1.  What explains the presence of conflict at TVN? Your analysis should be supported by relevant theory and show awareness of the sources of power of the respective parties.


Answer:


 


            The case was about the problem faced by TVN in line with their senior management groups and leaders.  Conflict is defined as incompatible activities where people at least temporarily interfere with and obstruct each other’s behavior ( 1973). In addition, it is also regarded as an expressed struggle between interdependent parties based on the perception of incompatible goals (1991;  1987). However, not all conflicts are alike. Conflicts vary according to intensity, number of parties, degree of interdependence, importance of outcomes, power imbalances, and so on. In addition, some conflicts are categorized as disputes.  (1986) suggested that emerging conflicts are disputes in which participants acknowledge the dispute, realize that most issues have been clarified, but are unable to enact workable problem-solving or negotiation processes.


 


In this case, the conflict is seen in two of the senior management of TVN. i.e.  was the managing director of the company and described as an inexperienced when it comes to television. On the other hand  who had been the acting managing director of the company has been described as an innovator when it comes to television films.  He is also noted for being a well experienced manager. The two different personalities of these senior managements have been the main reason why there is conflict in TVN.  Furthermore, conflicts arise because of the differences in opinions about the needs, goals, interests and priorities of the organization, the poor communication, lack of teamwork and lack of clarity in terms of responsibilities and roles.


 


             In this case, it can be said that the kind of conflict faced by the management is structural conflicts. Structural conflicts are mostly caused in management disagreement or disputes and it usually occurs when workers with differing responsibilities and structure or even personality find themselves in conflict in which both have considerable stakes (2002). Added to this is the structural element of time, which may increase the urgency felt by the two. Solutions to structural conflicts would involve redistributing power and roles, establishing fair criteria for decision making, and changing physical or environmental barriers, perhaps by having pair or small groups for the purpose of relationship building and ongoing dialogue.


 


             are two strong individuals having their distinct style of management, values, beliefs and perceptions. These individual differences are the cause of the conflict since the two could not meet half-way to clear their responsibilities. Further, with their individual preferences, there exists a conflict for having incompatible goals (1989).  Both  only wants the best for the organization, however, because they don’t have a common goal, conflict happens.   Hence, it can also be said that interpersonal style of conflict is also dominant in this case.  


 


            In addition, two parties can have incompatible goals because they play different roles in an organization.  For example,  is in charge as a managing director while  is a programme management. With this differentiation, although considers the goal of the organization, their individual goals have been the main cause of clash between the two of them. Each wants to show that the leadership or management style and goal of one is better than the other.     With this, coordination and cooperation between the subordinates of the two leaders are also affected and that this may lead to separation of groups or individuals.


 


An important reason why different actors have incompatible goals is that they – be they individuals or groups – value themselves much more highly than others value them. They feel that they are not fully appreciated by others, that they are not receiving their due: students are shattered if they receive a bad grade, employees feel almost invariably that they deserve higher pay; children feel that their siblings are loved more than they are. And, as has been observed by anthropologists, all societies are “ethnocentric,” believing themselves better than others.


 


            Among managers, interpersonal style is the most human, fascinating, and important aspect of any organization. Managers’ individual quirks, strengths, weaknesses, and peculiarities profoundly affect all goals, roles, and decisions. It is noted that one of the things to consider is to look at the impact of leaders on their organizations to see how it reflects their interpersonal styles in hundreds of ways, no matter how large that organization grows.


 


The biggest conflict in organizations is between what management  calls the administrators and the lunatics ( 1968). Administrators are sensing types who like to make things happen on time, budget, and schedule, according to the rules which can be attached to the personality of . On the other hand, lunatics are the intuitives who do not want to play by any rules—they just want to play the game which is clearly seen in the description of


 


Another common clash is between a participatory management style and a command-control style.  Both  possess a leadership style as a command-control style or authoritarian style (2003).    In this manner the authority have the right to do the decision making without asking the opinion of the followers.  The leader is this type of leadership tends to tell the followers what must be done in order to achieve the goals or objectives of the organization.


 


Furthermore, conflict is present at TVN because of the role competition that happens between the groups of   Role conflicts arise when there is dispute, about who is performing what functions, in what manner and with what other members of an organization and this is illustrated in the case.   Every organization, even those structured around work teams, has to specify how work will be done—who has authority, what is the appropriate amount or type of work for a group to take on, what exactly is a group supposed to do to contribute to the overall effort, how that contribution is to be integrated with others’ efforts, how resources are to be divided up. Conflicts with roles generally stem from four problems: overload, ambiguity, overlap, and competition.  In this case, it can be concluded that conflict are present because of the role competition.


