Functional And Dysfunctional Conflict Commerce Essay

Conflict is a disagreement between one or more parties in the situations that they faced. There have two types of conflict which is functional conflict to bring good benefit to the organizations and dysfunctional conflict is to bring disadvantages to the organizations between people. Therefore, levels of conflict divided into four categories such as interpersonal conflicts, intrapersonal conflict, intergroup conflict and interorganizational conflicts.

Instead, Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI) is to resolve the conflict issues in various methods to cooperative and non-cooperative situations such as competing, avoiding, collaborating, compromising, and accommodating. Organizational change management is to moving the organizational change to another by providing Kurt Lewin Modes of three processes are unfreeze, change, and refreezing.

Organizational culture divided into Handy’s four dimensions of organizational cultures, are role culture, task culture, power culture, and person culture. However, there will also discussion about the relationship of culture and conflict and relationship of change and conflict to understand and learning more about the conflict impact with. Negotiations divided into two categories, are integrative negotiations and distributive negotiations.

1.0 Introduction

Conflict is a disagreement through which the parties involved perceive a threat to their needs, interests or concerns. Conflict is between two or more parties in the situations that they facing with, such as different in idea and different in knowledge of way thinking and misunderstanding.

Negotiations can be known as discussion, is to consult the issues with communication. Negotiations are a method to resolve the conflict when it occurred. Negotiation is two or more parties to resolve the result of difference, gain knowledge in outcome of discuss, understanding, invent, creative, and evaluate the outcome when in the negotiate process.

Culture occurs everywhere which includes individual, family, friends, state and all around the world. It can consider as value, belief knowledge, art, law, morals, custom, habit and behavior which influence to everyone in the society. Culture is the full range of learned human behavior patterns through every individual.

2.0 Literature review

Mostly, people also do not like to change their situations which they always need a great environment and freedom. However, the environment and knowledge are always changing continuously. So, these will influence change in individual and organization which also includes ability change and income change. When in a group or team work together, there will be occur some different concept or acknowledge between team members. As the result, these will conflicts of outcome between them.

Conflict is a process that one party believes that the other party will bring the negative impact to what first party concerned about. Conflict will occurs when both parties are not consistently, incorporative, disunity between in social entities. In the traditional view on conflict, the people take it as will harmful to them and must be avoided. This is caused by the parties in poor communication, lack of trust, or failure to be responsible to the needs of others. There are also when the conflict occur in some conditions will included, such as overestimated their parent organizations and underestimate other organizations, distorted cognitive, and intensify the bad situations. In the interactions view, people belief that conflict can bring good outcome and improve performances from the social entities. So, they can increase their knowledge and acknowledge when they learn to live with it.

2.1 Functional and dysfunctional conflict

Functional conflict is people in an organization or group may have their performance which they can increase and advantages in issues. Functional conflict can lead to enhances awareness of issues which people willing to solving the problem and willing to listen to others opinion.

Dysfunctional conflict is people who in an organization or group may have decreases or disadvantages in result of outcome they gain which they negotiate in the process. It consists of disputes and disagreements of individuals discourage to improve company performances.

2.2 Levels of conflict

In this stage, there have four categories levels of conflict, are intrapersonal conflict, interpersonal conflict, intergroup conflict and interorganizational conflict. Intrapersonal conflict is individual conflict by oneself. The conflict can develop with own thoughts, ideas, emotions, and values which considered in own mind. This conflict will occur when an individual feel that he/she cannot handle trouble in the situation, the behavior of the person will may anger and injure others people such as co-workers, friends, or family. The reason of conflict will occur when the person facing high-stressful of situations.

Interpersonal conflict occurs when two or more parties disagreement with the different idea and different goals. When people in an organizations work together with doing same task, but they fail to share the same view which they have different interest or goals to do the task, then the conflict will occur. The conflict will relate to the partners, friends, family, and others. For example, John and Jack who are stay together in room which is roommates, but they are dissatisfied each others because argue about to put box into the limited space of room. John does not want to put into the room but Jack persist his opinion which he think the box can fit into the room. As the result, the conflict will occur when two or more individual different opinion.

In intrapersonal conflict, it will exists when one people want to achieve two goals in a same times. For examples, Shawn wants to study business management. He wants to study lawyer too. His parents allow him to study only one subject. Shawn is making conflicts with himself in either study business management or lawyer.

In intergroup conflict, the conflict will occurs among members of different groups. The conflicts happen when a group of people is disagree with another group of members. Both groups are happen conflicts due to different in group goals. For example, accounting department is disagrees with finance department due to financial problem. The conflicts occur.

Interorganizational conflict occurs when two or more organizations friction. When organizations continuous expand their areas, then it may the conflict with other organizations. This conflict occurs by the reason of substantive conflict, emotional conflict and cultural conflict. For example, Amway vs Herbalive with two organizations are doing direct sales business having conflicts with each others because scare of customers.

