Organisational Behaviour and Conflict Process - Essay Example

Organizational Paper Name Course Name and Code Date SECTION A 1. Hofstede’s cultural dimension defines consequences of the society’s philosophy on tenets of the members as well as how the tenets relate to conduct through an edifice which is resulting from factor examination. When negotiating and the theory is applied comprehending cultural dimensions increases success in the negotiations as well as reduces conflicts and frustrations. The model helps in decision-making since it helps people become understand cultural differences. Different cultures have different ways of doing things which eventually results in difference in decision-making regarding various aspects in the society. This model helps in avoiding misinterpretations and misunderstandings between different people from different cultures. It helps in appreciating cultural differences that exist between different individuals in the society. 4. Emotional intelligence – a) Self-awareness – this involves comprehending personal emotions as well as what causes them. This prompts one to face shortcoming as well as mistakes and notmaking excuses or blaming others. b) Self-regulation – self-regulation helps an individual to understand personal behavior and master moods. Self-regulations help one to balance his life, refuse to shortchange pertinent areas such as rest, reflection and play. Individuals who lack self-regulation display negativity, poor conflict resolution as well as stress. c) Motivation – success cannot be attained devoid of motivationand motivation is not possible without enthusiasm. d) Empathy – this refers to understanding other individuals . Empathy is important in team-oriented environments and attaining a goal in required in everyone’s success. e) Social skills – employees who have good social skills do not worry about the person who is given credit. The JOHARI model is about self-awareness, interpersonal relationships, improving communications, personal development, group development as well as understanding relationship. By understanding JOHARI model it will result in improved emotional intelligence. 5. Conflict process Stage 1: potential opposition or incompatibility – Before a conflict occurs there will be conditions which create chances of conflict to come about. These conditions include; personal variables, communication and structure. Stage 2: Cognition and personalization – When circumstances explained in the first stage affect someone then it will lead to this stage Stage 3: Intentions: Intentions – Intentions intervene in people perceptions as well as emotions as well as overt behaviors. The intentions refer to decisions to behave in a particular manner. Intentions are separated as distinct stage since one has to infer other’s committed on knowing how to reply to behavior. Many conflicts are escalated when one party attributes wrong intentions to another party. Stage 4: Behavior – At this stage conflicts become very visible. Behavior stage entails statements, actions as well as reaction made by contradicting individuals. Usually, conflict actions are unconcealed efforts to device each individual’s intents however they have impetus quality which is distinct from the objectives. Stage 5: Outcomes – Action-reaction back-and-forth among warring individuals effects in concerns. The results can be useful or dysfunctional since it can improve performance or hinder performance of the group. 6. Personal power comes from internal sources, for instance, personal attributes or personal special knowledge. Personal power is the main tool of a leader. On the other hand, formal power refers to position in the corporate structure, corporate ladder or job functions. Formal power is stronger than personal power. Since when a leader has formal power he is likely to use his personal power in order to attain some of the things that he required to accomplish. This implies that personal power complements formal power and without personal power, formal power cannot be very effective. Typically organizations have organizational chart which lists relationships as well as position of different ranks in an organization. Organizational chart lists different lines of authority as well as tasks for different posts and outlines formal power structure in the organization. Formal power can refer to position of corporate structure, job task or corporate ladder. The head of an organization has the decision-making powers in most areas. 7. Types of teams and functions There are four teams that can be found in any organization; self-managed, problem-solving teams, cross-functional and virtual teams. a) Problem-solving team – this kind of team comprises of 5 to 12 members from same department that meet weekly to deliberate methods of cultivating efficiency, superiority as well as work atmosphere. In this team members share their ideas or give suggestion on how work methods or process can be improved. Nonetheless, hardly are these teams given a chance to implement any actions they suggest. b) Self-managed teams – these teams comprise of about 10 to 16 individual that take on errands of former supervisors. Classically, these responsibilities include: determining work assignments, organizing breaks, collective control over pace of work and collective choice of inspection methods used. c) Cross-functional teams – these teams have employees in the same hierarchical class, however from various work levels that meet to fulfil a task. These teams are very effective in enabling individuals from different areas in an organization to exchange ideas, develop novel ideas, solve issues as well as coordinate complex projects. This type of group brings who have different functional specialties to deliver or design a product or service. d) Virtual teams – these teams make use of computers to tie tighter detached members so that they can