Executive Summary
Effective conflict management is the key principle to successful achievement of main plan action goals. It is the main signifier of great performance and effectiveness of knowledge acquisition. In this respect, the implementation of successful conflict resolution techniques can greatly contribute to problem solving through forcing, avoiding, and compromising.
De Dreu et al. (2001) insist on the fact that the establishment of consistent conflict management approaches should be presented through negotiation studies, analysis of opponent-reports, and behavioral issues.
In order to understand the significance and role of conflict in organizational management, as well as the causes of disagreements in the employed environment, conflict definitions should be identified. Hence, conflict definition can be presented from different perspectives depending on its origin, context, and reasons.
In this respect, Constantino (1996) presents the term in the organizational context stating that “…conflict I an expression of dissatisfaction or disagreement with an interaction, process, product, or service” (p. 5). The disagreement can be presented as the outcome of different factors, including diverse competing goals, expectations, and misconceptions, and interpersonal relations. A great number of definitions are presented by Rahim (2010).
Specifically, the overview of definitions demonstrates enormous variance of terms for specific areas and for general usage. A synthesis of gathered elements of conflict involve a number of aspect, including opposing interests, conflict recognition, different beliefs, interaction between individuals, and thwarting of other plans. All elements are discussed in detail to understand the reasons and main underpinnings for building viable conflict management strategies.
Before establishing goals and approaches to conflict resolutions, significant attention should be paid to the nature of conflicts and causes leading to disputable situations. Due to the fact that the purpose of the Learning Contract is to define which personal skills can contribute to more efficient conflict resolution, the emphasis should placed on the analysis of interpersonal conflicts.
In this regard, face-negotiation theory should be carefully studies to define the approaches and concepts that will be useful for managing disagreements between the members of an organization (Ting-Toomey, 2005 p. 71). Specifically, Ting-Toomey (2005) suggests that much importance should be attained to shared identity and cultural diversity as far as the interpersonal disagreements are concerns.
Another important theory to be considered is contingency approach to conflict management that is based on the analysis of a specific situation. The theory assumes that when the decision making and its quality are low, the manager should resort to autocratic style of controlling.
Alternatively, high level of decision making should encourage the leader to apply to the participative style of managing conflict (Rahim, 2010, 57). Finally, specific process and models will be explored to comprehend other nuances of effective resolution of disputes in interpersonal context.
All the proposed theories were analyzed and tested and the results provided in the report have outlined the approaches according to which the personal skills contributing to conflict management can be outlined to reach specific goals of an organization.
Definition of Conflicts
The analysis of conflicts definitions can help us define which approaches can be chosen to settle a particular dispute. With regard to our action plan goal, conflict definition should be considered from several angles. First of all, conflict should be considered as an interaction between people and as process, but not the final outcome (Constantino, 1996).
Second, conflict should be considered through a variety of external and internal factors, such as conditions, perceptions, emotions, and behaviors encompassing the entire meaning of disagreements (Thomas, 1992, p. 265). Third, interpersonal conflict should also be evaluated from the viewpoint of a decision-making process.
Integrating all those definitions enables us to outline the steps to be undertaken when it comes to solving problems and decision making in the course of learning. Great personal conflict skills are strongly associated with the ability of a person to work in team and interact with other members of the group. In whole, wider comprehension of definition framework has contributed to more accurate projecting of goals and their achievement.
Established Approaches and Theories
Conflict Recognition
The significance of conflict recognition is tremendous due to the fact many organization consider it as one of the main strategies aimed at sustaining a competitive advantage over other organizations. According to Mohr and Spekman (1994), one of the main principles of effective conflict recognition is effective communication and appropriate behavior.
In particular, active participation in daily operations indicates the promotion and ameliorations of partnership success. Hence, ability to recognize and settle a conflict also contributes to greater commitment, communication, coordination and trust (Mohr and Spekman, 1994, p. 135). In addition, Baruch and Folger (1994) also state the conflict recognition plays a pivotal role in meeting the needs of employees.
Specifically, they believe that recognizing the conflict means understanding the needs of different parties concerns and intending to find a compromise and reach a consensus concerning a specific issue. In addition, recognition implies careful of different positions and accommodating to other person’s beliefs and values. It is important to know, however, that recognition should not be confused with reconciliation; rather, it is an objective evaluation of the disputable situation to find out an optimal decision.
Face Negotiation Theory
Considering conflict from a communicational angle, it should be stressed that culture and communication are closely interconnected. In this respect, cultural diversity is one of the core reasons for emerging the disputable situation and disagreements between the employees.
