Conflict Management & Negotiation

Question: Describe about the Conflict Management Negotiation. Answer: Introduction People management is an essential task which rest upon the manager of an organization. Conflict is a common phenomenon which arise at every place. There is a necessity to handle the employees properly to get an effective result. Conflict management is a process to limit the negative aspect in an organization. Managers are using diagnosis tools to resolve the disputes. Conflicts affect the productivity in an organization. Various scholars has given theories to manage the conflict with a proper remedy. The success of an organization depends on ability of an organization to adopt the diversity at workplace. Conceptual understanding helps in dealing with a high accuracy through proper strategies. Literature review Conflict is generally understood as a negative term which creates fear in the mind of the managers (Eunson.2012). In such a situation it is becoming more essential to deal with high level of efficiency to resolve the issue (Dana.2001). Conflicts/disagreement is a common phenomenon which may arise at anytime in the organization. Instead of stressing oneself managers should focus on finding remedies (Dunne.2003). Conflict management is a process to limit the negative aspects related to a conflict by introducing positive aspects (Raines.2012). It aims to increase the mutual contribution by involving group. Conflict management includes effective implementation of the performance in the organization while setting goals (Johnson Keddy.2010). Efficiently managed conflict increase the capacity of the organization. Cultural diversity at workplace is creating difficulty for the managers to address the people from the different background (McConnon McConnon.2011). However a diverse environment at workplace is helpful to increase the productivity and overall performance. Diverse workforce creates an urgency to implement serious strategies (Doherty Guyler.2008). The success of an organization depends on ability of an organization to adopt the diversity at workplace. Conceptual understanding helps in dealing with a high accuracy through proper strategies (Quinn et al.2015). Mangers play a vital role by dealing with the issues effectively and managing the interpersonal relationships (Omari Paull.2015). Conflict management has become an important constituent in a modern organization. The managers have to deal with it in day-to-day operations (Deutsch. ET al.2011). However there are various views led by scholars who focus on managing conflict is a natural or an adverse process. The traditional scholars see conflict are harmful and affect the growth of the organization. Hence it is necessary to eliminate it at an early stage (Grant Kirton.2007). Others find conflict as a natural and inevitable process and should be managed efficiently. Whereas the other group believes that there should be a regular interaction in between the employee and the employer to minimize the conflict (Tidwell.2001). The first step towards conflict management is to understand the conflict and the manner it is affecting the productivity. Conflict arises due to clash in interest within the organization. It is essential to understand that there is a difference in between the organizational and individual goals (P roksch.2016). It is the duty of the manager to create a balance in between them. However conflicts are an inseparable part in the organization but dysfunctional conflicts are the reason for the underperformance (Bercovitch Jackson.2009). The manager should plan the working as per the nature of the conflict. (I.e. functional and dysfunctional conflict)(Kehoe.2013). There are various methodologies to resolve the conflict by avoiding the situation and finding the correct situations (Bercovitch, Kremenyuk Zartman.2008). The best strategy to resolve the conflict is through integration of the problems and finding the remedies. Problem solving attitude is essential to resolve the conflicts with mutual cooperation and assertiveness (Cloke Goldsmith.2011). These types of strategy help in building confidence in the employees and enhance the result (Carter.2005). Conflict Resolution focuses on merging the interest of the employees and the organization which result in successful incorporation and matches the predictable outcome (Eggert Falzon.2015). The manager should focus on deriving a theory which provides an insight into the matter. Temporary resolution is not the solution while structuring the policies (Krivis.2005). Communication pattern helps in removing the gap in the mind of the employees (Rahim.2001). Various antecedent conflicts as discussed by Robbins are communication, difference in the personal value in the organization, structures and differences (Schermerhorn. ET al.2004). It is recommended by various authors to adopt a set of sequences to eliminate the conflict. This procedure helps in making decision whether interference is required or not. Quinn has suggested four stages of a conflict process which are latent conflict, felt conflict, overt conflict, and outcome (Quinn et al. 2015). Manager is recommended to follow the procedure to resolve the conflict at the organization. He has to implement his knowledge and skills to achieve a positive outcome (Sickels.2008). The nature of the conflict is only understood when at least one party is affected by the present situation. There are various conflicts handling behavior which focus upon finding a correct remedy for the situation (Posthuma.2011). The author has defined various conditions which plays a pivotal role in competing against the conflict. There is a situation where one party tries to avoid the situation by ignoring it (Speakman Ryals.2010). A party tries to accommodate itself as per the demand of the current situation. Perhaps in this theory the employer tries to focus on a win-win situation (Thomas.1992). Compromise is a situation where each party with the conflict tries to resolve the situation. Under certain circumstance the party tries to collaborate with each other as a party of remedy (Depledge.2013). Negotiation is a part of the conflict resolution strategy. The negotiator tries to find a situation which benefits both the parties to the conflict (Gates.2015). Integrative negotiation is a way through which a negotiator finds a way to divide the outcome whereas distributive negotiation is more collaborative and causes expansion of the possible outcome. The negotiation style varies from person to person (Opresnik.2014). The outcome of the result depends upon the inter-personal skills of the negotiator. A perfect negotiation is a way to find a win-win situation which provides long term benefit to an individual and the organization. Compromise is a situation where one of the parties to the conflict accepts on something less (Kennedy.2011). It is an integrative form of negotiation which focuses on bargaining power of the negotiator. Critical competency helps in managing the issue during negotiation. Analytical and problem solving attitude is important to derive a relevant result (Kleef et al.2006). The conflict in an organization arises due to a change (Gelad et al.2007). Resistance to a change is a common phenomenon seen at a workplace (Sims.2002). Kurt Lewin has mentioned three steps to introduce a change. It is the duty of the manger to introduce a change in three steps (i.e. unfreezing, moving, And Refreezing) (Cummings Worley.2014). In a global competitive