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TRANSCRIPT
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MASTER OF MANAGEMENT - GADJAH MADA UNIVERSITY
MANAGING CONFLICT
Case of Interpersonal Conflict
A. Pandu Wirawan, Airin Wahyu G., Aysha Omer, Chandra da
Cruz, Alex Dupe
5/1/2013
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I. BackgroundThe National Petroleum Authority/Autoridade Nacional do Petrleo (ANP) is a
Timor-Leste's body responsible of managing and regulating petroleum activities in the
Timor-Leste's exclusive jurisdictional areas and in the Joint Petroleum Development Area
(JPDA) in accordance with the Decree Law on the establishment of the ANP, the Timor-Leste
Petroleum Activities Law, and the Timor Sea Treaty. ANP was established on the 1 st of July
2008 after the Decree Law passed on the 19th of June 2008, currently employs 85 employees
with two offices located in Dili, Timor Leste.
The ANP function is to implement and supervise compliance with the enacted rules
and regulations covering the exploration, development, production, transportation and
distribution of petroleum and natural gas resources. It is also tasked to develop a strong
petroleum management institution in TimorLeste. Its vision is to be a leading petroleum
regulatory authority in the region and a model for institutional development in Timor-Leste.
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II. Problem StatementThere were two problems faced by the company, which happened in the early 2011.
The first being rule violation in terms of alcoholic drinks consumption in the office which led
to physical fighting among the employees, and the second was rule violation in terms of
designated smoking place.
1. Alcoholic Drinks Consumption in the OfficeAt the end of financial year, it is a tradition for the company to hold employees
gathering in order to give year-end report about company performance and the
achievement reached during the year. The agenda was started with meeting and
presentation of the report, fun game and ended with dinner and dancing.
The company actually forbade the employees to bring the alcohol during the office
activities. However, some employees sneaked their private alcoholic drinks and started
drinking after midnight, hence the problem occurred when some employees began to
fight each other.
This became a big issue in the office and the corporate manager immediately
investigated the problem. People from Human Resources (HR) and Health and Safety(H&S) Department were requested to be involved in the investigation to investigate the
suspects
There were several questions asked to one of the involving investigators through
telephone interview, as follows:
Name : Fatima Abdad
Position : Human Resources Officer at ANP
Role : Investigator in managing the conflict
a. What was the main issue (root) of the conflict?Answer
The main issue was the employees after midnight starts to drink alcohol and
get drunk around 1am and they start to fight each other.
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b. Who were involved in the conflict?
Answer
The fighting involved some staffs from several departments and few company
drivers.
c. Have you ever experienced organizational conflict?Answer
This was my first time involved in organizational conflict and I managed it
very well. Our investigator team was successfully solved the problem and
apply the company policy to the people who involved in the fighting by given
them warning letter and some penalties apply to them.
d. What was your role in managing that particular conflict?Answer
I am acting as investigator and since I am a human resources officer, so I was
authorized by the corporate manager to send them warning letter.
e. How did it solved?Answer
It was a good investigation and my team investigator was successfully solved
the problem. Also people who involved at the fighting were very corporative.
So it was easy for the team to solve the problem.
2. Smoking in Non-designated Smoking AreaThe H&S department was always dealing with the issues related to employees
health and safety in the company. So, the company provided several designated
smoking area for people who want to smoke. However, some employees broke the rule
by smoking in the non-designated places, which disturbed other employees and might
cause some negative impacts to other employees health. Feeling disturbed, these other
employees reported to the H&S department, not just because the irresponsible smokers
violated the company rule, but they were also involved in other negative behavior of
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swearing each other. The H&S officer s were required by the head of the company to
manage the conflict.
The following was the telephone interview done with one of the investigators:
Name : Zelio Moniz
Position : Health and Safety Officer at ANP
Role : Investigator in managing the conflict
1. What was the main issue (root) of the conflict?Answer
Some male employees did smoking in public places and disturb other
employees who were not smoking. So, they were involved in fighting and
swearing each other.
2. Who were involved in the conflict?Answer
It was a conflict between staffs from Administration Department and staffs
from Information Technology (IT) Department.
