IPCS Term Paper 201 1

2011

Conflict Managem [IPCS TERM PAPER] ent

Conflict management plays an important role in maintaining a good healthy working environment in an organization. The term paper proves that it is not possible to avoid a conflict in an organization but it could be resolved by different conflict management techniques.

Submitted to: Ms. Samra Jaweed

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Made By: Saad Niazi 11467

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CONTENTS
Acknowledgement--------------------------03 II.Introduction---------------------------------04 III. Hypothesis-----------------------------------05 IV.Analysis:
I. a. Nature of b. c. d. e. f. g. h. Page

conflicts----------------------------------------------06 Sources of conflicts-------------------------------------------06 Views of conflicts----------------------------------------------07 Types of conflicts----------------------------------------------10 Approaches to conflict management-----------------11 Matching Strategies to Situations-----------------------16 Conflict outcomes--------------------------------------------17 Conflict in organizations------------------------------------17

Research-------------------------------------20 VI. Case Study----------------------------------22 VII.Conclusion-----------------------------------25

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VIII.Bibliography----------------------------------

26

Acknowledgment
First of all I would like to thank Allah Almighty for granting me the capability and courage to work on this report with my best efforts, and for the patience and perseverance endowed by Him. I would also like to thank Ms. Samra Jawed for giving me the chance to work on this report and for her guidance, advice and examples during regular sessions which made this report possible. I would also like to extend my gratitude to the senior students who gave guidance and helped me in this report. I genuinely hope that this report meets the designated standards and you have a pleasant time going through it. Thank you.

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Introduction

onflict Management refers to the long-term management of intractable Cconflicts, addressing the variety of ways by which people handle grievances clashes of right and wrong. It includes such diverse phenomenon as gossip, ridicule, lynching, terrorism, warfare, feuding, genocide, law, mediation, and avoidance. Which of these diverse forms of conflict management will be used in any given case is predicted and explained by the social structure, or social geometry of the case. The scientific study of conflict management (also known as social control) owes its foundations to Donald Black, who typologized its elementary forms and used his strategy of pure sociology to explain several aspects of its variation. Research and theory on conflict management has been further developed by people like Allan Horwitz, Calvin Morill, James Tucker, Mark Cooney, M.P. Baumgartner, Roberta Senechal de la Roche, Marian Borg, Ellis Godard, Scott PHillips, Bradley Campbell and many others.

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Hypothesis
The Hypothesis that we are going to prove contains a relationship between Conflict and Organizations (work). The hypothesis that we are going to prove is:

Ho: It is not possible to avoid conflict in organizations (Work). H1: It is possible to avoid conflict in organization (Work).

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The nature of conflict

According to Tagiuri, Conflict is inherent to social life. Conflict in any situation in which two or more parties fell themselves in opposition. Conflict is an interpersonal process that arises from disagreements over the goals to attain or the methods to be used to accomplish those goals. in organizations everywhere conflict among different interests is inevitable, and sometimes the amount of conflict is substantial. One survey reported that managers spend an estimated 20% of their time dealing with conflict. They may be either direct participants or mediators trying to resolve conflict between two or more of their employees. In either case, knowledge and understanding of conflict and the methods for resolving it are important.

Sources of conflict
There are various sources of conflict Organizational Change. People hold different views over the directions to go, the routes to take and their likely success, the resources to be used, and the probable outcomes. With the pace of technological, political, and social change increasing and the marketplace hurtling toward a global economy, organizational changes will be ever present. Personality Clashes. The concept of individual differences is fundamental to organizational behavior. Not everyone thinks,

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feels, acts or looks alike. Although personality differences can cause conflict, they are also a rich resource for creative problem solving. Employees need to accept, respect, and learn how to use these differences when they arise. Threats to status. The status or the social rank of a person in a group is very important to many individuals. When ones status is threatened, face saving becomes a powerful driving force as a person struggles to maintain a desired image. Conflict may arise between the defensive person and whoever created a threat to status. Contrasting perceptions. People perceive things differently as a result their prior experiences and expectations. Since their perceptions are very real to them, they sometimes fail to realize that others may hold contrasting perceptions of the same object or event. Conflict may arise unless employees learn to see things as others see them and help others do the same. Lack of trust. Every continuing relationship requires some degree of trust- the capacity to depend on each others word and actions. Trust opens up boundaries, provides opportunities in which to act and enriches the entire social fabric of an organization. When someone has a real or perceived reason not to trust another, the potential for conflict rises.

