Conflicts in an Organisation - Essay Example

CONFLICTS IN AN ORGANIZATION Introduction: Conflicts in workplace is one of the most significant aspects affecting the organizational performance ofa business enterprise. Conflicts start at the individual level as a series of episodes with someone or something negatively affecting the other(s) within the limitation of an organization. In the context of organizational parameters, conflicts play a very crucial role in team building efforts. Teams are considered the ‘building blocks’ of flexible organizations. Therefore, it is important to realize the nature of the conflicts and understand their various perspectives. Above all, a skillful management of the conflicts within a team as well as among different teams is required in an organization. In order to understand how the conflicts affect team performance in an organization, it is significant to distinguish between different types of conflicts. This paper addresses the issue of the role various types of conflicts plays in the performance of an organization. It also discusses the importance of leadership, power and politics in the organizational performance. Types of conflict: When it comes to discussing the types of conflict, there are three types - task, relationship and process. Task conflict relates to the content and goals of the work, and relationship conflict aims at interpersonal relationships while process conflict relates how the work gets done (Robins and Judge, 2007). Task conflict is concerned with the disagreements among team members over the content of tasks being performed within an organization. Whereas relationship conflict focuses more on personal animosities and incompatibility among different individuals rather than the task (Simons and Peterson, 2000). Task-related conflicts can actually cause a great deal of tension and even hostility among the members of a team in an organization. This may result in the group members’ unwillingness to work together in future, which can increase the flexibility level within the workplace. Differences can exist among group members due to their various viewpoints, ideas and opinions on the same tasks to be performed. This kind of difference, in a way, can be considered advantageous in terms of the creativity point of view. It can be described briefly as cognitive conflict that proves beneficial to the team. However, confrontation to a large extent only means disagreements as well as frustrations at the workplace, which ultimately weakens the workforce and team building activities in an organization. A task conflict prevents a team from performing well and together. As such type of conflict generally interferes with efficient processing of the task, it consequently leaves room for further conflicts among group members. Effective decision-making is interrupted by chaos created through task conflicts in a team. The success of strategic decisions depends largely on how managers conceptualize them. That is why, task conflicts can not be ignored as cognitive processes relate to strategic outcomes in an organization (Dean and Sharfman, 1996). Dissimilarities among team members tend to prevail due to real or perceived differences among them. Such disagreements in a team result in relationship conflicts. The negative effects of relationship conflicts can have powerful influence on group satisfaction and commitment. Examples of relationship conflicts are interpersonal conflicts about personal tastes, political preferences, struggles for leadership, unequal workloads, values and style (De Dreu and Weingart, 2003). When task conflicts, to some extent, can prove beneficial for team effectiveness in an organization, relationship conflicts can do substantial harm to team performance and satisfaction. Cognitive flexibility in a team is permitted through task conflict, but relationship conflict decreases team productivity and performance. In comparison to task-related conflicts, relationship conflict contributes less to team effectiveness as actions are directed more towards interpersonal relations among members rather than the team’s agenda. Teams projecting a negative tone with relationship conflict tend to reduce the number of possible alternatives to the problems. Therefore, efforts must be directed to build healthy relationships between team members. Team-based work structure has already become a popular model for current management organizations. It is the main responsibility of the management authority to build up positive interpersonal relationships among the team members. Creating a healthy work environment is important, where every one can contribute and exchange his or her own outlook in a much comfortable manner. The third type of conflict is known as process conflict. It is concerned with the proceedings of task accomplishments. More specifically, process conflict deals with the issues of management responsibility, it is about who should do what. In other words, if disagreement occurs among the group members over who is responsible for a particular duty, that indicates the presence of process conflict. Earlier research studies have shown that in compared to high performing teams, self-managed teams or teams with lower levels of performance tend to deal inevitably with some levels of process conflict (Jackson et al, 2002). In a leaderless team, it is really difficult to make typical process decisions such as task delegation, setting goals and deadlines, and so on. Further, process conflict can be classified under three dimensions or categories: a) issues of task scheduling and timing, b) contribution and workload issues, and c) work method and approach issues. The issues of work method and approach are often labeled as issues of task strategy. These task strategies are also considered as the main driving force behind a successful and well-performed team. Regarding scheduling and timing issues, a number of group interaction patterns can be effective for positive team performance. Contribution and workload conflicts depend largely on the way the work is divided and assigned among the team members. Above all, it is