Running head: CONFLICT HANDLING STYLE

Conflict Handling Style

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Conflict Handling Style

People always seek ways of addressing their life challenges so that they can live in an

environment of peace, compliance, and agreement. Different people have different ambitions,

perceptions, and desires which create a situation where there is always a tension between the

members of society. As pointed out by Almost et al. (2016), many factors lead to conflicts

including resource scarcity, conflicting perceptions and ideas, pressures, roles, personal values,

and policies. These conflicts can yield positive outcomes or as it is in most cases, result in

negative effects on a personal and organizational level. An important factor that may result in

conflicts among employees and especially in the healthcare setting is one related to change.

While change is inevitable, not everybody is ready to adopt the proposed change process as such

a change has different impacts on the employees of an organization. In analyzing conflict-

handling style, a description of change and conflict theory is conducted, leadership described as a

change agent, and the impact of personal conflict-handling strategy on hindering or enhancing

effective leadership.

Change Theory

Lewin’s Change Theory

The change theory as described by Hussain et al. (2018) involves three steps, unfreeze,

move, and finally refreeze. Through these three phases of change, a change agent can initiate a

change and take through to completion. In this model, there are three key concepts; equilibrium,

restraining, and driving forces. The driving forces as described by Hussain et al. (2018), are the

factors that push in the direction in which change occurs while restraining forces are the factors

that pose a challenge or a barrier towards the change process. These restraining forces counter
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the effects of the driving force, and when they are strong, change cannot occur as they push the

change process in the undesired direction. Therefore, decreasing the effect of restraining forces is

the key to achieving change and reducing possible conflicts.

Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB)

Second change theory is the TPB which aims at predicting the intention of an individual

to engage in a behavior at a given place and time. Specifically, as indicated by LaMorte (2019),

the theory explains behaviors that people have control over with the key component being

behavioral intent. Therefore, a person’s performance is determined by the person’s intention to

perform a certain action or behavior. An individual’s attitude towards a given issue or behavior

must be positive for the desired change to occur. The influence of social environment on an

person’s desire to be involved in a change practice is also an important factor which includes

beliefs about other people in an individual’s circle (LaMorte, 2019). Change, according to this

theory, is embedded in the concept of behaviors and how people perceive what is happening

around them as influencing their decisions, and actions. While the theory is effective in

understanding the motivators of change and the change process, it exhibits certain weaknesses

including the fact that it assumed that people have resources and opportunities that promote the

successful performance of certain behaviors.

Conflict Theories

Change is not always a one-way thing, and there are always areas of disagreements and

those of agreements between the members involved in the change process. For the change agent

to effectively institute change, it is important to identify areas that could result in conflicts and
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find ways to mitigate these conflicts. An important area of focus is conflict theories which help

explain and understand the concept of conflict, especially during change.

Organizational Conflict Theory

Conflict theory is organizational conflict theory is an essential theory that recognizes the

fact that conflicts are inevitable in a work environment. According to this theory, there are

always many varieties of conflicts within an organization as miscommunications or

misunderstandings always arise among the staff due to perceived or actual contradictions of

interest, needs, and values (Mohamed, 2016). Factors that influence organizational conflicts

include interpersonal relationships, lack of clarity of responsibility, interest issues, and resource

scarcity. Other than these factors, Mohamed (2016) indicate that individual and organizational

factors such as staff-management disagreements, personality orientation, attitudes, and breach of

conduct. The model allows one to have a deep understanding of the causes and nature of

conflicts allowing a change agent to manage such conflicts effectively.

Social Exchange Theory

The model posits that social behavior exhibited by individual results from an exchange

process which reduce costs and improve outcomes (Cherry, 2019). It interprets society as an

interaction of people based on the influence of punishment or rewards through a give and

receives process. At times, the exchange process may fail to balance resulting in disagreements

(Cherry, 2019). The theory considers the benefits and risks of a relationship, and when the risks

are more than the benefits, there are always chances that a conflict will arise.
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Leader as a Change Agent

A leader always plays an important role in initiating and undertaking change within an

organization interacting with other clinicians to ensure the success of a change process.

However, they need to apply specific leadership skills and competencies to influence other

people to undertake a change process. As pointed out by Weiss, Tappen, and Grimley (2019),

nurse leaders must use the power bestowed to them as leaders to communicate and share ideas

with followers and influence them to focus on attaining the change objectives. By becoming

motivational leaders, a nurse can motivate others to view a given idea positively and

consequentially engage in activities that will ensure that the idea is adopted.

Conflict Handling and Impact on Leadership

Conflict handling within an organization is a common leadership responsibility, and a

leader must identify a conflict-handling style that enhances leadership and limits the side effects.

Benoliel (2017) has described competing, avoiding, collaborating, compromising, and

accommodating as the primary conflict-handling styles. A personal conflict-handling style is

compromising which involves finding a mutually acceptable solution satisfying parties to the

conflict even if the satisfaction is minimal. The strategy is effective when time is limited and

therefore helps enhance leadership as it supports fast and immediate decision-making and

solution to challenges. However, it may hinder effective leadership as it is only best applicable

when the outcome is not crucial.

Conclusion

In the healthcare system, change is inevitable, and healthcare leaders must be ready to

find ways to initiate and undertake the change most successfully and acceptably. Adopting the
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right change theory allows change agents to undertake a change meeting its objectives

effectively. However, when conflicts arise during the change, there is need to adopt the right

conflict theory to guide a change agent in understanding the conflict and determining the right

conflict-handling style to apply in resolving the issue.

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References

Almost, J., Wolff, A. C., Stewart‐Pyne, A., McCormick, L. G., Strachan, D., & D'souza, C.

(2016). Managing and mitigating conflict in healthcare teams: an integrative review.

Journal of advanced nursing, 72(7), 1490-1505.

Benoliel, B. (2017). What’s your conflict management style? Walden University. Retrieved from

https://www.waldenu.edu/connect/newsroom/walden-news/2017/0530-whats-your-

conflict-management-style

Cherry, K. (2019). How the social exchange theory is used. Very well Mind. Retrieved from

https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-social-exchange-theory-2795882

Hussain, S. T., Lei, S., Akram, T., Haider, M. J., Hussain, S. H., & Ali, M. (2018). Kurt Lewin's

change model: A critical review of the role of leadership and employee involvement in

organizational change. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge, 3(3), 123-127.

LaMorte, W.W. (2019). Behavioral change models: The theory of planned behavior. Boston

University School of Public Health. Retrieved from

http://sphweb.bumc.bu.edu/otlt/MPH-

Modules/SB/BehavioralChangeTheories/BehavioralChangeTheories3.html

Mohamed, T. (2015). Organizational conflict: A review of the literature. International Journal of

Science and Research. 12(30), 2319-7064.