environment, negotiation skills play a significant role to resolve conflict. There is a need to apply a creative approach to build healthy relations with the other party while managing conflict. People management People management plays an important role while finding a diagnostic tool to resolve conflict management. It is necessary to incorporate proper changes to achieve the continuous growth while managing the conflict. Various diagnostic tools are given by the scholar to determine perfect solution to the problem. Conflict management and negotiation has become important while dealing with critical issues. It is recommended to derive a tool as per the situation to encourage the employees with coordination (Jackson.2002). Belbin team role Belbin team role suggests that it is essential to understand the role of every individual. It will help in making a significant contribution to the team. It is a tool which is often used by the team leader to manage team. This technique builds a positive relation within the organization by focusing on the individual strength and weaknesses. Conflicts can be addressed at an initial stage with the team involvement (Van Groen, 2011) (Anderson Sarah.2004) Johari window It is a tool to diagnose the conflict arising inside the organization by building a strong relationship. This model was developed in the year 1955 which focuses on building trust. The idea behind this model is to create a healthy environment. The whole concept behind the model is to resolve the issue through open discussion (Shenton.2007).The major disputes can be resolved through communication. Moreover an organization has multiple objectives; the manager has an important role to coordinate the efforts of an individual. Encouraging mutual understanding and harnessing relationship is important. The tool focuses on enlarging the open area and accepts the feedbacks from the team (Lim.2013). Thomas kilmann model It is a worldwide renowned tool which is used to manage the conflict in a systematic manner. It is a tool which helps in evaluating whether the person is overusing or under using its strength. The author has mentioned a five conflict handling model to deal with the issue which arises inside an organization. The five tools are competing, collaborating, compromising, avoiding and accommodation. The model is an essential tool which helps in promoting the individual interest (Trippe Douglas.2015). Conflict Resolution These tools are nowadays used in modern organizations to resolve the disputes after analyzing the situation. Most of the organization are facing problem while managing the conflicts arising due to misunderstanding. The main purpose of implementing the diagnostic tool is to achieve the growth. However the skills of the negotiator play a major role while dealing with the disputes. Big organizations are focusing on developing inter-personal relationship among the people which will enhance the growth (Grigorescu Molly.2016). Key Strengths and Weakness Conflict resolution is a need in a modern organization and enforcing a correct model is the duty of the manager. A change is often resisted by the employee under such a situation a correct model is necessary to be implemented. Individual behavior is subject to change. The key strength lies with the manager to work according to the circumstances. It is his duty to carry the interest of every individual in the favor of the organization by focusing on the tools (Hansen.2008). The conflict management tools are helping in removing the hurdles an organization is facing on a daily routine. The diagnostic tools are helpful in eliminating the conflict in the organization. There are various stages of a conflict however it is suggested that instead of applying the tools, interpersonal skills is important to eliminate the conflicts arising at an initial stage. All the tools whether Johari Window, Thomas Khillman Conflict Questionnaire, The Big 5, ESCI, Belbin Team Inventory etc, all focus on a systematic approach to eliminate the conflict. The process requires a high acumen because most of the negotiation depends upon the intelligence of the manger (Foster.2006). If the manger doesnt have a systematic approach the negotiation will fail. Otherwise it is seen in the organizations that those mangers that have good inter-personal skill succeed in a long run (Index to Journal of Conflict Resolution.2006). The improvement related to the conflict management lie with the negotiation skills. All diagnosis tools have limited sources. It becomes difficult to manage people with diversity and different background. The scope of diagnostic tools is limited. There applicability is possible when constant factors are only considered. Human behavior is subject to change considering the variable situations (Omari Paull.2015). These tools are impractical to apply when managing a big organization. Every individual in an organization behaves differently. Manager has to apply different set of tools while dealing with the issue of conflict management. These tools have limited approach and applicability. The tools have applicability within a small organization with less employees (Dunne.2003). Large organizations are facing an issue of conflict negotiation and resolution. Every individual follows a different approach to deal with the conflicts. It is recommended to resolve the conflict at an initial stage by promoting the interest of an individual (Grant Kirton.2007)... Generally it is essential to eliminate the differences at an early stage by communicating with each other. Managing people from different background is posing difficulty on the manager as it disrupts the smooth functioning (Rahim.2001). Recommendations Conflict resolution is a new field which focuses on developing new tools which can help in removing conflicts in an organization. Diagnoses tools are applicable if the situation around are constant otherwise it is recommended to improve the situation by developing better relation within the organization. The manager has a duty to understand the nature of every individual in an organization (McConnon McConnon.2011). Developing interpersonal skills should be given more preference while dealing with the conflict resolution. If an organization wants to grow they should focus on initiating by introducing the changes (Quinn ET al.2015). Conclusion The report is related to the conflict management theories and negotiation. An organization faces various challenges on daily basis. It is the role of the manager to find an impeccable situation which resolve the dispute. Change is difficult to be implemented in an organization. Under such circumstance it is necessary to apply theoretical models as per the given situation. It is highly recommended that the manager uses inter-personal skills to resolve the dispute which arises within the organization. References Anderson, N and Sarah S. 2004."An Evaluation of Gender Differences on the Belbin Team Role Self-Perception Inventory". Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology 77.3: 429-437. Bercovitch, J. Jackson, R.2009 Conflict Resolution in the Twenty-first Century: Principles, Methods, and Approaches. University of Michigan Press Bercovitch, J., Kremenyuk, V Zartman, W.2008. The SAGE Handbook of Conflict Resolution. SAGE CARTER, G.2005. How to Manage Conflict in the Organization: EBook Edition. AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn Cloke, K. Goldsmith, J.2011. 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