21 Sep Proposal Assignment paper. The sections developed in the first three Conflict Resolution Assignments should be consolidated into one paper which has effective transitions and flows together.

PAPER 1

ABSTRACT

This paper takes a peak within the criminal justice system, where organizational conflict is covered in this essay. The potential for organizational conflict to arise within the framework of the criminal justice system is the focus of the discussion in this article. This article presents a comprehensive overview and analysis of each of the five stages of conflict, beginning with the pre-conflict phase. An example scenario inside the correctional system explains the stages of conflict. This scenario involves officials working within the system. Three scenarios are examples of circumstances in which an immediate supervisor would not be able to settle a dispute between workers. These scenarios are examples of the circumstances in which an immediate supervisor would not be able to resolve a dispute.

Conflict is an inevitable part of working in any company. On the one hand, it fosters creative thinking and strengthens the ability to find solutions to problems. On the other hand, it might render problem-solving ineffective, intensify defensiveness and unhappiness among members, and cultivate a toxic working environment. Conflict is an ongoing process that may have various repercussions on various individuals.

Keywords: conflict

Problem Resolution

Conflict is described as a dynamic process in which two or more people engage in an organization to cause conflict that may or may not result in aggressive actions. Workers' emotional states, such as stress, hatred, or worry, may be produced by conflict in organizations. Additionally, management may investigate the conflict in organizations by looking at the conflict behavior, whether it be quiet resistance or overtly hostile or aggressive conduct. Two prisoners fighting each other in a fistfight exemplify violence within a jail. The correctional officials have to deescalate the situation to prevent the disagreement from leading to a dysfunctional organization. Maintaining consensus among everyone in a company is not always straightforward. Nevertheless, businesses may encourage conflict management abilities via training.

The Five Conflict Styles

The five styles of conflict management is conflict avoidance, accommodation, collaboration, compromise, and competition. Organizational and environmental variables both have an impact on the phases of conflict. Conflict in organizations must be understood by the parties involved beyond the current circumstance since all disputes are tied to one another and have a degree of continuity. In this instance, a fight breaks out between two prisoners who share a cell. Up to the point that the prisoners start fighting in their cells, the argument keeps getting worse.

Problem

The problem illustrated in this essay is the penal correction system, which is used to explain the stages of conflict. This scenario involves officials working within the system. Three scenarios are examples of circumstances in which an immediate supervisor could not settle a dispute between workers. These scenarios will determine how conflict is managed within the organization by the staff.

Background

Conflict is an inevitable part of working in any company. On the one hand, it fosters creative thinking and strengthens the ability to find solutions to problems. Conflict is an ongoing process that may have various repercussions on various individuals. When it rises within the company, some ways need to be used to prevent it from escalating. If the proper channels are not followed, then the conflict may affect the normal working of the organization.

It's crucial to understand what causes disputes while addressing conflict management. Conflicts may go beyond verbal and physical arguments. An incorrectly handled disagreement in a criminal justice business where most employees are armed may lead to workplace violence and death. Social scientists have identified five variables that might cause conflict: needs, perceptions, power, values, and emotions.

Individual needs are crucial to understanding disputes, mainly when Individual and group requirements vary. We all have vital requirements. These intrinsic demands include food, drink, and sleep. These bodily demands are considered fundamental and unlearned. Secondary psychological conditions are gained via experience and are vital for conflict management. Secondary requirements might alter over time. Needs include belonging, power, success, and love. As I've said, these requirements are vital to an individual's well-being, and ignoring them may lead to conflict. As supervisors, we must consider our subordinates' needs, particularly secondary needs, since they affect behavior. A supervisor may better understand what drives a subordinate by understanding their requirements.

The second is perception. This and personal values are the hardest to control and cause the most significant disputes. Everyone's perception is unique. There will always be slight variances in people's perceptions of the same event. People's impressions of what happened to depend on their beliefs, expectations, experience, and history. Conflicts emerge when people view reality or a situation differently. These misperceptions might be caused by varied upbringings, education levels, and traditional beliefs. As I've said, this aspect of the conflict is hard to handle, but a supervisor can establish a manageable situation. Success or failure will rely on how understanding and willing the supervisor is to modify views.

Third, I'd want to explain how individuals define and use power. Power and status impact the severity of organizational disputes In the military, position means authority, which is frequently abused. How we interpret and wield power may affect the frequency and sorts of conflict. How we define and deploy rank-based authority may alter our conflict management abilities. A dispute arises when energy is used to manipulate others for personal advantage.

