Chapter 8 in Bolman and Deal
focuses on group dynamics, specifically conflict and ways to manage it
effectively. Conflict can take place between individuals, groups, and even
large organizations. Depending on who and how many people the conflict occurs
between, it is categorized as interpersonal, intragroup, intergroup, and
interorganizational. Throughout my years at the University of Illinois I have
been involved in several group projects in which the members of the group have
not seen eye to eye. Because the disagreement occurs within a group it would fall
in the intragroup category. However, it is best to look at this sort of
conflict from an organizational stand point.
Suppose
a top level manager of an advertising company gets a proposal request from an
up and coming sporting goods company to come up with a thrilling commercial to
attract customers. The up and coming firm has generated a lot of revenue from
football gear (their most notable line of clothing and shoes), however, they
are looking to break into the market for basketball equipment. If you recall,
The Under Armour Company made this same move a few years back, but for this
example I will refer to the sporting goods company as FinishFirst.
This is
a very big opportunity for RGP Advertising Group seeing as it could lead to future
business opportunities with a very lucrative firm. To insure success, the
manager assigns two of the company’s most experienced and highest paid
employees to head the assignment. When first meeting to discuss their options,
it is clear that each leader wants to take that project in a different
direction. They cannot agree on the specific criteria they would like to incorporate
into the ad. This is known as task conflict. Since both employees are very
successful and strongly believe their way is the best way to go, they haven’t
made any progress. They are hard pressed for time and the manager can see the
team’s conflict level is too high causing them to struggle to be productive.
He
decides that it is best to meet with them as soon as possible to discuss what
problems they are having. Employee 1 wants to make a YouTube advertisement
aimed towards children and Employee 2 wants to make a TV commercial geared
towards teens and young adults. After talking to them, it is clear that he will
have to force them to negotiate with one another to find a solution. The group
takes place in integrative bargaining so they can find a clever and creative
way to solve the problem while the manager acts as mediator. In order for
integrative bargaining to be successful, individuals must participate in two
conflict management strategies, collaboration and compromise. Collaboration is
when both parties try to satisfy their goals by coming up with an approach that
makes them better off. In order for this to do this they may have to be willing
conduct a give and take exchange known as a compromise.
In the end,
the two employees decide that it would be best to make a YouTube advertisement
geared towards teens and young adults. Segmenting your target market to teens
and young adults makes sense because there is a larger demand for basketball
shoes and apparel from that age group. Although commercials are the most viewed
form of ads, an advertisement on YouTube is a close second because of its popularity.
Reading your example, I was struck by the following question that I'd like you to address in your response to my comment. Is there a difference between a disagreement, on the one hand, and conflict, on other? There is a common expression that goes something like, "reasonable people might disagree." When people are in conflict, are they being reasonable? Please don't look for book definitions to answer this question. See if you can generate your own answer by reflecting on your own experience.
ReplyDeleteAlso, it would be good if in your example you could get at the emotions of the two leaders while this was going on. Clearly, each felt in the right. Did they nonetheless respect the view of the other leader or were they angry with that person because the person refused to see the error in his ways? Thinking about the emotional reaction of the leaders might help you in addressing the questions in the previous paragraph.
Based on my understanding of the two words, both deal with people not seeing eye to eye with each other. This can be based on differing values or beliefs an individual feels very strongly about. I have learned that disagreement can actually be a good thing in certain situations by stimulating change and innovation. Generally I feel that conflict is formed from disagreement between two people. I think of conflict as different beliefs between two or more individuals which gets in the way of success or progress. In this situation, it was hindering the progress of the group. There are different levels of conflict, and if emotions are running high it will be more difficult and take a longer time to resolve.
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