UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA

Full Names: Lwanele Mantshongane

Student No: 22314709

Module Code: PBA4806

Assignment No: 594717

Due date: 07 May 2024

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 ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
DECLARATION

Declaration: Lwanele Mantshongane

1. I understand what academic dishonesty entails and am aware of

UNISA’s policies in this regard.

2. I declare that this assignment is my own, original work. Where I have

used someone else’s work I have indicated this by using the prescribed
style of referencing. Every contribution to, and quotation in, this
assignment from the work or works of other people has been
referenced according to this style.

3. I have not allowed, and will not allow, anyone to copy my work
with the intention of passing it off as his or her own work.

4. I did not make use of another student’s work and submitted it as my own.

NAME: Lwanele Mantshongane

STUDENT NUMBER: 22314709

MODULE CODE: PBA4806

SIGNATURE: ……………………………………………………………. DATE: 07 May 2024

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Contents
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY DECLARATION............................................................................... 2
1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 4
2. What is conflict ............................................................................................................................. 5
2.1 Functional conflict ................................................................................................................. 5
2.2 Dysfunctional conflict............................................................................................................ 6
3. Causes of conflicts......................................................................................................................... 7
3.1 Resistance to change............................................................................................................. 7
3.2 Difference in personalities .................................................................................................... 8
3.3 Limited resources .................................................................................................................. 9
3.4 Poor Communication .......................................................................................................... 10
3.5 Interdependence/task-based conflicts ................................................................................ 11
4. Conflict management strategies ................................................................................................. 12
4.1 Five techniques for resolving disputes ................................................................................ 12
4.1.1 Avoiding ............................................................................................................................. 12
4.1.2 Competing .......................................................................................................................... 12
4.1.3 Accommodating ................................................................................................................. 13
4.1.4 Collaborating ...................................................................................................................... 13
4.1.5 Compromising .................................................................................................................... 13
5. Conclusion................................................................................................................................... 14
6. References .................................................................................................................................. 15

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1. Introduction

My organization is Toyota it deals with the manufacture of vehicle and parts. Toyota is a
Japanese company that has affiliate all over the world, South Africa is one of those affiliates.
Toyota South Africa builds cars using parts from Japan and sources some from the supplier.
The vehicles are then sold in South Africa, African countries and some are exported to
European countries. I would in the assembly line and have observed various kinds of conflicts
occurring.

Conflict is any disagreement between two or more parties where each party feels that their
interest is being compromised (W.Griffin et al., 2010). In any work environment conflict is
bound to occur and cannot be avoided (W.Griffin et al., 2010). Conflict can be functional or
dysfunctional in an organization (W.Griffin et al., 2010). In a functional conflict also known
as constructive conflict the interest and goals of both are considered, at the end there is mutual
benefit to both parties (W.Griffin et al., 2010). New ways of doing things can be discovered
after a functional conflict (W.Griffin et al., 2010). In a case of dysfunctional conflict both
parties concerned can go beyond the issue at hand but make it personal to a point that they
focus on hurting the other party (W.Griffin et al., 2010). The dysfunctional conflict can be so
negative that the employee experience depression which can lead to frequently absenteeism,
bad state of emotion and burnout (W.Griffin et al., 2010).

Conflicts in a workplace can results from various sources, some of the common ones are
different goals, different ways that goals can be achieved, constraints in resources to use,
changes in the organization, poor communication, different beliefs, tasks that are
interdependence and the structure of the organization (W.Griffin et al., 2010). In my
organization where I am working the cause of conflict were change, poor communication,
different goals, different ways of doing things and the structure of the organization (W.Griffin
et al., 2010). Due to the fact that conflict is inevitable its important to learn to manage it. Some
of the strategies for conflict management are as follows (W.Griffin et al., 2010). Collaborating
between two parties in conflict, compromising one parties interests for the realization of the
other parties interests, accommodating, competing to have one party interest realized and
avoiding the conflict if it’s not worth entertaining (W.Griffin et al., 2010).