Views of Conflicts The traditional view of conflict

The traditional view of conflict assumed that all conflict was bad. Conflict by definition was harmful and was to be avoided. It was seen as a dysfunctional outcome resulting from poor communication, lack of openness and trust between people and failures of managers to be responsive to the needs and aspirations of their employees. Since this kind of conflict is viewed negatively, it is avoided and hence the attention is directed toward the causes of conflict and these causes are corrected. This approach to conflict reduction results in high group performance.

The human relations view to conflict

The human Relations position argues that conflict is a natural occurrence

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in all groups and organization. It advocates acceptance of conflict. According to human relations view conflict may benefit a groups performance. In an organizational setting, if things go on smoothly and people stick to their daily routines over extended periods of time through the years without any disagreements, work will probably get done, but there will be no innovation in the organization nor any incentive for the members to take a fresh look at how things ought to be changed in the interests of improving efficiency or effectiveness or both. Thus an optimal level of conflict seems essential for innovation since it stimulates people and keeps interpersonal interactions and the work place moving in an exciting, healthy, and creative manner.

The Interactionist view

It believes that conflict is not only a positive force in a group but that it is absolutely necessary for a group to perform effectively. The interactionist approach encourages conflict on the grounds that a harmonious, peaceful, tranquil, and cooperative group is prone to becoming static, apathetic and non-responsive to needs for change and innovation.

The Organizational Level view

Here, conflicts can bring about changes in structure and processes since it acts as a stimulus for examining established systems, which are no longer useful. New rules, regulations, procedures and norms and changes in other dimensions of structure and processes are often brought about because of conflicting situations. However, if a conflict is allowed to develop beyond control, it could tend to become destructive, resulting in such aversive consequences as strikes, sabotage and other dysfunctional behaviors. There thus seems to be an optimum level of conflict that is very useful for the development of creativity, healthy problem solving behaviors and productivity. This optimum level of conflict is shown in fig. 1.1. Because too little conflict creates conditions of inertia and boredom and in the system and excessive conflict results in destructive and dysfunctional tendencies.

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Types of conflict
Task conflict relates to the conflict over the content and goals of the work. Relationship conflict focuses on interpersonal relationship. Process conflict relates to how a work is done.

Functional vs. dysfunctional conflict

Conflicts which support the groups goal and improve its performance these are functional conflicts whereas conflicts the hinder groups performance are dysfunctional conflicts.

Conflict Resolution Modes

Conflict has to be managed and resolved as soon as optimum level is crossed and before dysfunctional consequences start occurring. Thomas (1976) has offered a contingency approach to resolving conflicts. If two groups or parties A and B experience conflict, each could be more concerned about their own self or they could experience more concern for the other. When concern for the self is very low, they could be very assertive, and if concern for the self is high, they could be very assertive. If their concern for the other is low, they would tend to be uncooperative, and if it is high, they would be very cooperative. These could be depicted on two axes as shown in fig 1.2

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COMPETING ACCOMMODATING COMPROMISING COLLABORATING AVOIDING HIGH

Conce rn For Others

LOW

LOW

Concern for Others

HIGH

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Contingency Approach to Conflict Management