important to understand that conflict and performance are correlated and correspond to each other. The three sub-types of process conflict are also directly connected to team performance. This means, process conflicts can be resolved through the study of a three-way assessment. In order to become a successful management-based organization, self-managed groups must maintain the capacity of clear communication, coordinated efforts and adaptability to sustain performance outcomes in the long run (Jackson et al, 2002). Leadership, power and politics: Leadership is considered to be one of the most effective factors in organizational culture. It can be defined as “the ability to influence a group toward the achievement of a vision or set of goals” (Robins and Judge, 2007). It is the activity to affect other persons in order to participate in the accomplishment of general objectivity of an organization. Leadership in organizations can be termed as formally designated authority, through which a person can take up a leadership role due to his or her position in the organization. However, all leaders are not managers and vice-versa. A leader possesses several qualities that contribute to the creation of an organizational culture and improvement of organizational performance. A leader can, Increase his or her ability to control the employees. Determine every program activity based on management concept. Motivate people to involve in group contributions for carrying out organizational objectives. Encourage employees for better performance and team effectiveness. Direct the entire team to achieve progressive technology intelligence. An effective leadership is capable of accommodating a healthy organizational culture. The relationship between a leader and employees can influence directly on the leadership style and team orientation in order to form organizational culture. Leadership qualities motivate employees in an organization to deliver better and skillful work performance, initially at individual level and finally, the overall organizational performance. Leadership role can be crucial with regard to its strong and positive influence on the quality of employee performance, and employee satisfaction as well. Power can be defined as the ability that a person possesses in order to influence the behavior of another person according to his or her wish. The nature of power is control over other people. In an organizational setup, power of an individual may derive from various interpersonal, structural and situational environments. One of the most important aspects of power is the function of dependency (Robins and Judge, 2007). If a person is more dependent on another person, it simply means that the latter has more power of control on the former one. The requirement of power is an important issue as it has strong influence on the effectiveness of an organization. The structural base of an organization can be affected positively or negatively depending on the use of power by its managers. Power should be utilized properly and professionally, and should be directed towards achievement of organizational benefits rather than personal benefits. Managers must aim at accomplishing such efforts so that it contributes to better performance of the organization. Politics is a means of recognizing competing interests within an organization. Even Aristotle remarks that “politics stems from a diversity of interests”. So political behavior in an organization can be defined as activities that influence the distribution of advantages and disadvantages within the organization (Robins and Judge, 2007). Such a behavior is helpful in understanding different power relationships practiced in an organization. Political practices within an organization formulate a system of rule that creates and maintains ‘order’ among its employees. In other words, the system of rule represents a political orientation in every organization. The system describes and analyses how power is used and distributed within an organization. The dimension of organizational politics can travel to both extremes of positive or negative ends, or rather legitimate and illegitimate ends. Politics in a multi-racial or multi-group organizational situation can be highly competitive with one group seeking to gain benefits at the expense of another group (Meier et al, 2000). Political behavior affects organizational behavior in terms of decision making and problem solving processes within an organization. Conclusion: The effectiveness of performance level in an organization is determined by a number of factors. These are commonly labeled as organizational variables. Performance both at individual and group levels is affected by important components such as conflict types, leadership qualities, use of power, and political behavior practiced within the organization. Conflicts at personal level can affect an employee’s skills, abilities, relationships and performance. It consequently affects team effectiveness and the overall performance of the organization. The qualities of a leader also contribute to the cause of employee performance as well as employee satisfaction within an organization. Organizational actors are driven by various kinds of interests - both organizational interests and their own needs too. Therefore, practice of power in an organization requires to be directed professionally. This is where organizational politics plays its part as it balances political behavior and power relationships among the employees and leaders in an organization. Successful practice of organizational politics results in a balancing act between the organizational variables that leads the organization to better performance enhancement skills. References: De Dreu, Carsten K. W. and Weingart, Laurie R. (2003). Task versus Relationship Conflict, Team Performance and Team Member Satisfaction: A Meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology. 88 (4), 741-749. Dean, James W. and Sharfman, Mark P. (1996). Does decision process matter? 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Journal of Applied Psychology. 85 (1), 102-111. Read More