The article “Organizational Communication and Conflict Management” by Kenan Spaho explains the importance of internal and external communication in an organization. Lack of proper interaction or communication affects performance. The author goes further to explore the relevance of conflicts in an organization.
During communications, people’s opinions tend to differ. The situation calls for new ideas to resolve such conflicts and have a common playing ground. Conflict management becomes a critical subject for managers. Managers should encourage teamwork, embrace dialogue, and make communication much better.
According to Spaho (2013), conflicts are normal because employees will always differ. It is the duty of managers and supervisors to deal with all types of conflicts in their organizations. All managerial levels should use their experiences to address all the conflicts in an organization.
Organizational managers have a role to play towards fostering better organizational strategy and conflict management practices (Spaho, 2013). The author goes further to explain why proper conflict management strategies will promote organizational effectiveness.
Top-level managers are not the only ones to address such problems and disagreements. These managers are busy and might not tackle most of the conflicts. This might also result in negative influences.
Article Critique
The peer reviewed journal article identifies the issue of conflict as something that can affect the effectiveness of an organization. The author has acknowledged the presence of disagreements or conflicts in every organization. The important thing is to have proper measures to deal with such conflicts.
Sometimes the problem becomes a major threat when there is no good external and internal communication at the organization.
Poor communication will usually result in poor performance (Spaho, 2013). The author uses various examples to explain how managers can apply their competencies in order to address most of the issues affecting their organizations.
The author also presents a clearly defined literature review. In this review, the author examines in details some forms of communication in an organization. This analysis makes it easier for the reader to understand some of the causes of disagreements in many organizations.
As well, the article explores some of the major types of conflicts in a business organization. For example, vertical conflicts occur mainly when managers dictate their employees without letting them know what they should do. Horizontal conflicts are common when employees encounter challenges in their departments (Spaho, 2013).
This information is necessary because it helps managers identify the conflicts in their organizations. The author identifies some other causes of misunderstandings such as limited resources, personal differences, poor communication, and lack of motivation among others.
It is impossible to identify conflicts in any organization. The author supports this assertion using the major stages of organizational conflicts. That being the case, managers should have proper conflict management strategies.
Managers should examine the communication strategy in the business and then focus on the best styles to manage his or her employees. Every managerial level should play a unique responsibility towards promoting the best communication processes.
The approach helps managers deal with conflicts and promote organizational effectiveness. This article is relevant because it offers useful insights and ideas that can help many organizations deal with conflicts and ineffectiveness.
Management is a critical process that calls for dedication, analysis, involvement, and motivation (Spaho, 2013). Personally, I believe this article is meaningful to the field of management or conflict management. Managers and supervisors will benefit significantly from the concepts and ideas explored in this article.
Reference List
Spaho, K. (2013). Organizational Communication and Conflict Management. Management, 18(1), 103-118. Web.