CONFLICTMANAGEMENT

CONFLICT MANAGEMENT2011

INtroduction

Conflicts occur when people perceive that, as a consequence of a disagreement, there is a threat to their needs, interests or concerns. Although conflict is a normal part of organization life, providing numerous opportunities for growth through improved understanding and insight, there is a tendency to view conflict as a negative experience caused by abnormally difficult circumstances. Disputants tend to perceive limited options and finite resources available in seeking solutions, rather than multiple possibilities that may exist 'outside the box' in which they are problem-solving.

A conflict is more than a mere disagreement - it is a situation in which people perceive a threat to their well-being.

Participants in conflicts tend to respond on the basis of their perceptions of the situation, rather than an objective review of it. People filter their perceptions through their values, culture, beliefs, information, experience, gender, and other variables. Conflict responses are both filled with ideas and feelings that can be very strong and powerful guides to our sense of possible solutions.

As in any problem, conflicts contain substantive, procedural, and psychological dimensions to be negotiated. In order to best understand the threat perceived by those engaged in a conflict, they need to consider all of these dimensions.

Conflicts are normal experiences within the work environment. They are also, to a large degree, predictable and expectable situations that naturally arise as they go about managing complex and stressful projects in which they are significantly invested. Develop procedures for identifying conflicts likely to arise, as well as systems through which they can constructively manage conflicts, they may be able to discover new opportunities to transform conflict into a productive learning experience.

Creative problem-solving strategies are essential to conflict management. To transform the situation from one in which it is 'my way or the highway' into one in which they entertain new possibilities that have been otherwise elusive. 1.1 Meaning and DEFINITION

Conflict may be defined as a struggle or contest between people with opposing needs, ideas, beliefs, values, or goals. Teams conflict is inevitable; the results of conflict are not predetermined. Conflict might escalate and lead to non-productive results, or conflict can be beneficially resolved and lead to quality final products. Therefore, learning to manage conflict is integral to a high-performance team. Although very few people go looking for conflict, more often than not, conflict results because of miscommunication between people with regard to their needs, ideas, beliefs, goals, or values.

Conflict management is the principle that all conflicts cannot necessarily be resolved, but learning how to manage conflicts can decrease the odds of non-productive escalation. Conflict management involves acquiring skills related to conflict resolution, self-awareness about conflict modes, conflict communication skills, and establishing a structure for management of conflict in they environment. FEATURESConflict may be understood as collision or disagreement. The conflict may be within an individual when there is incompatibility between his or her own goals or events, may be between two individuals, when one does not see eye to with another, and in the process tries to block or frustrate the attempts of another or between two groups in an organization.

Conflict is defined as the struggle between incompatible or opposing needs, wishes, ideas, interests, or people. Conflict arises when individuals or groups encounter goals that both parties cannot obtain satisfactorily. Though intra-personal conflict is not made explicate in the definition, the first sentence implies intra-individuals conflict as well.

Conflict may be cognitive or affective. Cognitive conflict refers to differences in perspectives or judgments about issues. Affective conflict is emotional and directed at other people. Affective conflict is likely to be destructive because it can lead to anger, bitterness, goal displacement and poor decisions. Cognitive conflict, on the other hand, can air legitimate differences of opinion and develop better ideas and solutions to problems. Conflict needs to be cognitive and affective.

1.2 TYPES OF CONFLICT(FUNCTIONAL AND DYSFUNCTIONAL)FUNCTIONAL CONFLICT:

It refers to confrontation between two ideas, goals and parties that improve employees and the organizations performance. Well-managed conflict helps workers anticipate and solve problems, feel confident, strengthen their relationships, and be committed to the organization. Constructive conflict is crucial for effective functioning of organizations. Specifically, potential benefits of conflict are the following:

Conflict increases awareness of what problems exist, who is involved, and how to solve the problem.

Conflict motivates organizational members to consider problems.

Conflict promotes change. Persons are more aware of injustices, inefficiencies, and frustrations, and see the need to correct them.

Conflict enhances morale and cohesion.

High quality decision result when persons express their opposing views and perspectives. They share their information and check each others reasoning to develop new decisions.

Conflict stimulates interest and creativity. Being in conflict often sparks curiosity and stimulates viewing problem from several perspectives and combining the best of these positions to form a creative solution. Conflict exists as peoples to learn about what makes them and others angry, frustrated and willing to fight.

Conflict provides a forum for all members of the organization to be self-critical, and to be critical of the organization as a whole.

There is a close relationship between conflict and organizational performance. Organizational performance is low when conflict is extremely high or extremely low, while moderate or optimum level of conflict contributes to high organizational performance. When the level of conflict is low the performance suffers because of a lack of arousal and stimulation. Employees find the environment too comfortable and they become complacent. When they are not challenged and confronted, they fail to search for environmental changes. When the level of conflict is extremely high, performance suffers because of inadequate coordination and cooperation. The organization is in a state of chaos because of disruption and interference in critical activities. Individuals spend more time defending themselves or attacking others than accomplishing productive work.

Maximum organizational performance occurs some where between these two extremes, where there is an optimal level of conflict. There is sufficient conflict to stimulate new ideas and a creative search for solutions to problems.

Conflict inevitable in organizations and also desirable. But without and effective means for handing it, conflict can tear relationships apart and interfere with the exchange of ideas, information and resources in groups and between departments. Dysfunctional conflict hinders and prevents organizational goals from being achieved.

1.3 THE PROCESS OF CONFLICTStage 1 - Latent Conflict

When two or more parties need each other to achieve desired objectives, there is potential for conflict. Other antecedents of conflict are interdependence, different goals, and ambiguity of responsibility. They do no automatically create conflict, when they exist-they make it possible. Latent conflict often arises when a change occurs. Conflict is likely to be caused by a budget cutback, a change in organizational directions, a change in personal goals or the assignment of a new project to an already overloaded team.Stage 2 - Perceived Conflict

This is the stage at which members become aware of a problem. Incompatibility of needs is perceived and tension begins as the parties begin to worry about what will happen. But no party feels that it is being overtly threatened.Stage 3 Felt Conflict

At this stage parties become emotionally involved and begin to focus on differences of opinion and opposing interests-sharpening perceived conflict. Internal tension and frustrations begin to crystallize around specific, defined issues, and people begin to build an emotional commitment to their position.

Stage 4 - Manifest Conflict

At this stage parties engage in actions that help achieve own objectives and thwart those of others. Conflict behaviors vary from the subtle, indirect and highly controlled forms of interference to direct, aggressive, violent and uncontrolled struggle. At the organizational level, strikes or lock-outs are the result.

Stage 5 - Conflict Outcome

The conflict finally results in an outcome, which may be functional or dysfunctional. If handled well, the result is functional conflict. If mishandled, the consequence is dysfunctional conflict. As conflict proceeds through the stages, resolution becomes more difficult. The parties become more locked into their positions and more convinced that conflict is win-lose situation. It is usually easier to achieve win-win outcomes when the conflict is recognized early before frustration and negative feelings set in.

1.4 LEVELS OF CONFLICT

There are four levels of conflict in the organization life:

1. Intra-Individual conflict

2. Inter-Individual conflict

3. Intra-Group conflict

4. Inter-Group conflict

INTRA INDIVIDUAL CONFLICT

Intra individual conflict with in an individual. Infra-individual conflict arises from frustration, numerous roles which demand equal attention but is not always possible to devote, goals having both negative an positive aspects, cognitive dissonances, and neurotic tendencies.

INTER PERSONAL CONFLICT

Inter-individual conflict occurs between two individuals in an organization. It arises mainly because of differences in perception, temperaments, personalities, values systems, socio-cultural factors, and role ambiguities. Transactional Analysis (TA), Johari Window, Stroking, and Life Positions.INTRA-GROUP CONFLICT

Intra-group conflict refers to disputes among some or all of a groups members, which often affect the groups performance as happened in the opening case. Family run business can be especially prone to severe intra-group and other types of conflicts. These conflicts typically become more intense when an owner-founder approaches retirement, actually retires or dies.INTER- GROUP CONFLICT

Inter-group conflict also called organizational conflict, refers to the conflict between groups, departments, or sections in an organization. Conflict between groups is frequent and highly visible. The reasons for inter-group conflict are many. The most important of them are explained below. Task Inter-dependence

Task Ambiguity

Goal Incompatibility

Competitive for Limited Resources:

Competitive Reward Systems

Line and Staff

Intra-personal and Inter-personal Conflict

INTER-PERSONAL CONFLICT Inter-individual conflict occurs between two individuals in an organization. It arises mainly because of differences in perception, temperaments, personalities, values systems, socio-cultural factors, and role ambiguities. Transactional Analysis (TA), Johari Window, Stroking, and Life Positions.Transactional Analysis:

When two people interact with each other there results a social transaction Analysis of the social transactions is called Transactional Analysis (TA). The study of moves people make in their dealings with each other and is based on the idea that peoples interactions resemble moves in games. TA has found its acceptance everywhere because of several advantages associated with it. The advantages are:

The bases of TA are simple to learn.