Avoidance conflict is at its earliest stage. This stage occurs when the circumstances that constitute the fundamental causes of the competition are in place. "According to Pondy, avoidance of organizational conflict is the precursor or underlying factors that lead to subsequent perceptions of conflict. This term is in line with Aubert's notion of "conflict potential," which may be regarded as the "base of conflict," denoting a social environment between related parties that lays the groundwork for the later development of overt animosity (Leckie, 2017). This includes degrees of rivalry between distinct subunits, attempts by intermediate supervisors to manage officers' conduct, and instances in which two parties that must work on a joint activity cannot agree on a cooperative project. This would be the starting point of their clash in the hypothetical conflict between the two prisoners. One of the inmates started the fight by neglecting to pick up their stale, partially consumed meal off the cell floor. At this point, the prisoner has spoken their viewpoint to ensure the other person is aware of the possible dispute.

Conflict accommodation is the subsequent phase of the conflict. At least one of the two parties must acknowledge a disagreement before the problem moves to this level. Conflicts may sometimes occur when the ingredients for avoiding conflict are absent. This is the negotiation stage when one side believes the other is likely to obstruct or frustrate their aims. It is believed that the parties misunderstood each other's genuine open positions in cases when conflict is felt, even if there is no underlying conflict. Such a dispute may be resolved by fostering better communication between the parties. When this is realized, the person can either escalate the situation or choose to defuse it. One crucial element is that if someone is cognizant of their conflict with another person, they influence whether the conflict episode moves on to the next level. This is the point in the example scenario when the prisoner who leaves their food lying about realizes there is a problem. They now have the option to resolve the dispute by coming to an understanding and ceasing to leave their food lying about, or they may decide to intensify the conflict and argue. The prisoner decides to dispute and exacerbate the issue in this case.

The next level is collaboration, which happens when one of the parties personalizes the conflict situation. When a disagreement becomes personal, it affects the individuals involved and potentially adversely affects the organization. Conflict at this level is quite essential, particularly inside an institution. The organization's long-term stability depends on how well the disagreement is handled. The conflict that is sensed is a conflict that is not only perceived but also felt and recognized. The mechanism that makes many individuals worried about conflict dysfunctions is the personalizing of competition.

To put it another way, it causes people to experience conflict. Referring back to the previous situation, one of the prisoners had escalated their argument beyond the meal to the point where they were attacking the other person personally. The correctional personnel can spot the problem since the convicts loudly shout complaints.

Next comes the stage of conflict competition. Once a party has sensed and experienced the conflict scenario, it may start to express conflict. To elicit this type of conflict, this stage is characterized by overt or covert actions. Most often, overt conflict involves one side purposefully obstructing the objectives of the other. When a disagreement reaches this point, managers usually have to intervene to settle it before it escalates into an organizational problem.

As a result, direct managers must be able to see overt disagreement amongst employees. The convicts in the hypothetical situation start to act physically, so the disciplinary authorities open the cell and separate the inmates. The officers must settle potential disputes amongst prisoners as soon as they are identified. The convicts may believe they can get away with this kind of conduct if other prisoners see the altercation and the guards are slow to intervene. "Pondy defines apparent conflict (conflictful conduct) as behavior that intentionally impedes the accomplishment of another person's goals and is seen as such by at least one party. Overt actions that prevent relationship partners from accomplishing their objectives are the hallmark of evident conflict in inter-organizational environments (Leckie, 2017).

Conflict compromise is the last step. At this stage in the dispute, if the circumstances are resolved satisfactorily, the war will end. Conflict will persist if the underlying causes are not addressed but rather repressed for a quick fix. The stage of conflict aftermath is then entered if the battle continues. At this point, the dispute can potentially worsen or damage the two people's relationship irreparably. This would be an example of conflict aftermath if the two prisoners in the scenario were returned to the same cell and continued arguing. Conflict aftermath also includes additional prisoners acting this way after seeing the first altercation between cellmates.

The management of conflict has been recommended in a variety of ways or ways. Based on the degree of cohesion (the degree to which one wants to see the other party's problems addressed) and assertiveness (the degree to which one's objectives are accomplished). There might be two methods for handling the disagreement inside the company. Both therapeutic and preventative methods are part of these strategies. The management seeks to create a scenario or atmosphere where the dysfunctional aspects of disputes do not occur while taking preventive actions. Conflict should be handled as soon as it develops, as is the case in most situations, but every effort should be made to avoid conflict in the first place.

