conflicts mngt bhvr

8/7/2019 Conflicts mngt bhvr

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CONFILTS DUE TO MANAGEMENT BEHAVIOUR

Conflicts are inevitable in one's organizational life and personal life.Probably, the executive starts his work-day with a conflict and ends theday with another conflict. He is fortunate if he does not carry a conflicthome, but more often, he does, to the chagrin of his spouse, hischildren and himself.

IMPACT OF CONFLICTS

As we know conflict may occur between two individuals, as in the case of superior vs. subordinate, between two HODs, etc. Groups may be drawn intoconflict with each other on the basis of performance, importance to a particulargroup and in general the union- management rivalries. Conflict can also occurwithin an individual as in situations of dilemma of choice, vividly characterizedby phrases such as ‘between the devil and the deep blue sea’ or ‘caught on thehorns of a dilemma’. For example, a personnel manager may be quite undecided about how to deal with the conflict (with workers, union) that is likely to result inwork stoppage &loss in productivity.

The general assumption is that conflict tends to have negative consequences forboth the individual and the organization. For example, imagine yourself in anintense conflict situation. Examine your state of mind. You are tense, uneasy,extremely anxious & probably unable to concentrate on your work. Naturally insuch situations, your performance is adversely affected. Decisions made maynot be appropriate. Occasionally, they might even be unrealistic or irrational.Thus, conflicts tend to impair one’s efficiency.

Sometimes, conflict is also observed to give rise to certain maladjustedbehaviors in individuals trying to cope with it. These include alcoholism, drugabuse, excessive smoking, under eating or overeating and extremely aggressive

or submissive behavior.Apart from the above psychological & behavioralconsequences, conflict has also certain physiological consequences (more sounder intense conflict situations) in that, certain changes take place within thephysiological system which are often ignored or unnoticed. Some of the changesthat occur within the system are:

- More adrenalin & nor adrenalin are shot into the blood & continue the state of arousal & excitation;

- Speed-up of the heart beat & increase in blood pressure; More of hydrochloricacid is secreted into the stomach.

Hence, it may be understood that conflict not only affects an individual’sperformance, but also gives rise to psychosomatic disturbances, whichundermine the health of the individual.

Below is a summarized list of the affect of conflicts on an individual

1. Psychological Responses 2.Behavioral Responses

• inattentiveness to other things •excessive smoking

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• lack of interest in work •alcoholism• job dissatisfaction • undereating or overeating• work anxiety •aggression towards others or work sabotage• estrangement or alienation from others •decreased communication

• frustration •resisting influence attempts

3. Physiological Responses

• peptic ulcers• respiratory problems such as asthma• hypertension• headaches• coronary problems

Conflicts in work situations may also give rise to organization related individualconsequences:

- Job dissatisfaction- Apathy or indifference to work- Role-set members & the company- Job stress & burnout- Disloyalty- Work sabotage- Employee turnover- Increased territoriality & resistance to change- Decreased information sharing, etc.

Can conflicts be positive? It can also be argued that conflicts are not necessarilybad. The progress we have made so far in our civilization is due to the conflictbetween nature & man. Conflict releases energy at every level of humanactivity- energy that can produce positive, constructive results. Conflicts tend tohave a motivational value; they drive or energize an individual to tackle asituation. To resolve a conflict one might explore different avenues oralternatives of action, which make him/her more knowledgeable. Conflicts alsoprovide opportunities to test one’s own abilities.

Beneficial Consequences

- Motivate individuals to do better and to work harder. One‘s talents and abilitiescome to the forefront in a conflict situation.

- Satisfy certain psychological needs like dominance, aggression, esteem andego, and thereby provide an opportunity for the constructive use and release of aggressive urges.

- Provide creative and innovative ideas. For example employee benefits of thepreset day are an outcome of the union –management conflicts over the pastdecades.



- Add variety to one’s organizational life, otherwise work life would be dull and‘boring.

- Facilitate an understanding of the problem, people and interrelationshipsbetween people, better coordination among individuals & departments, inaddition to strengthening intra-group relationships, etc.

Dysfunctional Consequences

- Conflicts affect individual & organizational performance. Resolving conflictsconsumes a considerable amount of managerial time & energy, which could bemore productively spent in the absence of conflicts.

- In a conflict situation people may promote their self-interests or personal gainsat the cost of others or the organization. For example, a union leader may callfor a strike to assert his superiority or to stabilize his leadership.

- Intense conflicts over a prolonged period affect individuals emotionally &physically& give rise to psychosomatic disorders.

- Time spent on conflicts, if costed, could mean considerable amount of moneywasted.

- Conflicts may lead to work sabotage, employee morale problems, and declinein the market share of product/services &consequent loss of productivity.

RESOLVING CONFLICT

The conflict resolution requires great managerial skills. Here we are trying togive a solution to a conflict turning it in a constructive side.If one party exercisesthe principles of interaction, listens, and us the six steps of collaborative

resolution, that party may be able to end the conflict constructively. At the veryleast, he or she may be able to prevent the conflict from turning into a fight bychoosing an alternative to destructive interaction?"

There is a difference between resolving a conflict and managing conflict.Resolving a conflict ends the dispute by satisfying the interests of both parties.Managing a conflict contains specialized interaction that prevents a dispute frombecoming a destructive battle. Managing a conflict attends to the personalissues so as to allow for a constructive relationship, even though the objectiveissues may not be resolvable. For example, the former Soviet Union and theUnited States managed their conflict during the Cold War by using a variety of mechanisms. The objective issues in the dispute were not resolved, and neither

were the personal issues, which contained significant perceptual differences.However, both sides attended significantly to the relationship to keep thedisagreement from turning into a destructive battle.

1. The Framework for conflict resolutionWhen conflicts arise, we assess a variety of factors before selecting ourapproach to the situation. We may choose to compete, or dominate, where wetry to impose our will on the other side through physical or psychological means,or we may choose to accommodate, or surrender, and cede victory to the otherside. Likewise, we may decide to withdraw by either doing nothing or refusing toparticipate in the conflict altogether, or we may collaborate and reach a



constructive and mutually acceptable solution. And if none of those approachesproves effective, we might choose third-party intervention, a form of collaboration in which an individual or group external to the conflict intercedesto move both parties toward agreement.

2. Competitive BargainingWhen most people think of negotiation, they think of competitive bargaining. Inthis type of negotiation, a seller asks for more than he expects and a buyer

offers less than she is willing to pay. Then, through a series of concessions, thetwo sides meet somewhere in the middle where each side is reasonablysatisfied. This form of negotiation also is frequently called distributive bargainingor concession-convergence. It maintains a competitive, win-lose orientation, withthe goals of one party and the attainment of those goals in direct conflict withthe goals of the other party. In other words, competitive bargaining is apositional conflict in which "winning" is determined by how much of the originalposition was obtained. The parties believe that resources are fixed and limited,and that they must battle to maximize their share of the wealth.

3. CollaborationThe collaborative approach to conflict resolution, also called mutual gains orintegrative bargaining, argues for the possibility of solutions that all sides findacceptable. It embodies the notion of "win-win," a core component of ourprinciple of mutual gain. Collaboration is about identifying a common, shared, orjoint goal and developing a process to achieve it. It is a process in which bothparties exchange information openly, defines their common problems, andcreates options to solve these problems.

conflicts mngt bhvr

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