 


Role competition adds an element of nastiness to role overlap conflicts. Groups come to see themselves in competition with each other and no longer believe there is a solution to their conflict. They are ready to fight, to beat the other guy, or seek revenge for past insults. This happens between the group of . Since the group of  believes that the group of  has nothing to do with their responsibilities, problems or conflicts arise. 


 


            Aside from interpersonal conflict between  another conflict that can be seen in the case is intergroup conflict. This conflict refers to the collective incompatibility between two or more divisions, departments or subsystems in connection with tasks, resources, information and others. In the case of TVN, intergroup conflict is present between the group of  and the group of (1987) has rightly indicated that, “while intergroup conflict implies each member of a group is in conflict with those of another, quite often the actual dispute is carried out between representatives (e.g., department heads, or labor-management negotiators)” (p. 501).  Like the conflict between


 


A “law of intergroup conflict” states that all groups are in partial conflict with each other (1968). Intergroup conflict is inevitable in complex organizations. “In complex organizations having differentiated subsystems with different goals, norms, and orientations, it appeared that intergroup conflict would be an inevitable part of organizational life” ( 1967).


 


            Furthermore, the intergroup conflict is present in TVN because of the emergence of an autocratic leader like  Very often it is the aggressive person or the ones who express themselves clearly and well who take over. Sometimes those who like fights emerge in leadership positions. Those members who can provide the best leadership and the most skillful leadership processes often are submerged along with the questioning and sounder thinking which they would foster.


 


The new leaders) is well accepted by the group and is perceived as friendly and perceptive in the analysis of the other group’s information. There is also greater pressure on the leader or representative to carry out the wishes of the in-group when interacting with the out-group leader or representative.  The new leader may establish a power structure quickly. Emphasis on task attainment is increased together with the emergence of a greater degree of formality and structure.


 


A structure of interaction is formulated that discourages free exchange of information. Rules and procedures are established prohibiting intergroup communication. All information is screened by group leadership before dissemination. This kind of situation is not new in TVN.  As mentioned,  is an authoritative leader which dictates everything to his group while  has a different style, in this manner, as  tries to rule the group of , the members did not follow his management style which resulted into conflicts between the groups of the two leaders. The reasons that have been mentioned above are clearly seen in the case of TVN, and because of these disputes, individual differenced and others, conflict is present within the company.


 


2.  Analyze an organization with which you are familiar. Is it an arena where people join together to pursue an organizational goal, fulfilling their own goals at the same time? Or is the organization an arena where people tend to pursue their own goals, using the organization for their own ends? What organizational factors contribute to the situation you describe?


Answer:


            The competition in the business arena has been very stiff and complex.  In this regard, the organization must be able to utilize a strategy and management system that will enhance the performance of the business so as to outgrow its rivals (2000; 2003). The organization that will be given emphasis in this case is a service organization which is an airline industry. One of the largest service organizations known in the world today are those airline industries.


 


These industries all over the world are now living in an interesting era.  More and more people have been using these industries for every services and purpose they want and for their travel satisfaction.  The process of change as of the old economy to the new global economy has brought tremendous changes and development to the services being offered.  Part of the changes brought by the competition of these industries globally is the new economics, new market structure, new marketing strategy as well as the new technological structures of each and every industry within the marketing service field. 


 


Nowadays, people are more willing to use the services of the airline industry especially those individuals who wanted their travel to be convenient and satisfying which makes all such industries to be in demand. This Airline began its service on June 18, 1971 with flights to Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio. This Airline industry was a hard birth.


           


Primarily, the core mission of this industry is dedication to the highest quality of Customer Service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and Company Spirit. The company has been the number one carrier in terms of domestic boarding. Yearend results for 2003 marked airline’s 31st consecutive year of profitability. In 1989, the industry has become a major airline when it exceeded the billion-dollar revenue mark. This organization is the only major short haul, with low-fare, high-frequency, and point-to-point carrier in America. 


 


It can be said that the competitive performance of the company can be attributed to its corporate strategy and how the company manages its people.  This organization can be characterized as an industry where people join together to pursue an organization goal, fulfilling their own goals at the same time.  For the management of the company, being able to achieve or reach organizational goal means achieving each and everyone’s goal. In this company, the organizational goal is to provide affordable cost to travelers while having customer satisfaction. In order to achieve such goal, the company utilizes different strategies.


 


One of the important and impressive strategies utilized by this organization, to ensure that the employees share a common goal is its management-employee relationship. Any organization, may it be profit oriented or not-for-profit, the most vital asset is its employees.  In addition, for these organizations to maximize their assets, human resource management (HRM) should manage the employees’ working condition with intelligence and efficiency (1998).  The employees must be allowed to be involved in making work-related decisions to further enhance the organisational structure (1996).  Furthermore, the structure of tasks among the employees strengthens the organizational performance (1989). 


