Contemporary Organisational Conflict and Resolution Recommendations - Essay Example

An analysis of contemporary organisational conflict and resolution recommendations by (NAME) (Title of Course) (Name of Instructor) (Name of Institution) (Location of Institution) (Date) Introduction: Organizational Conflict Organizational Conflict can be defined as “An expressed struggle between 2 or more independent parties who perceive incompatible goals, scarce rewards and interference from other parties in achieving their goals”[Wil13]. It is a state of discord which arises when two or more defined groups of people working together experience an actual or perceived opposition to the fulfillment of their needs, values or interests. It arises when there are competing needs and interests between people or organizations. People react to conflict in different ways but the end result is dichotomous, either the conflict is resolved or it is not resolved, leading to increased aggression between opposing sides and escalating tensions. Organizational conflict can either be horizontal or vertical. Horizontal conflict occurs where the main source of the conflict is competition between functions of respective groups. Vertical conflict occurs between different groups of a formal hierarchy. When conflict arises between groups which perceive themselves as equally matched, sociologist Theodore Mills[The67] explains that both aggressors tend to adopt typical and well-documented behavior. Each side closes its ranks and prepares for aggressive confrontation. There is increased group loyalty and support by the members. Group morale and competitive spirit is increased, the power structure of the groups tends to become revealed, and other group members rally around their leaders. Groups begin to glorify their own views and condemn the views of the opposing groups. The continued state of conflict causes extreme polarization of views expressed by both groups. These views are expressed in a manner that strengthens their position whilst attacking the positions of the opposing group. Hostility increases and negative stereotyping begins to define perspectives, and eroding ground for possible solutions based on mutual understanding. Conflict between the Junior Doctors of England and the National Health Service (NHS) On Tuesday, 12th January 2016, the Junior Doctors of England engaged in industrial action by conducting a strike, the first strike by medics since the NHS was established. They declared that they would only provide emergency medical services on 12 and 26th of January, and completely down their tools and boycott work on Wednesday, 10th of February. The reason for the industrial actions was a proposed change in their working contracts which would require them to work for more hours during the week for less pay. They accused Mr. Hunt, the minister for health under whose mandate the NHS falls under for engaging in “megaphone diplomacy”, announcing terms before consulting the junior doctors[The16]. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, junior doctors are qualified medical practitioners who are working whilst engaged in further post-graduate study and training in order to be certified as consultants or General Practitioners by The Royal College of Medical Practitioners in their respective field of specialization. they usually remain hold this title for a period of 5-15 years, with the option for extension for those pursuing higher professional qualifications in the field such as the Doctor of Medicine. According to an article published in The Guardian[The151], there are 53,000 Junior Doctors in England. The junior doctor can be considered the work horse of the NHS. They are the medical grunts for consultants and general practitioners. After the discussions for general course of treatment with their seniors, they are the persons left on call to actually implement the plans. They are transferred every four months or so to different hospitals across England, a process called rotation. The purpose of the rotation system is to expose them to various sub-fields in medical practice for acquaintance with all of them before they choose a specialty. Rotations and specializations usually take an average of 8 years before they can be certified as consultants. In addition to their hospital duties, they also attend school for further instruction, research conferences where they keep up to date on trends in the medical practice whilst presenting their own research, coupled with personal and social responsibilities such as raising a family. Their work schedule can be broken down into social and unsocial hours. Under the current system, social hours are defined as 7 AM -7 PM, Monday to Friday. Unsocial hours are defined as 7PM – 7AM, Saturdays and Sundays. Doctors are paid more; premium rates for working during unsociable hours. On average junior doctors work an average of 40 hours a week, but can work for up to 56 hours. Hours worked past the 40 hour lower limit are considered as overtime and they are compensated with bonuses, normally 20-50% of the basic salary. In total, the NHS reported in 2015 that junior doctors on average earn £53,000 annually[BBC16]. In a move aimed to increase patient safety and the availability of care for patients as well as introduce up-to-date reforms in the contracts of junior doctors, their employer, the NHS seeks to reduce their pay for working unsociable hours, while offsetting this cut in pay rate by offering them an 11% rise in basic pay. As part of the new contracts, the NHS defines unsociable hours as Monday to Friday, 10PM-7 AM and Saturdays 5PM-7AM. Additionally, guaranteed basic pay rises on an annual basis are to be scrapped and replaced by guaranteed pay rises based on achievement of milestone qualifications during training. Finally, in accordance with the European Union Working Time Directive, doctors can only work a maximum of 48 hours a week. This directive is based on the need to reduce patient complications and fatalities as a result of fatigued and overworked doctors[BBC16]. This contract would only apply to junior doctors practicing in England under the Jurisdiction of the English Minister for Health. Scotland, Ireland and Wales as separate jurisdictions have their own have their ministers for health, and different policies. The Scottish and Welsh authorities have announced that they have no intention of changing their junior doctors’ contracts, hence the absence of a strike in these jurisdictions. The Irish jurisdictions are yet to make an announcement regarding their policies of junior