The validity of TA is demonstrable.

It provides a means for reducing the amount of bad feelings experienced by an individual.

It increases efficient use of time.

Helps promote effective communication.

It is applicable at home as it is at work.

It reinforces and implements other management development activities, including communication, leadership, brainstorming, and management by objective, job enrichment, conflict resolution, and the like.

TA has certain limitations which are not to be ignored they are:

Few scientific studies of its outcome are available.

Ego states, basic to understand and utilize Ta, are difficult to define

(Although easy to teach and demonstrate operationally).

If inappropriately applied, Ta tends to encourage amateur psychologising.

TA jargon may lead to more cuteness than insight into human encounter.

It can be used as a put down, or a discount, in inter-personal relations.

Ego States:

Basic to TA is the assumption that a person has three ego states, parent, adult, and child. The parent ego state represents the part of a persons personality that is authoritative, dogmatic, overprotective, controlling, nurturing, critical, and righteous. These characteristics are usually learnt from ones parents or other adults who guided ones early life experiences. The parent is therefore, the taught ego state.

The adult ego state represents the mature, rational, and objective part of a person personality. These characteristics are acquired as one matures into adolescence and adulthood. The individual gathers relevant information, analyses it carefully, generates alternatives, and make logical choices. The adult is the thinking ego state. In the adult state people do no act impulsively or in a domineering way. In dealing with other people the adult state is characterized by fairness and objectivity. The child ego state represents the childish, dependent, and immature part of a persons personality. Behaviors that are influenced by the ego state are laden with emotion, insubordination, joy or rebellion. Child is the felt ego state.

Social Transactions:

People interact with each other from the child, adult or parent ego Sbe either complimentary, crossed to ulterior.

Complimentary Transactions:

These occur when the message sent or the behavior exhibited by one persons ego state receives the appropriate response from the other persons ego state. Stimulus from the first person is under the influence of the parent ego state and the response from the other person is under the child ego state. There can be more complementary transaction. For example, parent-parent, adult-adult, parent-adult, and child-child transactions are complimentary in nature. Since these transactions meet the needs and expectations of the initiators, communications flow freely, interactions will continue, as inter-personal relations will improve. There is no scope for conflict in complimentary transactions.

Crossed transactions the stimulus and response lines are not parallel. Stimulus comes from the first person under the adult ego stage, but the response from the other person is under the child ego state. There are many more possible crossed transactions than there are complementary transactions. Since the receivers response is not what was expected by the sender and does not satisfy the senders needs, the second sooner or later withdraws from the interaction with the receiver. Crossed transactions are the sources of much inter-personal conflict in an organization. The result can be hurt feelings and frustrations on the pat of the parties involved and possible dysfunctional consequences for the organization.

The most complex and subtle are the ulterior transactions. Crossed transactions, ulterior transactions cause much damage to inter-personal relations. The ulterior transactions involve at least two ego states on the part of the first parent. Although there are many other possible besides, where the boss says, My door is always open, come in and they shall discuss the problem together and arrive at a solution (adult state), when

what he really means is, Dont come to me with problems. You solve them yourself, that is what you are getting paid for. (parent state). Obviously, these ulterior transactions are the most difficult to identify and deal with.

Johari Window:

This model is highly useful in analyzing the causes for inter-personal conflict. The model is based on two assumptions:

1. Degree to which the person know about himself or herself.

2. Degree to which the person is known to others.

The basic premise of the Johari Window is that our personal and Professional relationships can be greatly improved (conflict eliminated)through understanding ourselves in depth and choosing those aspects of self that can be shared with others. Believe that more they share of ourselves with others; the more they can develop inter-personal relationships.

Open Area:

This area consists of details known to self and to others. The information relates to the persons name, job, marital status, and region from where the person has come and the like. The open area will be quite narrow. Generally, no individual shares all the details about self with others. As relationship grows, more information is shared. There is openness and compatibility. Mutual understanding and friendship between people are the highest in this area. There is little or no scope for conflict.

Hidden self:

This area comprises the knowledge about self but is hidden from others. The person does not share details about self with others lest others would think less of the person or use the information to their advantage. Not sharing hidden information can save the person in the short-run. Overtime, this lack of sharing can lead to distrust and miscommunication. The person share more information with others, the hidden area shrinks. It remains large if the person is more reserved. This area has potential for inter-personal conflict.

Blind area:

This are encompasses certain things about the person that are known to others but not to self. This happens because no one has told the person or he or she has blocked others from telling. For example, the person might have an unknown nervous habit of holding the table fast or wiggling a foot during meetings when he or she is feeling stressed or bored. When others point out such behaviours to the person, the blind area shrinks. The more the person understands strengths and weaknesses of self, and is open to others views, the better manager he or she will become. Blind area persists; there is scope for inter-personal conflict.

Undisclosed self:

This is potentially the most explosive situation. This area contains information unknown to self-unknown to others. The person does not know himself or herself because he or she lacks experience and exposure or is unable to recollect past events in life and articulate them effectively. Others are unaware of the details because they have not seen the person behaving in different situations or the person has never shared any details. The unknown window can also contain information that is forgotten or deliberately suppressed. This window can become smaller overtime as people grow, develop and learn. Till then, unknown area carries high potential for conflict.Stroking:

Stroking refers to recognition of ones presence by others. When they interact with others, they expect others to say Good morning or some such gesture to indicate that they are being recognized. Strokes may be positive negative. The stroke that makes one feel cheerful is a positive stroke. Words of recognition, affection, cuddling, pat on the back, and pleasant smile are some of the examples of positive strokes. Negative stroke on the other hand, makes one feel sad, Criticism, hatred and scold are examples of negative strokes. People need strokes, mainly positive ones, but not always. In the absence of positive strokes, people seek negative strokes, mainly because of guilt or lack of self-image. Needless is to stress, that negative strokes cause inter-personal conflict.

Life position:

People tend to exhibit one of four life positions. This life position influences our behaviour when they interact with others. What is interesting is that, these positions are acquired by us very early in our childhood and stay with they throughout, the term life positions. Although one life position tends to dominate a persons behaviour, other positions may be exhibited from time to time in specific situations. In other words, there is one life position, but it is not the only one ever taken.

Life position stems from a combination of two viewpoints, first, how people view themselves? Second, how do they view other people in general? Either a positive response (OK) or a negative response (not UK) results in four possible life positions. They are:

I am not OK-You are OK

I am not OK-You are not OK

I am OK-You are not OK

I am OK-You are OK

Of the four life positions, the ideal one is I am OK, you are OK. It shows healthy acceptance of self others. This life position surprisingly can be learnt. Here is good news and hope for societys well being. The other life positions are less psychologically mature and less effective. What is more, they have potential for interpersonal conflict.

1.5 CONFLICT RESOLUTION

RESOLVING INTRA-PERSONAL CONFLICT:

Intra-personal conflict arises from frustration, competing roles, or goals having positive or negative aspects. The extent that conflict from frustration results out of blocked goal realization, removal of barriers (cover of over) will help resolve this conflict. It is the managers responsibility to clear his employees path for advancement in his career. Frustration is not always bad. It may contribute to improved performance. The frustrated individual may divert his attention from barriers towards his job and try to show better results. This is particularly true with an individual who has a self-concept that includes confidence in being able to do a job well. But this is no consolation for a manger to ignore the frustration of an employee. If conflict from frustration is not resolved for long, the manager will be running the risk of losing the services of a competent and sincere employee.

Goal conflict, has three main dimensions

Approach-Approach conflict,

Approach Avoidance conflict,

Avoidance-Avoidance conflict.

Of the three Approach-Approaches conflict has the least impact on OB. The managers involvement is not needed to resolve the conflict. It is best resolved by the employee himself or herself. The well-known theory of cognitive dissonance helps the individual discomfort or conflict created in people when they are faced with two or more goals or alternatives to a decision. Although these alternatives occur together, they do not belong or fit together. The person experiencing dissonance will be highly motivated to reduce or eliminate it and will actively avoid situations and information which would increase it.

