Organizational Behavior Conflict Management and Negotiations

Organizational Behavior -- Conflict Management and Negotiations

Conflict is functional when it serves to respond to business needs and problems are results in the creative outpouring of ideas and functions. Functional conflict can help teams achieve goals and create new solutions to problems. Conflict is not functional when it serves only to disrupt the work environment, disturbs or hinders job performance and creates emotional turmoil for employees. Functional conflict can turn into dysfunctional conflict if employees stop communicating with one another and searching out new ideas.

There are certain situations when it would be beneficial to have more inter-group conflict. A perfect example is when a company is deadlocked or out of ideas and thus decides to go with the standard approach to solving a problem or conflict rather than a new one. Sometimes additional conflict and varying ideas help add to a particular problem and can result in new interpretations and suggestions for solutions.

3.

Generally changes that take place include a change in perspective among employees and a change in attitude. Generally positive changes are those that enable employees and managers to see a particular situation in a new light and help them come to recognize alternative ways of thinking or solutions. Negative changes are those that result in personal or emotional turmoil and those that hinder creative thinking.

4.

Generally the higher the level of positive inter-group conflict the more productive the organization is. An organization does not want to be in a constant state of conflict, however generally some conflict is good to keep new ideas flowing. An organization can foster optimal conflict levels by encouraging employees to participate in group discussions with the intent of building creativity and developing new ideas/solutions to corporate problems.

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Inter-group conflict often occurs from misunderstanding, miscommunication and one sided thinking. My personal experience has been that inter-group conflict results most often from miscommunication, when one party is not clear in their intent or another takes things too personally and fails to see an issue from all side.

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I would want to know what the cultural norms and traditions for communication were. It shouldn't make a difference if the person is a woman, unless the cultural norms of the country dictate that women would behave in a manner different from men with regard to customary communication practices. Understanding ones culture helps facilitate communication and reduce the likelihood for misunderstanding.

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The possible consequences of dysfunctional conflict include lost production time, inefficient operations and general ill will among employees. Lost production time and inefficient operations are more likely to occur in organizational conflict situations where a large group of people generally are required to work together to develop products or complete a task.

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Resolution is the process whereby a conflict is ultimately resolved and put to rest. Stimulation is the process whereby conflict is actually aroused in a positive manner to generate new ideas and creative thinking processes. It would be appropriate to utilize both to put some issues to rest and bring others to the forefront of a discussion.

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Typically negations require that people share ideas, allow open communications, seek to uncover differences in thinking and look for common ground. There are likely to be differences depending on if the negotiations are win-win or lose-lose, but for the most part each of these elements should be considered equally important.