There are five modes of resolving conflict. But there isnt one best mode for resolving conflict. All five modes come in handy in different situations and each has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Competing
It is a desire to satisfy his or her interests regardless of the impact on the other party to conflict. Examples include intending to achieve your goal at the sacrifice of the others goal attempting to convince another that your conclusion is correct and his or hers is mistaken, and trying to make someone else accept blame for a problem. Competing is a power -oriented mode of resolving tensions. Competing is useful when you know that the resources are limited and the system has to be postponed. Especially at the time of emergencies, where quick, decisive action has to be taken and there is no time to seek collaborative, compromising, or accommodating solutions, the competing mode is useful. Here one uses power and makes unilateral decisions taking the win -lose approach. There are few factors that people should be concerned about when they score high on this mode. If individuals are highly power oriented, they are likely to surround themselves with those who would always agree with them. Because people know that it is politically unwise for them to disagree others with such people. Thus the only agreeable others with such high power-oriented will be what latter would like hear. This shuts high power people off from critical feedback that can be usefully applied for enhancing the effectiveness of the organization. Also since in a competitive environment people feel compelled to come across to others as competent and knowledgeable, they never ask for information or guidance when they do not know how to handle issues and hence, the organization ultimately suffers as a result of lower quality performance. It is observed that, often when people score low on the competing mode, they are likely to feel powerless in many situations not realizing that they do have power but are just inept at or uncomfortable with using it. The power is bottled up inside every one of us. By trying to use the power one has, and becoming skilled at it, one could enhance ones influence, there by enhancing ones effectiveness. Another drawback in scoring low on this mode is that such individuals find it 12 | C o n f l i c t M a n a g e m e n t

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difficult to take a firm stand on issues even when they know they are right. Concerns for others feelings could force them to postpone making vital decisions and communicating them in a timely manner. This in no way helps the organization or its members. Thus a competitive style of conflict resolution is only desirable or useful when: A quick response is necessary An unpopular course of action is needed Protection against aggressive behavior is denied. The rules demand competition.

Collaborating
When the parties to conflict each desire to fully satisfy the concerns of all parties we have cooperation and the search for a mutually beneficial outcome. In collaborating the intention of the parties is to solve the problem by clarifying differences rather than by accommodating various points of view. Here, the underlying concerns of both parties are explored in depth, the disagreements examined in detail; resolutions arrived at by combining Examples include attempting to find a win/win solution that allows both parties goals to be completely achieved and seeking a conclusion that incorporates the valid insights of both parties. It is an attempt to work with the other person to find solutions that will be satisfying to both the parties. A creative solution usually emerges because of the joint efforts of both the parties who are keen on both gaining from the situation without hurting each other. Collaboration is a very useful mode when the two sets of concerns of the two parties are both too important to be compromised. Hence, finding integrated solutions becomes imperative. Collaboration is also important when the commitment of both the parties is essential for important projects to succeed. This is achieved by addressing both peoples concern and arriving at a consensual decision. Collaboration is also the best mode when the objectives of the party are: To learn (testing ones own assumptions, trying to understand the others point of view)

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To merge insights that different people bring to a problem because of their backgrounds, training, disciplines, or orientations To work through hard feelings which are interfering with a desired interpersonal relationship. It is important to gain commitment. An increase in follow through is desired.

When people score high on collaborating, they have to be concerned about how they spend their time and use other organizational resources. It is time and energy consuming. Not all situations need collaborative solutions. The overuse of collaboration and consensual decision-making may reflect risk aversion tendencies or an inclination to diffuse responsibility. When people score low on collaborating, they may fail to capitalize on situations, which would benefit immensely from joint problem solving. Also, by ignoring the concerns of employees, decisions and policies may be evolved which the organizational members both unhappy and uncommitted to the system.

Compromising
Compromising is taking an intermediate position on both the assertive and cooperative dimensions. In compromising the party tries to find some expedient, mutually acceptable solution, which partially satisfies both parties, though neither is fully satisfied. A compromise addresses the issue without avoiding it, but doesnt explore the alternatives in a way that would be completely satisfying to both parties as in the case of collaboration. Compromising involves splitting the differences exchanging concessions, and seeking a quick middle- ground. Compromising could be useful when Goals are moderately important, not worth the time and effort of a more assertive style; Two parties with equal power are committed to mutually exclusive goals; Temporary agreements are needed; Quick solutions are needed; Collaboration/ competition fails and back up plan is needed.