The best solution for intra-personal conflict is to look to Hindu Philosophy and learn a valuable lesson from it. According to the philosophy, an individual is composed of three gunas or psychogenic substances. They are: sattwa, rajas, and tamas. Roughly translated into English, these three gunas convey the following meanings:

Sattwa: Purity, serenity, poise, calmness, discrimination, compassion, clarity, goodness, altruism, dispassion, contentment, etc., or in sum illumination.

Rajas: Love of fame, passion, lust, strife, impatience, jealousy, pride, display of power, etc., or in sum movement.

Tamas: Anger, pride, ignorance, stolidity, offering resistance, inertia, forgetfulness, confusion, darkness, brutality, etc., or in sum obstruction.

It is essential that one should develop satwic guna in oneself, be it the manager or the managed, one can develop satwic quality by reading holy scripts, regular prayers, moving with pious people, and leading a disciplined life. Unfortunately, modern organizations are filled with people who are imbedded with rajasic or tamasic qualities.

RESOLVING INTER-PERSONAL CONFLICT

The strategies suggested for reducing intra-personal conflict will be useful to resolve inter-personal conflict also. The additional approaches to resolve inter-personal conflict are: the lose-lose, win-lose and win-win strategies. TA, which was discussed earlier, will also be useful in overcoming the inter-personal conflict. Finally, inter-personal conflict can be resolved by changing behavioral inputs.

Lose-lose: In a lose-lose approach to conflict resolution, both parties stant to lose. This approach can take several forms. One of the approaches is to take a compromise or middle ground to a dispute. A second approach is to pay-off one of the parties to a dispute. The payment may take the form of bribe. A third approach is t involve a third party as an arbitrator. The final approach is for both parties to resort to existing regulations or bureaucratic rules to resolve the conflict. Lose-lose strategy is sometimes the only one available but is less effective than the win-lose or win-win approach.

Win-Lose: One party to the conflict tries to marshal all the resources to win, and the other party loses. Examples of win-lose strategies can be fund in superior-subordinate relationships, line-staff confrontations, union management relations, and many other conflict situations found in contemporary organizations. Though win-lose strategy helps defuse conflict, it may not be a permanent solution since the loser will tend to be bitter and vindictive. A healthier strategy is to have both parties in a conflict situation win. The following points make win-lose strategy:. The conflicting parties view the issue from their own points of view

The emphasis is on solutions rather than on the attainment of goals, values or objectives.

There is a clear distinction between the parties.

The parties direct their energies towards each other in an atmosphere of victory and defeat.

Conflicts are personalized and judgmental.

The parties take a short-run view of the issues.

There is no differentiation of conflict resolving activities from other group processes, nor is there a planned sequence of those activities.Win-Win: A win-win strategy of conflict resolution is probably the most desirable from the human and organizational standpoint. Energies and creativity are aimed at solving the problems rather than beating the other party. The needs of both parties in the conflict situations are met, and both parties receive rewarding outcomes. Though it is often difficult to accomplish a win-win outcome in an inter-personal conflict, this should be a major goal of the management of conflict.

Transactional Analysis: Inter-personal conflict can be resolved by encouraging as many complimentary transactions as possible between parties to the conflict. Of more significance for conflict management is the adult-to-adult transaction between the parties. Interaction between two adult ego states will improve communication. Improved communication is the sure way of resolving conflict.

RESOLVING INTRA-GROUP CONFLICT

Conflict within a family can be resolved if the members recognize and respect roles of family members. All the members need to realize that divided they stand, united they fall. Probably, a family friend may intervene to resolve the dispute if the members fail to resolve the conflict themselves. This was what happened to the Bajaj family. Sharad Pawar mediated to bring about a truce in the troubled family.

RESOLVING INTER-GROUP CONFLICT

The approaches available for resolving intra-personal and inter-personal conflicts can be used to solve inter-group disputes too. Certain unique approaches are available for resolving inter-group conflict. They are problem solving, expansion of resources, avoidance, smoothen, compromise and recognizing organization structure.

Problem Solving: Problem solving is considered to be the most effective approach available as it emphasis the attainment of the common interests of both conflicting parties. In the problem solving strategy, attempts are made to find a solution that reconciles or integrates the needs of both the parties. The two parties work together both to define the problem and to identify mutually satisfactory solutions. Moreover, there is open expression of feelings as well as exchange of task related information.

Organization Redesign: Changing organizational structure is another approach for resolving conflict, particularly when the sources of conflict come from the coordination of work among different departments or divisions. One way of redesigning organizations is to reduce task inter dependence between groups and give each group clear responsibilities. Another way is to transfer or exchange members of conflicting groups. An appeal system may also be developed to eliminate the arbitrary use of power.

Super ordinate Goals: Appealing to super ordinate goals is another way of resolving conflict. The super ordinate goal is a common goal of both conflicting parties and the combined efforts of both parties will be needed to realize the goal. It takes precedence over other goals which may separate the conflicting parties. Survival of the organization for example, can be a super ordinate goal. Creating awareness that the organizations survival will be jeopardized if conflicting groups do not work in unison can have a salutary effect on disputing parties.

Expansion of Resources: To the extent that scarce resources cause conflict, removing their scarcity will help resolve conflict. If up gradation of ones position has caused ripples elsewhere, some more jobs might be similarly upgrades. If increased budged allocation to one department has caused heartburn.

Avoidance: When the issue is trivial, avoidance strategy will be useful. In the avoidance strategy, the party or parties to the conflict may either withdraw from the conflict or conceal the incompatibility. The conflicting parties or both will withdraw from the conflicting situation. Where avoidance is not possible, concealing the fact by either or both conflicting parties that there is conflict may help defuse the conflict.

Smoothen: The process of playing down the differences between individuals or groups and highlighting their common interest is called smoothening. Finding and emphasizing similarities between conflicting parties, while playing down differences, can eventually lead the parties to realize that the two are not as far apart as was first believed. With shared viewpoints on some issues the ability to work towards a smoothen can help reduce the intensity of the conflict and avoid an escalation of open hostility. Smoothen is recommended as a stop gap measure to let people cool down and regain perspective.

Resolving Line and Staff Conflicts: The following remedies have been suggested to resolve line and staff conflicts

The roles, responsibilities, and functions of line and staff officers need to be clearly defined and made known to the people concerned.

Staff people shall know that their role is advisory. They are to be content with tendering advice on important issues. Line managers need also respect the staff advice and use it for the benefits of the organization.

Increase possibilities of interaction between the line and staff officers.

The staff officers are to avoid playing the expert.

The fear complex from which line managers suffer owing to proximity of staff specialists.

Both parties are to have the right of appeal to the chief executive.

1.6 CONFLICT MANGEMENT STYLES

All people can benefit, both personally and professionally, from learning conflict management styles.

Competing

Avoiding

Accommodating

Compromising

Collaborating

Each of these styles can be characterized by two scales assertiveness and cooperation. None of these styles is wrong, but there are right and wrong times to use each. The following sections describe the five styles. The information may help each team member to characterize her/his model for conflict management.

COMPROMISING

The compromising mode is moderate assertiveness and moderate cooperation. Some people define compromise as giving up more than you want, while others see compromise as both parties winning. Times when the compromising mode is appropriate are when you are dealing with issues of moderate importance, the equal power status, or when you have a strong commitment for resolution. Compromising mode can also be used as a temporary solution when there are time constraints.Compromising Skills

Negotiating

Finding a middle ground

Assessing value

Making concessionsACCOMMODATING

The accommodating mode is low assertiveness and high cooperation. Times when the accommodating mode is appropriate are to show reasonableness, develop performance, create good will, or keep peace. Some people use the accommodating mode when the issue or outcome is of low importance to them. The accommodating mode can be problematic when one uses the mode to keep a tally or to be a martyr. The number of times you have accommodated someone and then you expect that person to realize, without your communicating to the person, that she/he should now accommodate.