Large, generally violent riots are an example of a disagreement with our police officers that is beyond the immediate supervisor's control. The immediate supervisor can only affect their officers and jurisdiction since this problem affects the whole country instead of just the department. The police officers cannot resolve the disagreement alone since it affects many people (Raines, 2020).

Another instance where the immediate supervisor may not have any control is when an email criticizing another officer goes out to the whole state's law enforcement community by mistake. If the email had just been sent to their department, the person's direct boss might have punished them or let them off lightly, but it was forwarded to everyone.

Efforts of Resolution

Supervisors have a variety of options for dealing with these conflict-related traits. Five techniques for supervisors to resolve conflicts have been discovered by social scientists. While some of these tactics help manage conflict, others make it worse.

Teamwork. All parties consent to working together to settle a disagreement. Everyone may be able to accomplish personal objectives via collaboration while still retaining solid relationships.

Cooperation involves reconciling divergent viewpoints to satisfy all demands. When there is a high level of trust and a desire to change, and the manager wants the staff to take ownership of their ideas, they may choose to take a collaborative approach to handle conflicts. Collaboration requires much work. Some group members abuse the openness and confidence of others.

Make a compromise. To win, we must reduce losses. Quick dispute resolution is used when no long-term solution has been found. A short-term remedy is to stop discussion until the problem is fixed. It's not flawless. It's a stopgap measure to allow people to keep working. This approach can disregard the company's objectives. It could promote cynicism and ignorance of the seriousness of the problem. We must go back soon to deal with disputes in a cooperative manner.

Competitiveness. It implies a struggle between rivals. When we are in the right about a quarrel, this tactic works. We utilize it to make snap judgments or stand up for our rights. We may use this strategy when a more powerful person tries to overwhelm us. This could end a fight at the moment, but it has repercussions. First off, it could make things worse and trigger losers' retaliation. Conflicts are not handled effectively in this (Raines, 2020).

Working for a single goal comes before everything else. People prioritize their relationships above their beliefs as a conflict resolution technique. By downplaying differences of opinion, it maintains positive working relationships. Use this tactic when there isn't much at stake, we're in the wrong and can't win, and group cohesion is more essential than individual convictions. Temporary solution Ideas may not get enough attention, and the speaker could become less credible and influential.

As a result, the immediate supervisor will be held accountable to their superiors, imposing a heavier penalty that the immediate supervisor must carry out. The last instance of a problem that the immediate supervisor may be unable to manage involves sexual harassment. A settlement must be reached, and depending on the matter's seriousness, an immediate supervisor is not expected to finish the disagreement and move on. Usually, parties who are not both parties' direct supervisors decide how to resolve sexual harassment disputes.

Overcrowding may generate inmate-staff tensions. It would make handling criminals more challenging and increase inmate-on-inmate violence. Inadequate law enforcement equipment may lead to conflict and risk to public safety. Say a police department can't afford bulletproof vests for all officers. Without protective gear, cops may be hesitant to react to firearms violence. The situation can deteriorate if the policeman doesn't respond swiftly to other officers' aid calls. Laws dictating how law enforcement conducts situations could provoke debate.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the conflict will always arise in organizations. On the one hand, it encourages innovation and improves problem-solving. On the other hand, it may make problem-solving ineffective, heighten defensiveness and member unhappiness, and foster a toxic workplace (Nguyen, 2019). Conflict is a dynamic process that has varied effects on different people. Avoidance conflict, perceived conflict, felt conflict, visible conflict, and conflict aftermath are the five phases of conflict. Even though a disagreement could end before it reaches any of these phases, it's crucial to comprehend them all and recognize when it needs to be halted at the immediate supervisor level. As it will only help the business evolve and adapt to potential future conflict scenarios that may happen inside the organization, conflict management is a critical ability that organizations must master. The Bible says in Hebrews 11:6 that "But without faith, it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." (King James Bible)

References

King James Bible. (2017). King James Bible Online. https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/

(Original work published 1769)

Leckie, C. Widing, R. E., Whitwell, G. J. (2017). Manifest conflict, customer orientation and

performance outcomes in international buyer-seller relationships. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 32(8), 1062-1072.

Nguyen, T. (2019). Resolving conflict in organizations – achieving results through a

harmonization process. Development and Learning in Organizations: An International Journal, 33(5) 4-7.

