Capstone Project on "Prevention and Early Resolution of Workplace Conflict"

Capstone Project 23 pages (6691 words) Sources: 35

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Prevention and Early Resolution of Workplace Conflict

To better understand the topic, this paper begins with an overview of the concept of workplace conflict. A discussion regarding workplace conflict prevention is then given. This is followed by a discussion of early detection of conflict in the workplace. Lastly, effective resolution of workplace conflict is presented.

In today's hyper-competitive, increasingly globalized business world, organizations have to operate as efficiently and effectively as possible. One of organization's most valuable resources to remain competitive is their human resources. In addition, organization's are increasingly turning towards teams to further facilitate productivity. When workplace conflict arises, it negatively affects morale and productivity. This can result in not only lost profits, for the organization, but in increased employee turnover, which further affects organizational effectiveness and efficiency. For this reason, managing workplace conflict is critical to the organization.

To better understand workplace conflict, this paper begins with an overview of the concept of workplace conflict. Conflict is a product of human nature and can manifest itself in a variety of forms. it's a costly phenomenon for organizations, resulting in lost productivity, decreased morale and increased employee turnover. For this reason a discussion regarding workplace conflict prevention is then given. Improved communication within the organization and conflict training are both effect ways to prevent conflict from taking hold and negatively affecting employees. This is followed by a discussion of early detection of conflict in the workplace. As stress is a leading cause of conflict, the signs of stress are overviewed in this section. Lastly, effective resolution of workplace conflict is presented. Conflict resolution strategies fall into five general categories. Within each of these categories are specific strategies employers may wish to utilize. As each conflict is unique, so too must be the strategy. However, no matter which strategy is utilized to facilitate conflict resolution, active listening must be a part of the process.

Workplace Conflict Overview:

Dana (2001) defines workplace conflict as: "A condition between or among workers whose jobs are interdependent, who feel angry, who perceive the other(s) as being at fault, and who act in ways that cause a business problem. (...) This definition includes feelings (emotions), perceptions (thoughts), and actions (behaviors)" (p. 5). These three dimensions are considered by psychologists to be the only dimensions of human nature, meaning conflict is rooted in human nature. Of course, organizational structures may also affect conflict. One recent business trend has had a significant effect on workplace conflict -- work teams.

Teams are being increasingly utilized by organizations as a method of improving productivity and garnering a competitive advantage. Sikes, Gulbro and Shonesy (2010) define a work team as an organized group of committed individuals, who have the same intent of accomplishing a common goal. Work teams are often used today for decision making, problem solving and solution development. The primary advantage a team has over individual employees is the diversity of resources at their disposal, as well as the diversity of ideas and knowledge that is present in a team. The eclectic styles of thinking of team members results in a greater level of creativity. In addition to enhanced productivity, work teams often realize quality improvements, thanks to bringing together employees with complementary skill sets. The multiple experiences and knowledge bases that come together with teams also allow teams a better ability to resolve issues (p. 15). Despite these many benefits, however, the increased use of teams, and therefore the increased interaction of employees, often results in increased incidence of workplace conflict.

"Organizational conflict is costly, consuming 20% of a manager's time, and unresolved conflict can result in antisocial behavior, covert retaliation, and violence" (Meyer, 2004, p. 183). In fact, Meyer cites previous research that found that heated conflicts can result in absenteeism in organizations. They increase personnel turnover and result in other inefficiencies. The ability to think clearly is reduced as tensions rise during workplace conflicts, further negatively affecting productivity. it's been shown that when an employee becomes involved in a conflict their reasoning becomes distorted. These employees tend to lose focus on their tasks as they become more emotional during a conflict, further negatively affecting productivity and resulting in poorer work performance.

As Edelman and Crain (1993) surmise, most workplace conflict "usually have at their core at least one of the following incendiary aspects of human behavior:

1. Misunderstanding or miscommunicatino

2. Disrespect or disregard for other people

3. Conflicting egos

4. Impatience

5. Fear and insecurity over perceived 'loss of control'" (p. 238).

As Wienclaw (2010) notes, rarely do employees have the opportunity to work completely alone. Collins and O'Rourke (2005) joke that "If you want to avoid conflict at work, you can. All you have to do is find a job that doesn't require you to have any contact with people" (p. 1). Even employees who work independently or telecommute often have to interact with customers, suppliers and other employees. However, when there is more than one party involved in a situation, with interests in the outcome, workplace conflicts are likely to arise.

Sikes, Gulbro and Shonesy (2010) note that "when individuals come together (…) there are differences in terms of power, values and attitudes, and social factors that all contribute to creation of conflict. Conflicting factors such as these may cause deviation from the key goals of the group and may generally fall into three categories: communication factors, structural factors and personal factors" (p. 16). The primary source of conflict typically finds itself due to some form of communication factor. Misunderstanding of information, cultural difference among employees, differences in perceptions and interpretations, and poor listening can all result in barriers to communication. Different communication styles too may add to the challenge.