When people score high on compromising, they should be wary of the fact that this mode of operation on a constant or consistent basis can create a climate of gamesmanship in the work environment, which might then lead to distrust among members. That is people might know that the resolution would involve splitting the difference and 14 | C o n f l i c t M a n a g e m e n t

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hence jack up the level of their original demands, as sometimes happens in the case of budget requests, where whoever plays the game right is likely to gain additional advantages. Thus, people start playing games with each other which results in distrust among the members. It is also possible that when people concentrate heavily on the tactics of compromising, they may lose sight of values, principles, and long term objectives and Company welfare. Compromise as a conflict resolution mode might offer an easy way out, but is also likely to produce adverse overall effects for the organization if that is the main or only approach to conflict resolution taken by managers, in the organization. If people score low on compromising, it might indicate that they find it hard to make concessions and that they might be caught in power struggles and find it almost impossible to get out of awkward situations in a graceful manner. Compromise is a safety valve when collaboration or competition fails to yield results. A low score might also indicate the opposite that the individual is too embarrassed or shy to bargain and hence does not want to enter into such bargaining situations.

Avoiding
Avoiding is a mode used when the individual is both unassertive and uncooperative- that is, the person has a low concern for his own and his opponents needs. While avoiding, the individual might diplomatically sidestep a conflicting issue, postpone addressing the problem or totally withdraw physically and /or psychologically from a threatening situation. Avoiding can be useful when: An issue is trivial You have low power ; Potential damage of confronting outweigh the benefits of resolution; People need to cool down; Time is needed to gather more information; Another person can resolve conflict more efficiently.

When managers score high on avoidance they have to be concerned that: Decisions on important issues might constantly be made by default; Coordination of efforts might suffer in the system because critical decisions and inputs are avoided;

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In ordinate amounts of time and energy can be expended by all when people get the message that the system is too cautious about making decisions and they also had better be so.

When individuals score low on avoiding (i.e., they always want to confront every single issue), they might be hurting other peoples feelings and stirring up hostilities (which they do not intend to), because they make it a point to confront every insignificant situation. They might also be spending a lot of time on trivial issues.

Accommodating
Accommodating might take the form of selfless generosity. Or obeying anothers orders rather unwillingly, or giving into other persons viewpoint. In all these cases the individual neglects his or her own concern to satisfy the concerns of other party. There is an element of self sacrifice in this mode. Accommodating is useful when: One has to learn from others; One has to show that he/she is reasonable or s a goodwill gesture; Acknowledge that an issue is more important to the other person; Build up social credits; Allow others to learn from mistakes; In the situations where the individual realizes that he or she is wrong; When continued competition would only damage ones cause because one is outmatched and is losing;

It is the choice mode of operation when preserving harmony and avoiding disruption are especially important. When people are high on accommodation they might be deferring to much to the wishes of others and pay very little attention to their own ideas and concerns even though they may realize that they are not getting the attention they deserve. This might even lower ones self esteem in addition to depriving one of influence, respect and recognition from others since it negates the potential contribution that individuals are capable of making to the organization. When individuals score low on accommodating they should start thinking about whether they lack the goodwill of others( since accommodating on some issues is important as a gesture of goodwill), 16 | C o n f l i c t M a n a g e m e n t

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and whether they are perceived by others as unreasonable, uncompromising, rigid, and demanding. Such people should also engage in introspection to find out if they know: When to give up; How to admit when they are in the wrong; Can recognize legitimate exceptions to rules.

In sum all five conflict handling modes are useful under different situations and there are advantages and disadvantages to having either too high or too low scores on each of these. It would be useful to build up repertoire of conflict handling behaviors so that we can take a contingency approach to handling conflict situations.

Matching Strategies to Situations

There are a few key variables that define conflict management situations and determine which conflict management strategies are likely to be effective. Time pressure is an important variable -- if there were never any time pressures, collaboration might always be the best approach to use. In addition to time pressures, some of the most important factors to consider are issue importance, relationship importance, and relative power: Issue importance - the extent to which important priorities, principles or values are involved in the conflict. Relationship importance - how important it is that you maintain a close, mutually supportive relationship with the other party. Relative power - how much power you have compared to how much power other party has.