Accommodating Skills

Forgetting your desires

Selflessness

Ability to yield

Obeying orders

COMPETING:

The competing conflict mode is high assertiveness and low cooperation. Times when the competing mode is appropriate are when quick action needs to be taken, when unpopular decisions need to be made, when vital issues must be handled, or when one is protecting self-interest. Competing Skills

Arguing or debating

Using rank or influence

Asserting your opinions and feelings

Standing your ground

Stating your position clearly

AVOIDING:

The avoiding mode is low assertiveness and low cooperation. Many times people will avoid conflicts out of fear of engaging in a conflict or because they do not have confidence in their conflict management skills. Times when the avoiding mode is appropriate are when you have issues of low importance, to reduce tensions, to buy some time, or when you are in a position of lower power.

Avoiding Skills

Ability to withdraw

Ability to sidestep issues

Ability to leave things unresolved

Sense of timing

COLLABORATING:

The collaborating mode is high assertiveness and high cooperation. Collaboration has been described as putting an idea on top of an idea on top of an ideain order to achieve the best solution to a conflict. The best solution is defined as a creative solution to the conflict that would not have been generated by a single individual. With such a positive outcome for collaboration, some people will profess that the collaboration mode is always the best conflict mode to use. However, collaborating takes a great deal of time and energy.

Therefore, the collaborating mode should be used when the conflict warrants the time and energy. For example, if your team is establishing initial parameters for how to work effectively together, then using the collaborating mode could be quite useful. On the other hand, if your team is in conflict about where to go to lunch today, the time and energy necessary to collaboratively resolve the conflict is probably not beneficial. Times when the collaborative mode is appropriate are when the conflict is important to the people who are constructing an integrative solution, when the issues are too important to compromise, when merging perspectives, when gaining commitment, when improving relationships, or when learning.

Collaboration Skills

Active listening

No threatening confrontation

Identifying concerns

Analyzing inputs1.7 NEED AND IMPORTANCEConflict is a state of discord caused by the actual or perceived opposition of needs, values and interests between people. This concept can help to explain many aspects of social life, such as social disagreement, conflicts of interests, and fight between individuals, groups or organizations. Conflict occurs when "when two or more parties, with perceived incompatible goals, seek to undermine each other's goal-seeking capability".

In competitive situations, two or more individuals or parties each have mutually inconsistent goals, either party tries to reach their goal. It will undermine the attempts of the other to reach theirs. Therefore, competitive situations will, by their nature, cause conflict. However, conflict can also occur in cooperative situations, in which two or more individuals or parties have consistent goals, because the manner in which one party tries to reach their goal can still undermine the other individual or party.

Conflict Management refers to the long-term management of intractable conflicts. The variety of ways by which people handle grievances, standing up for what they consider to be right and against what they consider to be wrong. Those ways include such diverse phenomena as gossip, ridicule, terrorism, warfare, law, mediation, and avoidance. Which forms of conflict management will be used in any given situation can be somewhat predicted and explained by the organization.

The cordial and harmonious relationship in the organization is very essential for the proper running of the organization. When differences of opinions arise between the management and employees the organization should be able to resolve the conflict before they lead to strikes, lockout, boycott, etc, and affects the companys performance.

Superiors and subordinate conflict is a state of discord caused by the actual or perceived opposition of needs, values and interests between people working together in those positions. Conflict takes many forms in organizations. There is the inevitable clash between formal authority and power and those individuals and groups affected. There are disputes over how revenues should be divided, how the work should be done, and how long and hard people should work. There are jurisdictional disagreements among individuals, departments, and between unions and management. There are subtler forms of conflict involving rivalries, jealousies, personality clashes, role definitions, and struggles for power and favor. Pioneer Pharma is an Organization with a large work force spread across various departments and hierarchical levels. The study is undertaken in an attempt to understand the nature and causes of superior and subordinate conflict in the Pioneer Pharma that occur in the course of interaction among employees. The study also identifies conflict resolution techniques followed in the organization.

Objectives of the study

To know the type and level of superior- subordinate conflicts that occurs in the organization.

To understand the causes of inter-personal conflict.

To analyze the conflict resolution techniques followed in the organization.

To identify the steps taken by the management to avoid conflicts.

1.8 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The research methodology is a systematic way of finding the pre-determined objectives. Moreover this provides the path to accomplish and achieve clear solution for the problem stated. The following are the stages through which the research has passed to obtain the conclusions:

i) Research Design

Research Design is conceptual structure with in which research would be conducted. The function of Research Design is to provide relevant evidence with minimal expenditure of effort, time and money. In this study the research design is descriptive in nature.

ii) Sample Design

A sample design is a definite plan determined before any data is actually collected for obtaining a sample for a given population. The sample technique followed in this study is random sampling.

iii)Sample Size

The sample size selected for the research is 60.

iv)Sourcesof data

Primary Data:

It refers to the first hand information that is collected directly. The basic means of obtaining primary data are questionnaire, observation, survey, experiments, etc. Primary data for the study is collected through: -

Questionnaire

Questionnaire is prepared and circulated to the employees to know their opinion on conflict management and its impact on the organization. The questionnaire consists of both close ended and open ended questions.

Observation

Observation was done during the visits to the organization.

Secondary Data:

Secondary data is the data that is already available; it refers to the data, documents, records or specimens that have already been collected.

The secondary data for the study is obtained from

Books

Journals

Magazines

Websites

v)Data Analysis:

Data obtained from questionnaire is analyzed using statistical tools like percentagemethod and graphs.

Statistical tools used:

Percentage method:

Percentage method is used in making comparison between two or more series of data.

Percentage of respondents = No of respondents X 100 Total no of respondents

1.9 SCOPE OF THE STUDYThe study was conducted at Pioneer Pharmaceuticals, Hyderabad. A sample of 60 employees was taken from various departments covering : -

Manufacturing department

Finance department

Human Resource department

Marketing department

Warehouse department

2.1 SURVEYS

SURVEY-1Tores Theorell and Gabrie Oxenstierna A study was conducted by Tores Theorell and Gabrie Oxenstierna.Objective:

To handle the workplace conflict resolution and the health of employees in the Swedish and Finnish units of an industrial company.

Sample size:Sample size of 9309 members. Abstract:

Globalization of production and the introduction of information technologies are changing. Environment has eliminated some risks whilst introducing others. Management is an increasingly important aspect of companies policies. Our sample consists of non-supervisory employees (N=9309) working in the Swedish and Finnish plants of a multinational forestry company who were surveyed in 2000. Those who report that authority is used or that no attempts are made to resolve differences have quite similar rates across all measures. Binary logistic regression analyses were performed for all health outcomes controlling for age, sex, occupational group, job complexity, job autonomy and support from superiors. Results show significantly lower likelihoods of reporting stress, poor general health, exhaustion or sickness absence amongst employees who report that differences of opinion are resolved through discussion compared to those who report that no attempts are made. No significant differences were found between those who reported that differences were resolved through use of authority and subjects in the no attempt category. These results suggest that the workplace conflict resolution is important in the health of employees in addition to traditional psychosocial work environment risk factors. SURVEY-2

Dafaezen and Hellena syna Desivilya A study conducted by Dafaezen and Hellena syna DesivilyaObjectives

To handle conflict management in work teams with the role of social self-efficacy and group identification.Sample sizeA Sample size of 67 members

Abstract: The current study examined the relationships between conflict management patterns within work teams and individuals' group identification, and social and global self-efficacy. Four hypotheses were tested: 1. The individual's level of group identification is positively correlated with constructive behaviors in conflict situations. 2. The level of global and social self-efficacy is positively linked with active modes of conflict management. Hypotheses 3 and 4 proposed interaction effects of group identification and social self-efficacy on patterns of intra-group conflict Management.Sixty-seven members of scouts', pre-military communes, 48 females and 19 males, representing 13 work teams, participated in the study.Rahim's (1983) conflict inventory was used to assess the subjects' conflict management patterns. The social self-efficacy was measured by an adapted version of Muris' (2001) instrument, and global self-efficacy by Chen & Gully (1997) questionnaire. Group-identification was assessed by Henry et al. (1999) questionnaire. The results indicated positive association of group identification with the integrative conflict management pattern and negative association with the dominance pattern. The findings lend support to the hypothesis about positive association between self-efficacy and active conflict management modes. An interaction effect of group identification and social self efficacy was found on three out of five conflict management patterns: compromising, dominance and avoidance.

PIONEER PHARMACEUTICALS

3.1 VISION"Our vision is to be a leading pharmaceutical company in India and to become a significant global player by providing high quality, affordable and innovative solutions in medicine and treatment. "3.2 MISSION"We will discover, develop and successfully market pharmaceutical products to prevent, diagnose, alleviate and cure diseases. We shall provide total customer satisfaction and achieve leadership in chosen markets, products and services across the globe, through excellence in technology, based on world-class research and development. We are responsible to the society. We shall be good corporate citizens and will be driven by high ethical standards in our practices."

