MANAGEMENT OF WORKPLACE CONFLICTS IN BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT USING ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION
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MANAGEMENT OF WORKPLACE CONFLICTS IN BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT USING ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION
Chapter one
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Nowadays, workplace conflict receives little attention in the people management literature; yet, where it does, there is a strong consensus that organisations will pay a significant price if workplace conflicts are not effectively resolved (Ury et al. 1988).
At the extreme, days can be lost due to some type of industrial action, but more likely, sickness and absenteeism rates will rise, and management-employee relations will become strained, if not nasty.
Discord in the workplace may even prevent organisations from developing adaptive structures to succeed in today’s competitive business environment.
While there is widespread agreement on the potentially negative consequences of conflict, there is little consensus on what constitutes an effective conflict management system (Bingham & Chachere 1999).
Conflict is related with people’s central processes and their interactions with their surrounds, and is hence an inherent aspect of organisational life (Jones & George, 2003). Several elements have been identified as contributing to organisational conflict.
Dealing with conflicts in organisations has long been viewed as the sole responsibility of managers, who frequently took a firm stance on how to deal with them; organisations that addressed conflicts in this manner failed to recognise that conflict is natural in organisational life and has both benefits and costs.
Conflicts are said to emerge in organisations when routine activities are disrupted to the point where it becomes impossible to attain organisational goals and objectives (More and Wegener, 1992).
More specifically, organisations face a variety of interpersonal conflicts that might impede progress towards organisational objectives. Furthermore, workplace diversity is leading to an increase in conflict.
According to Dumaine (1991) and Nohria (1991), when organisations experiment with flatter, more decentralised organisational structures, their employees become increasingly dependant and accountable for more decision making.
These changes suggest new sorts of disputes will occur among diverse groups of workers relative to those experienced in bureaucratically structured organizations (Morrill, 1995).
As more minorities, women, foreign nationals, and professionals with diverse experience and educational backgrounds join the workforce. This variability inevitably results in conflicts that differ from those encountered by a more standardised workforce (Fiol, 1994; Williams & O’Riley, 1998).
If not managed appropriately, workplace conflict can become a complex issue with negative impacts on the organization’s employees’ physical, emotional, and mental well-being, increasing to unsustainable heights and undermining an organization’s mission and goals (Caudron, 1998).
However, conflict does not have to be a negative element; when handled correctly, it can be extremely beneficial to both people and the organisation. Many researchers have proposed theories to help us understand the nature of conflict.
Among the theories proposed is the traditional approach, which regards conflict as negative – not healthy for the organisation – and hence should be avoided.
Contemporary philosophy, on the other hand, recognises that human disputes are unavoidable and, when managed properly, can benefit the organisation. Tillett and French (2006) believe that conflict promotes communication dialogue and aids in individual and organisational growth by providing opportunities for problems to be solved and the organisation to advance; whereas Eunson (2007) believes that conflict can help change complacency through constructive means.
Unresolved workplace issues can often lead to litigation, which has its own set of challenges. Employees’ readiness to sue their company has exposed practically all companies to an increasing number of litigation due to workplace conduct or human resource choices made on a daily basis.
Understanding conflict and how to manage or resolve it should be an integral part of what and how managers learn; such understanding is critical for individual well-being and success, as well as long-term organisational success (Singleton, Toombs, Taneja, Larkin, & Pryor, 2011).
Over time, there have been significant changes in how organisations manage conflict, resulting in efforts to develop strategies aimed at more efficient, less costly, and more satisfying conflict resolution;
thus, this paper examined the use of these less expensive and appropriate methods, such as alternative dispute resolution (ADR) approaches in managing workplace conflicts.
Industry players are becoming increasingly aware that this procedure is time-consuming, expensive, and could cause irreversible damage to employer-employee relationships.
In other words, it is in the best overall interests of the disputants to resolve their disputes as soon as possible before they escalate to formal litigation, as this can result in unfavourable financial and non-financial consequences such as work stoppage, increased operational costs, negative image, loss of goodwill, and a negative employee-employer relationship (Gibbons, 2007).
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) is a method of avoiding this by settling disagreements in a non-adversarial manner, without the need of courts, and its use is increasing, particularly in non-union workplaces (Colvin, Klaas & Mahony, 2006).
Nations have demonstrated that ADR has been effective as a first step in resolving disputes (van Gramberg, 2006). With this in mind, Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) procedures have grown in popularity as a viable alternative to litigation.
According to Mackie et al. (1995), ADR is a kind of conflict resolution that involves a structured process and third-party intervention but does not result in a legally binding outcome imposed on the parties.
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