doctors’ activity. Junior doctors in England were opposed to the proposed changes to their contracts. Through their union, the British Medical Association (BMA), they claim that the new contracts increased their working hours and decreased their pay by up to 40%[The152]. Representatives from the two sides engaged in conversation and negotiations, the NHS trying to get the doctors to accept the new contracts, the BMA trying to get the NHS to change the terms of the contract. The talks were unsuccessful. Mr. Hunt, the minister for Health then threatened to implement the new contracts without the Junior Doctors’ consent, in effect, imposing the new contracts on them. In protest, the BMA announced that they would undertake industrial action. In an escalation of the conflict, 7 out of every 10 doctors reported that they would leave the NHS for employment elsewhere in private institutions or abroad[The153]. This information was retrieved following a survey of 4000 practicing junior doctors. Conflict Management and Resolution Conflict management is the process de-escalation and termination of all forms of conflict. The main objective of is process is the minimization of the negative consequences of conflict and promotion of the positive outcomes. There are five approaches to conflict management; Competing, Compromise, Collaboration, Avoidance and Accommodation. Of these, the most effective for positive conflict resolution are Compromise, Collaboration and Accommodation. Application of these techniques produces varying results based on the nature circumstances of a conflict. Commonly, all three approaches are applied simultaneously[Joh15]. The conflict between the junior doctors and NHS has already escalated to uncomfortable levels. Tensions are high and both sides are already making sweeping declarations and hard-line stances. Continued tensions will mainly affect the patients receiving services at the NHS facilities. Already, quality of health care and service provision has been affected in hospitals and the disruptions can only get worse with continued conflict. The NHS is a public healthcare system that provides mostly free healthcare for the people of England. 8% of the population subscribes primarily to private healthcare providers, while the remaining 92% rely primarily on the NHS. A survey by IPSOS-Morri[IPS06] revealed that Public opinion of the NHS is generally positive, with inpatients, outpatients and the public reporting high levels of satisfaction and optimism with the services offered at the hospitals. NHS institutions averagely deal with over 1 million patients every 36 hours[NHS15]. Therefore, the NHS has a great responsibility to keep and a reputation to maintain. If the structure was to breakdown, the worst possible outcome of the continuing conflict, there would be a health crisis of unprecedented proportions in England. A critical analysis of the motivation of the Health minister’s move to change the doctor’s contracts reveals that there is a wider context to the situation. According to the Health minister, the main motivation is the need to improve NHS healthcare by providing consistent healthcare across the week. He cites a statistic that patients are more likely to die if admitted on a Sunday as compared to a Wednesday. To reduce this mortality, the NHS management seeks to change Junior doctors’ and Consultants working hours as detailed in their contracts so that mandatory additional hours are added to their weekend schedules. Furthermore, he argues that the contracts agreed upon in 1991 are outdated and need to be reviewed in order to reflect present circumstances[The16]. However, critics have argued that the changes are politically motivated. During the Election campaigns of the previous General Election, David Cameron the incumbent prime minister promised citizens a truly 7-day NHS services in hospitals. To achieve this, they proposed reforms in the contracts of Junior doctors and Consultants to increase their working hours in their party manifesto. One can argue that the rigidity by the NHS is partly to avoid losing face and avoiding public humiliation. Ongoing negotiations have broken down since both sides won’t come to a compromise. The BMA says that they will agree to a contract which recognizes unsocial hours as premium time, that the new system does not disadvantage doctors working unsocial hours with the current system as the standard, and that working hours safeguard the interests of both the doctors and patients. On the other hand, the NHS is working on a fixed budget upon which the new contracts are based. Therefore, they are unwilling or unable to accede to the Doctors demands supposedly due to budgetary constraints. In fact, the health minister was quoted saying that he would agree to all demands of the BMA apart from increasing overall proposed spending[The16]. If implemented, the new contracts would come into force on August, 2016. There are other alternatives which the government can pursue to fulfill its promises. Wales has achieved this without changing the doctor’s contracts. It has instead focused on improving weekend access to diagnostic tests, pharmacies and therapeutic services rather than creating more working hours within the 7-day working schedule[BBC16]. Recommendations The NHS in England should explore other avenues for achieving their goals instead of solely focusing on creating more working hours and slashing junior doctor’s pay. The precedent has already been set in Wales. However, the BMA should also compromise on some of their demands, such as guaranteed pay increments regardless of professional qualifications. Based on the current global economic outlook, the government cannot sustain such an arrangement. Instead of slashing doctor’s pay, the NHS should instead focus on optimizing the system by increasing regulation on doctor’s compensation to identify and resolve redundancies. The medical community of England, Junior Doctors especially, play an invaluable role in the healthcare system. They should not bear the brunt of Her Majesty’s government’s effort to optimize its operations. It is my opinion that the Government should accommodate the BMA and pursue more empathetic methods to achieve their objectives. As Wales has proven, there are alternatives just as efficient. References Wil13: , (Wilmot & Hocker, 2013), The67: , (1967), The16: , (The Telegraph UK, 2016), The151: , (2015), BBC16: , (BBC News, 2016), The152: , (The Guardian, 2015), The153: , (The Guardian, 2015), Joh15: , (Lederach, 2015), IPS06: , (2006), NHS15: , (NHS Choices, 2015), Read More