When you find yourself in conflict over very important issues, you should normally try to collaborate with the other party. But, if time is precious and if you have enough power to impose your will, forcing is more appropriate. Realize that you might need to repair the relationship after using a forcing strategy if the other party feels that you did not show adequate consideration for their concerns. Again, collaborating is normally the best strategy for handling conflicts over important issues. When dealing with moderately important issues, compromising can often lead to quick solutions. However, compromise does not completely satisfy either party, and compromise does not foster innovation the way that taking the time to collaborate can. So,

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collaborating is a better approach to dealing with very important issues. When you find yourself in conflict over a fairly unimportant issue, using an accommodating strategy is a quick way to resolve the conflict without straining your relationship with the other party. Collaborating is also an option, but it might not be worth the time. Avoiding should normally be reserved for situations where there is a clear advantage to waiting to resolve the conflict. Too often, interpersonal conflicts persist and even worsen if there is no attempt to resolve them. Avoiding is appropriate if you are too busy with more important concerns and if your relationship with the other party is unimportant. However, if either the issue or the relationship between the parties is important, then avoidance is a poor strategy.

Conflict Outcomes
Conflict outcomes are a product of participants intentions as well as their strategies. It may produce four distinct outcomes depending on the approaches taken by people involved. Fig 1.3 illustrates outcomes

Lose Lose Win Win Win Lose Lose-Win

31 2 4 2

The first quadrant termed lose- lose, depicts a situation in which a conflict deteriorates to the point that both parties are worse off than they were before. The second quadrant is lose-win, a situation in which one person is defeated while the other person is victorious. In the third quadrant the situation is reversed. The fourth quadrant is the win win outcome of conflict, in which both parties perceive that they 18 | C o n f l i c t M a n a g e m e n t

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are in a better position than they were in before the conflict began. This is the preferred outcome to try to achieve in on going relationships.

Conflict in Organizations
In organizations, conflicts can be interpersonal, intra group or intra organizational in nature. Intra organizational conflict encompasses vertical, horizontal, line-staff, and role conflict. Let us briefly examine these. Vertical conflict refers to conflicts that occur between individuals at different levels. Conflict between the superior and subordinate is an example of vertical conflict. Such conflicts could happen because of perceived transgression of psychological contract, inadequate and /or ineffective communication, selective perceptions, misperceptions, incongruence in goals, values, cognition, affect, and behavior and any number of other reasons. Horizontal conflict refers to tensions between employees or groups at the same hierarchical level. Horizontal conflict occurs because of interdependence among the parties concerned in the work situations and /or the common pooled resourced shared. Incompatibility of goal and time orientations often results in horizontal conflict. Differences in time orientations are also instrumental in inter-unit conflicts. Horizontal conflict increases as Functional interdependence increases among people or groups at the same level (i.e. one has to depend on the other for the completion of its goals) More units depend on common resources that have to be shared, for e.g. raw materials The fewer the buffers or inventories for the resources shared.

Line-staff conflict refers to the conflicts that arise between those who assist or act in an advisory capacity (staff) and those who have direct authority to create the products, processes, and services of the organization (line). Staff manager and line managers usually have different personality predispositions, and goals, and come from different backgrounds. Staff managers have specialized skills and expertise acquired through raining and education and have greater technical knowledge which is intended to help the line managers who are basically money makers for the organization. Staff people serve as advisors for the line people in as much as they have the expertise to streamline methods and help in cost-cutting mechanisms. Line managers may, however, feel that the staff people are a nuisance, coming in the way of their performance by always telling them how to 19 | C o n f l i c t M a n a g e m e n t

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do their jobs and thrusting their ideas and methods. It is not unusual for line people to resent the fact that they have to be advised by the staff people. The staff people often frustrated that the line people do not consider all the ideas put forth by them and thereby fail to benefit. Role conflicts arise because different people in the organization are expected to perform different tasks, and pressures build up when the expectations of the members clash in several ways. This could be either because of: Inter sender role conflict- different role senders (bosses) expect the individual to perform different things and these expectations and their messages conflict with each other. Inter role conflict- role requirements associated with membership in one group conflict with role requirements stemming from membership in other group. Intra sender role conflict- when the same boss expects different incompatible behaviors from one person Person-role conflict- where the role requirements of an individual conflict with the individuals moral and ethical values.