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2. What is conflict

In a work place people are different from each other as a result conflict is inevitable, conflict
arise when there is disagreement on two or more parties due to feeling that their interests are
not taken care of (Fagan, 2021). Prolonged conflicts in a work place are not good and can-do
harm in the organization health and hinder company from striving, therefore it needs to diffuse
as quickly as possible (Fagan, 2021). Conflict not attended for long period can lead to negative
effects such as insults, refusal of employees to cooperate, aggression and ghosting of each
other’s (Fagan, 2021). Conflict has negative impact on the employees and on the organization,
such as emotional troubles, reduced productivity, high absenteeism and negative and toxic
work environment (Fagan, 2021). Therefore, resolving the conflict at early stages is the key as
it affects everyone even those who are not directly involved (Fagan, 2021).

2.1 Functional conflict

Not all conflicts have negative impact, some conflicts allow members to express their concerns
and opinions about the direction of the organization (Reddy, 2013). This can help company to
be more innovative if it creates the environment where conflicts are seen as tools to foster
growth (Reddy, 2013). In functional conflict employees are not promoting their selfish interests
but are more interested in benefiting the company through finding solutions to the current
problems (Reddy, 2013). In a functional conflict member are able to express themselves
without fear of consequences and their views are not suppressed (Reddy, 2013). Sometimes
the functional conflict is called constructive or cooperative conflict (Reddy, 2013).

My organization believes in involving people to suggests solutions to things they perceive as

potential threats to people this is called danger prediction activity. In this activity groups are
formed and brain storm what can be done to make the work easier for the team member or to
reduce safety concerns or improve quality. There are usually many suggestions and people
argue a lot to have what they think will be the best solution for the company. Their solution
reduces safety risks, reduce downtime and improve quality but they achieve this through
conflict over which idea is the best.

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2.2 Dysfunctional conflict

In dysfunctional conflicts people have selfish interests not of the company and that can lead to
destruction of the organization (Reddy, 2013). Dysfunctional conflicts often results when some
members are unhappy due to feeling that other counterparts are getting special treatments
(Reddy, 2013). This dysfunction is caused by toxic working condition where members feel
they are disrespected by the management (Reddy, 2013). Dysfunction conflict is bad for the
organization as it leads to people being demotivated and disengaged from performing (Reddy,
2013). Dysfunctional conflict can cause employees to resign or lead to actions that cause
disciplinary actions to be taken against them (Reddy, 2013).

In my workplace I have observed the dysfunctional conflicts, one example was when the team
members felt like the supervisor was giving special treatment to a certain lady in assembly line.
The setup in our assembly line is such that all team members have their own processes like
what they put in. there are about five team leaders that do not have processes, their tasks is to
relieve the team members when they want to go for toilet or want to see HR department or
whatever department they need to go. Team leaders also fix defects on the assembly line they
also cover for absent members. Due to high rate of absenteeism most of the times there are few
team leaders not occupied. For about twenty-eight members to be relived by two team leaders
for instance is hectic, people have to be que based on who asked first. The conflict arises when
this lady was always getting special treatment when she needed to go and she started requesting
for many unnecessary reliefs to do her stuff sometimes outside the company.

Normal there are extra activities in my organization where team members in each assembly
line are picked to solve quality problems or safety concerns. Everyone wants to be part of that
team for extra overtime hours, that team usually consist of five members, selection is based on
hardworking but this lady was always part of the team though she’s known to be lazy. During
the extra hour overtime, she would be busy with her phone while other members are working,
the supervisor would always overlook that and this made people to be bitter and upset towards
this lady. At some point she was selected to the final stage of becoming a team leader, people
gossiped that she got that far because she had some relationship with the supervisor. This
caused people to be angry and reported this to the HR so the supervisor was rotated to other
section of the plant.

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3. Causes of conflicts

3.1 Resistance to change

When there is proposed change to the organization people may hesitate to conform to that
change because of fear that it may lead to loss of their jobs (Abbas, 2022). It's never easy to
accept change (Abbas, 2022). Because they are afraid of the unknown and uncertainty,
workers reject change (Abbas, 2022). They are concerned about losing their jobs and uneasy
about implementing new work practices (Abbas, 2022). Change is always met with
resistance from stakeholders and employees in a company This opposition can occasionally
be so strong that it completely sinks a change endeavour (Abbas, 2022).

In my organization there is change in the volume of units being made, it dropped because the
regulations in Europe require the vehicles to produce less harmful fumes. There had been
delays for my organization to come up with an engine that meet the Europe requirements in
terms of emissions as the result the company cannot export anymore, it is only producing for
the local markets. This resulted to changes in the ways operations are carried because lesser
units are required, there are even short times. The company has set up some activities for
employee to do so that they can maximize their earnings until the engine is complete and the
company is running normally again.