2.3 Thomas Kilmann Conflict modes

The Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI) is a conflict style inventory. It is a tool to settle the conflicts.

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In avoiding mode, the person will avoid themselves from involves in a conflict. These people may recognize that a conflict exists and want to withdraw from it or suppress it. They will try their best to avoid conflicts to ensure the safety of work. Avoiding mode is low cooperativeness and unassertive. These people are low concern for both personal goals and relationships.

In accommodating style, accommodator is low concern with personal goals and high concern about relationship. Accommodator play high cooperative role inside an organization. Accommodator will identify the benefits that would bring to the organizations.

In competing mode, the cooperativeness is low, the assertiveness is high. This is because people are competing to get the needs and wants. Competing mode has low cooperativeness. The relations among employees will not so good compare to others because too competitiveness might affect the relationship.

By compromising, both parties can make a few concessions; the conflict can be resolved quickly. If there is the disagreement to be resolved, some sacrifices must be made by both parties. Compromising is usually results a favourable outcome. The relationship can also be maintained.

Collaborating mode is mode which use collaborates to handle conflict. Collaborating has very strong assertiveness and cooperativeness. People collaborate to achieve the task. Through collaborating, collaborating enhances the relationship among the employees. Employees collaborate to achieve the target in this mode. The competitiveness is low comparing to others mode.

2.4 Organizational Change management

Organizational change is the movement of an organization from one state of affairs to another. It may involve a change in a company’s structure, strategy, policies, procedures, technology, or culture. Due to shift in the environment, the organization chooses to change. The change of the structure, people and technology is the sign of organizational change.

Structural change is a change of body structure of the organization. People change is a personal change of the people. Technology change is a change and improvement of technology to upgrade the operations. If the change effort has been successful, change will have become a part of corporate culture.

Kurt Lewin has introduce three level if change. There is unfreezing, change, and refreeze.

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Due to unfreezing, the organizations have to make sure that organizational members are ready for and receptive to change. The members are prepared and ready for change. Many change efforts fail because people are insufficiently prepared for change. The people who are using traditional thinking are allergic to change. This is because they scare there are unable to survive in new environment.

The second change model is executing change. At this stage, the organization implements the planned changes on technology, structure, culture, or procedures. During this stage, the company has to monitor the process of change. It is one of the important parts which might bring success or failure to the organization.

The third change is refreezing. After the change is implemented, the organization is going to new environment. The company has to ensure that the change becomes permanent. The employees in these categories is accepted the change and work in new working environment. People form new relationships and become comfortable with new routines.

2.5 Organizational Culture

Every organization has organizational culture. Culture affects every aspect of life. Culture is a set of values and beliefs. Successful company realizes the importance of understanding culture. The organization will practice culture in own organization so that the employees will work under the organization culture.

Handy comes out four main types of organizational culture. Those cultures are power culture, role culture, task culture and person culture. This picture below shows Handy’s four dimension of organizational cultures.

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Handy illustrates the power culture as a spider’s web, with the all-important spider sitting in the centre. This is because the key to the whole organisation sits in the centre, surrounded by ever-widening circles of intimates and influence. Organisations with this type of culture can respond quickly to events, but they are heavily dependent for their continued success on the abilities of the people at the centre. They will tend to attract people who are power orientated and politically minded, who take risks and do not rate security highly. Control of resources is the main power base in this culture, with some elements of personal power at the centre.

The role culture can be illustrated as a building supported by columns and beams: each column and beam has a specific role to playing keeping up the building; individuals are role occupants but the role continues even if the individual leaves. This culture shares a number of factors in common with Weber’s description of the ‘ideal-type’ bureaucracy. This type of organization is characterized by strong functional or specialized areas coordinated by a narrow band of senior management at the top and a high degree of formalization and standardization; the work of the functional areas and the interactions between them are controlled by rules and procedures defining the job, the authority that goes with it, the mode of communication and the settlement of disputes.

Task culture is job-or project-oriented, and its accompanying structure can be best represented as a net. Some of the strands of the net are thicker or stronger than others, and much of the power and influence is located at the interstices of the net, at the knots. Task cultures are often associated with organisations that adopt matrix or project-based structural designs.

Person culture is an unusual culture. It is not found in many organisations, yet many people espouse some of its values. This type of culture is illustrated by a loose cluster or a constellation of stars. In this culture the individual is the focal point; if there is a structure or an organisation, it exists only to serve and assist the individuals within it, to further their own interests without any overriding objective.

