Managing Conflict in the Workplace

Paper Summary:

This paper shows the need for today's managers to be experts at managing conflict in the workplace. The author cites statistics that show how much of a manager's time is spent resolving conflicts. The paper briefly reviews Peg Pickering's book "Managing Conflict" as an example of a tool for the workplace. The author cites Pickering's description of different types of conflict and skills for overcoming these problems. The paper's author then describes his own research on Pickering and why it is interesting that her book is so popular. The author concludes that self-help books work to a point, yet people are complex beings and therefore skilled management requires in-depth problem solving skills, not simply works from the popular press.

From the Paper:

"Pickering then proceeds to discuss the types of conflicts (internal, interpersonal, retaliate, dominate, isolate and cooperate); ways to identify the conflict stages (everyday concerns and disputes, more significant challenges, and overt battles; conflict management styles (collaboration, obliging, dominating, avoiding, and compromising) and what personality traits influence them; constructive management style; importance of communication; emotional aspect; the intervention team and, for good measure, how to deal with an angry customer."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Ayoko, Oluremi and Charmine Hartel. Cultural diversity and leadership; A conceptual model of leader intervention in conflict events in culturally heterogeneous workgroups. Cross Cultural Management 13, No. 4 (2006). 345
• Callanan, Gerard and David Perri. Teaching Conflict Management Using a Scenario-Based Approach. Journal of Education for Business 81, no. 3 (2007) 131-140.
• Donais, Blaine. Training managers in handling conflict. Canadian Reporter 20 no. 5 (2007), 13-15.
• Pickering, Peg. How to Manage Conflict. Franklin Lakes, NJ: Career Press, 2000

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