 


It is therefore necessary to understand the employees to build a good relationship on them (1983).  The development, building, motivation, enhancement, and enrichment of the employees of any organization largely depend on the leadership, mandate, and vision of the human resource management (HRM) of an organization (1999).  According to (2002), the process of making an organization is simultaneously the growth and maintenance of relationships among individuals who are working towards a common goal and the actual accomplishment of tasks, individually and collectively. 


 


It is noted that excellent and exceptional companies must be people-oriented and the highly rated performance of the industry is through the notion of the people who works for the company. According to  (1997, ), the organization that recognize their employees and staff as the basic source of quality and productivity of the organization tends to gain, and this organization treats their workers as important people.  


 


The management of this airline industry shares commonness in their personalities and characteristics (i.e. full of sense of humor and sociable attitude) and they doesn’t imposed personality test among their employees unlike any other companies (1995). In addition, they are not after the skills and ability of the applicants but they are after the good attitude that such employee has.  For them, it is not difficult to enhance once capability but the attitude cannot be changed easily ( 1991). In addition, the Airline encourages their people to develop and express their individuality that in return motivates the employee for being more responsible and independent.  The management sees too it that by giving the employees the opportunity to excel organizational and individual goals are met.


 


Another strategy of the Airline that shows that each of them share a common goal and work together to achieve such goal is the ability of the leader to manage their organization in a manner that everything and everybody are being taken into consideration.  Having a strong leader and the good management approach combined can truly bring a company to its pedestal.  Open-door policy is being utilized within the Airline.  In this manner, the management allows other members to voice out their opinion and ideas regarding different issues. The ideas and opinions that have been considered will be analyzed and ensured that it meets organizational goals.


 


Furthermore, the management utilizes a leadership style that is somewhat democratic and authoritative.  Democratic because, employee may suggests certain strategy to be used by the organization like the use of rap-singing in explaining its rules and regulations to achieve their organizational goal of customer satisfaction (1996) and employees often creates and employ solutions to the problems they encountered on the spot instead of waiting for the decision of the top management.  In addition, the management also incorporates equal rights to each and every employee, a certain aptitude that no other company utilizes effectively.            


 


In an organization it is important that the leader or the management must know what style of leadership to be used in order to make the flow of the organization towards the goal or the objective set by the organization. In addition, the leader of the airline can also be described as a charismatic leader which can be seen. Charismatic leaders had the following attributes: a “presence,” a presence of mind, quality of the eyes, physical beauty, use of voice, energy, confidence, and endurance, image of unusual mental attainments, and the power to elicit an almost pathological response from their followers. And these characteristics and values are always being seen to the Airline’s respected leader.


 


As much as possible, the whole industry tries their best to provide their goal of having affordable yet worthy and satisfying travel for their passengers.  In addition, unlike any other largest airline industry, this airline industry carries their passengers in a point-to-point basis, a strategy that were being patronage by their customers. And lastly, the unique characteristic of not offering anything to passenger such as full service meals and others, but offering only the ability of the employees in amazing, surprising and entertaining the customer by the sense of humor of the staff. These unique and excellent characteristics have made the whole industry become admirable not only in the entire global marketing environment.


           


            Moreover, the airline industry also sees to it that in order for this airline industry to achieve its organizational goal through its employees they use the concept of empowerment. Empowerment is known as a technique for improving employee satisfaction which is being undertaken by many organizations.  Satisfying the employees can significantly create a good working relationship among employer and the employee and a good reason for the employees to do their best to achieve organizational goal.  It involves responsibility and authority for decisions affecting the workplace, downwards through the organization. Thus, in an organization, employees need to be equally empowered. This empowerment results to an increased competence, self-esteem and self-respect, which are very important to one’s well-being.  


Moreover, creating an environment in the workplace that results in employees feeling better about themselves when they are in it results in love of their work. A working environment that constantly raises an employee’s self-esteem, above that she/he experiences anywhere else in their life, will be where she/he most desires to spend their time and yields very high employee satisfaction with their job and costs next to nothing. People do more of what they enjoy and less of what they don’t enjoy. The results also show that people who enjoy working are more productive. Furthermore, analysis shows that in an organization, there is an existing problem that the employees are facing due to their individualities.  Since, they have different personalities and values, they may tend to have difficulty in communicating with other employees, thus result in some conflicts. 


 


It cannot be denied that one of the most important factors for an organization to be successful is to have a harmonious relationship between the management and the employees.  It is essential that the communication provided by the organization is clear and consistent from within all levels of the organization. It must address both organizational and individual employee concerns.


 


 


 



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