Defining the terms from this perspective, it embraces a “a complex frame of reference that consists of patterns of traditions, beliefs, values, norms, symbols, and meanings that are shared to varying degrees by interacting members of a community” (Ting-Toomey, 2005, p. 72).
Obviously, cultural aspect influence on a person’s decision either to engage in the conflict or ignore it. In this respect, the phenomenon implies the consideration face orientations. Hence, conflict follows emotional frustration that is largely reflective by means of non-verbal expressions.
In order to control face expressions and define effective non-verbal means of settling or preventing conflicts, specific approaches and modes should be applied (Jack et al., 2011).
Specifically, Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode instruments can be used as a tool for a psychological assessment for monitoring five aspects of conflict management including competing, compromising, accommodating, cooperating, and avoiding (Shell, 2001, p. 155). All these elements should be carefully comprehended with the help of Thoma-Kulmann model contributing to greater understanding of personal strengths and weaknesses.
Team-Building Skills
Team building skills play a crucial role in working effective conflict prevention techniques. Therefore, this managerial area has also been considered for achieving the goals of the action plan. More importantly, this domain is closely related to a face negotiation theory where much attention should be paid to communication competence achieved through facial expressions and other non-verbal means of communication with other team members (Ting-Toomey, 2005, p. 81; Amason, 1996).
According to Rahim (2010), team building “…is a planned strategy to bring about changes in the attitudes and behavior of the members of an organizational group (or team), whether permanent or temporary, to improve the group’s overall effectiveness” (pp. 134). Because conflict management is strongly associated with changing behavioral patterns and evaluating different positions, team-building skills are essential to come up with disagreements and interpersonal conflicts.
Specifically, Aritzeta et al. (2005) believe that there is a close connection between conflict management styles and team roles. More importantly, “…problems and tensions are natural consequences of team working and may offer real opportunities to find creative and shared solutions” (p. 175). In other words, the specific case of teamwork reveals that managers should encourage team managers to encounter problems and solve those in cooperation with each other.
In whole, because decision making can have on a learning effectiveness and performance, the analysis of conflict management in team is crucial for defining alternative and contextual theories improving the quality of communication.
Diversity Training
Much research has been done on proving the connection between cultural diversity consideration and efficiency in a decision-making process. Concurrently, diversity issues reveal one of the most serious challenges for organizations (Jack et al., 2011). In order to overcome barriers to fruitful communication in a culturally diverse setting, specific methodologies should be employed to help workers come up with the complexity of problems and issues that on the organizational agenda (Broome et al. 2002).
In this respect, Broome et al. (2002) have found that conflict management “…should look like in diverse workgroup setting, since each player might have different expectations and preferences for problem solving approaches, as well as assumptions and realities surrounding the conflict itself” (p. 241).
More importantly, conflict management behaviors are largely defined by the content within which the difficult situation takes place (Bechtoldt et al., 2010). With regard, the action plans involves a number of techniques promoting the understanding of specific concepts connected to the challenges of working in a culturally diverse environment.
Contingency Conflict Management
The leading approach chosen for constructing the Learning Contract is contingency conflict management that based on a thorough analysis. Specifically, the theory presents a more general treatment of disputable situations that are considered in different contexts and facets. In the studies provided by Song et al. (2006), the importance of context is underlined due to the constantly changing settings and behavioral patterns.
Hence, due to the fact contemporary organizations rely mostly on team management, the effectiveness of the conflict management increases. In addition, the consideration of the variables should enhance the promotion of effective problem solving and decision making techniques (De Dreu, 1997).
In other words, the conflict as a process should be conceived as a multidimensional phenomenon. Similar views are hold by Rahim (2010) whose study prove the rationale for using this method for tackling conflicts and tensions within organizations.
Discussion of the implications for the skill area in promoting effective conflict management practices
Judging from the theories analyzed, there is a solid platform for developing new approaches and skills to managing conflict being the key to successful performance and learning effectiveness. Many models and approaches are aimed at facing conflict situation and using them for increasing the productivity and enhancing decision-making techniques (Driscoll et al. 2010).
The action plan, therefore, seeks to introduce these techniques as the basis for widening experience in a more rational evaluation of success. In addition, integrating conflict management techniques to learning practice present greater opportunities for enhancing other managerial skills. Specifically, careful examination of conflict management and prevention techniques demonstrates that occupation and personal differences have a potent impact on the organizational behavior (Ozgan, 2011).
