American Airlines in Regard to the Stages of Conflict - Essay Example

Schermerhorn, Hunt, and Osborn outline various stages of conflict.
These agreements often rested on company interests while union interests were compromised, even breached. Moreover, since the airline was doing relatively better in these years, workers began to get agitated and hoped for greater performance-based compensation. The workers and Americans went through a strike in 1997. The second stage is the perception of conflict where substantive or emotional differences are sensed. For American, this was in 1998 when the American union found that the management was placing more passengers on Canadian Airlines with which they had agreed ‘OneWorld’ than was agreed upon with the union members and the pilots protested by stepping away from volunteering overtime hours. The third stage is described as a situation where the need to act becomes paramount. For America, this was highlighted by the clash in 1999 where America integrated RenoAir without closing the deal with the union members. This led to a deliberate attempt by pilots to halt work as they called in sick and went on a strike lasting for ten days. This created a breeding ground for further agitation and dissatisfaction. The union claimed that the company was slowing down the integration process so that they could continue paying Renopilots at previous wages which were less than those paid to American pilots. The fourth stage is conflict resolution/suppression and the aftermath. This was manifest in the American case when the airline suffered huge losses from the strike and brought a suit in court. U.S. District Judge Joe Kendall of Dallas issued a temporary restraining order against the union and held two of its leaders in contempt for reinforcing the protest. Eventually, the strike ended and work was resumed.

2. Analyze possible conflict resolution methods using the direct conflict management techniques discussed in the chapter.
Direct conflict management techniques are embedded in the acts of assertiveness and cooperativeness. The former is the attempt to satisfy one’s concerns by expressing while the latter is to satisfy the concerns of the other party. The example of the workers agreeing to labor concessions and overtime during difficult times of low profits or acceding to strikes to voice their concerns highlights cooperative conflict management while that of the American Workers Union endorsement of the agreement during the declaration of emergency in 1997 by Clinton as that of assertive conflict management as they sensed the proposal of the congress would hurt them more. Similarly, the appeal to the court during the sickout of 1999 is assertive in practice because by doing so the management hoped to reinforce adherence from the workers and satisfy their concerns of terminating the strike and resuming work. Both assertive and cooperative methodology of conflict management is used whenever a rift occurs between the organization and its workers. Other possible conflict management methods may be cases where parties enter into mutual contracts to benefit each other; for instance, workers may agree to provide overtime or work at lower rates till a certain period and will be compensated by additional benefits or later when the company is doing well; or where parties reach the realization that conflict is affecting them adversely and ending it would be better for all parties; or when conflict reaches a point where active protest is the only way to resolve the tension and get results.

3. Suggest possible distributive or integrative negotiation approaches available to the two parties in the American dispute.
It may be ‘hard’ where no party is willing to accede or ‘soft’ where one party is more cooperative. The possibility of distributive negotiation in the case of American Airlines would have been the overlapping situation where the workers wanted performance-based compensations and the management wanted higher revenue. A more satisfied and performance-based workforce puts in a larger amount of effort, energy, and time that can give the company a competitive edge and enable it to attract larger customers. Integrative negotiation is the process that calls for true collaboration and compromise and is manifest in good information, supportive attitudes, and constructive behavior. For American Airlines, this can be a very productive approach and is possible if the organization understands the importance of a high-morale workforce and wins their trust via facilitating policies, loyal attitude, performance-based compensations, adherence to agreements, and general regard for the workers.