Sikes, Gulbro and Shonesy (2010) use the example of an employee whose communication style means that when a conflict arises they express their feelings and views with a raised voice. An employee who is more reserved may see this communication style as aggressive and arrogant. In addition, the more forceful employee may see the restrained employee as untrustworthy, if they feel the employee is not fully expressing their feelings. These same misinterpretations can also result in false opinions regarding the intent of either of the party's communications (p. 16).

The structural category of workplace conflict usually comes from elements of the employees of the organization and the organization itself. This includes the background of employees and organizational infrastructure. For organizations using teams, participation levels of team members and the size of work teams utilized fall into the structural category of conflict resolutions strategies (Sikes, Gulbro & Shonesy, 2010, p. 16) .

Individual values, goals, needs, and motives fall into the personal category of conflict sources. The individual's level of self-esteem is another factor that falls into the personal category. Lastly, "an individual's perception of the situation that is significantly different from that of another team member's may also bring about conflict" (Sikes, Gulbro & Shonesy, 2010, p. 16).

These three elements manifest themselves into several forms of workplace conflict that affect employees and employers. One of these is bullying in the workplace. Workplace conflict can include interdependence conflicts, goal incompatibility and differentiation, and resource scarcity. One common form of workplace conflict manifests itself as workplace bullying.

Seagriff (2010) defines workplace bullying as academics, scholars and organizational psychologists define the term. It is the "repeated mistreatment of a 'Target' (the recipient or victim of the bullying) by a harassing bully (a supervisor or co-worker) that is motivated by the desire to control the Target" (p. 576). A secondary definition of the term cited by Seagriff is the "repeated, unreasonable actions of individuals (or a group) directed towards an employee (or a group of employees), which is intended to intimidate and creates a risk to the health and safety of the employee(s)" (p. 576).

Bullying can manifest in a variety of ways. It can include non-physical activities such as: discrimination, non-status harassment, humiliation, innuendo, harming another's credibility and reputation, malicious isolation, and intimidation. Bullying is often expressed through physical activities too. These include:

aggressive eye contact, either by glaring or meaningful glances; giving the silent treatment; intimidating physical gestures, including finger pointing and slamming or throwing objects; yelling, screaming, and/or cursing at the Target; angry outbursts or temper tantrums; nasty, rude, and hostile behavior toward the Target; accusations of wrongdoing, insulting or belittling the Target, often in front

of other workers; excessive or harsh criticism of the Target's work performance;

spreading false rumors about the Target; breaching the Target's confidentiality;

making unreasonable work demands of the Target; withholding needed information; [and] taking credit for the Target's work (Seagriff 2010, p. 578).

Seagriff (2010) notes that part of the challenge of workplace conflict stems from today's culture. As an example, popular culture makes bullying, for example, seem like an acceptable behavior. Shows like American Idol and House use bullying partially for comic effect (p. 575). it's not surprising when this popular culture entertainment behaviors than spill over into the workplace.

Bullying in the workplace… READ MORE

How to Reference "Prevention and Early Resolution of Workplace Conflict" Capstone Project in a Bibliography

Related Projects:

Conflict Resolution or ADR Legal Psychological Term Paper

Resolution

ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION: LEGAL and PSYCHOLOGICAL

ASPECTS

The objective of this work is to examine the legal and psychological aspects of the different forms of alternative dispute resolution (ADR):… read more

Term Paper 7 pages (1906 words) Sources: 4 Style: APA Topic: Law / Legal / Jurisprudence

---

Workplace Violence Research Proposal

EAP

Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) and dealing with workplace violence

Happy, well-adjusted employees are productive employees. This is one reason that EAP (Employee Assistance Programs) have increased in popularity and… read more

Research Proposal 4 pages (1314 words) Sources: 3 Style: APA Topic: Career / Labor / Human Resources

---

Risk Minimization and Loss Prevention in Small Term Paper

Risk Minimization and Loss Prevention in Small Business in the Post-9/11 ERA

Chapter 1, Introduction,

Chapter 2, Literature Review,

Chapter 3, Methodology,

Chapter 4, Data Analysis,

Chapter 5, Summary, Recommendations… read more

Term Paper 59 pages (16256 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: Business / Corporations / E-commerce

---

Black's Law Dictionary (1991), Child Abuse Essay

Black's Law Dictionary (1991), child abuse is "any form of cruelty to a child's physical, moral or mental well-being. Also used to describe form of sexual attack which may or… read more

Essay 18 pages (5968 words) Sources: 24 Topic: Child Development / Youth / Teens

---

Managing Religious Diversity in the Workplace Term Paper

Managing Religious Diversity in the Workplace

Nowadays there is certainly an emergence of religion in the workplace, as this is a mixture of the increase in religious recognition with a… read more

Term Paper 11 pages (4595 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: Religion / God / Theology

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>