attain a common objective. The team enables members to collaborate online. SECTION B 1. Model of stress Different body systems react differently when under stress. a) Nervous system – when someone is stressed his body will abruptly shift energy to fight the threat. In what is considered to be “flight or fight” response, sympathetic nervous system signals adrenal gland to excrete cortisol or adrenaline. These hormones prompt the heart to beat faster, increase blood pressure, change digestive process as well as boost glucose amount in the blood. When the crisis disappears the body system resumes to normalcy. b) Musculoskeletal system – when an individual is subjected to stress his muscles tense up. Muscles contraction for a very long period of time can prompt tension headaches, migraines as well as musculoskeletal disorders. c) Respiratory system – when one is stressed can he breathes harder and these results in hasty breathing that can result in fright attacks among individuals. d) Cardiovascular system – severe stress results in intensification in rapid heart rate as well as sturdier shrinkages of heart muscles. Blood vessels which directing blood to the large muscles as well as heart expand therefore this will increase the amount of blood pumped to those sections in the body. Continuous acute stress result in irritation of coronary arteries which results in heart attack. e) Endocrine system – (i) adrenal glands – during stress brain sends warning signs from hypothalamus prompting adrenal cortex to generate cortisol as well as adrenal medulla to generate epinephrine (ii) liver – when the epinephrine and cortisol are free, the liver generates glucose that gives an individual energy to enable him “fight or flight” during emergency. f) Gastrointestinal system – when stressed someone can eat more or less food. When one eats more food or increase intake of alcohol which results in acid reflux or heartburn. There are various sources of stress; traumatic events, social problems and personal issues. Traumatic events involve people being exposed to life-threatening situations, for instance, rape, robbery, war or natural disaster. In most scenarios they are experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder. Social issues can include personal beliefs, discrimination, occupation as well as environment. Personal problems can include health, relationships, emotional issues, life changes as well as money. 2. Job burnout This refers to the critical negative effect of poor fit, prolonged occupational stress, job discontent and can result in work withdrawal, emotional harm or claims of disability. Prolonged strain occurs when an individual feels they lack emotional resources that can contain stressors that confront them. Prolonged exposure to stress results in burnout entail quantitative and qualitative overwork, inadequate social support, role conflict, as well as ambiguity. Burnout follows process illustrated in the figure below. Continuous exposure to work stressors leads to emotional exhaustion. For instance, a healthcare practitioner who tends the same patient who is terminally ill can be emotionally exhausted. Depersonalization of relationships is what comes after emotional exhaustion as distancing coping mechanism. According to this mechanism it considers individuals served as objects. The last stage in the burnout process involves reduced personal accomplishment. Individuals at this stage lose interest in the work they are doing, they become less efficient and have less initiative. The burnout process results in an array of individual and organizational results. Organizational results associated with burnout include increased absenteeism, negative work attitude, low work performance, and low work efficiency. Some of the individual results include mood swings, family conflicts, self-questioning, increased substance abuse, cynicism as well as headaches. During initial stages, individual’s feel much nervousness when they try to act directly actively copes up with the work stress. When the coping activity proves unsuccessful an individual feels increasingly helpless and frustrated. The individual stops being to address the issue, becomes detached emotionally and engages in self-protective activities which can result in depressing signs. During advanced burnout phases signs related to downheartedness can be principal, diverse differences from downheartedness can also be detected. Other signs of advanced burnout include anger, increasing cynicism, frustration, psychological withdrawal as well as desensitizing clients or customers. Burnout aggravates problematic character qualities. 3. The current perception is that management of stress needs to be handled at different levels so that it can be fruitful, and it needs to have active involvement of both the individual and organization. Stress can be managed by minimizing or eliminating the source of stress. Stress can also be managed by assisting the person to manage the origin of stress in case the source of stress is not likely to be changed. Preventing the source of stress can be considered to be primary stress management strategies while coping with the stress is referred to as secondary source of stress. a) Primary level interventions This intervention strategy is focused at the origin of strain. This approach entails reformat of jobs and tasks as well as adjustments in the macro environment. Job and task redesign entails more job sharing opportunities and more job rotation so that an individual is not exposed high-stress work conditions for substantial time. Career growth opportunities are enhanced when the echelons of accountability are augmented from ‘vertical loading’ or horizontal job enlargement. Having more flexible job patterns also eliminates stress issues of going to work as well as managing with dependant/child-care demands. There are various strategies of improving