Many conflicts have risen due to that people hesitate to participate to the activities that the
company has proposed. Some employees even question the management why they still see
some new people being hired while they going through short times. There are even speculations
that the company might be planning to replace current workers with the new workers as it has
been seen in the past, the company would retrench some while hiring others so this change has
brought fear and uncertainty on employees. Some question why it’s a short time instead of a
layoff because a layoff would mean they get maximum pay instead of half that short time
normally offers.
The management has to constantly reassure the employees that the situation is only temporary
and the jobs are safe. The rumors from various informal channels add on the conflict as they
also make employees to panic with the fear of losing income and at worst their jobs.

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3.2 Difference in personalities

People are not all the same. Their histories, personalities, viewpoints, and natures are dissimilar
(Abbas, 2022). Different personality types make a workplace more diversified, which is a
positive thing. However, conflict in the workplace is frequently caused by personality
differences (Abbas, 2022). Extroverts may perceive introverts overly shy and reticent, whereas
introverts may find extroverts too loud and outgoing (Abbas, 2022). Conflict in the workplace
arises from people's frequent inability to recognize and accommodate personality differences
(Abbas, 2022). When co-workers are unable to accept or comprehend one another's personality
characteristics, conflict may arise (AltiusGroup, 2023). Because they tend to express their
opinions without hesitation and have direct personality features, a co-worker may come across
to an employee as impolite (AltiusGroup, 2023). The personalities of employees are greatly
influenced by their background. Conflict can arise between individuals with disparate cultural
origins or values (AltiusGroup, 2023).

In my work area the personality clashes are common as the are people of different age groups,
race, gender and culture. In my line there is an old man he used to be in the military now he is
working. His personality is influenced by that discipline from the military he once had, he is
overly committed to his work, that’s what other members say. He keeps his workstation clean
and does not want anyone coming near his area. There is usually conflict when team leaders
have to do something in his area or when someone not from our line has to install some
equipment in his area. The old man wants people to great if not he attacks them verbally until
a supervisor has to be called and solve the conflict. He also doesn’t respect all the team leaders
specially the young ones because he feels he knows more than them. His mood swings, one
time he is upset people are not greeting him first as he is the old one, the other moment he is
not responding when greeted. This is one example of how personality can cause conflict in a
work place.

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3.3 Limited resources
Certain organizations possess restricted machinery, tools, and equipment (Abbas, 2022). When
these facilities are not evenly available to every team member, there is friction in the workplace.
Employees who need to use the office's limited number of laptops or systems, for instance,
may become at odds with one another (Abbas, 2022). When there is no available policy about
the use of resources and entitlements, the intensity of this kind of conflict worsens (Abbas,
2022).
At my organisation the lack of enough lockers for the members has once led to a conflict, where
members had to share lockers. There are two types of lockers, there are ones located at the
change rooms for members to store the soaps, towels and uniform when they had to shower
after work. The other type is a small locker next to work stations where employees put their
gloves, helmet, papers etc. The conflict often rises when a member does not have a locker and
start looking for it. One time a member broke the locker and emptied whats inside because
according to him the locker had no owner based on the way it looked, it looked idle. It was
discovered that the locker belongs to another member in another shift. There was a not pasted
on the locker saying “please move your stuff out of this locker, its mine’’.
With the lockers in the change rooms people steal those lockers and relocate the lockers to
other change rooms where you won’t get it back. This issue has once been reported to the
management, the members were given extra lockers close to their workstations. However, with
the change rooms lockers there’s not much to be done because there is no enough space.

At a refinery I once worked for the limited resources was with the masks when handling certain
chemicals that have fumes. They also used special gloves that apparently were expensive, as
the results management asked that we were given those gloves once a week to cut on costs.
The employees were not happy with this because when wearing the gloves the hands sweat,
over long period of repeating they start to have bad odour. Sometimes members wear gloves
and hide them in a certain place because they are dirty, they can’t put them in a locker, while
hiding for following day you find that another worker has stolen them. Some workers even
write their names on the inside of the gloves so when they find someone wearing them a conflict
would start. This issue has to be solved by management because it was a case of hygiene.

