Research Paper Example on Concept of Conflict Management

This research paper explores the concept of conflict management, and the paper design is such that the first section consists of the introductory section which elucidates research problem, aims, and questions that guide the research. The middle of the paper consists of the literature review, research, methodology, and data and results subsection before discussion, summary and conclusion sections giving the deductions of the investigation. At the end of the study, the exploration justifies the need for conflict management in todays organizations. Due to the unavoidability disagreements in the present-day workplaces, there is a dire need for effective mechanisms for averting conflicts from degenerating into unmanageable levels.

Research Problem

According to Henry (2009), 80% of business companies encounter conflict between workers themselves or between employees and executives on a daily basis. Knippen & Green, (2010) support that position by stating that conflict is inevitable in all human relationships. The reason behind the unavoidability of conflicts is as Fenn (2011) suggests that where a group of diverse relate with one another through work or other means, conflict interchanges become part of their daily occurrences. Conflicts are perilous to organizations growth and survival in the present-day competitive market place as impaired employee-employer relationship and trigger misunderstandings between workers leading to reduced productivity, low employee turnout, and impaired teamwork. It, therefore, calls for the need for conflict management in which managers and other team leaders occupy the forefront in identifying and understanding the different levels of conflict and how they manifest themselves. Because of the prevalence of conflicts in places of work, there is a need of administering best conflict management methods.

Research QuestionsConflicts in places of work may occur as a result of different things, for example, a new team leader may come with new methods of doing things, something that may breed conflicts between the leader and the employees. Some problematic questions that governed the whole research and whose answers the research sought to find include;

What are the causes of conflicts at the workplace?

What are the mechanisms of managing conflicts at the workplace?

What are the ways of avoiding conflicts at the workplace?

Research Objectives

The primary aims of the study include:

To find out causes of conflicts at workplaces.

To determine the mechanisms of managing conflicts in places of work.

To identify ways of avoiding conflicts at workplaces.

Review of LiteratureConflictsMost previous research studies portray conflicts as occurrences that have adverse outcomes. Conflicts have a close association with human resource management (HRM) processes and how they interact with the surrounding thereby making it part of the organizational life (Prause, 2015). In extreme cases, conflicts have resulted in the disruption of the normal corporate activities making it difficult for businesses to achieve their goals. Other disadvantages of conflicts in workplaces include impaired teamwork, reduced productivity, increased absenteeism, and misunderstandings between employees. Because of these reasons, it is important for organizations to find means of addressing them properly (Hayes, 2008).

However, Amer and Zou (2011) in one of the studies in East Asian firms to ascertain the importance of efficient management of conflicts discovered that conflicts are inherently good because they can have a positive influence on organizations performance and the relationship between individuals. Behfar and Peterson (2011) list some positive impacts of conflicts in workplaces such as fostering the awareness that organizations are facing problems. Furthermore, during the conflict management process, incompatible ideas, views, and strategies contribute to better decisions and solutions.Burton (2010) on the other hand considers conflict as the requirement for the existence of a healthy relationship and is advantageous in that it is an indication of peoples abilities to express themselves fully without any fear. Conflict is, therefore, paramount in fronting the propagation of any given narrative and its absence is a vital sign of lack of a binding relationship within a people interested in moving...