OBHRM ICA

RESEARCH PAPER ON

TOPIC: A STUDY ON WORKPLACE CONFLICT RESOLUTION

STRATEGIES- A LEADERSHIP PERSPECTIVE

SUBMITTED TO: DR. KARISHMA DESAI

ASST. PROFESSOR, NMIMS KIRIT P. MEHTA SCHOOL OF LAW,

MUMBAI

SUBMITTED ON – 15th march 2021

SUBMITTED BY: NIKITA RATHI

SY BBA LLB (D)

D024
ABSTRACT

Organizational conflict, or workplace conflict, is a state of discord caused by the actual or

perceived opposition of needs, values and interests between people working together. Conflict
in organizations are inevitable between formal authority and power and those individuals and
groups affected. The disputes over how revenues, work, how long and hard people work, the
jurisdictional disagreements among individuals, departments, and between unions and
management are different sources and kinds of conflict that happens in organisation. There
are subtler forms of conflict involving rivalries, jealousies, personality clashes, role
definitions, and struggles for power and favour. Conflict within individuals between
competing needs and demands to which individuals respond in different ways. that occur in
individuals, between individuals, and between groups. Conflicts within work groups are often
caused by struggles over control, status, and scarce resources. Conflicts between groups in
organizations have similar origins. The constructive resolution of such conflicts can most
often be achieved through a rational process of problem solving, coupled with a willingness
to explore issues and alternatives and to listen to each other.

Keywords: Conflict; Resolution; Leader; Strategy; Intra ; Interpersonal;

Organisational; Motive; Anger; Anxiety
1.INTRODUCTION

Whenever two individuals look into the same issue in different ways, a conflict is bound to
happened and it does arise either at the spur of the moment or get triggered indirectly. In
simple terms conflict is a fight either between individuals, among group members or among
departments in an organisation. Never in organisation situation two individuals think alike
and including their thought process, even to the level of understanding. Disagreements
happening with in individuals have different values, opinions, needs, interests and usually
stand at a point of uncertainty. Conflict is defined as a clash between individuals arising out
of a difference in thought process, attitudes, understanding, interests, requirements and even
sometimes perceptions. A conflict results in heated arguments, physical abuses and definitely
loss of peace and harmony. A conflict can actually change relationships. Misunderstandings
as well as ego clashes also lead to conflicts. Every individual has a different way to look at
things and react to various situations.

A conflict has five phases.

1. 1st phase: Prelude to conflict Preceding conflict inflicting factors which possibly
arise a conflict among individuals due to lack of coordination, differences in interests,
dissimilarity in cultural, religion, educational background all are instrumental in arising a
conflict.
2. 2nd Phase: Triggering Event – Never any conflict arises on its own, there needs to be
an intervening direct or indirect event which triggers the conflict. Like for example two
people from different cultural backgrounds trying to convince each other, thus triggering
the conflict between them.
3. 3rd Phase: Initiation Phase - Initiation phase is actually the phase where the conflict
begins. Heated arguments, abuses, verbal disagreements start in the sequel indicating that
the fight is already on.
4. 4th Phase: Differentiation Phase – This is the phase when the individuals voice out
their differences against each other in the differentiation phase.
5. 5th Phase: Resolution Phase – The parties involved must try to compromise to some
extent and resolve the conflict soon. The resolution phase explores the various options to
resolve the conflict.
2. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

1. To study the importance of conflict management as a leader

2. To highlight various factors leading to conflicts in an organisation due to
leadership issue
3. To study the relationship between the need for better conflict management
practices and organisation performance.

3. HYPOTHESIS
1. H0: There is no significant relationship between conflict management practices and
its impact on organisation performance
2. H1: There is significant relationship between conflict management practices and its
impact on organisation performance

4. REVIEW OF LITERATURE

1.Ruble & Thomas’ (1976) model of how employees deal with conflict, but it also adds
several different factors. The first conflict management style deals with problem-solving.
This is a very common method that is currently used in many work environments, and has
strengths and weaknesses. If someone is confused, misunderstood, or under-trained, this is a
style that could produce results; however, if the situation is any deeper than that, managers
may quickly feel discouraged if this is the only technique that is brought to the table.
Learning how to align super ordinate goals is the next piece to the contingency puzzle. The
likelihood of this type of conflict occurring in an organization is high.