DIRECTORS Dr. Chaitanya the Founder of Pioneer Pharmaceuticals. Dr.Chaitanya completed his B.H.M.S Degree from Osmania University, Hyderabad. He worked as Duty Doctor in some allopathic hospitals, later he started his own clinics at Malakpet and Dilsukhnagar. The dedication and practices and his love the subject he mastered has made to do new innovations he urge to serve the man kind justices to his study. Knowledge and satisfaction come when he is able to serve as much as he can with a great interest toward homeopathy with least of financial background he stained himself setup a production unit for homeo medicines he has an innumerable experience of life realities, he is a logistic dynamite, the spirit of HR Manager in him has evoked and proceeded on and on.... Diversity of every level of actions, the root thorns the foundation of an industry to its credit.Pioneer Pharmaceuticals is a premier homoeopathic medicine manufacturing company. Its one of the very few homeopharmacies in Andhra Pradesh, which is not only manufacture supplier and serving the people of Andhra Pradesh, but also people ofother states in India. With a wide range of its products it is reachable of to common man and effectiveness and patients accept quantity. Pioneer Pharmaceuticals has to their credit the trustiness of Government of Andhra Pradesh that they are the regular supplier of government tenders for almost all homeopathic medicines because of reliability, quality and supply on time, thegovernment of Andhra Pradesh order pioneer to supply for the emergency requirements like, chicken guniya conjunvitis, brain fever dengue, etc. the most important factor to be noted that the pioneer pharma is not only and maintained by a doctor himself.

3.3 HISTORY:A decade of commitment, professional integrity and vision helped pioneer achieve a leadership position in its field when it handled the largest number of clients and the largest number of product range ever held in the history of homeopathic in A.P in a year 1998.There after, Pioneer made inroads into a host of homeopathic services co-operate and retail and whole sale which proved to be a sound business synergy. Today pioneer has access two millions of Indian population besides doctors, distributors, dealers and regulatory agencies. Over the pass one and a half decades, pioneer has evolved as a veritable link between doctors and Indian population in January 1998 pioneer became the first bulk tender supplier in Andhra Pradesh in the field of homeopathic medicine. Pioneer pharmas commitment to quality and on time services as made it and integrated.

3.4 HOMEOPATHIC SERVICES COMPANYQuality policyTo achieve and retain leadership, Pioneer aimed for complete customer satisfaction, by combining its human and technological resources, to provide superior quality homeopathic services in the process Pioneer always try to exceed customers expectations. If one were to seek out a single word that embodies the spirit of the company, it is apparent right from the moment you step into the premises, in the numerous facets ingrained and internalized into the companys ethos.

The slogan Pioneer for Quality that was deeply etched into every logo of the Company, and subsequently into the minds of millions, is adhered to with utmost dedication as it was years ago. A special Quality Management Division spearheads the concept of Total Quality Management, an integration of all functions with built-in quality.

AchievementLargest supplier for government of Andhra Pradesh in the field of Homeopathic medicine Founded by a homeopathic doctor who has experience more than 25yrs in the field of Chemistry of homeopathy, Dhanvantri awardee, Recognized as one of the best homeopath by the government of state of Andhra Pradesh. Pioneer Pharma offers social services like supply of free medicines during medical emergencies like dengue, Chicken gunia and Brain fever not only in the state of Andhra Pradesh but also neighboring states like Maharashtra, Orissa and Karnataka.

Largest supplier of homeopathic medicines to many states of India including like remote states like Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Island. It extends its regular services to states like Orissa, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamilnadu, Kerala, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Bihar, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. With a world-class infrastructure it offers good quality, consistency and on time delivery.It has reached millions of population in India and planning to launch export services within this New Year, Global services online are on its way.

MilestonesMajor issues handled by pioneer Pharma:Best quality kindly delivery of very huge consignments satisfying lending its services to all parts of India and stepping a head towards global services handling.

Today, Pioneer is proud of its achievements State-of-the-art formulations manufacturing facility, built to the exacting specifications of USFDA, TGA, MCA & MCC.

One of the best R & D set-ups in the country, manned by a 150-strong scientists' pool.

Strong Formulations Development base.

A host of 'Biotech' products launched, including many 'Firsts in India'.

World's First manufacturer of Immuvac- a unique Immunomodulator.

USFDA approvals for Fluoxetine & Ethambutol manufacturing facilities.

ISO 9002 approved Bulk Actives (APIs) manufacturing facility, offering facilities for contract research.

Asia's only manufacturer of 'SULFOLANE' (Tetramethylene Sulfone).

Significant global presence.

Leadership in Domestic Marketing and Distribution Management.

Diversifications Hospital Disposables including Fiberglass Casting Tape for the first time in India Diagnostics

Laboratory Chemicals

Pharmaceutical Machinery Manufacturing Animal Health Formulations & Feed Supplements

Agro Business: Plant Tissue Culture and Bio-fertilizers.

Travel Business

Strategic Business Alliances with world-leaders

Today, Pioneer Pharmaceuticals is all set to create new records, scale greater heights. It has created new world-class production and R & D facilities, focusing on research, new process innovations leading to patents, and meeting global standards. The Company always places the common man at its core who should be able to access and afford our medicines anywhere in the world. For us at, Pioneer Pharmaceuticals this is the only true benchmark of excellence, and the only thing that really matters.Pioneer Pharma came into exists with five notable directors

Dr. Ramesh Krishna Chaitanya(President)

Mr. Pranaadika(Director for technofy.com)

Dr. RadhaKrishna(Vice president of national N I N)

Dr. Veda Mitra(Advisor board of Homeopathic community A.P)

Dr. Masi Siddiq (President of Frazer University)

Pioneer Pharmaceutical has 1160 permanent workers 150 employees as handled over 60,000 clients repeatedly doing business with pioneer pharma over the last 15 years.

Pioneer pharmaceuticals all geared up to established a new paradigm in the service delivery driven by online services production operation management practices the highest quality standards and state-of-the art technology to services its clients and the investorthe homeopathic community at large, The rapid developments in the Indian homeopathic laboratory, infrastructure, regulatory environment and inter- nationalization of the Indian homeopathic provides outstanding opportunitiesfor us to leverage on each others capabilities to provide cross border transactions and a larger service portfolio to our foreign multinational as well as Indian multinational clients.

The combination of local knowledge and global expertise with chemical, technical and medical innovations is going to mark the emergence of a fully integrated services provider with cross border capabilities.

The chain of distribution of services of pioneer pharma Govt. supply

1. Distributors supply

2. Dealers supply

3. Direct supply

4. Doctors supply

5. Online servicesManufacturing Excellence

Pursuant to its corporate philosophy of striving for continuous improvement and betterment, the Company has re-located its manufacturing operations at the state-of-the-art plant at Vijayawada located 250 km from Hyderabad, the commercial capital of Andhra Pradesh. Spread over 4 acres of verdant, picturesque surroundings, amidst lush green lawns and thick foliage, the new locale is the most envied pharmaceutical installation in the Asian sub-continent. Truly unique in every sense of the term, the Plants standards and facilities can match any other, worldwide. Seven zones of cleanliness have been defined and adhered to, as per the 1997 GMP guidelines of the European Union. Some of the salient features of the design concepts: No wood or asbestos component.

Each zone has separate AHUs (Air Handling Units), dehumidification unit and dust extraction systems.

Segregation of every critical processing activity in each zone, to avoid cross-contamination.

RANGE OF PRODUCTSBio-chemics, Bio-Komz (Bio-Combinations)* Homoeopathic Triturations, Dilutions, Mother Tinctures, External Tinctures, Ointments, External Oils, Specialties or patents or Tonics andsundry items like Globules, Diskets, Blank Tabs, Sugar of Milk.BIO-CHEMICS:

All the 12 Bio-chemic remedies of Dr.Schusslers are available in 3X, 6X, 12X, 30X, 200X Potencies. Pack Size 25 Gms & 450 Gms & detailed therapeutic list is available in this catalogue.

BIO-KOMZ:

All the 28 Bio-Komz (Bio-Combinations) best suited for easy administration for all curable diseases and detailed therapeutic list is available in the catalogue.

HOMOEO TRITURATIONS:

Triturations are available in 25 gm & 450gms in 3X and 6X potencies only.The list & indications are available as shown in a separate list.