3. Have you ever experienced organizational conflict?Answer
Yes, many times and most of the cases were successfully managed well at the
end.
4. What is your role in managing that particular conflict?Answer
Acting as H&S officer
5. How did it solved?Answer
It was successfully good.
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III. AnalysisA. Theories Related to the Organizations Problem
1. ConflictConflict is a process in which one party perceives that is interests are being
opposed or negatively affected by another party1.
There are two distinctions of conflict, functional conflict and dysfunctional
conflict2. Functional conflictserves organizations interest, support the goal of the
organization and improve performance. This kind of conflict is commonly referred
to in management circles as constructive or cooperative conflict. Dysfunctional
conflict,in the other hand, threatens organizations interests, hinder organizational
performance.This particular conflict is undesirable and manager should seek for itseradication.
Frederick W. Taylor, writer of efficiency and scientific management, believed
that all conflict ultimately threatened management authority and thus had to be
avoided or quickly resolved. Too much conflict (particularly dysfunctional conflict)
in the organization can erode organization performance because political infighting,
dissatisfaction, lack of teamwork, and turnover. Workplace aggression and violence
can be manifestations of excessive conflict. Otherwise, too little conflict (particularlyfunctional conflict) also brings negative impacts for organization such as lack of
creativity, indecision, and missed deadlines.
1JA Wald Jr and RR Callister Conclict and Its Management, Journal of Management No.3 (1995), p517. 2R Kreitner an A Kinicki, Organizational Behavior, 9th Edition, McGraw Hill, 2011, p 375.
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Relationship between conflict intensity and outcomes3
2. Types of ConflictPeople avoided conflict for many varieties of bad and good reasons. Some
people said that they avoided conflict because they fear various combinations of
harm, rejection, lost of relationship, anger, been seen as selfish and so on. The
followings are types of conflict one can find in the organization (Kreitner and
Kinicki, 2011):
a. Personality conflict, interpersonal opposition driven by personal dislike ordisagreement. Its occurs when two or more people find themselves in conflict
not over a particular issue or incident but due to fundamental incompatible in
their responsibilities and their approaches to things their life style of life.
b. Intergroup conflict, conflict that occurs among work groups, teams, anddepartment is a common threat to organizational competitiveness.
c. Cross cultural conflict, conflict that occurs between people from differentcountries with different cultures. When doing business with people from
different culture is commonplace in our global economy where cross borders
merger, joint ventures and alliance are the order of the day. Because of the
different behavior on how to think and act, the potential for cross culture
conflict is both immediate and huge. Success or failure when conducting
business across culture often hinges on avoiding and minimizing actual or
perceived conflict.
3LD Brown, Managing Conflict at Organizatioanl Interfaces, 1
stEdition, Pearson, 1983.
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3. Managing ConflictIt is important to manage the conflict, by involve in doing things to limit the
negative aspects of conflict and to increase the positive aspects of conflict. The aim
of conflict management is to enhance learning and group outcomes, includingeffectiveness or performance in organizational setting (Rahim, 2002, p. 208).
Properly managed conflict can improve group outcomes (Alpert, Osvaldo, & Law,
2000; Booker & Jame son, 2001; Rahim & Bono ma, 1979; Kuhn & Poole, 2000;
Church & Marks, 2001).
Vanessa Cross4 wrote in her article, there are five common approaches we
may use to resolve conflict, which are:
a. AccommodatingThe accommodating approach emphasizes cooperation instead of
assertiveness. A person places his interests last and allows the other party to
further her interests. The accommodating approach often occurs when a party
is not significantly invested in securing a victory, because he does not perceive
the alternative option as a significant threat.
b. AvoidingAvoiding conflict involves one of the conflicted parties avoiding communicatingabout or confronting the problem, hoping it will go away. By not participating
in the problem-solving process, she is effectively removing herself from it.
When employing this approach, the conflict might go away if the other party
doesn't press for a resolution. The underlying differences between the parties
are never resolved.
c. CollaboratingThe collaboration style involves parties working together to resolve issues, and
both sides come to the table with win-win attitudes. It is a favorable
negotiation style in formal dispute resolution situations, such as mediation,
where the parties employee a mediator but must agree on the final, binding
resolution.