2.Robbins (1978), however, suggested that conflict can be classified as functional or

dysfunctional based on how the conflict affects an organization’s performance: The Effect of
Conflict Management Styles on Employee Attitudes Work load, unethical behavior by
colleagues, social exclusion, time pressure, downsizing, and organizational change programs
can all be easily identified as things that cause stress at work and accordingly bring out some
type of stressor response (Bright & Jones, 2001).

3.Riggio (2003), this technique could be used for intergroup conflict. Avoiding conflict often
results only in a short-term fix and is generally never an answer to long term situations. When
managers handle conflict through avoidance, they will tend to inadvertently give employees
more power because employees will try to take matters into their own hands, and come up
with solutions. Whether managers want to admit it or not, when they permit conflict, they
give the impression of promoting it. The fifth technique in the contingency approach model is
smoothing. This technique is essentially how it sounds. Managers using this technique will
try to highlight the similarities while not placing a huge impact on the differences.

5.SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

How to effectively and successfully make Conflict Resolution; Do not avoid the conflict,
hoping it will go away. An unresolved conflict or interpersonal disagreement festers just
under the surface in your work environment. Do not meet separately with people in
conflict. If you allow each individual to tell their story to you, you risk polarizing their
positions. The person in conflict has a vested interest in making himself or herself right if
you place yourself in the position of judge and jury. The sole goal of the employee, in this
situation, is to convince you of the merits of their case. Do not believe, for even a moment,
the only people who are affected by the conflict are the participants. Every employee
with whom the conflicting employees interact is affected by the stress. People feel a hostile
work environment in worst case scenarios, and the organization gets divided. To mediate and
resolve conflict help employees resolve conflicts in respective workplace itself. Conducting
a meet with the antagonists together and put their point of view, without comment or
interruption by the other party. Ask each participant to describe specific actions they’d
like to see the other party take that would resolve the differences. Three or four suggestions
work well. If the situation needs further exploration, additionally identifying what the
other employee can do more of, less of, stop and start. All participants discuss and commit
to making the changes necessary to resolve the conflict. Commit to noticing that the other
person has made a change, no matter how small and reasonable disagreements over issues
and plans have personality conflicts that affect the workplace. Finally assure both parties
have faith in their ability to resolve their differences and get on with their successful
contributions within shared organization. The proficient use nonverbal communication by
looking or wave to the participants. Turn the opportunities of the floor for a minute while the
other participants re-join the group. Never let fear on to manager's or team leader's mind and
also must be on the lookout for a proper communicating ability to do the job to control
meetings. Intervening with a professional way of questioning. Put questions to the group
members and ask for an opinion with a brief summary of the discussion occurring in the
meeting as a whole, and request the people to share their ideas with the rest of the people in
the meeting. Verbally intervene for participation: Generally, it's better to use this tactic as
a second or third attempt to pull people in. It's direct and very effective but can embarrass
team members. Establish a group signal. The group signal reminds participants to hold one
discussion at a time. A signal that works effectively is to make a nonverbal time out sign
followed by holding up one index finger to indicate one meeting.

LEADER’S BAD PRACTICES CONTRIBUTING TO CONFLICT IN

ORGANISATION:
 Leaders sometimes never have consciousness of what they are doing
 When the leader treats them disrespectfully;
 The work is all about leaders and not giving due credit to the employees
 When leaders are a blockhead or a Jerk
 Leaders over manage smart employee
 Leaders at times don’t know what they are doing themselves
 Leaders need not know everything about the employee or act as if so:
 Leaders refuse to give credit when the credit is really due:
 Leader’s approbation of senior managers creates conflict and also disappointment
among the employees
 When leaders are a bully and this gets to the root of the conflict easier than ever:

