Underpayment Conflict - Case Study Example

EXPERIENTIAL PROJECT: ASSIGNMENT 2; UNDERPAYMENT CONFLICT by (Name) Course Tutor University State Date Abstract Actualization of potential goals within an organization not only depends on the positive propagating factors but also solving disputes between the managers and the staff (Conflicts 2010). As presented in the case of the textile manufacturing industry, a conflict arose between the workers and supervisors. According to the workers, they were underpaid and oppressed. Following the nature of the conflict, it is probable that it was propagated by certain factors such as differences in leadership, personalities, culture and facts as well as breakdown in communication and lack of accountability. In order to prevent further conflicts from arising, it is advisable that the company should conduct more meetings between the workers and management in order to discuss the factors that would result in fulfillment of expectations and the personal goals of every individual. Additionally, the workers should be educated on the importance of adopting different personas’ within the work place. Keywords: persona, conflict Introduction Different individuals comprise of diverse mindsets within any organizational setting making it quite prone to possible differences of view or conflicts regarding certain issues. This common scenario is expected and observed in work places and more often are those concerning office work. Recently, a major conflict evolved in one of the leading industrial processing plants in the country. The fact that it is a popular organization means that the number of employees involved is relatively large. Since its creation in the early 1990s, the company has never changed its policies regarding employee and management relations as well as their wage bills. Over the years, employees have tried to plea with the management regarding these factors through peaceful means but have failed. Additionally, cultural conflicts arose during the years as more workers from diverse cultural backgrounds were employed. Each culture has different perceptions regarding non-verbal communication, concepts of time and preferred management styles, hence, resulting in rather more conflicts. Having persevered for a long time, the employees sort out to join work unions that empowered them by making demands regarding their rights on behalf of the workers. This move resulted in the peaceful demonstration by the staff as they sang in the streets in demand of their rights to be put into consideration. Apparently, this was the best way through which they could get the management’s attention. Reports regarding organizational conflict should describe, analyze and critically reflect on the dispute while offering recommendations regarding the issue. Critical and Reflective Discussion Differences in Leadership Apparently, leadership styles vary from one manager to the next (Gerzon 2006). During its conceptualization, the leaders had a more approaching technique where their work relations with their employees were relatively good. Employees developed better working relations with their superiors, which resulted in better working conditions and increased profits that made the company able to enhance their production. Nonetheless, as the years progressed, other supervisors, who were stricter as compared to the previously inclusive and more open leaders, were appointed. This change had an impact on the staff since it reduced their relationship with their superiors. Managers lacked a channel through which they could understand the needs and wants of their employees making them to resolve to decisions, which they thought were best for the employees. In fact, it also resulted in negligence by the leaders as they lacked concern for their staff. After having their pleas ignored by the new leaders, the employees joined work unions where they could present their grievances. This means having another form of leadership since they put their trust in the union leaders rather than their employees. As stated by Cartwright (n.d.), expert power is a major source of influence within an organization in the sense that individuals tend to trust other leaders more than they tend to trust other leaders more than those who are directly above them do. In. relation to this fact is the presence of the unions’ leaders. The staff often perceives that the leaders have more knowledge regarding their rights and this creates a new cognitive makeup that makes them more dependent to the union leaders. In this case, it raises their degree of rebellion against their supervisors resulting in conflicts. This is an important aspect in analysis since it reflects and focuses on the cause of conflict within the industry directly. If there had been no difference in leadership styles and managers, the likelihood of a conflict arising would have been minimal. Differences in personality In human resource management, different people are identified as having different personas. They vary depending on the age, upbringing, cultural background and present environments. The perceptions and emotions of the employees about the managers’ character and motive fueled the conflict. The staff perceived their leaders as having neglected their pleas. However, Watson (2008) states that in every organizational setting, every individual has to undertake different personas pertaining to their line of duty. Leaders are expected to take up personas that en able them manage and supervise their areas of work. These include adopting an authoritative and knowledgeable persona, which is different from their personal personalities. Due to this factor, they appear to be harsher towards the employees since their personas are directed towards actualization the goals of the organization (Angouri & Marra 2011). Consequently, the leaders become more negligent as they deny the workers