An example of the inter sender role is the president asking the manager to write up the report on the new project and submit it in the next four days, and the auditor asking the same manager to go with him to audit the branch offices today, tomorrow, and the day after! Here, the manager cannot possibly fulfill both role expectations. Inter role conflict can be experienced by a supervisor who just attended the managers conference where he has been told that strict action should be taken against a group of strikers, and the same supervisor who is also the member of the union being told that, supervisors should protect the employees from harm. Here the supervisors membership to the two groups results in conflicting loyalties and role expectations. Intra sender role conflict will be experienced by a supervisor who is asked to get a lot of her sections work done, while also being asked to take charge of another section because the supervisor of that section is on a weeks casual leave without a replacement. Person-role conflict is likely to be experienced by an individual who is asked by the boss to bribe a government officer to get the job done for the department. Thus, interpersonal and inter group conflicts often arise when there is disagreement regarding goals or the methods of attaining them. These conflicts can be either constructive or destructive for the people involved. Several methods exist for resolving conflict and they vary in their potential effectiveness. A key revolves around intended outcomes for oneself and others. 20 | C o n f l i c t M a n a g e m e n t

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Research
CONFLICT MANAGMENT IN ORGANIZATION eljko Turkalj, (Full Professor) Since the conflict is a part of human life, respectively all of its aspects, it is impossible to avoid it in business life. No matter if the organization appears as an economic operator of the economy of a certain country or practices some other services, its employees will more or less enter conflicts. Modern organizations have recognized the necessity of conflicts and do not run away from the conflicts among its employees. Moreover, organizations frequently decide to encourage the conflicts within the organization. The key roles have the managers on different levels of organization that should be educated on the basics of organizational behavior, with the emphasis on conflict management. Only if the managers properly estimate the level of conflict within the organization, then they will be able to decide on the reduction or encouragement of conflicts. The aim of conflict management is to accomplish the optimal level of conflicts on which the level of organizational performance is the highest. Examining the results on the presence of conflict and the influence it has on business performance of the organization through various segments we can conclude that there is employees awareness about the necessity of conflicts in the organization. The majority of the employees (even 83%) enter conflicts in the organization, whereby it is significant that the long-time employees more and more do not accept conflict as a factor of business performance of the organization. The reason for this kind of standpoint lies partially in the previous bigger negative experience related to the conflicts which have long-time employees. The difference in conflict perception and influence on the business performance of the organization appears during the analysis of the answer related to that kind of ownership. Namely, there is a 21 | C o n f l i c t M a n a g e m e n t

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significant statistical connection (on the level of significance 0, 03) between the private and government sector, where the government sector almost has a twofold bigger percentage related to the issue of how the conflicts affect the business performance of the organization. It is crucial to encourage the awareness about the positive influence of the reasonable level of conflicts also among the employees. Except that, the employees and CONFLICT MANAGMENT IN ORGANIZATION 515 managers should be able to distinguish those conflicts focused on personality from those focused on business problems, and according to that encourage the conflicts focused on business problems to the optimal level, and reduce those focused on people.

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Case Study Test Description

A conflict management styles questionnaire was used, consisting of several pairs of statements describing possible behaviorally responses to situations. There is a set of 30 statements. A scoring sheet consists of five styles to deal with a conflict.

Subject Description
2 Subjects were used

Operational Definitions
Conflict: Any tension as psychologically defined that is experienced when one perceives that her/his needs or desires are likely to be thwarted. Avoidance: Avoidance is physical or mental withdrawal from the conflict. This approach reflects a low concern for either partys outcomes or often results in a lose - lose situation. Competing: Competing is using power tactics to achieve a mix. This strategy relies on aggressiveness and dominance to achieve personal goals at the expense of the concern for the other party. The likely outcome is win -lose Collaborating: It is facing the conflict directly and working it through to a mutually satisfactory resolution. Accommodating: It involves accommodating other partys interests. Compromising: It involves searching for a middle ground or being willing to give up something in exchange for gaining something else.

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Instructions:
This is a simple test which will assess your conflict management style. Imagine that you are in situations where you do not agree with another person and try to respond to the following with that orientation. On this paper you will find several pairs of statements describing possible behavioral responses to situations. For each pair, circle the A or the B statement would be representative of your behavior, even so, try to select that which comes closest to what you may be likely to do. The responses, which you circle, will offer you a good understanding of your conflict handling style.

