Custom essays on Managing Conflict Protocol

Today, the conflict management plays an important part in functioning of modern organizations. At the same time, the effective conflict management is grounded on the adequate and accurate definition of the problem an organization is facing, the parties involved in the conflict, the essence of the conflict and key positions of both parties involved in the conflict. On the ground of this information, it is possible to build up an effective conflict management strategy with the help of which it is possible to tackle any problem and to solve any conflict. On the other hand, it is important to lay emphasis on the fact that the conflict management and conflict resolution involves mutual efforts from the part of both parties involved. This means that to tackle the conflict successfully the parties should come to the agreement on the necessity of the conflict resolution. In such a situation, the effective conflict management should take into consideration the position of each party involved in the conflict and offer a compromise or consensus that meet interests and needs of both parties involved in the conflict.
On analyzing the problem of the conflict management and conflict resolution, it is important to lay emphasis on the fact that the conflict management starts with the identification of the parties involved in the conflict. In this respect, it should be said that often the parties involved in a conflict are employer and employees or managers and subordinates. Such conflicts are frequent in all organizations and, willingly or not, all organizations confront the problem of the conflict management. When the parties of the conflict are identified, it is necessary to focus on the clarification of the position of both parties involved in the conflict. In fact, the introduction of changes in the organizational structure and organizational performance may provoke conflicts within the organization. For instance, the restructuring of an organization may lead to consistent job cuts, which, in their turn, can provoke the opposition from the part of employees. Naturally, employees are not willing to lose their jobs because of the restructuring of the organization and they want to preserve their jobs. On the other hand, the organization initiates the restructuring to improve its organizational performance, its position in the market, to increase its revenues. In such a situation, the management of the organization will naturally be insistent and persistent in regard to the implementation of the change, regardless of the opposition of employees.
However, it proves beyond a doubt that the overall success of the introduction of the change is possible on the condition of the effective conflict management. What is meant here is the fact that the parties involved in the conflict should identify their positions clearly. For instance, returning to the case of job cuts and restructuring, managers should state clearly that their main goal is the restructuring of the organization to improve its performance and, therefore, conditions of work and position of each employee.

Employees, in their turn, should state clearly that they oppose to job cuts. Thus, both parties declare their positions and the conflict management should focus on searching a compromise between restructuring, which is accompanied by job cuts, and the minimization of job cuts and their negative effects.
In such a situation, managers and employees should focus on the elaboration of a plausible solution, which can meet interests and needs of both managers and employees. For instance, managers should define the basic criteria to meet for job cuts, including poor performance, numerous cases of absenteeism, little experience, professional negligence and inability to accept standards and norms of the organizational culture. On the other hand, employees should clarify their demands and conditions on which they can accept the restructuring. For instance, they can accept job cuts on the condition of compensations that meet the needs of employees at the moment and on the condition of fixing the number of jobs to cut as well as conditions under which employees can lose their job. As a result, both parties will have the material to work with. In other words, both parties will know the position of each other as well as basic demands and conditions on which the conflict can be resolved and the change can be implemented successfully.
At the same time, to arrive to a compromise, both parties should understand values, needs and interests of each other. In this regard, it should be said that managers are interested in the improvement of the organizational performance. They are concerned with the maintenance of the organizational culture, cultural norms and traditions of the organization. They want to maintain the stable and positive relationship between employers and employees and develop positive relationships that can contribute to the consistent improvement of the organizational performance. As for employees, they need certainty in their future in the organization, high wages respectively to their contribution to the organizational performance and good retirement and compensation plans. Hence, it is possible to distinguish common values, needs and interests of both parties. To put it more precisely, managers and employees are interested in the stability of the organizational performance. They need the organization to work effectively to provide managers with positive outcomes of the organizational performance and employees with high wages and bonuses. In addition, both parties are interested in the ongoing improvement of the organizational performance. Therefore, the parties should focus the negotiations on the elaboration of the conflict resolution that meets the aforementioned common values, needs and interests of both managers and employees.
At this point, it is worth mentioning the fact that the lack of the conflict resolution is not acceptable for either party. It proves beyond a doubt that the lack of resolution of the conflict will lead to the consistent deterioration of the organizational performance. As a result, both employees and managers will from negative effects of the conflict and deterioration of the organizational performance. In actuality, the lack of the conflict resolution leads inevitably to the decline of the organizational performance and undermines the organizational culture.
In such a situation, the best case is when both parties come to agreement with minimal losses for each party. For instance, managers complete the restructuring of the organization and the minimal number of jobs is cut with substantial compensations being received by fire employees. The worst case is the ongoing conflict between managers and employees that will lead to job cuts en masse, deterioration of the organizational performance and the long-lasting recovery of the organization after the accomplishment of the restructuring. In the real life, neither the best nor the worst case are likely to occur. The most likely case to occur is the accomplishment of the restructuring. Managers will cut jobs as much as they need but they will pay off compensations to employees and fix the number of employees and criteria of job cuts.
Naturally, the conflict management and conflict resolution may face certain risks, such as the growing tension between managers and employees or the rise of informal leaders among employees that will interfere into the negotiation process and undermine the authority of managers. In addition, the decision-making process should involve representatives of both parties. Otherwise, the conflict cannot be solved successfully because the compromise should be elaborated by both parties. Therefore, managers should lead the transformation conflict management style to tackle the conflict through negotiations and elaboration of mutual understanding with employees respectively to the current situation and needs of both the organization and employees.
Thus, the conflict management can focus on several possible solutions, such as complete restructuring with numerous job cuts; or failure of the restructuring and decline of the organizational performance up to the bankruptcy of the organization; and the consensus between parties, which implies the restructuring, job cuts and compensations to pay off to retired and fired employees. In this regard, the conflict resolution should meet the basic standards, such as fairness and objectivity that means that interests and needs of both parties should be taken into consideration. Managers should carry out the strategic decision, which has been taken, i.e. the restructuring. Employees should secure their position and to receive compensations in case of job cuts.