Sofie Micklisch

Discussion 3

Florida Southwestern State College

            Creating conflict in an organization is beneficial to the workplace. Conflict will occur at one point or another, but conflict does not necessarily have to be bad. There are two types of conflict that can occur in a place of work. Dysfunctional conflict is can threaten an organization (Kinicki & Fugate, 2012). Functional conflict is there to help the organization promote a sense of competition, create respect, and think about the issues at hand (Kinicki & Fugate, 2012). If any type of conflict were to be beneficial it would be functional conflict.

            Functional conflict would be very beneficial if an organization wanted to create some type of competition in the work force (Kinicki & Fugate, 2012). If a company needed to reach a deadline on a certain project that needed fresh ideas they would try to create functional conflict. They could do this by offering some sort of reward, such as a raise to whoever came up with the most constructive ideas and finished their project first. The employees would then fall into competition against one another. The result might be an idea that would help the organization survive in the long run.

            Not all ideas are equal, but some can be just as good as others. Conflicts may arise when two people believe that their idea is the better of the two. Negotiation is a great way to resolve conflict. There are five steps to negotiation. These steps are clarifying interests, identifying options, having an alternative plan, making a deal, and perfecting the deal (Kinicki & Fugate, 2012). One also has to keep in mind that negotiating and conflict is different for each gender (Halpern & Parks, 1996).

            Negotiating would be most effective when it comes to resolving the conflict of competition mentioned above, and it would be least effective in an emergency situation. The options have to be identified, talked through, and deals have to be made (Kinicki & Fugate, 2012). When someone is resolving a conflict it is important to remember that women are more sensitive to environmental cues, such as visual and sensory cues (Halpern & Parks, 1996). This is important to note because they can get very emotional about things.

References

Kinicki, A. & Fugate, M. (2012). Chapter 11: Managing conflict and negotiating. Organizational behavior: Key concepts, skills, and best practices. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Halpern, J. & Parks, J. (1996). Vive la difference: Differences between males and females in process and outcomes in a low-conflict negotiation. International journal of conflict management 7(1). 45. Retrieved from http://db07.linccweb.org/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.db07.linccweb.org/docview/198826597?accountid=10674

           Sarah, I too do understand that dealing with conflict in the workplace is not an easy task. No matter how perfect the work environment is, conflict is always likely to occur. I agree when you mention that it does foster a strong team, and it can also help the team members creative a mutual respect for one another (Kinicki & Fugate, 2012). It can help effect the moral of the group, and this can lead to a more creative thought process. If the team needs to negotiate in order to solve a conflict that has occurred, the negotiation that takes place can help reduce errors and choose the best idea that comes forth (Givan, 2010).

            It is important to figure out the main issues at hand first, and I agree with your want to integrate instead of negotiate (Kinicki & Fugate, 2012). Integrating can have its downsides as well as its upsides. The weakness that integrating carries with it is that it is time consuming (Kinicki & Fugate, 2012). It takes a while for all of the issues to be put down on the table and figured out.

References

Kinicki, A. & Fugate, M. (2012). Chapter 11: Managing conflict and negotiating. Organizational behavior: Key concepts, skills, and best practices. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Givan, R. (2010). The maimonides medical center model: Conflict reduction through mutual respect and conflict resolution through mediation. Dispute resolution journal 65(4). 11,54-56. Retrieved from http://db07.linccweb.org/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.db07.linccweb.org/docview/850817757?accountid=10674