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ASSIGNMENT NUMBER ASSIGNMENT DUE DATE 1/04/2011

COURSE/UNIT CODE NATIONAL CODE GROUP/SESSION NAME (IF APPLICABLE)

Busm2462 AB1M
COURSE/UNIT TITLE LECTURER/TEACHER’S NAME
Intro to organizational behaviour Sylwia Greda-Bogusz

PROGRAM TITLE TUTOR/MARKER’S NAME (IF APPLICABLE)

Associate degree of business

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from any other source except where due acknowledgment is made.
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I/we understand that plagiarism is the presentation of the work, idea or creation of another person as
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STUDENT
FAMILY NAME GIVEN NAME STUDENT SIGNATURE DATE
NUMBER
Fong Nathan S3302133 4/04/2011

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from the University, is contained in Regulation 6.1.1 ‘Student Discipline’ www.rmit.edu.au/browse;ID=11jgnnjgg70y
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ASSESSOR’S COMMENTS GRADE DATE OF GRADE

College of Business Updated: November 2009

 (Office use only) (Office use only) (Office use only)

Busm2461 Introduction to
Organizational behaviour
Assessment 1 Individual paper
THEME: McShane, Olekalns and Travaglione, (2010, pg 414) define ‘conflict’ as a “process
in which one party perceives that its interests are being opposed or negatively affected
by another party”.

Class Ab1M
Nathan Fong S3302133

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THEME: McShane, Olekalns and Travaglione, (2010, pg 414) define ‘conflict’
as a “process in which one party perceives that its interests are being
opposed or negatively affected by another party”.

TASK: Discuss the dynamics of conflict in organisational settings. Your essay

should draw on evidence about these three elements of conflict:
(i) Ways in which people approach conflict;
(ii) Three groups of strategies that can help managed conflict; and
(iii) The influence of culture in conflict resolution styles.

Conflict is known to be the process in which one party perceives that its interest are
being opposed or negatively affected by another party. Conflict occurs because of
people’s perception of how they see things, it occurs when one party believes that
another might frustrate its efforts with or without intention. Individuals need to manage
conflict but Organizations also have roles in managing conflict in the work place.
Conflict is bad most of the time but it can also be good now day’s in the workplaces.
There are positive and negative outcomes from the effects of conflict. There are many
types of conflicts starting with “task conflict” to “Relationship conflict. These 2 types of
conflict will develop in to more sources of conflict in the organization including
“communication problem “, “Differentiation” and many other sources. There are many
ways in which individuals use to handle conflict, every individual will have their own
way of handling it, it could be by using “Problem solving handling style” ,“forcing style”,
“avoiding”, “Yielding”, or “compromising”. Individuals of difference culture will also
influence on the style of resolution they use. Therefore it is clear that individuals and
organizations both have different techniques and style to handle conflict situations
when an individual or party thinks its interest is being opposed by another party.

There are various types of conflicts including task conflict which is a disagreement
among group members about how a task should be done. Relationship conflict is where
a party focuses on the other party’s characteristics such as their personal values, styles
and personality rather than the task. Both of these conflicts lead to a decrease in team
satisfaction and performance. Further these 2 conflicts develop into other sources of
conflict. These conflicts include Communication Problems, differentiation and many
other sources. Communication Problems happens when a party has trouble with
effective communication due to the lack of ability or opportunity. Communication
problems lead to an increase in stereotyping, it also reduces motivation to
communicate and escalate conflict when a party is arrogant. Differentiation is where
people have different values and beliefs. The cause cross cultural and generational
conflict is usually because of differentiation. For example a younger and older person
would have different expectation, workplace practices and needs which may cause
conflicting action. “Conflicts were historically viewed by experts as dysfunctional and
that it undermined relations, wasted human energy, created more job dissatisfaction,
stress and where most party avoided it.” (eds Mcshane, Olekalns, Travaglione
2010).But from the 1970 to 1990s some level of conflict was viewed as good as it was
useful in organisations. It was seen to be constructive as it was a source of creativity
and performance enhancement from different viewpoints where discussion occurs. It
brings out all conflicts and brings everyone together to solve issues raised. However on