Raines, S. (2020). Conflict Management for Managers: Resolving Workplace, Client, and Policy

Disputes (2nd ed.). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN: 9781538119938

PAPER 2

ABSTRACT

A conflict usually occurs when two or more parties in an organization experience different opinions regarding a process or event. They may experience or hold different views and beliefs and one party may recognize the problem and view it as a problem to an organization. Positive Conflicts in organizations are always perceived to be normal as they always contribute to changes within organizations, increase trust between the parties, and even make an organization to be more creative and innovative. However, negative conflicts in organizations always lead to more problems as they widen the gap between employees, may cause divisions, and may also lead to employee turnover. Conflict resolution refers to all the processes that are undertaken to bring the parties in conflict together without altering the self-esteem and the morale of the employees. This paper aims at evaluating conflict resolution processes including the causes, principles, and stages of conflict resolution in an organization.

Keywords: conflict

Introduction

A conflict is a disagreement that may occur between two interdependent people or parties. Raines (2020) affirms that differences between the two parties often characterize conflicts and that the parties usually view the differences as unfavorable. Therefore, conflicts usually make employees or teams have negative emotional states and may also alter how they relate or work together. As Polkinghorn and McDermott (2017) state, organizational conflicts are sometimes inevitable because it’s typical for employees within organizations to have different ideas and thoughts. Although conflicts may bring problems to an organization and the managers, they also make organizations and their leaders more efficient and effective, increase employee trust and push organizations to achieve their goals (Abd-Elrhaman and Ghoneimy, 2018). The purpose of this report is not to remove conflicts within organizations. It aims at helping businesses to manage disputes more ethically and effectively to increase their performance and achieve their goals. This paper will present the stages of conflict resolution that will evaluate the causes and effects of conflicts and how to solve them. The strategies mentioned in this paper will offer managers and organizational leaders to absorb the conflicts and solve them without affecting the harmony of their working teams.

The meaning and dimensions of a conflict

Polkinghorn and McDermott (2017) state that a conflict is a disagreement between two or more interdependent employees. The parties in a conflict may have different ideas, emotions, and beliefs about a particular situation, creating a conflict. In a conflict, the parties may hold incompatible outcomes, and one party may recognize this incompatibility and perceive it to be a problem for an organization (Raines, 2020). On the other hand, conflicts may also be driven by the needs and beliefs of employees or organizational teams. A need refers to a feeling that makes people behave in a particular manner. Therefore, a belief is a priority that the parties in conflict choose, and when the leaders solve it, it is thought to improve the quality of service. According to Woodrow and Guest (2017), individuals’ view or beliefs in a conflict is usually their efforts to solve the dispute, create a solution and satisfy their interests in the issues they face. Hence, conflicts result from differences in opinions regarding events in organizations, the aspirations of the conflicting parties, and their goals.

Consequences of Conflicts

Positive Consequences

Conflicts are neither good nor bad. Conflicts have either positive or negative outcomes for organizations in short-term and long-term operations. On the positive side, conflicts can bring growth in organizations when members argue about reforms or strategies that their respective organizations need to undertake in their business. As Raines (2020) states, during conflict resolution, leaders need to listen to both parties in conflicts. During this conflict resolution process, managers can pick the best ideas for the future.

Moreover, conflicts can bring coherence and trust among employees and organizational teams. In most cases, members of the same organization may clash because they lack the support from their leaders, lack the confidence of their colleagues, and also opaqueness in the daily operations of a company (Hershcovis et al., 2018). During conflict resolution processes, the leaders and the employees usually have the chance to sit together and solve their conflicts. Every aspect of the conflict is aired out, and policies may be set to promote transparency and accountability of all the members of an organization. This may increase the members’ trust and make them work together as a team.

On the other hand, Rana et al. (2017) also state that conflicts can improve the overall performance of an organization. For example, if the leaders poorly communicate to their employees or an organization does not solve their employees' challenges, it may result in conflicts. However, during conflict resolution processes, such issues may be corrected, an organization can improve its communication strategies, and policies can be implemented to improve the employees’ welfare, thereby improving the organization's performance.

Negative Consequences

Consequences can also be overshadowed by harmful outcomes when the parties in dispute fail to agree or reach a common understanding. In such cases, Bădiţoiua and Stănescu (2018) note that the situation may escalate into a problematic situation that organizations may find challenging to reverse. One of the negative consequences of a conflict is that a slight misunderstanding among the employees can result in a significant conflict if an organization favors or supports one party. This may destroy the whole working culture and the system of an organization resulting in loss of growth, performance, and high employment turnovers (Toussaint et al., 2018). On the other hand, conflicts can also lead to shifts in power positions or dominance of power in an organization. In a win-lose situation, the winning party may have a more substantial influence on the affairs of an organization than the party that lost. This may further widen the gap between the conflicting parties in the company. According to Lai et al. (2017), such a situation can create more problems as it may become challenging to develop a positive working atmosphere within the organization. Moreover, harmful conflicts can lead to an increase in the number of conflicting parties. Employees may join the winning or the losing parties, making it difficult to de-escalate the problem.

