Conflict

Conflict is present where there is an incompatibility of goals arising from opposing behaviours at the individual, group or organisational level. Particularly, conflict is behaviour intended to obstruct the achievement of someone else's goals.  (Mullins 2010)

An experience that I have been involved in when conflict occured was when I was playing football for my old school team, two of my teammates fell out during the game as one was not passing to the other. This was affecting the teams morale and caused them to play worse. It was resolved by the coach substituting both players and the team could get back to normal. The players were punished by being taken off and made to talk out their disagreement. This was using coercive and legitimate power from the coach.

Sources of Power

Coercive Power:- this is having power by using punishment. They have this power through their ability to reprimand, fire and demote employees. 

Reward Power:- having the power to control rewards that are valued by employees, such as pay and promotion.


Legitimate Power:- having the power to control people in a certain position based on the leader's position. It is based on authority and having the right to affect influence on someone in a lesser posotion.


Expert Power:- having power by having greater knowledge and experience than someone else. They therefore have more credibility in the area and can exert more power than those with lesser experience.


Referent Power:- having power due to people liking and respecting the leader, being charismatic and popular. It is based on personal characteristics, as is Expert Power.




Managing Conflict

Conflict is bound to come about in any organisation but manager can put some exercises into practice to stop these conflicts becoming unmanageable.

• Clarification of goals - avoids misunderstandings, make sure that everyone agrees with the goals and works equally hard to ahcieve them.
• Resource distribution - make sure that there is enough resources available, gain more flexibility on transfer funds and raise more money. Lack of resources can cause arguement between employees.
• HRM policies - careful attention to HRm procedures such as job analysis and reward systems. Making sure everything is equal and fair.
• Non-monetry rewards - if financial funds are limited, managers can use non-monetry rewards such as promotion, greater responsibility and more challenging work, more flexible working hours.
• Development of group process skills - to help get a better understanding of peoples' behaviour and listen to other person's point of view. Leads to better communication and solves problems. Conflict should be addressed early.
• Leadership and management - a leadership style with more participation and support will gain more respect and trust from employees to create a more co-operative working environment.

In conclusion, conflict occurs in most organisations but if it is dealt with properly can also have a positive effect. It can be constructive to the business and help it evolve. It can produce better ideas from discussing problems and resolving them by involving all staff. Long-standing problems maybe resolved and its a chance for employees to be challenged and be more creative. Employers will want to avoid negative effects such as employees feeling demeaned and an increase in distance between them. They would not want mistrust to develop and employees start concentrating on their own narrow interests rather than the bigger picture. It could lead to an increase in high employee turnover.


Bibliography

•  Mullins, L.J. (2010), Management & Organisational Behaviour, 9th edition, Essex, FT
• 8 Tips on Handling Conflict. Available: http://www.boston.com/jobs/galleries/workplaceconflict/. Last accessed 2011.  
• Better Ways to Handle Business Conflict. Available: http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/feb2011/sb2011024_744270.htm. Last accessed 2011. 
• http://humanresources.about.com/od/managementtips/a/conflict_solue.htm