STORY / CASE

Conflict is inevitable in workplace settings (in my case as OJT), and conflicts can arise
between co-trainees or with supervisors. Being a trainee means you have limited knowledge
about the activities on the workplace. As trainee, you are ought to learn from your supervisor as
well as with your co-trainees. But sometimes, as humans, we complain about the hard tasks
assigned to us. As in my case, there’s a time when my co-worker named John reacted negatively
about the task that was assigned to him. He was unable to finish the task. I, Jomari, who was
willing to help has done the task assigned to him. The supervisor commended me with the task.
John felt embarrassed.

Few days later, John suddenly become negative with me. He always making bad things
with me. It’s like he’s having this so-called “psychological warfare” to distract me and to make me
look bad with the supervisor. This thing would make an impact to my performance if I take it
negatively. I do not want to make such bad acts just to react with his little games. As a trainee, I
do not want to have tension in my workplace. But, later, because I own motorcycle, tasks assigned
to me was more on delivering and servicing. That eased the tension on my workplace.

ISSUE/S PROBLEMS

Interpersonal Conflict

 John was a little bit bitter with Jomari that made a tension between them.

 John forgot to thank Jomari on covering the task assigned to him.

 The supervisor might have noticed the tension between the two of them.

LITERATURE

Conflict

It is an occurrence that arises in the workplace when an employee has competing interests
or loyalties that either are or potentially can be, at odds with each other. A conflict of interest
causes an employee to experience a struggle between diverging interests, points of view, or
allegiances.

Conflicts of interest are difficult to describe in a definition, so the following additional

examples will illuminate the range of behaviors and actions that can fall within the definition
of conflicts of interest. They are as diverse as the work settings in which they occur and involve
 people interaction, employee actions, and personal benefits taking precedence over what is
in the best interests of the employer.

Competition

Competition occurs when the goals are incompatible, and the interactions are important
to each party’s meeting its goals.

Collaboration

Collaboration occurs when interaction between groups is very important to goal

assessment, and the goals are compatible.

Stimulation / Negotiation

It is the creation and constructive use of conflict by a manager. Its purpose is to bring
about situations in which differences of opinion are exposed for examination by all.

CONFLICT RESOLUTIONS (POSSIBLE OUTCOMES)

Conflict needs to be resolved. Possible outcomes of conflicts were:

 Win-win - occur when each side of a dispute feels they have won. Since both sides benefit
from such a scenario, any resolutions to the conflict are likely to be accepted voluntarily.

 Both John and Jomari will take it positively and try to compete friendly thus producing
more effort for better performance.

 Win-Lose - result when only one side perceives the outcome as positive. Thus, win-lose
outcomes are less likely to be accepted voluntarily.

 Either John or Jomari will take it positively leaving the provocative as loser.

 Lose-Lose - means that all parties end up being worse off.

 Both of them will lose temper and act negatively which will disrupt the workplace and
their performance.

CLASSIFICATION OF CONFLICTS

 Interpersonal conflict refers to a conflict between two individuals. This occurs typically
due to how people are different from one another.
  Intrapersonal conflict occurs within an individual. The experience takes place in the
person’s mind.
 Intragroup conflict is a type of conflict that happens among individuals within a team.
The incompatibilities and misunderstandings among these individuals lead to an
intragroup conflict.
 Intergroup conflict takes place when a misunderstanding arises among different teams
within an organization.

CAUSES OF CONFLICTS

 Leadership Conflict

Every leader has his own way of leading a team. When you have co-founders the
distinction in leadership styles becomes even more prominent.

 Interdependency-Based Conflict

Often times an employee has to rely on someone else’s co-operation, input or output to
get their job done. This can cause dissension.

 Workstyle Differences

Everyone has a different style of working to complete assigned tasks. It is important to

keep this in mind when training new employees and managing workload.

 Personality Clashes

Personality clashes at a workplace are generally fueled by perceptions about someone’s

actions, character or motives.

TWO VIEWS OF CONFLICT

a. Classical View – conflict is assumed to be avoidable.

b. Contemporary View – conflict is seen as inevitable.

SOURCES OF CONFLICTS

 Change
 Interpersonal Relationships
 Suvpervisor vs. Employee
  External Changes
 Poor Communication
 Subpar Performance
 Harassment
 Limited Resources

TYPES OF CONFLICTS IN ORGANIZATIONS

 Definition of Responsibility Unclear

 Conflict of Interest
 Not Enough Resources
 Interpersonal Relationships

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF CONFLICT

Advantages

 Improved Problem Solving

 Improved Relationships
Disadvantages

 Decreased Productivity
 Low Morale
 Tension on Workplace
 Decreased Performance
 Abandonment

STRATEGIES FOR CONFLICT RESOLUTION

Accommodating

The accommodating strategy essentially entails giving the opposing side what it wants. The
use of accommodation often occurs when one of the parties wishes to keep the peace or
perceives the issue as minor.
 Avoiding

The avoidance strategy seeks to put off conflict indefinitely. By delaying or ignoring the
conflict, the avoider hopes the problem resolves itself without a confrontation. Those who
actively avoid conflict frequently have low esteem or hold a position of low power. In some
circumstances, avoiding can serve as a profitable conflict management strategy, such as after
the dismissal of a popular but unproductive employee.

Collaborating

Collaboration works by integrating ideas set out by multiple people. The object is to find a
creative solution acceptable to everyone. Collaboration, though useful, calls for a significant
time commitment not appropriate to all conflicts.

Compromising

The compromising strategy typically calls for both sides of a conflict to give up elements of
their position in order to establish an acceptable, if not agreeable, solution. This strategy
prevails most often in conflicts where the parties hold approximately equivalent power.

Competing

Competition operates as a zero-sum game, in which one side wins and other loses. Highly
assertive personalities often fall back on competition as a conflict management strategy. The
competitive strategy works best in a limited number of conflicts, such as emergency situations.

RECOMMENDATION

1. Always work positively. Have a good attitude.

2. Never take a bad comment destructively but constructively. This will give good
output.
3. Temper yourself and adjust with the flow of things to make your performance run
smoothly.

Submitted by:

JOMARI S. SEROY
CBET-05-701E
Management 5
1st Semester 2017-2018
October 2017