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3.4 Poor Communication

This is among the primary reasons why employees argue at work (Grones, 2020).
Disinformation, a lack of information, and remarks made out of context are examples of poor
communication that can come from leadership or occur between co-workers (Grones, 2020).
Inconsistencies in communication styles can lead to bad communication (Grones, 2020).
Employees that don't communicate well risk assuming the wrong things and believing rumours
(Grones, 2020). Conflict is not the sole result of poor communication; it also lowers morale
and productivity (Grones, 2020).
The organisation I work for has many stakeholders including the suppliers as a result there are
many sources of information that claims to be reliable that shares various information. The
example was when KZN was hit by floods, infrastructure was damaged for our organisation
and neighbouring organisations. People were told not to come to work as soon rain proved to
be abnormal. The major damage occurs when the doors of the Ntshongweni dam broke, all the
mud and water were flooded into the companies.
In my organisation the communication was very poor, people were not updated on what was
happening on the company. People got information from various sources that were not reliable
and cause people to panic. People feared for their jobs since there were voice notes claiming to
be associated with top management claiming the company would shut down because the
damage was so severe it cannot continue operating. Some speculations were that it may take
time before the company reopens because of the damage. The company sent some
communication but it was not reassuring and did not address the worries of workers. People
started forming groups to confront the management and even invited the media to share their
concerns. In this case miscommunication or lack of communication drove caused the conflict.

People wanted to know what is happening in the company and how much is the damage. They
also wanted to be sure if their jobs are safe or if there is something they can do to help with the
clean-up. They were frustrated when they did not get any information, worse when they got
misleading information, that resulted to conflicts and made the situation worse.

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3.5 Interdependence/task-based conflicts

These conflicts occur when members of an interconnected project network have to work
together to coordinate duties so that each person may finish their portion of the work (Abbas,
2022). For instance, without all the numbers, an accountant cannot perform their duties (Abbas,
2022). The capacity of the accountant to complete tasks and meet deadlines is impacted if a
worker consistently submits reports late (Abbas, 2022).
In our organisation assembly line, there is usually allocated time that the member can be done
with one work cycle and move to the next one. When the member is delayed the line stops
automatically because it senses what activity has not yet been done. This draws attention to
that member because the team leaders would rush to him to ask what is wrong why they are
stopping the line. If it stops even longer the supervisor and manager would come which is never
desirable for the team member. Sometimes the member is delayed not because of his fault but
because someone delivering the parts came late and the member still have to pre-assembly the
parts.
The conflict rises when the person delivering the parts is constantly late or sometimes bring
the wrong parts to the team member so now if the team member accidentally put those wrong
parts, he’s the one who will be charged. Sometimes the person delivering the parts are seen
charting thereby cause the delay so they are often confronted by team members and told they
need to do pre-assembling because they are the ones who are causing downtimes.

The other conflict rises when the member from other shift leaves mess in the workstation so
the member has to clean-up for another person. Sometimes the member on the other shift does
not do the unit on the stage as per standard of working or the agreement between members of
different shift. Sometimes the member does not leave enough parts pre-assembled as per
normal procedure or they don’t fill up the parts into the dolly on the work area. All these lead
to conflicts sometimes members writes notes and leave them on the workstation for members
on the other shift to warn them about their behaviour, this is because there is no interaction
when changing shifts.

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4. Conflict management strategies

People through natural interactions tends to have disagreements due to causes outlined above.
There are ways to deal with conflicts that ensure the issue is resolved quickly with everyone
involved satisfied (Herrity, 2024). In order to solve a conflict sometimes a mediator is required
who will be neutral and find the solution (Herrity, 2024). People who are able to deal with a
conflict and solve it are seen as great leaders in many organizations.(Herrity, 2024)

4.1 Five techniques for resolving disputes

Depending on their inclinations and personalities, various people settle disputes in different
ways (Herrity, 2024). The five most popular methods for resolving disputes at work, referred
to as the Kenneth Thomas-Ralph Kilmann model, are as follows:

4.1.1 Avoiding

This approach consists of merely disregarding the possibility of a disagreement (Herrity, 2024).
When faced with confrontation, people usually try to avoid it. By avoiding, they are able to
deny the existence of an issue (Herrity, 2024). In certain circumstances, such as when there is
no obvious answer or a frustrated party needs some time to cool down before confronting them,
avoiding conflict may be the right course of action (Herrity, 2024). Avoidance, however, may
necessitate more work than just confronting the issue and may exacerbate tensions amongst the
persons involved (Herrity, 2024). Nothing gets resolved when conflict is avoided. This strategy
shows no concerns for one’s interests in a conflict also no concerns for the counterparts’
interests, this strategy can be good when dealing with minor conflicts that wont help when
addressed but can be disastrous when dealing with big conflicts (Herrity, 2024).