First, introduction of new conflict resolution patterns contributes greatly to increasing the quality of communication and coordination between people with different positions, values, and beliefs. Second, projecting strategies in different context provides a space for a more objective evaluation and recognition of problems and causes of conflicts. Third, a careful examination of face orientations in the course of interpersonal communication can define effective non-verbal means of approaching a problem.
Action Plan Outcomes and Findings
Testing the Identified Strategies and Theories
The above-discussed theories have been tested for the purpose of increasing personal conflict management skills for dealing with difficult situations while sharing experience with other people. With regard to the above, similar techniques can be used to avoid conflict situations with peers and with a teacher.
Specifically, realizing the importance and different definitions of the terms can provide with an advantage of handling stressful situations. Hence, choosing a strategy of encountering a conflict can be beneficial for a person specifically when it comes to prioritizing the results.
I have recognized that avoidance can prevent me from obtaining the desired information or knowledge and that using face-negotiation approaches, as well as contingency management theory can significantly promote my communication. In this respect, using a list of definitions was aimed at acquiring a better idea of how problems could be solved, as well as how decisions were made.
Second week was spent on analyzing the importance of conflict recognition, as well as objective evaluation of a disputable situation. Using contingency approach disclosed by Rahim (2010) and concepts worked by Baruch and Folger (1994) help me understand once again why conflicts should not be ignored.
In week two, I made a list of case of conflicts with peers to identify how they can be faced and resolved. When the list was completed, I highlighted the case where recognizing conflicts can results in creating a constructive decision leading learning success. The actual outcome was interesting because the predictions revealed that most of conflicts could greatly contribute to solving specific tasks and improving the level of performance.
Careful analysis of facial orientations and non-verbal means for rendering messages was carried out during week three. Hence, a careful re-evaluation of these aspects significantly widened my experience in communication specific ideas effectively. Hence, awareness of specific facial expression patterns can lead to more productive communication and cooperation.
The action plan analysis have revealed that using a face-negotiation theory help me understand the connection between emotional coloring of a message and its influence on the course of negotiation. Hence, this week I decided to apply to different emotional expression to check out which pattern is the most appropriate in a specific context.
Week four was dedicated to measuring the extent to which team-building skills were helpful for handling culturally diverse environment. The analysis revealed that, even if the environment can be cultural identical, certain beliefs, values, and norms can vary forming a unique diversity in the learning environment.
With regard to this problem, I have modeled a situation where different people expressed different outlook on a particular strategies. In order to adjust to the situation and face it properly, I had to accommodate to constant changes and propose different solutions. As a result, I understood that a greater flexibility can promote my performance and increase my learning skills. Additionally, different representations of the situation has made to work harder on my non-verbal expression and universality in treating people.
The following weeks were connected with analyzing the case in conflict management in different organization to define how effective conflict resolutions techniques could be effective in increasing productivity and performance. While making a research, I found that contingency model was highly effective in searching for the right decisions and in resolving conflicts because various contexts and environments were involved.
Despite the success of the action plan, certain aspects were not properly considered. Specifically, because contingency approach was more effective in case of constructive conflicts, few strategies were introduced to tackle destructive conflicts where an emphasis should be placed on the analysis of avoidance techniques (Terry, 2010).
In order to eliminate this weakness, alternative approaches should be considered in more detail. In addition, because the action plan was more connected with modeling situations, it lacked practical information because conflict situations. In this respect, more real conflict management cases should be presented.
Presenting Alternative Solutions
It should be admitted that the above-presented report on the learning contract and action plan have managed to highlight the most effective conflict management techniques used in practice. However, all the situations modeled for my action plan did not involve the participation of third party which can also be an effective mode of solving tensions and taking reasonable decisions (Dixon, 1996).
In this respect, I find it rational to introduce a range of third-party procedures to manage conflicts, specifically those based on cultural and social diversities. Such an approach can contribute greatly to establishing new pattern in mediating a dispute and enhancing interpersonal communication. In addition, a more careful of prevention can be beneficial for increasing the learning potential and ability to communicate differently colored ideas in a more effective way.
Conclusion
Summing up the main aspect of the analysis embracing a two-to-nine week period, the post-measuring results revealed that the introduction of conflict management theories to a learning process has enhanced my resistance to difficult situations and promoted my understanding of a conflict as a process that should be actively participated to receive positive outcomes.
The action plan goals, therefore, were effectively achieved due to a multifaceted, integrated theoretical framework applied to conflict recognition and resolution. In general, all chosen approaches and theories combined have deposited greatly to my understanding of conflict in its role in shaping effective learning and communicative tools. All these techniques have provided me with hints concerning which psychological approaches should be chosen to behave in a particular context or situation.
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