CONFLICT MAANGEMENT AND MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT IN CORPORATE CAREERSEVERY individual looks for betterment of one’s career prospects, living standards etc, which often creates conflicts with one’s colleagues ,superiors subordinates leading to stress and tension in one’s work place .The question that arises how does one manage to have a successful career and good interpersonal relations simultaneously?Resolving conflicts by different approaches reflect an individual’s personality and outlook. One could adopt a Collaborative, Compromising,Accomodative, Avoidance or a Competitive means. Competitive means involves utilizing one’s power or position in the organization. While talking to Mr. John Smith (name changed) a HRD manager in a reputed MNC and I quote, “Conflict avoidance is the means adopted by some managers, infact the approach depends on the situation. There are times when a competitive means where the use of authority works better”. For instance in a reputed pharmaceutical company, a manager had been physically assaulted by the labour (workmen).Here strict action was fully justified, if the management adopted a collaborative, compromising attitude then it would be unwarranted and reflect weak links in the management. Situations such as this justify the use of power though it involves a dispute with the labour union.A Collaborative means takes in to account the viewpoints of the conflicting groups/individuals and tries to find an optimal solution. .Mr. Smith continues,” Adopting a collaborative approach, sometimes leads to wastage of valuable time and resources of the management though it may lead to better employee-management relations. Managers regularly adopting this strategy must ensure that the union’s demands are not at the interest of the organization which would affect the company and thus the employees in the long run.” Besides, the subordinates may discover the weak links of the management and exploit it for their own benefits.Many managers, adopt the Conflict avoidance attitude, which is not always the right attitude .Besides projecting, and indifferent image to one’s subordinates sometimes adopt conflict avoidance, one may even loose the respect from one’s subordinates and colleagues. Says Philip Snow(name changed) factory manager with ABC ltd an engineering concern,” Conflict avoidance may be a better strategy, if the subject is just a mere clash of egos and does not hamper the company’s interests but may set a different tone for the future.Accommodative attitude enables one to maintain the best human relations in the organization. While being accommodative, one has to focus on the situation and the individual concerned .For instance being accommodative may be a projection of rhe supervisor’s weakness. For instance if one has allowed a one ‘s subordinate to go one hour early for some reason then one may be setting a new practice for the future. Smith remarks,” It is always tempting for a manager to adopt an accommodative attitude and become popular amongst his subordinates but may have potentially serious consequences for the future. At times one can adopt an avoidance means if the situation really warrants it. For instance if a subordinate is upset for some reason for some personal reasons, trying to indict something in him at that time may be futile.If one opted for a competitive means involving power or authority to win over a situation then one may end up creating the image of a dictator.Ideally, a combination of one’s assertive and collaborative skills would be ideal. One finds, there are situations, which warrant this means. Hence, one does not manage to remain the nice likeable person. Says Mr. Sinha(name changed),factory manager in a reputed MNC,”Decision making in certain situations would need uncompromising support at all management levels as the future of employees rests on the organization’s prosperity and not the union’s strength in the long run”.Ultimately whatever approach one adopts, it reflectsa leader’s personality hence it is of paramount importance .Mr. Sinha continues,” A leader has to assume power even if it means unpopularity for a short span of time, but enables to develop his personality as a leader in the organization.”Many technical personnel though very technically competent are unable to exert their their leadership qualities .It is over here that management training, proper school of thought are of paramount importance. A Co-director in a reputed management institute once commented that attitudes of the management, workforce resulted in slipping priorities”. One of the principal elements identified in many organizations was that the management element was not correctly recognized .The Institute’s steering group established six areas of competence for its managers namely, business awaremness,management skills,motivation,training and leadership, external communications, crisis management and external communications. The management element has thus been strongly complimented, which may be unfortunately lacking in an average engineering gradate who may have just completed his university education.While, it becomes pertinent that all personnel manage their own areas, a co-coordinator must assume a multidisciplinary role obtaining the necessary expertise. Surveys of training are being conducted countries where the long-term plan would be to work with educational courses to design courses in line with the required competence. In addition, provide the business community with the training it needs on a flexible modular basis.Ultimately, personality of the individual governs an individual’s approach, which could be based on one’s childhood experiences, upbringing, education etc.A person has to find an organization to suit his own management style and approach.JUZER PENDI TELEPHONE NUMBER;0091-22-28605875
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