DILUTIONS:

Dilutions are prepared with best quality of E.N.A (Extra Neutral Alcohol) as per H.P.I., available in 30, 200 & 1M potencies of 30ml, 100ml, 450ml pack

MOTHER TINCTURES:

Complete Range of External Tinctures are available in packing of 100ml & 450ml

OINTMENTS:

A separate list of External oils is shown in this Catalogue in pack size of 100ml & 450ml.

SPECIALITIES OR PATENTS:

Detailed therapeutic Index of Specialties or Tonics available in this catalogue.

SUNDRIES

Globules, Diskets, Blank Tabs & Sugar I are main vehicle for dispensing of Homoeopathic Medicines prepared from best quality ofpharma grade sugar and Lactose imported from Holland (H.M.S. Brand)

BIO-CHEMIC MEDICINES

CALC FLOUR: Bone Fistulas, periostitis, facilitates dentition, Hardened glands, Styles, Fissured rectum and piles, Neuralgia and lumbago, gumboils, osteomyelitis.

CALC PHOS: Retarded dentition and Growth of Children, Leucorrhoea in young girls and Anemia, Scrofulous and Tuberculosis manifestations

FERR PHOS: Feverishness, burning sensation, abscess with throbbing pain, Anemia, Mild gastroenteritis, Migraine, falling appetite.

KALI MUR: Chronic catarrhal conditions, croup, diphtheria, inflamed tonsils

KALI PHOS: Diarrhea and constipation, bleeding piles.

KALI SULPH: Catarrh with yellowish discharge, cough, Habitual constipation, Chronic Gastritis, Conjunctivitis.

MAG PHOS: Spasmodic pains, pain and cramps in the muscles, flatulent colic, Dysmenorrhoea.

NAT MUR: catarrh with thin and watery discharge, Headaches and Migraine, Eczema, Constipation with dry stools, sunstroke.

NAT PHOS: Heart burn due to hyperacidity, cough with thick yellowish green discharge, Indigestion with acidity, bed-wetting.

NAT SULPH: Influenza, Gastroduodenal disturbances leading to jaundice, Gaut, serious effects in damp whether.

SILICEA: Fistulas, fastens suppuration, sweat of palms and toes, ulcers.3.5 MARKETING:The Company's marketing strength lies in a thorough market watch and study of health conditions the world over. By timely launch of new, technologically advanced molecules, Pioneers strategic perceptions have consistently given the organization a distinct edge over the competition.Today Pioneers products are available across the country, even in remote pockets, serviced by 25 C&S agents, 1900 wholesalers, 2, 37318 pharmacies and a field force of over 1,300 employees.

The Company's consistent efforts in brand building have resulted in Pioneer Pharmaceuticals' being one of the most reputable names with the medical fraternity and among patients.

3.6 BUSINESS

Human Branded FormulationsPioneer Pharmaceuticals, with its 400 multi-dimensional product formulations, spanning all major therapeutic groups in Human and 15 in Animal Health is a leader amongst the Indian Pharma Companies.

Continuous improvement of process efficiency is carried out, resulting in: Being the first to market several new and difficult formulations

Percentage of rework being close to zero

Process innovation to reduce the number of steps, while increasing yield

Ongoing effort to improve raw material utilization

Standardization of base used in all creams & suspensions

Tremendous cost benefit to customers Pursuing the philosophy of making available quality products at affordable prices for the mass of people, is Pioneer PharmaceuticalsThe product basket contains more than a hundred products from 15 therapeutic segments, including Analgesics, Antipyretics, Anthelmintics, Anti-hypertensive, Anti-inflammatory preparations, Anti-bacterials, Cardiovascular drugs, Vitamins, Iron and protein tonics, etc. A slew of high-value, branded generic products are being augmented to the product basket from time to time. With more products in the pipeline, this division is poised to further consolidate its position as a leading player in Generics in India.In line with our vision to be significant global player by 2010 A.D., Pioneer Pharmaceuticals is fast emerging as a true Indian multinational. As part of our strategy, we have wholly owned subsidiaries, joint ventures, strategic alliances, contract manufacturing, own marketing offices

3.7 CONFLICT MANAGEMENT IN PIONEER PHARMA

Types of conflicts observed in Pioneer Pharma:Inter personal Conflict: Interpersonal Conflicts do occur in the company but some conflicts are functional in nature and some are often dysfunctional. Most of these conflicts occur between:

Subordinate and a subordinate.

Superior and subordinates

Superior and a superior

Causes for subordinatesubordinate conflict: The causes of these conflicts are

Low self-esteem

Ego hassels

Unclear job boundaries

Unmet expectations.

Poor communication

Lack of a standardized system

Causes for superior-Subordinate conflict:

Overloaded responsibility on the subordinate

Unresolved anger on the subordinate

Low self-esteem

Causes for superior-superior conflict: The causes for these conflicts are

Conflicting objectives

Scarcity of resources

Approaches adopted by the company to resolve the conflicts.

The management considers the conflict and analyses it from different perspectives and adopts the appropriate conflict resolution technique. Sometimes it uses the authoritative command if the conflicting parties do not come to a resolving conclusion.

The approaches the management usually adopts are:

Win-win Approach-sometimes

Win-lose approach Most of the times

Lose-lose approach- Many times

Other approaches adopted by the company to resolve the conflicts.

Avoidance

Collaboration

Accommodation

Compromise

Competition

It is observed in the company that most of the conflicts which occur in the company proved to be functional in nature than being dysfunctional. Many times these conflicts motivate employees to work harder to win over the other party which leads to positive outcomes.

1) Interpersonal conflicts are very common in the organization.TABLE -1 : OCCURRENCE OF INTERPERSONAL CONFLICTS

RESPONSESNO OF RESPONDENTSPERCENTAGE

Strongly Agree2033

Agree

712

Neutral1525

Disagree1525

Strongly Disagree35

Total

60100

FIGURE-1 : OCCURRENCE OF INTERPERSONAL CONFLICTS

SHAPE \* MERGEFORMAT

INTERPRETATION:

33% of employees strongly agree that interpersonal conflict are very common in Pioneer Pharma

12% of the employees agree

25% of them are neutral and disagree

5% of them are strongly disagreeing with the statement.2) Interpersonal conflicts that occur in the organization

TABLE-2 : NATURE OF INTERPERSONAL CONFLICTS

RESPONSESNO OF RESPONDENTSPERCENTAGE

Functional2339

Dysfunctional

3761

Total60100

FIGURE-2 : NATURE OF INTERPERSONAL CONFLICTS

SHAPE \* MERGEFORMAT

INTERPRETATION:

39% of the respondents feel that the conflicts arising in the organization are functional in nature

61% of them feel that conflicts that occur in the organization are dysfunctional.

3) Most often interpersonal conflicts occur between

(Superior subordinate (Subordinate subordinate (Superior superior

TABLE-3 : LEVELS OF INTERPERSONAL CONFLICTS

RESPONSESNO OF RESPONDENTSPERCENTAGE

Superior-subordinate2135

Subordinate-subordinate2644

Superior-superior1321

Total

60100

FIGURE-3 : LEVELS OF INTERPERSONAL CONFLICTS

INTERPRETATION:

35% of the respondents say that interpersonal conflicts arise among superiors-subordinates.

44% of the respondents say that conflicts arise between subordinates- subordinates.

21% of the respondents say that conflicts arise between superiors-superiors.

4) Main cause / causes of superior subordinate conflict is/are

TABLE-4 : CAUSES OF SUPERIOR-SUBORDINATE CONFLICTS

RESPONSESNO OF RESPONDENTSPERCENTAGE

Overloaded responsibilities on the subordinate1930

Unresolved anger on the subordinate1728

Less self-esteem2135

Wastages of resources47

Others --

Total60100

FIGURE-4 : CAUSES OF SUPERIOR-SUPERIOR CONFLICTS

INTERPRETATION:

31% of the respondents feel that conflicts arise among superior-subordinate because of overloaded responsibilities on the subordinate.

28% of the respondents feel that the main cause of superior-subordinate conflict is unresolved anger on the subordinate.

35% of the respondents are of the opinion that the superior-subordinate conflict arises because of low self-esteem.

7% of the respondents say that conflicts arise because of the wastages of resources by the subordinates.

