Organizational Conflict, Politics, and Change

Conflict, Politics and Change

Signal managers change is needed

Organizational conflict & politics Change alters goals of different groups causing conflict & politics

Organizational change

Change


1] Will people choose to go along with it 2] If not, should you force a change regardless of the level of resistance 3] if you do force a change and when change is completed, will people value its benefits

REASONS FOR CHANGE



1] when maintaining status quo becomes prohibitively expensive 2] change is always costly but when present course of action is even more expensive

PREPRE-REQUISITES FOR CHANGE



1] early and continuous top management understanding, commitment, approval and involvement 2] high degree of trust between levels of organization

     

3] patience in terms of time frames for change

Steps in the Organizational Change Process

Assess need for change Find source of problem Decide on the change Identify obstacles Implement Change TopTop-down or BottomBottom-up Evaluate Change Is it successful? Benchmark to others

Managing Organizational Change

Assess need for change: recognize a problem exists and find its source. Look inside and outside the firm for sources.  Decide on the change to make: determine the ideal future state. Decide exactly what the future company will look like. What obstacles need to be changed to get there.  Implement the change: a top-down change is quickest, bottom-up is more gradual. Bottom-up is more effective at eliminating obstacles.  Evaluate Change: was it successful? Benchmark (compare) your change to others.


ORGANISATION CHANGE PROCESS



Approach change as an unfolding process rather than a binary event Accept change is expensive and you will pay Believe change is more expensive than cost of transition Accept discomfort as a natural reaction of transition

ORGANISATION CHANGE PROCESS



Organisations are in a state of equilibrium : With forces pushing for change on one side and forces resisting change by attempting to maintain the status quo.

 

KURT LEWIN : FIELD FORCE THEORY :



1] increase the driving forces : generally seen that restraining forces also increase simultaneously thereby returning to the equilibrium state 2] decrease the restraining forces : a change is less resisted when those affected by it participate in the change Involves 3 steps

 

KURT LEWIN : FIELD FORCE THEORY



A] unfreezing : creates motivation for change, if people feel uncomfortable with the present situation, they may see the need for change B] change : assimilation of new information, exposure to new concepts, development of a different perspective C] freezing : stabilises the change. Change to be effective has to be congruent with a persons self concept and values.

 

 

Human reaction to change



People have a strong need for control This need can be met by dictating or at least anticipating the future Specific expectations are established based on what can be anticipated When perceived reality matches expectations a sense of control is achieved and a form of equilibrium is generated When perceived does not match expectations the feeling of control is lost and people must adjust to the changes they were unprepared to face

    

RESISTANCE TO CHANGE
            

As the implementer of change 1] understand the basic mechanism of human resistance

2] view resistance as a natural reaction to disruption of expectations 3] encourage and participate in overt expressions of resistance 4] people respond to changes at different intellectual and emotional rates 5] 6] commitment cannot be generated without a plan of action increase the speed only after initial acceptance

Methods for managing resistance

          

1] communication : communicating to individuals the reasons for change 2] participation : involvement of everyone across the organisation 3] facilitation : training programs and emotional understanding of those adversely affected by change 4] negotiation and agreement : negotiating with potential change resistors 5] manipulation : means assigning key individuals important roles in designing or implementing change 6] explicit and implicit coercion : threatening employees with job loss, transfer, demotion

Change managers


1] Sponsors : individuals and groups who has the power to sanction or legitimize change 2] agents : individuals or groups responsible for actually making change 3] targets : individuals and groups who have to change 4] advocates : individuals or groups who want to achieve a change but lack power

      

Organizational Conflict
Conflict exists in situations where goals, interests or values of people are incompatible and they block others efforts to achieve their goals. Some level of conflict is inevitable given the wide range of goals in a firm. Some conflict is good for organizational performance. Too much causes managers to spend much time responding to conflict.