4.1.2 Competing

Competing is an unhelpful, unduly confrontational tactic employed by those who are

determined to prevail in the disagreement at all costs (Herrity, 2024). We refer to it as a win-
lose tactic (Herrity, 2024). Due to its inability to facilitate group problem-solving, this approach
is not frequently recognized as producing adequate results (Herrity, 2024). This is usually used
when one party finds their interest more important than those of counterpart (Herrity, 2024).
This strategy could lead to a greater conflict than there is already is (Herrity, 2024).

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4.1.3 Accommodating

A party that uses this tactic, sometimes referred to as "smoothing," gives in and gives the other
party what it needs to solve the conflict (Herrity, 2024). You can work toward a long-term
solution while solving an issue in the short term with this approach (Herrity, 2024).
A conflict may occasionally be resolved through accommodation. It's usually simpler to
cooperate, for instance, if you don't have strong feelings about the issue (Herrity, 2024). This
strategy is often used when one party regard their interest less important than those of the
counterpart or when they realise, they were wrong about the conflicts (Herrity, 2024).

4.1.4 Collaborating

Similar to the compromising approach, collaboration entails working with the opposing side to
resolve a conflict in a way that both parties can accept (Herrity, 2024). We refer to it as a win-
win approach (Herrity, 2024). For instance, a salesman and a client might collaborate to work
out contract conditions until they are acceptable to both of them (Herrity, 2024).

4.1.5 Compromising

This tactic, sometimes referred to as reconciling, looks for a compromise to end a disagreement
(Herrity, 2024). Since both sides voluntarily give up some of their demands in order to reach
an agreement, it is known as a lose-lose strategy (Herrity, 2024). This may be a fast fix for a
disagreement that keeps from getting worse (Herrity, 2024). A better long-term solution cannot
be implemented by the parties concerned before using compromise as a stopgap measure to
prevent conflict (Herrity, 2024). When it is not possible to satisfy everyone while still going
forward, it is appropriate to make a compromise (Herrity, 2024).

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5. Conclusion

Since nobody likes conflict, it could be easy to act as though it never happens or will go away
on its own. Although this might occur, attempting to ignore an issue will frequently make it
worse. Ignored disputes intensify over time and resurface when the timing is right. It is
advisable for managers to resolve disagreements as soon as they arise in order to prevent a
potentially explosive scenario.

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6. References
I. ABBAS, T. 2022. 10 Common Causes of Conflict at Workplace [Online]. Available:
https://changemanagementinsight.com/cause-of-conflict-at-workplace/ [Accessed 25 April
2024 2024].
II. ALTIUSGROUP. 2023. How to Deal With Personality Clashes at Work. Available from:
https://www.altius-group.com.au/news-and-research/how-to-deal-with-personality-clashes-
at-
work#:~:text=A%20clash%20can%20occur%20when,big%20impact%20on%20their%20perso
nalities. [Accessed 01 May 20224 2024].
III. FAGAN, B. 2021. 4 causes of workplace conflict. Available from:
https://roico.com/2021/04/08/4-causes-of-workplace-conflict/ [Accessed 25 April 2024
2024].
IV. GRONES, G. 2020. Conflict resolution in the workplace at its finest. Available from:
https://www.hcamag.com/us/specialization/workplace-health-and-safety/conflict-
resolution-in-the-workplace-at-its-
finest/212481#:~:text=What%20are%20the%20major%20causes%20of%20workplace%20co
nflict%3F&text=Poor%20communication%20can%20be%20the,decreases%20productivity%2
0and%20employee%20morale. [Accessed 01 May 2024 2024].
V. HERRITY, J. 2024. 5 conflict resolution strategies Jennifer Herrity [Online]. Available:
https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/conflict-resolution-strategies
[Accessed 9 April 2024 2024].
VI. REDDY, S. 2013. Functional Conflict [Online]. Available: https://www.aihr.com/hr-
glossary/functional-conflict/ [Accessed 01 April 2024 2024].
VII. W.GRIFFIN, R., M.PHILIPS, J. & M.GULLY, S. 2010. Organisationa Behavior Managing People.
Cenage.

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