Negotiation and Conflict Management - TransGlobal - Case Study Example

Negotiation and conflict management – Case Study Name Institution Course Tutor Date Identify any conflicts in the case and suggest any factors that may have contributed to those conflicts. In every organization or workplace wherever there is a group of people working closely together there is likely to be conflict. Sometimes it may be relatively minor and sometimes it may escalate into a major confrontation. But, why does conflict occur in the workplace? At TransGlobal, there appears to be a conflict between Emily, a 29 year old co-ordinator and John the General Manager who is in his early 70s. Emily has been working in the company for some time and was joined by John implying that they do not understand each other well as co-workers. Although Emily is junior to John, she is frustrated with what she is going through right from the time john joined the company. On the other hand, John seems not bothered with Emily’s emotions and concerns, and often ignores her. The conflict in the case study is between personalities; between Emily and John. According to Caudell (2010) this type of conflict is called personalized conflict. This type of conflict does not require mediation, but it must be addressed as immediately. The conflict between Emily and John is stimulated by emotions and they have perceptions concerning each other’s character or motives. Both parties have conflicting perceptions about their roles and responsibilities. Emily is forced to perform the roles meant for John due to absenteeism and John considers it a right. Even if Emily tries to talk to him about the issues he simply dismisses her which is annoying. Emily feels that she is being overworked and needs to reach a compromise with his senior on what is going on. The comments John make to Emily escalates the conflict between them. For instance, when Emily tried to seek his audience, he remarked “let me get back to you on that one”. Such an offensive remark makes Emily feel that her input in the organization is not worth and that her effort is not recognized. As Hart (2000) asserts, resentment and conflict can occur when one individual considers oneself more valuable to the organization than others. John seems himself to be senior to Emily and does not want to listen to her complaint. In addition, conflicting roles is a source of conflict between Emily and John. According to Gatlin, Wysocki & Kepner (2002) conflicting roles may happen when an individual is asked to perform a task that is outside his job requirements or even expertise. In the case study, it is evidence that Emily is forced to perform functions done by John like making payments to translators, paying bills and attracting new clients. These roles fall outside her job requirements of co-ordinator. Emily is very much concerned about this happening often and his effort to set things straight through negotiation with John is not successful. This scenario makes her relationship with John more strained. Also, Emily is better qualified than John and making her appear to subordinate John without any formal arrangement is quite intimidating and increases the conflict. Such a situation can lead to power struggles for territory and either intentional or unintentional aggressive or passive-aggressive act when not managed (Reynolds, Stephanie & Eryn (2002). This means that Emily’s and John’s roles must be clearly stipulated so that every one becomes accountable to self. According to Bell, Connerley & Cocchiara (2009) individual differences in terms of gender and age can influence the outcomes of conflicts as well as negotiations since they influence how they are treated, what they want and expect, and how positive they think about negotiation. Emily is in her early twenties while John is his early seventies. The age difference between the two may be the cause of conflict among them. At the age of 70, John is prone to diseases and other infections which contribute to poor health. This causes him to be absent from work more often and the person who can stand in for him is Emily. Unfortunately, John does not appreciate Emily’s position in the organization, but he appears to underestimate her probably due to her age and even gender. In addition, John goes to an extent of trying to avoid Emily and does not give her adequate information that is relevant to her work. Already, this is frustrating to Emily and makes her lose trust in John, despite his age and seniority at work. Therefore, there in need for Emily and John to approach their work relationships with high levels of trust to avoid conflict. Trust results to more ethical behaviour and cooperation in the workplace (Kim, Dirks & Cooper 2009). This appears to lack between Emily and John. Emily has good intentions working with John but he seems to distance from her which kills their relationships as TransGlobal employees. Nevertheless, this conflict can be addressed through negotiation so as