Conflict Management
Conflict is something that happens often in the world. However, there are different styles to manage conflict and some are more effective than others. Before I explain these different styles, it is important to understand what conflict is. “Conflict occurs whenever disagreements exist in a social situation over issues of substance or whenever emotional antagonisms create frictions between individuals or groups”.
Substantive conflict happens when one person fundamentally disagrees with another person or group in the course of doing business. For example, my previos boss ordered a game in 2009 called F.E.A.R for Best Buy Company. I told him its best that he purchase Call Of Duty, which would be very succesful because its the most populest game coming out. But he chose not to listen to me. At the end the game was a hit and revenue was on point. This is just a disagreement of opinions, but management still has to develop a way to manage this type of conflict, which can be very challenging depending on the personalities involved.
Emotional conflict intrudes into the feelings of a situation, such as anger, mistrust, dislike, fear, resentment, and the like. This is commonly called “clash of personalities”. This type of conflict can sometimes be more draining, and take away from the more important work that needs to be done. Usually this happens between co-workers who may not like one another, or with customers who are not dealt with properly. I have witnessed both types of conflict in my organization and the different styles used in managing these types of conflicts.
The Term Paper on Conflict Management 4
Definition A team is a small group of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable.1 Although student teams may not satisfy all the requirements of the definition, the degree to which they do often determines their effectiveness. Rationale “Students do not come to school with all ...
There are five ways to manage conflict. The first style I want to write about is Smoothing or Accommodation style. This is when a manager agrees with the other side of the conflicting situation. He/she smoothes the conflict over by maintaining superficial harmony. Second is Collaboration and Problem Solving. This is when a manager trouble shoots the problem and then works through the differences to make it an acceptable situation for everyone. The third is Avoidance. With this style the manager would stay neutral at all costs, trying not to participate in the situation at all. The fourth is Competition and Authoritative Command. This style of management is derived from the term I like to use as the “God” style. When a manager forces the opposite party to agree with him/her. They use their position to win due to their authority. The last style is Compromise. This style is when the manager seeks “acceptable” rather than “optimal” solutions so no one totally wins or loses.
There is not one style that is used as a guideline in my previous job. Each departmental manager uses the style that is conformed by his or her personality. The CEO of my old organization tends to use the competition and authoritative command style. He is an ex-military man who has this style instilled into his personality. He is the boss, so we need to do it his way. This is a very counter productive way to manage conflict. He makes us use his philosophies in decisions we make rather than opening the conflict up for debate. The “my way or the highway” attitude. This style of management forces more conflict between the departments and resentment towards him. Even though I do not agree with this style of managing conflict it has been a successful style for him. He has been able to maintain a high level of integrity through the same style. Meaning, although he forces his views and decisions on his employees those decisions and views are mostly good for the company, just sometimes bad for morale.
This essay paper has explained what conflict is and the two types of conflict there are. It listed each style of management used to deal with conflict and which styles work best. It also has explained which style is used by my old job “Best Buy Company” and what style I use personally according to my recent knowledge. I enjoyed learning more about the different styles of managing conflict while writing this paper. My desire is now to be able to recognize conflict when it happens and use a style of management that will best resolve the issues in the conflict.
The Business plan on Information Systems And Management: Decision Making In Business Organizations
Introduction:Barletta’s Fine Foods (BFF) Ltd operates from King’s Norton in south Birmingham and supply food products to various retail outlets and restaurants. The company has performed well in the past and has ambitious growth plans for the near future, however there are problems in various functional departments of the company that have hindered its growth. Top management is ...