5) Important cause/causes of subordinate subordinate conflicts

TABLE-5 : CAUSES OF SUDORDINATE-SUBORDINATE CONFLICTS

RESPONSESNO OF RESPONDENTSPERCENTAGE

Ego problem2339

Unclear job boundaries2745

Unmet expectations1016

Others --

Total60100

FIGURE-5 : CAUSES OF SUBORDINATE-SUBORDINATE CONFLICT

INTERTRETATION:

39% of the employees feel that the main cause of subordinate-subordinate conflict is ego problem.

45% of the employees feel that it is due to unclear job boundaries.

16% of respondents feel that the important cause of subordinate-subordinate conflict is unmet expectations.

6) Primary causes of superior superior conflicts

TABLE-6 : CAUSES OF SUPERIOR-SUPERIOR CONFLICTS

RESPONSENO OF RESPONDENTSPERCENTAGE

Conflicting objectives2846

Scarcity of resources4254

Others --

Total60100

FIGURE-6 :CAUSES OF SUPERIOR-SUPERIOR CONFLICTS

SHAPE \* MERGEFORMAT

INTERPRETATION:

46% of employees feel that primary cause of superior-superior conflict is conflicting objectives.

54% of respondents feel that superior-superior conflicts arise because of scarcity of resources.7) The general causes of interpersonal conflicts

TABLE-7 : COMMON CAUSES OF INTERPERSONAL CONFLICTS

RESPONSENO OF RESPONDENTSPERCENTAGE

Poor Communication3050

Lack of standardized system3050

Others --

Total60100

FIGURE-7 : COMMON CAUSES OF INTERPERSONAL CONFLICTS

SHAPE \* MERGEFORMAT

INTERPRETATION:

50% of the respondents feel that general cause of interpersonal conflicts are due to poor communication

50% o them feel that the general cause of the interpersonal conflict are due to lack of standardized system in organization .

8) Which of the following is the popular approach for resolving

Interpersonal conflicts

TABLE-8 : APPROACHES FOR RESOLVING INTERPERSONAL

CONFLICTS

RESPONSENO OF RESPONDENTSPERCENTAGE

Lose- lose approach2440

Win lose approach2745

Win-win approach915

Total60100

FIGURE-8 : APPROACHES FOR RESOLVING INTERPERSONAL

CONFLICTS

SHAPE \* MERGEFORMAT

INTERPRETATION

40% of the respondents feel that lose-lose approach is popular for resolving interpersonal conflicts.

45% of respondents opt for win-lose approach

15% of respondents say that win-win approach is followed for conflict resolution.

9) How often do you adopt the following conflict management styles.Always Sometimes Never

TABLE 9 : CONFLICT MANGEMENT STYLES

RESPONSESNO OF RESPONDENTSPERCENTAGE

AVOIDANCE

Always3761%

Sometimes1424%

Never915%

COLLABORATION

Always2542%

Sometimes3152%

Never46%

ACCOMMODATION

Always3457%

Sometimes1220%

Never1423%

COMPROMISE

Always1931%

Sometimes3152%

Never1017%

COMPETITION

Always3152%

Sometimes1322%

Never1626%

TOTAL100

FIGURE-9 (A) : AVOIDANCE

FIGURE-9 (B) : COLLABORATION

.FIGURE-9 (C) : ACCOMMODATION

FIGURE-9 (D) : COMPROMISE

FIGURE-9 (E) : COMPETITION

INTERPRETATION

Depending on the individual circumstances employees adopts any one of the five conflict management styles. Most of them prefer to avoid conflicts altogether.

10) Interpersonal conflicts result in positive outcomes.

TABLE-10 : POSITIVE OUTCOMES

RESPONSENO OF RESPONDENTSPERCENTAGE

Strongly Agree711

Agree

1423

Neutral2135

Disagree1423

Strongly Disagree48

Total

60100

FIGURE-10: POSITIVE OUTCOMES

SHAPE \* MERGEFORMAT

INTERPRETATION:

11% of the employees strongly agree the interpersonal conflicts result in positive outcomes

23% of them are agree and 23% of the disagree

35% of employees are neutral

8% of the respondents are strongly disagreeing that interpersonal conflicts result in positive outcomes

11) Authoritative command is used in the organization to avoid

conflicts.TABLE-11 : USE OF AUTHORITATIVE COMMANDRESPONSENO OF RESPONDENTSPERCENTAGE

Strongly Agree1220

Agree

2236

Neutral1424

Disagree1016

Strongly Disagree24

Total

60100

FIGURE-11 : USE OF AUTHORITATIVE COMMAND SHAPE \* MERGEFORMAT

INTERPRETATION:

20%of the respondents strongly agree that authoritative command is used to avoid conflicts

36% of them agree

24% of them are neutral

16% of the respondents disagree

4% of them strongly disagree with the same.12) Conflict motivates organizational members to consider problems from different perspectives.

TABLE-12 : CONSIDERING PROBLEMS FROM DIFFERENT

PERSPECTIVES

RESPONSENO. OF RESPONDENTSPERCENTAGE

Strongly Agree1423

Agree

2541

Neutral1017

Disagree915

Strongly Disagree24

Total

60100

FIGURE-12 : CONSIDERING PROBLEMS FROM DIFFERENT

PERSPECTIVES SHAPE \* MERGEFORMAT

INTERPRETATION:

25% of respondents strongly agree that conflict motivates organization members to consider problems from different perspectives

45% of respondents agree

17% of respondents are neutral

15% of them disagree, 4% of them are strongly disagreeing.13) The conflicting parties bring personal issues to the fore during

the process of conflict.

TABLE-13 : PERSONAL ISSUES

RESPONSENO OF RESPONDENTSPERCENTAGE

Strongly Agree1423

Agree

2034

Neutral1423

Disagree1220

Strongly Disagree--

Total

60100

FIGURE-13: PERSONAL ISSUES

SHAPE \* MERGEFORMAT

INTERPRETATION: 23% of the respondents strongly agree and the same number of percent remain neutral regarding the issue of bring they personal issues to fore

34% of them said that they are agree

20%of them disagree with statement

14) Conflicting parties view the issue of conflict from their own as

well as other parties point of view.

TABLE-14 :_CONFLICTS FROM OTHERS VIEW POINT

RESPONSENO OF RESPONDENTSPERCENTAGE

Strongly Agree915

Agree

1931

Neutral1017

Disagree711

Strongly Disagree1525

Total

60100

FIGURE-14 : CONFLICTS FROM OTHERS VIEW POINT

SHAPE \* MERGEFORMAT

INTERPRETATION:

15% of the respondents strongly agree that conflicting parties view the issue from others point of view

31% of the respondents agree

17% of them are neutral

11% of them are disagreeing

25% of them strongly disagree with issue 15) Post resolution, the parties to the conflict behave cordially.

TABLE-15 : POST RESOLUTION BEHAVIOUR

RESPONSENO OF RESPONDENTSPERCENTAGE

Strongly Agree711

Agree

1626

Neutral1221

Disagree1931

Strongly Disagree610

Total

60100

FIGURE-15 : POST RESOLUTION BEHAVIOUR

SHAPE \* MERGEFORMAT

INTERPRETATION:

11% of them strongly agree that the parties to the conflict behave cordially after resolution

26% of them agree

21% of the respondents are neutral regarding this issue

31% of them disagree

10% 0f them strongly disagree with the statement.

FINDINGS

Less than half of employees agree that interpersonal conflicts are common in

Pioneer Pharma and remaining employees either remain neutral or disagree with this.

Majority of the respondents are of the opinion that interpersonal conflicts that occur in the organization are dysfunctional in nature.

At Pioneer Pharma interpersonal conflict are often manifested in the form of subordinate-subordinate conflicts followed by superior-subordinate and superior-superior conflicts.

Most of the respondents feel that the main causes of the superior-subordinate conflict are low self-esteem, overloaded responsibilities and unresolved anger also contribute towards superior-subordinate conflict.

Unclear job boundaries, ego problem and unmet expectations, in that order happen to be the causes of subordinate subordinate conflict at Pioneer Pharma.

Majority of the respondents feel that the primary causes of superior-superior conflicts are scarcity of resource, and conflicting objectives.

Equal No. of employees agree that poor communication and lack of standardized system are general causes of interpersonal conflicts in the organization.

At Pioneer Pharma win-win approaches to resolving interpersonal conflict seems to be more popular than other approach like lose-lose or win-win.

Majority of the employees agrees that authoritative command is used in the organization to avoid conflicts and considerable number remain neutral and few of them disagree.