3.0 Discussion

3.1 Relationship of culture and conflict

When power culture and the conflict relate together, either the organizations have to competing or avoiding which is to facing the conflict in the situations of the culture. In the power culture, people in an organization must seek to gain power by competing with others in order to control resources. In this culture, the organizations must ability to compete with others by conflict unless the organization may not be competed. If the organization cannot compete with others, then they may avoid the conflict to ensure the safety of work through in the power culture.

In the role culture, every individual have their own positions in the organizations to work in an environment. In this culture, every individual in the organizations should use accommodating to others in order to work together and making good relationship each others. This can resolve the conflict such as misunderstanding, miscommunication, misrepresent, and so on. Every individual must accommodate oneself and other people in organizations so they can as much as possible to lower the conflict with each others.

In the task culture, the organizations are involved in extensive research and development to create temporary task teams to meet their future needs. In this culture, they will use collaborating to work together to resolve the conflict and provide the outcome of their needs. Collaborating may bring the organizations culture to work together by improving their performance in the process of conflict such as motivated to achieve the task. By providing communication and integration with other organizations, they may implement and evaluate the conflict together, so they can meet their future needs.

In the person culture, individual must compromising to people in order to lower the conflict and making more effectiveness of performance to the organizations. If they do not want to compromise together when facing the conflict, then it may making more serious and may not be handle the issues. So, in the person of culture, they must adapt with other people in an organizations although there are not same in group, department, and structures and so on.

3.2 Relationship of change and conflict

From the change and conflict, unfreeze is to before change its organizations which is impact to whole organization to follow and comply with. Due to the change of organizational, there will be occur conflict which related together. During change of the organizational, there will occur a lot of people who do not want to change by reason of they are satisfied with their situation or position or the change may caused useless for them or other reason. The reasons are also people are unable to prepared and ready for change. Therefore, people will may disagreement with the change of organizational and may cause to resignation due to dissatisfy with the new environment. In this stage, the conflict is very high due to most people oppose the new policy.

Once the organization has gone through the unfreeze stage, the effective change can be begin to process. In the process of change in the organization, people begin to look for new ways to do things and support the new direction, but some people still may not be able to recognize the real benefits of the change, so there will appear conflict. The reason of conflict appear in the change of process because there have some people are still may not fully understand the changes as they occur and feel that they are not part of the change. In this stage, the conflict is in middle level which generally for some people who still dispute to terminate the change.

After the changes have been process completed, there will be refreezing stage. Refreezing is implemented which organization is facing in new environment. In this stage, people are accepted the change and work in new working environment which means they can understand and support the changes that company provided. In this stage, the conflict will be lower and decrease by reason of people accepted the changes.

4.0 Negotiation

Negotiations can be known as discussion, is to consult the issues with communication. A negotiation is a ways to resolve the conflict when it occurred. There have different methods of negotiation which to resolve the conflict problem by providing the solution and discussion about it.

When processing into the negotiation, there have different way to negotiate between with the parties to parties. Win-win negotiations are also known as integrative negotiations. Integrative negotiations are a method to consult with one party and other parties which are both parties may reach fair compromise and equally treatment at the same situations. The win-win negotiations are also means both parties accepted with the agreement of negotiations with the effectively outcome together. In this process, both parties may gain same benefit and loss together which compromise to each others. In this method, they can have the same treatment which both parties feel that they have won in the negotiations, and there may resolve the conflict together. This is a good benefit for both parties because the win-win negotiations may create good relationship after the discussion and also may find out the problem to resolve the issues.

Win-lose negotiations are also known as distributive negotiations. Distributive negotiations are one parties win in negotiation and the other parties lose in the negotiation. Win-lose negotiations will brings only one party to achieve the goals and the outcome, but the other parties may not be able to gain any benefit. In this process, win-lose negotiation carry out that the party who lose in the negotiation may learn the lesson and evaluate with the solution to be the best practices in the performances. But, some parties unable to learn with it because they feel that they lose in the negotiation are loss their image, embarrassing, and so on. This also may lead to the lose parties decrease their morale and may not be motivated sometimes.

As the conclusion, the integrative negotiations are better and effectively compare to the distributive negotiations which brings benefits to organizations. They may improves their skill, knowledge, and best practices of the performance when negotiation to the conflict. So, they can evaluate and implement the conflict and find out the solution together by creates a good working relationship.

5.0 Conclusion

As a conclusion, conflict may bring advantages and disadvantages to people while their using their methods either to resolve or damages to the organizations. From my opinion, conflict is better to using in the organization in order to evaluate and improves the people performances in best practices. They can conflict with positive way so they can negotiate to find out the issues and solution. Therefore, it also can create relationship with globalization which may face into the conflicts and negotiations. By providing the communication, they can increase their knowledge and performances to achieve their goals. It also may learn from the different cultures and process of change into the organizations through conflicts and negotiations.