Предыдущая страница реферата | 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10 | Следующая страница реферата

As further stated in the article, conflict can be viewed as something to manage or something to resolve. John Burton, one of the world’s leading scholars in the field of conflict resolution commented “…resolution means terminating conflict by methods that are analytical and that get to the root of the problem.” Miller explains that “conflict management is a multi- disciplinary, analytical, problem-solving approach to conflict that seeks to enable participants to work collaborately towards its management.”[16]

Conflict is not easily avoided in any organization; therefore, an effective manager is prepared by knowing how he will approach certain issues before they happen. There are many books and articles written that address this topic in great detail. An effective manager will consult these items and use his or her own judgment in taking the advice of these publications.

According to James Cribbin, there are three basic kinds of conflict as follows: Approach-Approach, Avoidance-Avoidance, and Approach-
Avoidance.[17] Approach-Approach would seem to be the most straight forward type of conflict as there are two alternatives that are equally feasible. If an employee is not being productive in the company this affects how the manager’s boss views that department. The manager wants to please his boss but also stay on good terms with his employee. In each case the manager needs to approach the other person with open communication and deal with the situation.

Avoidance-Avoidance is very difficult because whatever decision is made to have negative consequences. If a manager knows that his boss is cheating the company financially, he must make a decision. Tell on his boss and suffer the wrath, or stay quiet and sacrifice his ethics. He would like to avoid the conflict on either side, but staying quiet may not be an option.

The last type of conflict according to Cribbin is Approach-Avoidance. He gives a clear example of a manager put in a situation in which he must make a decision that will affect himself and his family. He wants to approach the situation but also avoid it completely. He is given a great promotion in the company but must move his family from his nice comfortable town to a large metropolis city. Cribbin has outlined the options he has and portrays what a difficult situation this could really be:

1. Accept the position and move

2. Accept the position, leave the family in the small town and visit them on the weekends.

3. Bribe the family to make the move.

4. Ask the family to try to the new city for a year and then assess the situation.

5. He can refuse the promotion.

6. He can try to stall in making the decision and hope that something different will turn up.

7. He can try to convince his superiors that he can take the promotion and contribute more from where he already is.

8. He can get another job.[18]
While this is a personal conflict for this manager, the skills a manager uses to deal with personal conflict must be transferable to the workplace environment involving other employees as well as superiors. If a manager knows that there are always several options in dealing with a situation, he will be more open to choosing one that will work for that unique conflict.

As mentioned earlier, consistency is an important part of an effective manager and can be applied to conflict as well. A good manager is consistent in executing rules and regulations with his employees. He will not let close relationships with employees cloud his judgment and rationale for making a decision. When conflict arises, the employees will know that each person will receive the same treatment regardless of who they are.

According to Robbins, “Consistency can relate to an individual’s reliability, predictability, and good judgment in handling situations.
Inconsistencies between words and actions decrease trust. Nothing is noticed more quickly… than a discrepancy between what executives preach and what they expect their associates to practice.” People want to be able to
“predict what you are going to do.”[19]

In order for a manager to improve their effectiveness in a conflict situation they can also use “The Five A’s of Improving Your Personal
Effectiveness” Model from Kerns. The A’s are assess, analyze, action plan, act, and adjust – then repeat.[20] A good manager will always assess the situation in order to gather all of the details. Once he has all of the information, he will analyze it and develop an action plan. After implementation of the plan, he will be able to be flexible with that plan if something needs to be adjusted. Effective managers use the Five A’s constantly without even realizing it. This helps a manager approach conflict with confidence knowing there is a steady process he can rely upon.

3. Flexibility and Creativity

“Managers exist in a state of steady uncertainly and their success rests upon constant exploration of uncharted waters.”

Barry Munitz,

President of Federated Development Company

Houston, Texas
Today changes in the business environment become more rapid and more complex and of course each manager must solve more problems in a limited period of time. As Dr. Abraham Zaleznik of Harvard University mentioned:
"No matter how much you plan, when you get to the work place there are unanticipated problems: And the added constant challenge is that most of these problems cannot be solved effectively in old, familiar, or straightforward manners. Hence the quality most necessary for business and career success these days, and increasingly so in the future, is flexibility.”[21] But our group consider also creativity to be important today. These two aspects help manager not to be lost and not to lose in the modern business world and of course to be effective.

According to the dictionary flexibility is “the ability to change or to be changed easily to suit a different situation”[22]. What factors made this aspect so important? Thirst of all the growing volumes of information a manager should deal with. Second, environment and technologies which changed quicker and quicker every year and the third point will be internationalization. According to these three situations we can determine the following characteristics of the flexible manager:

1. A flexible manager is able “to stay loose and to choose and explore a wide variety of approaches to problems, without losing sight of the overall goal or purpose”[23]

2. Shows a resourcefulness in their ability to adapt himself quickly and easily to developing situation and changing environment

3. He "does not see the environment as something to which they should passively respond, but as something they should actively shape."[24]
Some authors also associated flexibility with personal openness of the manager[25]. They pointed out that if managers are open then they can be influenced by what is happening around them and as a result they react more flexible to all the changes around them. The one thing is obvious that flexibility is a key feature of personal growth and an indispensable condition for being an effective manager.

Рекомендуем скачать другие рефераты по теме: отечественная история шпаргалки, курсовая работа по управлению, реферат на тему казахстан.



Предыдущая страница реферата | 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10 | Следующая страница реферата

Поделитесь этой записью или добавьте в закладки