observation of worker regulator as well as decision making, entailing erection and improving semi-independent work groups, excellence circles or wellbeing circles. Eventually, they target at designing system preparation that prompts stress in the work place and creates equilibrium between level and demand of worker control. Other sources of stress in the work place can be reduced or eliminated by having adjustments in the work macro-environment. This would call for an audit of ergonomic aspects at workplace, for instance, layout plan of the office, cold, heat and ventilation levels and noise. Also, examination of an appropriate organizational structure, safety climate, climate and culture as well as management or supervisory approach. b) Secondary level interventions This kind of approach is directed by response since it improves the response to the source of pressure so that negative outcomes can be avoided; it operates at individual employee level and entails various skills training optionsthat follows an assessment-focused stress management plan. For instance: Assertive training – this involves being in a position to negotiate without being non-assertive or aggressive is a good stress managing approach Enhanced coping skills –comprehending adaptive coping compared to maladaptive coping approaches that finally make someone not fit to manage pressure Cognitive reappraisal of situation that aim at improving balance amid acuity of demand as well as our capability to cope up wit it Leadership training skill Interpersonal skills training Time management skills Relaxation training There are also other approaches in this category such keep fit programs, drug cessation programs, advisory clinics regarding drugs, dietary advice as well as healthy lifestyle management plan. c) Tertiary level intervention Most of the primary and secondary intervention approaches require time before they can be implemented and therefore it would be important to have a program in place to catch individuals who “fall through the net” and become exposed to stress. These includes: Providing employee assistance program (EAP), that is accessing private counseling services for the workers – this can offer some defensive aspects in management of stress program when EAP offers unidentified response regarding the kinds of stress convoluted for the organization to device ‘preventive’ program if possible External/ internal psychosomatic counseling services Develop social aid networks- social aid networks have a key role in improving employee’s well-being, especially social help from a boss, action groups, self-managed work teams etc have an instrumental role in enhancing support networks, especially among staffs working in isolation in a computer-led work environment. 4. General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) General adaptation syndrome is one of the most common biological theories on stress. General adaptation syndrome refers to a process in which a body attempts to cope with stress. GAS gives a summary of physiological changes which follow stress when the body tries to return to homeostasis. The GAS has three phases’ alarm reaction, resistance stage as well as exhaustion stage. a) Alarm reaction – the body mobilizes resources so that it can cope with the added stress. Pituitary glands signal adrenal glands to generate more noradrenaline, adrenaline as well as cortisol. As the stress hormones are directed in the bloodstream, some processes in the body are speeded while others are slowed. Therefore, this allows more bodily resources to be directed where they are most needed. The emergency response helps in avoiding problems or coping up with problems. On the other hand, this kind of response can have detrimental effects since during the first phase of alarm reaction individuals develop symptoms such as fever, headache, fatigue, lack of energy, loss of appetite, stomach upset, diarrhea, short breath and sore muscles. Just like a smoke detector gadget all the senses will be on alert till the danger has been overcome. When the stressor reduces the body resumes to homeostasis level. b) Stage of resistance – at this stage the body adjustments to stress become stable. When bodily defenses come into balance symptoms associated with alarm reaction will disappear. Externally, everything will appear normal. Nonetheless, such as appearance of normalcy come with a high cost. The body can cope with original stressors, however there is reduced resistance to other types of stresses. For instance, an animal which is put in extreme cold weather it develops resistance to the new weather; however the animal becomes more susceptible to infections. During this stage first signs of psychosomatic disorders commence to become apparent. During this stage complete homeostasis cannot be achieved. Instead the body is activated though at a lesser level compared to during alarm reaction stage but it is adequate to result in higher metabolic level in some tissue organs. In effect one or more organs can be straining therefore this ushers in the last stage. c) Stage of exhaustion: when the stress persists the body cannot function well. When the chronic stress continues body organ systems can fail and the body will break down in different ways. Persistent stress which causes body to adapt continuously can be a great threat to an individual’s health. The state of body being well is hard to maintain for a long period of time when body energy are channeled towards coping with the stress. Some of the symptoms associated with impending exhaustion include (1) emotional signs – apathy, anxiety, mental fatigue, irritability (2) physical signs - frequent illness, much worry about illness, physical ailments, overuse of medicine and complaints (3) behavioral signs – poor judgment, self-neglect, self-destructive behavior, avoidance of relationships and responsibilities. Read More