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the other hand it could also be destructive when it goes beyond the limit where conflict
cannot be solved and continue between parties. Effects of conflict leads to both
positive and negative outcomes, positive outcomes is that it can undermine team
cohesion, lead to better decisions made and a more responsive organisation. Negative
outcomes are that it caused a lot of involuntary turnover more organisation politics and
a lower performance organisation. Therefore it is clearly that when one party’s interests
are being opposed it can lead negative outcomes but may also be beneficial to
organisations.

Every individual have a different style in managing conflict. As conflict occurs ones goal
is to maximise outcomes and preserve relationship with the other person. There are five
different conflict handling styles used to approach conflict. Each style of resolution both
have advantages and disadvantages. Problem solving is the best solving style as results
in a win – win orientation for both parties. It is where both parties work together to find
a solution. It is best used when both parties have trust and issues are not complex. The
problem with using problem solving is that other parties may take advantage of
information as information sharing is important when both parties are working together
to find solutions. Forcing is when one party tries to win the conflict by taking
advantage of cooperation from the other party. Results in a win lose orientation, for
forcing to be effective one must increase its power and keep repeating strong
arguments. It is best used when a quick solution is needed and one party has
confidence that they are correct. But a problem with forcing is that it causes
relationship conflict and could cause damage to long term relations.
Avoiding is avoiding conflict situations it’s when one party tries not to think about the
conflict. Best used when resolution costs are higher than benefits but the problem with
avoiding is that it doesn’t resolve conflict its may increase frustration. Yielding is when
one party just cooperates with the other party and follows their solution and shows no
interest to its own needs. This is best used when the other party has a large amount of
power and when one party is in an imperfect position but the problem with yielding is
that it increases expectations which may cause future conflicts. The last of the five
styles is compromising is best used when there is going to be no mutual gain through
problem solving, both parties have equal power and both parties need a quick
resolution. Another type of dispute resolution is known as negotiation this is when 2 or
more parties solve their dispute by discussion and coming to an agreement by the2
parties such as like coming to closing a business deal or bargaining for some product.
When one party perceives that its interest are being opposed or negatively affected by
another party it is evident that the party would approach with different style of
resolution to conflict in order to preserver relationships and maximise outcomes.

Culture difference has a major impact on individuals approach to the style of conflict
resolution and negotiation. There are 3 important factors that determines how one
party manage conflicts these include individualism and collectivism, power distance and
high – context communication styles. Individualism and collectivism affect the
outcomes of negotiation as it is what makes up our behaviour. Those cultures that are
high on collectivism will pay more attention to group goals and enjoyable relationships
whereas those high on individualism focuses more on personal goals during negotiation.
This is evident as “ Subsequent studies have further investigated so-called “East-
West differences “by comparing U.S. managers to a matched group in an Asian
society” (Morris et al.,1998). ”In general, individualistic nations, such as the
United States, tend to give priority to personal goals and preferences, whereas

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collectivistic nations, such as China and Singapore, are more likely to give
priority to the needs of the group” (Ohbuchi et al., 1999; Morris et al., 1998;
Ohbuchi & Takahashi, 1994; Trubisky et al., 1991).
Power Distance

Reference list –

- McShane, S, Olekalns, M and Travaglione, T. 2010, Organisational Behaviour on the Pacific

Rim, 3rd edition, McGraw-Hill, Sydney
- Robbins, S.P. Millett, B. Judge, T.A. and Waters-Marsh, T. 2008, Organisational Behaviour,
Pearson Education, Sydney

http://pdfcast.org/download/individualism-collectivism-and-conflict-resolution-styles-a-cross.pdf

http://namaskar.typepad.com/namaskar/2006/10/what_is_power_d.html

Word Count -

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