not to advance further to affect the operations in the organization. In deed, Emily is interested in working at TransGlobal as she enjoys the co-ordination responsibilities. Her main concerns are better pay and a clear functional responsibility. What advice would you give to Emily about how she should prepare for her meeting with Mr Yanadori? A well organized meeting gives positive results and increases productivity among the participants. It gives people an opportunity to build on others’ ideas and increase the creativity (Ceridian Corporation 2010). Emily intends to meet Mr. Yanadori and this means that she has to prepare for the meeting to make it successfully. Meetings that are not planned may waste the time of the participants and the organization. They can as well leave an employee feeling overloaded and frustrated (Ceridian Corporation 2010). It is good Emily has planned to meet his employer the following month and what remains is preparing for the actual meeting. She wants to discuss with Mr. Yanadori issues of salary increment and role ambiguity. These are issues of importance as they are the sources of conflict between her and the General Manager. In addition, whether Emily plans to meet with Mr. Yanadori on the phone, face-to-face, or online she must prepare adequately to make the meeting productive. It is important for Emily to think about what she hopes to get out of the meeting she intends to hold. Whether it is information, action, or explanation she has be certain about it (Leicestershire Parent Partnership Services 2011). Actually, the reason for planning and preparing in advance is to before the actual day of the meeting is to avoid wasting own and others’ time or even being confused when the meeting is in the progress. Therefore, Emily must be clear about why she wants to meet her boss. She should state in writing the purpose and objectives of the meeting. In this case, it the reason for the meeting will be “to seek for increase in salary and clarification on her roles and responsibility”. Ceridian Corporation (2010) indicates that purposes and objectives of the meeting should be short and clear. The same apply to Emily’s case. Emily should remember to consider who she needs to be present at the meeting. Thus, she is required to invite those people she thinks their presence or input is necessary (Ceridian Corporation 2010). I would encourage Emily to invite John to the meeting since the issues for discussion concern him too. Therefore, the meeting should involve three people especially on the issue of role clarity because it is the main source of conflict between her and John. In addition, Emily has to decide how much time she will require to conduct the meeting. She may schedule an hour or even a half-hour whichever appropriate, but ultimately, the discussion should fill the allocated time. However, it does not meet that she can not end the meeting before the allocated time. It is will be possible as long as she accomplishes her goals. All in all, Emily should endeavor to reduce the length of the meeting, but keep it focused as well as productive. Giving the participants to the meeting as much advance notice as possible is very important as argues Leicestershire Parent Partnership Services (2011). In respect to this, Emily should communicate to Mr. Yanadori about the meeting by e-mail. In addition, she should indicate to him the purpose date, time and location of the meeting. Informing his boss in advance about the meeting prepares him for the actual day of the meeting and is able to incorporate it in his program. Emily should have an agenda for the meeting as it will help her have a successful meeting. The agenda should clearly stipulate the components of the meeting like location and date among others (Ceridian Corporation 2010). She should also remember to choose a convenient time of the meeting. The meeting should be scheduled in core hours. This means that she should avoid scheduling the meeting very early in the morning or very late in the evening. Lastly, I would advise Emily to send Mr. Yanadori a reminder a few days before the actual day of the meeting. This is necessary to keep him aware of the meeting. References Bell, M, Connerley, M & Cocchiara, F 2009, ‘The case for mandatory diversity education’, Academy of Management, Learning & Education, 8(4), pp. 597-610. Caudell, P.M 2010, ‘Conflict in the workplace: How involved are you?’. Ceridian Corporation 2010, ‘Planning and Running a Successful Meeting’. Gatlin, J., Wysocki, A., & Kepner, K. (2002). Understanding Conflict in the Workplace1. Hart, B 2000, ‘Conflict in the workplace’, Behavioural Consultants. Kim, P, Dirks, K & Cooper, C 2009 ‘The repair of trust: A dynamic bilateral perspective and multilevel conceptualisation’, Academy of management Review, 34(3), pp. 401-422. Leicestershire Parent Partnership Services 2011, ‘Preparing for a Meeting’. Reynolds, Stephanie & Eryn, K 2002, ‘Managing collaborative conflict resolution. Read More