4Cross, Vanessa (n.d.). Five Approaches to Conflict Resolution. Retrieved 28 May 2013, from
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/five-approaches-conflict-resolution-21360.html
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/five-approaches-conflict-resolution-21360.htmlhttp://smallbusiness.chron.com/five-approaches-conflict-resolution-21360.htmlhttp://smallbusiness.chron.com/five-approaches-conflict-resolution-21360.html -
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d. CompromiseBargaining is the hallmark of the compromise approach to conflict resolution.
The conflicting parties can identify some interests they are willing to
compromise on to bring about a resolution. While the emotional level might
still be high, the compromise style sometimes results in interim solutions when
a full resolution is not immediately possible. Parties might reach a settlement
to prevent further escalation of the conflict.
e. ConfrontationThe confrontation style to conflict resolution entails the party placing his
desires above those of all others involved in the conflict. Assertiveness is the
hallmark of this approach, and those employing this style of negotiation aim to
address the conflict head-on. It might involve high levels of emotions as the
parties establish positions in what can sometimes evolve into hostile
communications.
Another approach that can be used to resolve conflict is called Alternative
Dispute Resolution (ADR), which consists of the following techniques (Kreitner /
Kinicki, 2011):
a. Facilitation, where a third party in higher position can act to urge theconflicting parties to deal directly with each other.
b. Conciliation, a neutral third party informally acts as a communication conduitbetween disputing parties.
c. Peer review, review based on a panel of trustworthy coworkers to actobjectively and listen to both sides of a dispute in an informal confidential
meeting.
d. Ombudsman, similar with facilitation, however the facilitator is not in higherposition but an employee who is widely respected, especially by both disputing
parties.
e. Mediation, a neutral third party who is trained, able to resolve the conflict andcreate innovative solutions.
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f. Arbitration, a use of formal court-like meeting with neutral arbitrator as adecision maker. The decision in arbitration is final and binding.
Others prevent conflict at the workplacein which you, as manager, can
minimise those conflict triggers that could have a negative impact on yourcompany. Some of these include:
a. Make wise appointments. Make sure that when you hire a new employee, theperson fits in with the rest of the team. It might be a good idea to involve a few
of the other team members, who will work directly with the new employee, in
the selection process.
b. Open communication. Clear, regular communication is the key to strongworking relationships at the office. It's important for managers to be accessible,so that employees can voice their concerns as soon as they arise.
c. Be fair. Make sure work and work hours are distributed evenly. Don't let certainemployees get away with doing less than others this will no doubt lead to
conflict. Also try to keep your employees busy. This way, they'll have less time
for gossip and squabbles.
d. Involve employees in conflict resolution training. Invest in training that willteach everyone conflict-resolution skills, and expect people to use them.
e. Set strategies in place. Implement a grievance policy and procedure. Conflict canbe passed up the hierarchy to a common superior for resolution. This way,
management will stay on top of potentially volatile situations.
f. Ensure clear guidelines. Establish clear guidelines for dealing with potentialconflict triggers, such as sexual harassment or racial bias. Communicate these
guidelines clearly the moment you appoint new employees.
g. Set common goals. Focus on tasks, not personalities, and make sure employeeswork together towards common goals. Make sure that employees are rewarded
when targets are reached.
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4. Alternative Style for Handling Dysfunctional ConflictPeople tend to handle negative conflict in patterned ways referred to as styles. Several conflict
styles have been categorized over the years. According to conflict specialist, Rahim offer a
model of conflict-hadling styles5
, five different conflict-handling styles can be plotted on a
2*2 grid. High to low concern for self is found on the horizontal axis, while low to high
concern for others form the vertical axis. Various combinations of these variables produce the
five different conflict-handling styles such as: integrating, obligating, dominating, avoiding,
and compromising. There is no single best style; each has strengths and limitations and
subject to situational check.
5MA Rahim, A Strategy for Managing Conflict in Complex Organizations, Human Relations Journal, January 1985, p 84.
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5. The role of Organizational CultureCorporate culture can be defined as the specific elements that explain the basics of how an
organization works. Corporate culture, sometimes called organizational culture can be defined
as the set of rules of an organization, shared values, how they should be conveyed, and the
common way of approaching problems. They may be included in a charter.