Conflict Resolution

  Conflict resolution is how an organization manages a conflict by bringing the grieving parties together to get a solution. However, Rahim and Katz (2019) note that conflict resolution has two dimensions. They are conflict management and negotiation. Conflict management is the process of communicating the conflict to change the beliefs and the emotional states of the parties in conflict. On the other hand, conflict negotiation is the process of sharing with grieving parties to enable them to solve the dispute and work together (Héliot et al., 2020).

In any conflict, organizations always aim to get a win/win situation. However, a win/win situation usually requires a very tactical and excellent approach to satisfy the interest of both parties. An organization must use conflict management and negotiation to resolve a conflict and bring it to an agreement. As Cowan et al. (2021) state, conflict management is mainly concerned with the negative attitudes of the conflicting parties. It mainly involves the leaders of the effort put in place to divert the anger or negative emotional energy of the parties in conflict to create a mutual understanding. Leaders must always deal with and eliminate the conflicting parties' destructive behavior and hostile attitudes when using conflict management. Once the negative attitude is removed, the negotiation process may create peace among conflicting parties (Jacobs et al., 2018).

On the other hand, Conflict management often aims at settling the dispute by directly evaluating the cause of the conflict. In conflict management, aspects like negative attitudes are often ignored. Once the source of the problem has been identified, the process of creating a mutual understanding between the two parties begins.

Principles of conflict resolution

Conflict resolution is always a challenging process that requires an organization to create a mutual understanding amongst the employees without ruining its reputation and the morale of its employees. Magee et al. (2017) note that before an organization begins to settle any conflict, it needs to create a plan of how the process will be undertaken in an orderly manner. Moreover, conflict resolution should be aimed at bringing long-term solutions that will not only create a positive work culture but also improve the performance of an organization. On the other hand, Bambi et al. (2017) also note that conflict resolution needs to bring the employees or organizational teams together to bring the lost trust. Therefore, this process needs to be undertaken based on several principles.

Principle 1: Create a culture of respect and integrity

This is the first principle of conflict resolution. Leaders must understand that all employees are equal regardless of their status within the company. In some cases, leaders usually take stern action against the party that may be on the wrong side without evaluating the long-term consequences. Baillien et al. (2017) state that conflict resolution needs to begin from a neutral point of view regardless of the mistakes that may have been committed. At the negotiation table, each party needs to be treated equally and concerning cool down the tempers and reduce the negative emotional energy.

Moreover, leaders also need to use the rule of democracy in which all the parties are given equal chances to express themselves. Jerng et al. (2017) affirm that creating a culture of respect and integrity is the first step in ensuring that employees and all the organizational teams respect each other, even in their daily work. It helps them understand that the organization's interests are more significant than their beliefs, attitudes, and what they want.

Principle 2: Create a rapport

Organizations are institutions that are run by culture and the policies that have been set in place. Raines (2020) states that it is always crucial for all employees and organizational teams to understand that they need each other to make their organization more functional. However, this does not occur in most cases, as conflicting parties may lose their values and ethical standards that guide their work. In any conflict resolution process, leaders and managers must ensure that they create a rapport in which the organizational teams can listen to each other more attentively and respond to each other in a more respectful, peaceful, and ethical manner (Jones et al., 2018). Creating a rapport means that employees will have time to listen to each other, argue their points, and make peace amongst themselves in the future. These are some of the issues that leaders must raise during conflict resolution. Building a rapport will develop a protocol that employees will be using in the future to raise their concerns without necessarily going into a conflict.

Principle 3: Create a culture of resourcefulness

Resourcefulness is the process in which the employees use their experience to solve problems without necessarily escalating into conflicts. Magee et al. (2017) note that organizations must create team leaders. However, they need to be people with a vast experience in the organization’s culture and the policies that guide how their respective institutions work. Moreover, leaders and managers also need to give their team leaders the chance to quickly address the issues that arise among their employees. The team leaders should be mandated to address minor problems unless they are more critical (Bambi et al., 2017). Creating a culture of resourcefulness is crucial in ensuring that employees and organizational teams can manage their interests and reduce the frequency in which conflicts occur within organizations. Before solving any conflict, leaders need to create this culture of resourcefulness by allowing their teams to solve minor cases.