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Conflict can occur in any type of environment. Conflict becomes part of the normal occurrence where people constantly interact, like in the workplace. Conflict in the workplace can occur due to disagreements about accomplishing tasks, differences in beliefs, personalities, tastes, or style. The conflict displayed in the scenario is a result of discrimination. Discriminatory conflict is due to an individual’s prejudice toward the employees or instances where employees perceive acts of mistreatment. Discrimination in any situation arises when there is unfair treatment, either due to their race, age, gender, or ethnicity. Discrimination can be of various types. A case in point reflects an example of direct discrimination. Direct discrimination occurs when certain members of a community, team, etc., are given unequal treatment by individuals either due to characteristics they possess, characteristics of people they are associated with, or characteristics they are perceived to possess (Sarenac et al., 2020). One of the managers in the organization, Ted, is seen to prioritize members of the team who are young and beautiful. Ted closes off feedback from other members of the organization. These members observe that Ted seems to give priority to only the young beautiful members of the team.
In this case scenario, the main cause of conflict is the lack of equal opportunities. Other members of the organization feel that their skills are not getting appreciated. Ted tends to gather feedback and claims to offer to mentor to the particular group and does not include the rest of the other employees for the same opportunity. Conflict management is necessary in this case study to promote good relations and work continuity. Conflict management is a process that occurs in a series of steps. Third-party intervention refers to involving another individual or team in an ongoing conflict to help find a resolution. The organization gets help to review the situation from both sides using a consultant. Getting a third party to intervene in this type of conflict is important. The main relevance of third-party involvement in a conflict is the need for neutrality (Shaw et al., 2017). Unbiased third parties are able to get effective results during the management of conflicts.
In most cases, disputing third parties prefer to get help from individuals who will not be subject to favoring any side. The result will lead to successful agreements with the use of intrusive management strategies. Third parties should contribute their services voluntarily.
Non-profit organizations constantly experience cases of conflicts that tend to take up much time. Much of these conflicts are due to the continuous change they undergo. Conflicts can lead to both positive and negative impacts. Conflicts within the organization can significantly reduce the productivity and output of workers, low employee turnovers, anger, and frustration eventually affecting relationships in work (Maltarich et al., 2016). Some positive impacts of conflict include improving communication between the members, promoting respect and sharing of opinions, and inspiring creativity. Conflict can also help identify new skills in employees. Employees can demonstrate their leadership skills by getting inspiration from conflict situations. Conflict can also improve cooperation between members, leading to better decision-making for community improvements (Maltarich et al., 2016). The negative effects within the organization arising from conflicts can lead to disruptions and delays of improvement projects meant for the community. Members who are in conflict will refuse to participate and work together with other parties until a fair resolution. On the other hand, the community can benefit from new and better leaders instead of the previous leadership.
References
Maltarich, M. A., Kukenberger, M., Reilly, G., & Mathieu, J. (2016). Conflict in teams: Modeling early and late conflict states and the interactive effects of conflict processes. Group & Organization Management, 43(1), 6-37. https://doi.org/10.1177/1059601116681127
Sarenac, D., Kapahi, C., Silva, A. E., Cory, D. G., Taminiau, I., Thompson, B., & Pushin, D. A. (2020). Direct discrimination of structured light by humans. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(26), 14682-14687. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1920226117
Shaw, A., DeScioli, P., Barakzai, A., & Kurzban, R. (2017). Whoever is not with me is against me: The costs of neutrality among friends. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 71, 96-104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2017.03.002
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