The components of corporate culture are
numerous:
Company History Rites Symbols Values (implicit or explicit) Working methods Socio-cultural habits
The company values can be as varied:
Ethics Team Spirit Justice Honesty Professionalism Cohesiveness
How to build a corporate culture?
A company that wants to structure and formalize their culture will often use an external
expert. This will create a small group of members of the organization, and cross each of the
components mentioned above. Loyalty to the corporate culture is a long-term process and will
necessarily (under penalty of failure) through the involvement of all stakeholders, whether
officers or employees of the company.
However, the corporate culture is not just a source of cohesion, it also brings an essentialcontribution to the technical operations. Corporate culture
contributes significantly to standardize these
behaviors and contingencies. Giving everyone a
common reference, the corporate culture can be
recalled to prevent or ease tensions within the
company.
To define the corporate culture that we study, we
can use CVF framework (competing values
framework) created initially by Quinn and
Rohrbaugh in 1983 and rehabilitated by Cameron
and Quinn in 2006. There are four types of cultures:
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B. Discussion on Organizations ProblemAccording to the conflict definition, two conflicts occurred in ANP are both
dysfunctional conflict. Alcoholic drinks consumption in the office and smoke in non-
designated smoke are surely could bring negative impact on employee workingrelationships because it disturb comfortable existing working condition. It also violates
company culture as well as company regulation. Management of ANP should impose
penalty to their employee that conducted these negative kind of behavior. Moreover,
ANP is a state company, so that their employee as public servant should exhibit ethical
and professional working behavior.
Based on those three types of conflict, the conflicts happened in ANP can be
categorized as personality conflict, because the rule breaking by drinking alcohol,swearing, physical fighting and smoking in non-designated smoking areas are basically
came from each persons personality. Their moral value and lack of self-control are the
fundamental reasons why such conflicts happened.
However, due to some staffs belong to different departments involved in the
conflicts, so the investigator might perceived that the conflicts were between A
Department and B Department, but actually they were not necessarily intergroup
conflicts. Intergroup conflict occurs when a conflict is between two divisions ordepartments in the company, and the problem is work-related. Usually, the conflict will
be because it is clashing each other interests. For example, the marketing department
plans to make complicated advertisement to increase the sales but rejected by the
Finance Department because such costly advertisement is over the budget.
In terms of managing the conflict that happened due to rule violations, whether it
was drinking alcohol in the office or smoking in forbidden areas, the party who break
the rule must get the punishment because it is against the company rules. However, thedisputing parties might still have some conflicts remained and the company needs to do
something to end such conflict. Compromising should be the best approach, since it
helps the conflicting employees to move on with their activities. But, one must certainly
avoid confrontation, because it may lead to another conflict, which were physical
fighting and verbal swearing.
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If the company has someone responsible in the higher position to make decision,
then it will be very effective to resolve the conflict. Therefore, facilitation technique
from ADR approach will also give the best outcome to the conflict or dispute.
Among the seven conflict prevention actions, the very best action is to ensure theclear guidelines to the employees of ANP. From the case, we could assume that even
though the company rules and regulations were there, but employees did not seem to
be aware of these rules and regulations, hence they were still act disrespectfully and
irresponsibly. Every employee should be given crystal clear guidelines of what is
forbidden and what kind of punishment they will get if they do not obey the guidelines.
Not just verbally, but also in printed contract. Therefore, when they are found
disobeying the rules and regulations, they are breaching the contract and the company
is able to give punishment accordingly.
In the case of non-compliance with the smoking prohibition inside the company,
organizational culture appears to be insufficiently developed. Indeed it can be seen that the
prohibition was signified in the rules of the company but not respected. It also seems that
employees do not feel commitment, they do not take about the health of each and tensions
between each department.