6. RESEARCH GAP
The different aspects of literature related to conflict management in an organisation over
the years have been collected and used for the study however there exist huge gap as
only few papers cover the conflict management in an organisation from leaders
perspective in detail manner where it describes the types and phases of conflicts as the
paper proposes that it is important to first identify the type of conflict in order to
effectively manage conflicts in an organisation and this is one such paper which
promotes cross cultural leadership as an effective need of mechanism in todays world in
order to minimise the conflict management in an organisation
7.CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS:

Firstly; Preventing is better than cure, and building a Trust Relationship Over Time:
Trust is built and maintained by many small actions over time. Setting up team norms or
relationship guidelines and a set of rules or guidelines that a team establishes to shape the
interaction of team members with each other and with employees who are external to the
team. Team norms can be developed during an early team meeting. More norms can be added
as the team sees the need for additional guidelines. Once developed, team norms are used to
guide team member behaviour. Team norms are used to assess how well team members are
interacting. Team members as co-workers: all team members are equal; every team
member's opinion will be thoughtfully considered; each team member will keep all
commitments by the agreed upon due date; each team member agrees to constantly assess
whether team members are honouring their commitment to the team norms. Team member
communication: team members will speak respectfully to each other; will not talk down to
each other; will positively recognize and thank each other for team contributions. Team
member interaction in meetings: team members will listen without interrupting; hold no
side or competing conversations; follow the rules for effective meetings; attend the meeting
on time; always work from an agenda; minutes will be recorded at each meeting; end
meetings on time. Team organization and function: leadership will rotate monthly; the
team management sponsor will attend the meeting, at least, monthly. Team communication
with other employees including managers: team members will make certain they have
agreement on what and when to communicate; complaints about team members will be
addressed first in the team. Team problem solving, conflict resolution, and decision
making: team members will make decisions by consensus, but majority will rule if timely
consensus is not reached; conflicts will be resolved directly with the persons in conflict.
Team norms can encompass as many topics as the team deems necessary for successful
functioning. Start with a few team norms and add more norms as needed. Make sure the team
norms are written and posted where team members are reminded of their commitment. Take a
look at Twelve Tips for Team Building to identify other areas for potential team norms. With
effective team norms in place, your team will be able to focus on its business purpose. The
team was undoubtedly founded to help the company continuously improve and achieve its
strategic goals. Don't let ineffective relationships and interactions sabotage the team's work.
Clarifying the job description of a manager varies from organization to organization.

CROSS CULTURAL LEADERSHIP –

Cross-cultural psychology attempts to understand how individuals of different cultures

interact with each other. Cross-cultural leadership is the way to understand leaders who work
in the newly globalized market. Cross-cultural leadership involves the ability to influence and
motivate people’s attitudes and behaviours in the global community to reach a common
organizational goal. As workforces become increasingly multicultural and businesses
continue to expand overseas, the homogenous workforce has become a thing of the past. In
such a global economy, cross-cultural leadership skills are critically important. Global
markets are increasingly taking advantage of the strength and economic advantages of a
diverse global workforce. Most of the companies operate on international projects with multi-
cultural teams located in multiple countries. It is also common to find such projects led by
Project Managers who come from many different countries that add diversity to the teams
and creates a need for a greater amount of collaboration and need for leadership at multiple
levels.

Today’s international organizations require leaders who can adjust to different environments
quickly and work with partners and employees of other cultures. As firms move from
regional to trans-global enterprise models, leadership must provide the bridge between
cultural diversity and business goals achievement. The ability of a leader to motivate diverse
teams to manage change effectively is a critical issue in the international environment. It
cannot be assumed that a manager who is successful in one country will be successful in
another

8.REFERENCES;

1. Richard Arvid Johnson (1976). Management, systems, and society : an introduction.

Pacific Palisades, Calif.: Goodyear Pub. Co.pp.148–142. ISBN 9780876205402. OCLC

2299496.

2. "Conflict Resolution Principles 150". Supervisor Essentials Training.

TOOLINGU. Retrieved 1 December 2012.
3. "Workplace Conflict". Faculty and Staff Assistance. Boston University.
Retrieved 1 December 2012.
4. Resolving Workplace Conflict, University of Colorado–Boulder.

5. Party-Directed Mediation: Facilitating Dialogue Between Individuals (on-line

3rd

Edition, 2014) by Gregorio Billikopf, University of California