Less than half of the employees agree that interpersonal conflicts result in positive outcomes. Majority of them are either neutral or disagree with the statement Majority of the employees agree that conflict motivates organizational members to consider problems from different perspectives

Employees seem to have divided opinion regarding personal issues being brought to the fore during the process of conflict, only half of them agree and of the remaining ones some neutral and some are disagree with this.

Less than half of the employees agree that conflicting parties view the issues of conflict from others point view and considerable numbers of employees are disagreeing.

Only less than half of employees agree that the parties to conflict behave cordially after resolving conflict. Half of them are either neutral or disagree with the same.C O N C L U S I O N

Interpersonal conflicts are common in Pioneer Pharma which are dysfunctional in nature interpersonal conflicts are often manifested in the form of subordinate-subordinate conflict followed by superior-subordinate and superior- superior conflict.

The main causes of superior-subordinate conflict are low self esteem, overloaded responsibilities and unresolved anger, causes of subordinate-subordinate conflict are unclear job boundaries, ego problem and unmet expectations, the primary cause of superior-superior conflict are scarcity of resources and conflicting objectives.

Poor communication and lack of standardized systems are general causes of interpersonal conflicts which seem to be resolved by using win-lose approach, Depending on the individual circumstance employees adopts any one of the conflicts management styles namely avoidance, collaboration, accommodation, compromise and competition, Conflict motivates organizational members to consider problems from different perspectives.

In order to avoid conflict in organization authoritative command is mostly used. Conflicting parties view the issue of the conflict from their own as well as others point of view; they even bring personal issues to the fore during the process of conflict.SUGGESTIONS

Inter Personal Conflicts that are dysfunctional in nature commonly occur at Pioneer Pharma, thus adversely affecting the employee performance, conflicts to an extent will contribute towards healthy functioning of the organization. These will result in negative consequences if they cross the optimum level. Hence, the organization should take steps to maintain conflicts at the optimum level so as to improve employee is performance.

Main cause of subordinate-subordinate conflicts happens to be unclear job boundaries followed by ego problems of the subordinates, while the former can be tackled by the organization; the latter is a personal factor. Efforts should be directed towards setting clear-cut job responsibilities & role expectations so that the employees can work in their own ambit without intruding into others work areas.

Conflicting objectives and scarcity of resources are the primary causes of superior- superior conflict. The Organization should ensure that functional objectives do not overlap, Equitable distribution of organizational resources will help in minimizing superior-superior conflicts to a great extent. Facilitating communication and standardizing systems and procedures will go a long way in avoiding interpersonal conflicts.

Employees perceive that win-win approach is the popular method for resolving interpersonal conflicts in the organization. Lose-lose approach is applied to an extent and win-win approach is the least followed one. While win-win approach gives the best results, certain situations may demand the use of other approaches. Employees should be taught to collaborate, accommodate and compromise when they encounter conflicts. Use of authoritative command will only yield short-term results. The management should take active steps in encouraging the conflicting parties to understand each others point of view and to see the problems from different perspectives. They should be discouraged to bring personal issues to the fore during the process of conflict. Employee should be motivated to develop and maintain cordial relationship once the conflict is resolved. All these will result in enhancing the positive effects of conflicts while reducing their negative impact.

CONFLICT MANAGEMENT

QUESTIONNAIRE

Please note that this questionnaire is part of the exercise conducted for academic purpose. Kindly take some time to fill it with frank option.

The information provided by you will be kept strictly confidential

Name :____________________ Designation :_____________________

Region : ___________________ Experience :_____________________

1) Interpersonal conflicts are very common in the organization.

(Strongly agree (Agree (Neutral (Disagree (Strongly disagree

2) Interpersonal conflicts that occurs in the organizations are

(Functional in nature result in improving performance

(Dysfunctional in nature result in decreasing performance

3) Most often interpersonal conflicts occur between

(Superior subordinate

(Subordinate subordinate

(Superior superior

4) Main cause / causes of superior subordinate conflict is/are

(Overloaded responsibilities on the subordinate

(Unresolved anger on the subordinate

(Less self esteem

(Wastage of resources

(Others (specify) _________________________

5) Important cause/causes of subordinate subordinate conflict is

/are

(Ego problem (Unclear job boundaries (unmet expectations

(Others (specify) __________________

6) Primary causes of superior superior conflict

(Conflicting objectives ( Scarcity of resources

( Others (specify) ___________________ 7) The common cause of interpersonal conflicts are

( Poor communication

(Lack of standardized system in the organization

(Other (specify) __________________

8) Which of the following is the popular approach for resolving

Interpersonal conflicts

( Lose- lose approach ( Win lose approach (Win-win approach

9) How often do you adopt the

following conflict management

Styles.

Always Sometimes Never

1. Avoidance

2. Collaboration

3. Accommodation

4. Compromise

5. Competition

10) Interpersonal conflicts result in positive outcomes.

(Strongly agree (Agree (Neutral (Disagree (Strongly disagree

11] Authoritative command is used in the organization to avoid conflicts.

(Strongly agree (Agree (Neutral (Disagree (Strongly disagree

12) Conflict motivates organizational members to consider problems from

different perspectives.

(Strongly agree (Agree (Neutral (Disagree (Strongly disagree

13] The conflicting parties bring personal issues to the core during the

process of conflict.

(Strongly agree (Agree (Neutral (Disagree (Strongly disagree

14] Conflicting parties view the issue of conflict from their own as well as

other parties point of view.

(Strongly agree (Agree (Neutral (Disagree (Strongly disagree

15) Post resolution, the parties to the conflict behave cordially.

(Strongly agree (Agree (Neutral (Disagree (Strongly disagree

L I M I T A T I O N S

Due to the time constraint the study was carried on by selecting sample of 60 respondents only.

The respondents are identified on a selective basis as the organization consists of many employees.

Some of the facts are not disclosed in the reports due to restrictions and formalities of the organization.

The analysis and interpretation is based only on the questionnaires answered by the employees.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

AUTHOR

TITLE

PUBLISHER

Ashwathaappa

Organizational behavior Himalaya Publishing

Stephen.P.Robbins Organizational behavior Prentice-Hall of India

C.R.Kothari

Research Methodology Vishwa prakashan

Websites:

www.wikipedia.comwww.google.comwww.tric.ed.govwww.pioneerpharma.com/pharmawww.drchaitanyaclinics.comMANAGING DIRECTOR

(PRODUCTION BLOCK)

PRODUCTION MANAGER

(MARKETING BLOCK) MARKETING MANAGER

ADMINISTRATION BLOCK

LAB ASSISTANTS

TECHNICAL

MARKETING EXECUTIVES

SECURITY

SECURITY

SECURITY

ASST.MANAGER LEVEL 1

OFFICE INCHARGE

MARKETING

ASST. MARKETING MANAGER

OFFICE CHARGE

HR MANAGER

ASST. MANAGER

CHEMIST

CLERKS

ASST.HR

ACCOUNTS MANAGER

CLERKS

HEAD CLERK

HELPERS

SPECIALIST WORKER

FIELD MARKETING

CLERKS

DISPATCH MANAGER

DELIVERY STAFF

HELPERS

SECTION INCHARGES

JR. ACCOUNTS

ASST.MANAGER LEVEL 2

HEAD CLERK

33

12

25

25

5

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Strongly

Agree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Strongly

Disagree

RESPONSES

PERCENTAGE

39

61

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Functional

Dysfunctional

RESPONSES

PERCENTAGE

46

54

0

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Conflicting objectives

Scarcity of resources

Others

RESPONSES

PERCENTAGE

50

50

0

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Poor communication

Lack of standardised

system

Others

RESPONSES

PERCENTAGE

40

45

15

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Lose- lose approach

Win lose approach

Win-win approach

RESPONSES

PERCENTAGE

11

23

35

23

8

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Strongly

Agree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Strongly

Disagree

RESPONSES

PERCENT

AGE

20

36

24

16

4

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Strongly

Agree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Strongly

Disagree

RESPONSES

PERCENTAGE

23

41

17

15

4

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Strongly

Agree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Strongly

Disagree

RESPONSES

PERCENTAGE

23

34

23

20

0

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Strongly

Agree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Strongly

Disagree

RESPONSES

PERCENT

AGE

15

31

17

11

25

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Strongly

Agree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Strongly

Disagree

RESPONSES

P

E

R

C

E

N

T

A

G

E

11

26

21

31

10

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Strongly

Agree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Strongly

Disagree

RESPONSES

PERCENT

AGE

PAGE 32