Procedure:

An appointment was fixed with the subject. A rapport was built before the administration of the test. After initial rapport building the subject was given the test and instructions for the test. After the subject finished with the test, he/she was debriefed about the test, the purpose it served and the useful ness of the test. Then the test was scored, an item analysis was done and the subject was debriefed about his/her score. The subject was then walked out of the room. Similar procedure was used for the other subject.

Results & Discussion:

Results: Scores of Subject 1 and 2 on Conflict Management Style: The Subjec t S1 S2 Conflict Management Style CollaboraCompromi- Avoidting sing ing 10 9 6 6 3 6

Competing 7 6

Accommodating 4 3

Results Obtained are mentioned in table 1.1 and it shows that prominently style of conflict management used by both the subjects was collaboration i.e., win win situation.

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However S1 was more competitive as compared to S2. And both the subjects frequently used compromise as their conflict management style.

Discussion:
This test was used to assess the conflict management style used by the subjects. According to the scores obtained it can be clearly seen that S1 used collaboration as her conflict management style. Collaboration includes a win - win situation, where a person doesnt lose nor does he disappoint the other person in the conflict situation. According to S1 he uses this style mainly while dealing with clients. S1 is a software developer and has various situations where the client asks her to do something different from what she has thought of. According to the subject in such circumstances you have to come up with solutions that will make you as well as the client happy. According to her this is very necessary because if the client is not happy, then ones job is at stake because the organization will not like to lose a client only because an employee is not good at selling his/her ideas. And if the employee is not happy with what he/she is doing then that will definitely reflect in his/her work. Hence it is very important to manage the entire situation in such a manner that both the persons in the situation are happy. The S1 has also scored high on competing style of conflict management. Which is win lose situation. According to the subject, in an IT firm there are people working on various projects at the same time and as the projects get over one is shifted to a new project. This is where one has to be aggressive in ones approach, mainly because one has to prove himself / herself better than the others so that he/she gets selected for the next project also. This is the only way how the career graph will rise. According to S1 she uses compromise only when necessary, especially when dealing with the higher management or with her immediate superiors. Incase of S2 also, collaboration is the conflict management style that she uses the most. S2 is also a software developer in an IT firm hence quotes the same reason why collaboration is used as the conflict 25 | C o n f l i c t M a n a g e m e n t

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management style. However in case of S2 compromise, competition and avoidance all the three styles are in par with each other. S2 is a new to the organization and still finds it little difficult to adjust. Hence according to her approach differs depending on whom she is having a conflict with and how important it is for her work. According to her it is at times good to avoid/ ignore a particular conflicting issue if it is not very important and if it is not going to affect your work and performance. There are various sources of conflict in an organization. To quote few, organization change, personality clashes, threats to status, contrasting perception and lack of trust. These factors fair a great deal especially if the employee is new to the organization.

Decision
Thus in case of a conflicting situation, the style that we adopt while dealing with the conflict plays a crucial role. Most of the times it is good to use a win win style. However an individual in the conflict situation is the best to judge which style would give better results and resolve the conflict. By analyzing the researches and through studying about conflict and conflict management we would not reject Ho.

Conclusion
Hence we conclude that it is not possible to avoid conflict in an organization. There are several tools and techniques by which a conflict can be resolved or reduced. Since the conflict is a part of human life, respectively all of its aspects, it is impossible to avoid it in business life. No matter if the organization appears as an economic operator of the economy of a certain country or practices some other services, its employees will more or less enter conflicts.

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Bibliography
Books refered:

Organizational Behaviour and Cases 1989,by Sekaran.U, by Tata Mcgraw Hill Publishing Company Ltd. Organizational Behaviour - Human Behaviour at Work (10th edition), 1998, by Davis.K, by Tata Mcgraw ill Publishing Company Ltd.

Robbins.S, Organizational Behaviour(9th ed.)Tata Mcgraw Hill Publishing Company Ltd.

Websites visited: www.wikipedia.com www.google.com/images www.dccc.edu Research paper:

CONFLICT MANAGMENT IN ORGANIZATION eljko Turkalj, (Full Professor)

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