their rights in search of success. Therefore, the staff was forced to demonstrate leading to conflicts between them. Breakdown in Communication Miscommunication and failure to respond to certain issues between departments in an organization causes conflict (Crossman 2011). Notably, information regarding various issues involving the organization has a protocol through which they are conveyed. The staff in the organization claims that they presented their pleas to the human resource office whereas the overall leaders in the industry maintain that they were not aware of such occurrences. Apparently, there was no communication between the two departments. Additionally, the conflict could have arisen because the staff and organization had differences regarding the requirements placed by the employees. In such a case, the management might disagree with the terms resulting to demonstration by the staff. In other cases, the human resource office might have presented the workers’ grievances to the board of directors as expected. Supposedly, the board failed to view the case and perpetually placing the case under review over a long period (Balliet 2009). Eventually, the case was forgotten and not solved. All these are cases of breakdown of communication that results in organizational conflicts in the industry. Lack of Accountability Frustration within an organization is brought about by different factors including lack of accountability (Lewicki et.al. 2007). For every occurrence within an organization, someone has to be accountable for the yielded results. When the employees presented their case, specific departments within the industry were responsible for providing necessary solutions. Conversely, they failed to do their work appropriately. During such a case where no one is actually held responsible for the case, lack of accountability starts to pervade throughout the industry and fuel conflicts. Cultural Differences Since it is one of the leading industries in the country, it is evident that the employees comprise of individuals from different cultural backgrounds. Diverse cultures have different perceptions regarding work relations in the office. For instance, the concept of time is not similar between the immigrants and the locals while others have perceived ideas about women at the work place (Canet-Giner & Saorin-Iborra 2007). Australians believe that time is money and focusing on doing work completely is more appropriate in the office. However, other cultures differ from this notion claiming that some time should be set aside to converse among the employees (Babcock 2003). The non-verbal communication between the natives and immigrants are diverse. Some communities embrace high touch while other communities prefer low touch. The preferred leadership style is not the same among diverse cultures. Communities from other cultures emphasize that leaders should display caring and compassion character traits whereas others expect the managers to be cold and harsh. The differences between these perceptions results in possible conflict. This is because the individuals are not treated as per their expectations. Eventually, the minority group of employees ends up being oppressed. In a bid to fight for their rights, conflict within the organization arises Personal Problems Personal problems have a way of veering one’s mental stability at certain instances in all aspects of life including office matters. The problems might be serious and include death, parenting concerns, debts and divorce. The weight load of issues of an individual has an effect on the judgments they make. In the industry, there is a possibility that maybe the human resource manager might have been facing personal problems at the time when the employees presented their case. This may have altered his judgment regarding forwarding or rather solving the case and instead remain quiet. Watson (2008) agrees with the fact and further claims that personal troubles and institutional contexts are intertwined components in the sense that one is directly dependent on the other. He further explains that people should understand that the connections between the two aspects are correlated, however, not by institutional contradiction and historical change. Differences in Values Conflicts within an organization are often propagated by the fact that different people have diverse ways through which they view the universe (Cahn, Dudley & Abigail 2007). These contrasting opinions are traceable to the disparities in race, culture, upbringing, experience, socio-economic class, education and other milieu-propagated factors. In the organizational setting, different employees and managers have differing ideas regarding their work and respective specialized futures (Hatzinikolakis & Crossman 2010). In the industry, employees may have been working extra hard due to their various needs and wants. Some might have also been working up to extra hours. Conversely, their managers have a different perception about their work. In such a case, they only work to earn a salary and not to aspire to perform their duties with perfection and diligence. Bothered by their supervisors’ view and perception about work, the staff demonstrated. Their hard work went unrecognized and they were denied their rights. This is one of the probable reasons, which brought about conflict between the workers and the management. Differences Regarding Facts According to the industry, it has to actualize potential interests before raising any salary wages amongst the employees. This is then followed by a series of procedures including conducting meetings involving discussions about the company funds, effects of raising salary on product production. Nonetheless, the workers’ union believes that every employee is entitled to a better salary disregard of whether the company is making profits or not. They focus on the benefits of the