MGMT 20129 People and Organisations

Things are not going well at Company Q. For many years, the teams of sales consultants and representatives that promote their range of insurance products have performed well, and business seemed to be steadily improving. Sales representatives from all teams generally managed their customer communication in a professional manner, and each team worked well with their managers,who were largely left to their own devices when it came to managing the performance of their respective teams.

Then, about 6 months ago, the supervising manager of the whole Sales division, Alex Hickson, left with very little notice. Upper management quickly went through a recruitment process, and found an ideal candidate in Sam Towerton. Sam even had better qualifications than Alex, so the upper management team were confident that they would be able to maintain their forward momentum as a business. However, a few months after Sam’s appointment, complaints started to come through from both middle management and from the frontline employees. Apparently Sam was not comfortable with giving the middle managers the same level of discretion that Alex had done. Sam had implemented an overarching performance management system that was to apply to all employees, and all middle
managers were to implement this system equally. Employees were complaining that their time was being taken up by additional paperwork and reporting measures, and middle managers were complaining that they no longer felt like they had autonomy to do their job.

Upper management called Sam in to ask about the situation, and Sam’s response left them unsure about what to do. Sam suggested that the whole Sales division was underperforming, despite the steady increases over the last few years. In a very convincing presentation, Sam suggested that the performance increases of the last few years could be doubled, or even tripled, if all teams were held to the same high standards. At the moment, Sam insisted, there are too many teams who have become lazy because their manager doesn’t push them hard enough. The upper management team were convinced that Sam’s approach was a positive one, and decided not to take any further action.

However, a few months on, and the situation has only become worse. Performance is starting to decline, and customers have been complaining that they aren’t getting the same level of service that they used to. The employees are adamant that it’s the new performance management system that’s to blame, and Sam is standing firm that all employees need to be held to the same standards. To make matters worse, it seems clear that there are numerous other forms of conflict that have emerged as a result of this standoff.

 

identify the key issues in Company Q, causes for conflict, and how management can avoid/resolve conflict within an organisation.

When responding sections above, in addition to incorporating theory related to conflicts and conflict resolution, you may also incorporate theory related to group dynamics, coaching and mentoring.

 This report seeks to evaluate the causes for conflict and remedies to conflicts in Volvo automobile company.  The report will use theories to demystify conflicts and conflict resolutions, group dynamics, coaching and mentoring.  It will also highlight the key issues within the firm. Additionally, the report will give a sound conclusion and recommendations to successfully improve its current situation. 

The identified key issues include company employees quitting job with little notice for instance Alex Hickson, rush decisions in recruitment process (Sam Towerton) by the top management, failure to address complaints objectively and the consequent deterioration of service provision to customers.   

 Conflict is described as an interactive process in disagreement, incompatibility or dissonance within or between individuals, groups or entities (Rahim, 2010).  What is paramount is the absence of agreement among or between the involved parties.     The absence of inclusive consultations in designing and enforcing new management system in the firm sparked conflict.  There were no prior and comprehensive consultations among all the relevant parties in the firm before the execution of the management system.  

The disregard between the overall manager and other middle level managers caused conflict too.  The feeling of being superior to the other especially in executing new systems stirred unnecessary friction.   Taking a firm standpoint without regard to other parties` opinions about the newly enforced management system is a cause.  Despite numerous complaints, there were seemingly no considerate interventions. 

They will be grounded on the game theory.  Game theory involves rational decisions in resolving conflicts (Anatol, 2012).  According to him, it involves a set of parties, a set of strategies available to each party and a set of outcomes resulting from the specific choices made by the parties.   

However, the choice of approaches to resolve conflicts is influenced by factors like the stage the conflict has scoped, the willingness of the conflicting parties to engage in a dialogue and the need or desire to arrive at a speedy conclusion (Clive & Jackie, 2010). 

The social identity theory related to group dynamics, coaching and mentoring will too contribute to the recommendations.  It focuses on social influence, leadership within and between groups, group norms, collective behaviour and deviance within groups among others (Shelley, Reshma, & Neil, 2016).  The recommendations include: 

Establishing inclusive consultative frameworks when drafting new policies or systems. Sensitizing, coaching and mentoring the different levels of management on the need to respect each other and work harmoniously. Encouraging prior communication to all relevant parties before actualizing a new policy or system. The top management should comprehensively listen to all the conflicting parties. 

The case is about how the company is currently facing deteriorating performance due to the ongoing internal conflicts within the firm.  It brings out the genesis of the problems or the conflicts and the way the management has overlooked the issue which has led to detrimental consequences. 

Anatol, R. (2012). Game Theory as a Theory of Conflict Resolution. Springer Science & Business Media. Clive, J., & Jackie, K. (2010).

Managing Conflict at Work: Understanding and Resolving Conflict for Productive Working Relationships. Kogan Page Publishers. Rahim, M. (2010).

Managing Conflict in Organizations. Transaction Publishers. Shelley, M., Reshma, H., & Neil, F. (2016). Understanding Peace and Conflict Through Social Identity Theory:Contemporary Global Perspectives. Springer.