Conflict and Organizational Performance

Level of Organizational Performance High
B

Low

A Low Low

Level of Conflict

High

Types of Conflict
Interpersonal Conflict: between individuals based on differing goals or values.  Intragroup Conflict: occurs within a group or team.  Intergroup Conflict: occurs between 2 or more teams or groups. Managers play a key role in resolution of this conflict  Interorganizational Conflict: occurs across organizations. Managers in one firm may feel another is not behaving ethically.


Types of Conflict
Conflict

Interpersonal

Intragroup

Intergroup

InterInterorganizational

Sources of Conflict

Different goals and time horizons: different groups have differing goals.  Production focuses on efficiency; Marketing on sales. Overlapping authority: two or more managers claim authority for the same activities.  Leads to conflict between the managers and workers. Task Interdependencies: one member of a group fails to finish a task that another depends on.  This makes the worker that is waiting fall behind.

Sources of Conflict

Incompatible Evaluation or reward system: workers are evaluated for one thing, but are told to do something different.  Groups rewarded for low cost but firm needs higher service. Scarce Resources: managers can conflict over allocation of resources.  When all resources are scarce, managers can fight over allocations. Status inconsistencies: some groups have higher status than others.  Leads to managers feeling others are favored.

Sources of Conflict
Different goals & time horizons Status inconsistency Overlapping Authority

Conflict

Scarce Resources

Incompatible evaluation & Reward

Task Interdependency

Resolving Conflicts

Functional Conflict Resolution: handle conflict by compromise or collaboration between parties.

 Compromise:

each party concerned about their goal accomplishment and is willing to engage in give and take to reach a reasonable solution. parties try to handle conflict without making concessions by coming up with a new way to resolve differences.

 Collaboration:

Managers also need to address individual sources of conflict.

Managing Individual Conflict

Increase awareness of the source of conflict  Can conflict source can be found and corrected? Increase diversity awareness and skills  Older workers may resent younger workers, or experience cultural differences. Practice Job Rotation & Temporary assignments  Provides a good view of what others face. Use permanent transfers & dismissal if needed  Avoids problem interaction. Change organizations structure  Conflict can signal the need to adjust the structure.

Conflict Solutions

Alter the source of conflict:  If due to overlapping authority, managers fix the problem to change the source. Negotiation: use when parties have equal power.  Parties try and find a common ground by considering various alternatives.  Distributive negotiation: parties see there is a fixed resource base. For them to gain, the other must lose.  Integrative negotiation: parties can increase total resources by coming up with a new solution. Information sharing, trust are common here.

Negotiation Strategies for Interactive Bargaining



Emphasize Super ordinate Goals: these are goals both parties agree on. Keeps the big picture in focus. Focus on the problem, NOT the people: dont make it personal. It is easy to dwell on peoples shortcomings rather than problems. Once this occurs, people resist negotiation.

Organizational Politics


Organizational politics are the activities managers engage in to increase their power and use it to achieve their goals. Political strategies: specific tactics used to increase power and use it effectively. Politics can be negative, but also is a positive force allowing needed change.  Everyone throughout the firm engages in politics  Political activity allows a manager to gain support for an idea.

Political Strategies for Increasing Power

Control Uncertainty
Be Irreplaceable Be in a central position Generate Resources Build Alliances

Increase a managers power in the organization

Strategies for Increasing Power

Control Uncertainty: managers who can reduce uncertainty for the firm increase power. Be Irreplaceable: develop valuable special knowledge or skills. Be in a Central Position: managers have crucial control over the firms activities. They increase their power and can influence others. Generate Resources: managers who can hire skilled people or find financing. Build Alliances: develop mutually beneficial relations with others inside and outside the organization.

Strategies for Exercising Power

Objective Information Outside Experts Control the Agenda Everyone is a Winner

Help Managers Use Their Power Effectively

Strategies for Exercising Power

Rely on Objective Information: impartial information causes others to feel the managers course of action is correct. Bring in an Outside Expert: lends credibility to managers proposal (when the expert agrees). Control the Agenda: influence those issues included (and those dropped) from the decision process. Make Everyone a Winner: everyone whose support is needed benefits personally from providing that support.