employees only and not the status of the industry. This fact results in differences in facts regarding workers increase in wages. Eventually, the two counterparts end up in disagreements and a conflict arises. Additionally, there are instances where these facts can be verified and this is only limited to quantified data or event. In instances where the fact emanates from undocumented sources, conflicts are bound to arise (Folger 2009). Unfulfilled Expectations In the organization, both the employees and supervisors might have had unfulfilled expectations, which might result in a conflict (Seiger & Wiese 2011). According to the workers, they expected that their wages would be increased in due time. However, this was not the cases since they did not receive any pay rise. In such a case, they were unhappy since their wages were not increased and they sort to air their views in a different manner compared to the normal forms. Additionally, there might be a reason as to why the organization failed to increase the employees’ income. Low profits, lack of market and failing business among many other factors might have been the reasons why the company could not afford the expense. Thus, they failed to accomplish the wishes of their staff due to unfulfilled expectations. In fact, this is the main cause of differences because many causes of conflicts emanate from unfulfilled expectations of the other factor (DeMarr & De Janasz 2013). In other cases, the expectations go unaccomplished because they are unstated, too numerous, unreasonable or inappropriate. Conclusion and Recommendations Conclusively, the main reasons why a conflict rose between the workers and the management was due to breakdown in communication, unfulfilled expectations and personal problems as well as those indicated above. The two parties failed to agree on certain issues that resulted in their observed behavior. The outcome of the conflict were grave be cause the company’s produce reduced, they lost market and their shares went lower than normal. The mal publicity of the company affected the customers view regarding their products, in a rather negative manner. The potential strengths in solving the conflict ranged from painting a better image of the company since it resorted to fulfill its workers’ expectation. The use of active questioning and listening techniques helped in further clarifying the expectations of both parties. Moreover, the company trained its employees to be acquainted with the personality types in the organization along with their intrinsic weaknesses and strengths. However, the fact that the organization enforced an initiative to ensure that matters are deal with immediately still poses a threat. Such a solution is not a guarantee that miscommunication would stop. Furthermore, the issue of cultural differences would be hard to solve. In order to curb further conflicts from occurring, it is advisable that the managers should conduct more meetings regarding the specific goals of every individual within the organization and try to consolidate them into a common goal for everyone. Information and requests by individuals should be addressed with immediate effect while involving both parties. The company should ensure there is active communication with its employees regarding their expectations and views pertaining to different work related issues. A paper trail with the signature of every supervisor and employee should be used in order to increase accountability. The staff should be educated on how to relate with individuals from different cultures and how they interact with people with different personalities. Finally, both parties should be educated on the need to leave personal related issues into their work. If all these steps are put into place, it is evident that cases of conflict between the staff and the management would be minimal. References Angouri, J & Marra M 2011, Constructing identities at work, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, Hampshire. Babcock, L 2003, Women Don't Ask : Negotiation And The Gender Divide, Princeton University Press, Princeton. Balliet, D. 2009, ‘Communication and cooperation in social dilemmas: A meta-analytic review’, Journal of Conflict Resolution, vol. 54 no.1, pp. 39-57. Cahn, Dudley D, & Abigail, R, A 2007, Managing Conflict Through Communication, Pearson/Allyn and Bacon, Boston. Canet-Giner, M & Saorin-Iborra, C 2007 ‘The influence of gender role on negotiation and development and outcome. A proposal for strategic alliance negotiations’, Equal Opportunities International, Vol. 26, No. 3, pp. 209-231. Cartwright, D n.d. Studies In Social Power, Ann Arbor : Research Center for Group Dynamics, Institute for Social R. Conflicts 2010, NewCon Press, Cambridge. Crossman, J 2011, Business Communication: For the Global Age, McGraw-Hill, North Ryde. DeMarr, B, & De Janasz, S 2013, Negotiation and Dispute Resolution, Pearson/Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New York. Folger, J 2009. Working through Conflict: Strategies for Relationships, Groups, And Organizations, Pearson/Allyn and Bacon, Boston. Gerzon, M. (2006). Leading through conflict: how successful leaders transform differences into opportunities. Boston, Mass, Harvard Business School. Hatzinikolakis J & Crossman J 2010, Are business academics in Australia experiencing emotional labor? A call for empirical research, Journal of Management and Organization, vol. 16, pp. 425-35. Lewicki, Roy L, Barry, Bruce and Saunders, M 2007, Negotiation: Readings, Exercises and Cases, McGraw-Hill/Irwin, Boston. Seiger, C. P., & Wiese, B. S. (2011). Social Support, Unfulfilled Expectations, and Affective Well-being on Return to Employment. Journal of Marriage and Family. 73, 446-458. Watson, J,T 2008, ‘Managing identity: identity work, personal predicaments and structural circumstances’, Organization, vol. 15, no.1, pp. 121–43. Read More