An organizational culture must create cohesion between employees and departments and
it must define good and bad behaviors and enforce values. We here think it would be useful to
use an outside expert, as we said in the definition, he can easily work on internal issues and
reasons for the lack of a common culture. This expert will be probably more respected because
he has an outside view and he is impartial. The values that should be highlighted and integrated
have to be the justice, respect, and professionalism. We believe that the company should move
towards a Hierarchicalculture, bringing stability and control. The establishment of a charter, as
is often done in businesses and schools, is also important. We explain how to manage the
conflict, clear rules about alcohol and smoking, and each employee should sign it.
The lack of cohesion characteristic of companies with a lack of organizational culture can
be filled by small groups, which work on writing the charter. It also seems important to
remember the history of the company and its role; it is the component of the corporate culture.
ANP is a regulatory organization. It is therefore important that the rules and seriousness are the
core values of the company.
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C. Conclusion & RecommendationFor most people, conflict is associated with a negative, destructive situation. And yes,
it certainly has the potential to wreak havoc within a work team. But it need not be a bad
thing. Constructive conflict management can produce creative solutions to problems, higher-
quality relationships, and constructive change. The key is to resolve conflict in such a way
that it improves the situation for all the relevant parties involved. Important steps in this
process include:
1. Identify the problem. Find out what the source of the conflict is and in what stage theconflict is in. The aim is to try to get involved as soon as possible.
2. Give both sides a voice. Arrange for a meeting and make sure that there is a mutualairing of differences, complaints, and negative feelings. Both parties must feel that
this is a neutral space. Don't meet with the parties separately this could give the
more persuasive party an unfair advantage.
3. Work through the differences. This will require time and commitment. Here, the aimis to bring about greater understanding of the parties' different attitudes,
perceptions, and positions. Encourage both sides to put forward their points of view
and encourage them to try and understand each other's point of view.
4. Identify solutions. Find a resolution for each issue. The best way to do this is toensure that both parties play an active role in identifying a solution to the different
issues. Listen carefully as the employees blow off steam, and then wait for them to
propose their own solutions.
5. Reach a compromise. When resolving conflict, the aim should be a win-win outcome,where both parties obtain their goals through creative integration of their concerns.
Get both parties to acknowledge the issues, and agree to move forward. It might be a
good idea to get them to sign an agreement.
6. Keep communication channels open. Ensure that relevant parties meet regularly todiscuss any awkward situations or problems that could give rise to future conflict
situations.
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7. Do follow-up. Remember to do follow-up in due course, for example three monthsafter the initial meeting. Check whether the issues are resolved, and whether further
mediation is required.
In the ANP cases, number 6 may be skipped because the conflict should be able tofinish immediately after the decision was made. Regular meeting between the conflicting
parties may not give any positive solution to prevent future conflicts. However, follow up by
the responsible person (the HR staff or the H&S staff) is very important to ensure the
conflicting parties has completely move forward and the conflict has completely resolved.
For the above two conflicts happened at the ANP, we can suggest the following
alternative solutions, mainly to prevent similar conflicts from happening in the future:
1. Explain to the employees the company rules and regulation at the first day of theiremployment to ensure that they have been given notification. It is very important to
also make clear that no alcoholic drinks can be consumed in the office, at anytime
(during and after working hours), and at any events (including company gathering
and party).
2. Put warning signs of no smoking in strategic places around and in side the office. Itis important to include the information on where the employees are allowed to
smoke and what kind of punishment they will receive if they broke the rule.
3. To stop the excesses with the cigarette, a break of fifteen minutes morning andafternoon could be included in the charter. This break could affect smokers and
nonsmokers. This pause allows the smokers and non-smokers to be together to address
other issues, informal meetings. The company could win a collective spirit, and
improve the cohesion necessary for the development of the corporate culture.
4. Assign some staffs to act as a controller, and he or she shall be given authority towarn (verbal or written) to the rule breakers. Other staffs can also report to this
authorized person whenever someone acts against the company rules.
5. To prevent bringing alcoholic drinks or dangerous materials to the office, thecompany could implement security check (bag checking and metal detector) before
entering the office.
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D. List of Reference1. Fatima Abdad
Human resources Officer
Authoridade National do Petroleum (ANP)
Timor Leste
Phone : +67077342797
2. Zelio MonizHealth and Safety officer
Authoridade National do Petroleum (ANP)
Timor Leste
Phone: +67077240828