaboration is inhibited. Conclusion Interdependence within and between groups will happen as long as the teams are working towards a similar objective. They will cooperate to ensure the accomplishment of the goals is done in good faith. But the level of interdependence only seems to happen when the groups are at similar levels. As one team becomes more ambitious and increases in size, diversify and embraces the virtual operations, the level of collaboration will be reduced since their objectives are no longer the same. This changes usually results in conflicts that may lead into merits and demerits for the organization. Conflicts provide the chance to realize the weakness and corrective measures can be taken within the team ad makes them focus on the tasks. Interdependence and conflicts, therefore, are suitable for the teams if they will result in a positive change towards the group. References Fransen, J., Kirschner, P. A., & Erkens, G. (2011). Mediating team effectiveness in the context of collaborative learning: The importance of team and task awareness. Computers in Human Behavior, 27(3), 1103-1113. Greer, L. L., Caruso, H. M., & Jehn, K. A. (2011). The bigger they are, the harder they fall: Linking team power, team conflict, and performance. Organizational Behavior and human decision processes, 116(1), 116-128. Halevy, N., Chou, E. Y., & Galinsky, A. D. (2011). A functional model of hierarchy Why, how, and when vertical differentiation enhances group performance. Organizational Psychology Review, 1(1), 32-52. Klitmøller, A., & Lauring, J. (2013). When global virtual teams share knowledge: Media richness, cultural difference and language commonality. Journal of World Business, 48(3), 398-406. Meyer, B., & Schermuly, C. C. (2012). When beliefs are not enough: Examining the interaction of diversity faultlines, task motivation, and diversity beliefs on team performance. European journal of work and organizational psychology, 21(3), 456-487. Pinjani, P., & Palvia, P. (2013). Trust and knowledge sharing in diverse global virtual teams. Information & Management, 50(4), 144-153. Riaz, M. K., & Junaid, F. A. (2011). Types, Sources, Costs & Consequences of Workplace Conflict. Asian Journal of Management Research, 2(1), 600-611. Tsung Jen, C. (2013). The influence of conflict centrality and task interdependency on individual performance and job satisfaction. International Journal of Conflict Management, 24(2), 126-147. Wittchen, M., van Dick, R., & Hertel, G. (2011). Motivated information processing during intergroup competition A model of intergroup competition effects on individual effort. Organizational Psychology Review, 1(3), 257-272. Read More