Power and Conflict at Work

What is Conflict?

It could be said that conflict is the reaction of personalities which are not compatible. Individuals may have a clash of interests or desires, but feel unable to compromise with one another. Hence causing conflict to break out. An unhealthy party will usually be one sided, containing some form of dictatorship, and some individuals may feel unfairly of more compromised than others (Deutsch, 2006).


An Experience with Conflict...

Within my band, around spring 2008, my fellow band mates and I experienced quite a serious conflict. Our drummer was more concerned with living the ‘Rock and Roll’ lifestyle, than having a committed working relationship with his fellow band members. An excess of drinking, smoking, and drugs caused problems within the group, such as missing rehearsals, turning up drunk/stoned, attracting a bad crowed to gigs, and being associated with vandalism, etc.
The question that had to be asked was, do we act professionally and replace him? Or do we keep giving our friend chances to improve his behaviour? Group meetings and discussions were held, where everyone was able to voice their individual thoughts and opinions on the matter. Being as no one in the band at the time was more than 18 years old, we were reluctant to get adults involved, but eventually found it was essential that we did, as we needed that authority. As he was our friend we agreed to give him multiple opportunities to prove his commitment to the band, but he unfortunately abused his lack of boundaries.
The last straw was when he got caught by the police for stealing money from classmates. Our final meeting was organised, to which his parents were also invited. He was too ashamed to attend, and so the message was passed through his parents, that we were holding auditions for a new drummer.
We knew that to allow behaviour like this to continue would jeopardise our ability to get gigs, as we would be associated with hooliganism. The new band line up then agreed on a set of rules, including no drinking before a gig, and zero tolerance on illegal drugs, so that an issue like this would not happen again. We all felt these boundaries were essential for the success of a group, and respectfully added a more professional dimension to our work.
By taking these steps, and eliminated the opportunity for conflict to arise again over the same problem, we have been more successful than ever. To date, we have now achieved headline slots in London, record company showcases, radio interviews, and record of the week on British Forces Radio.


Sources of Power

Coercive power - When an authorities existence is dependent on fear, by using threats and punishment. This power source often suppresses free will (Dubrin, 2010).
An obvious example of this would be the Holocaust in World War 2, and Hitler’s use of concentration camps. This example forced anyone with opposing views into hiding, for fear of being killed.

Reward power - This is where rewards or benefits are offered in exchange for good behaviour, hard work, or achievement (The Negotiation Academy, 2010).
A commonly used strategy by parent trying to encourage good behaviour in their children is to create a good behaviour chart and award good behaviour with star stickers. Also, to discourage bad behaviour, stickers can be removed.

Expert power - To influence the decisions of others by appearing to have an advanced knowledge, experience or expertise to their peers (Manktelow, 2009).
Banks will often use their expertise to help you make financial decisions, or choices on how to manage your money. Often, although it may seem helpful, their advice will have its bias and benefits for them, too.

Legitimate power - Having the right to exercise control over those in subordinate positions within an organisation or group, due to higher position or status (Boonstra, 1998).
This kind of power often exists in trades on a manufacturing level. Those who work in factories are most likely to experience receiving their orders from a higher level within the organisation, with very little or no say in the matter.

Referent power - Others in the group are influenced by an individual, because they are a well liked or respected character (Business Dictionary, 2010).
The effects of this kind of power are understood and used widely within the marketing world. You will often see that products in advertising are faced by a well liked celebrity or icon. This creates an association between the spokesperson and product, so that as you like one you will like the other. Therefore the individual has influenced the buyer to buy the brand.


Overcoming Conflict at Work

There are five common strategies used to overcome conflict in the workplace (Johnson, 1995).

1. Policies and procedures can be put into place by Human Resource management. Commonly these include equal pay and opportunity schemes.

2. Making sure that a group’s involvement in decision making is democratic, or at least well communicated and consulted.

3. When a job expectation is clarified from the word go, there is reduced risk that others will work towards an opposing goal, as the workers will have acceptance of their role from the beginning.

4. Grievance policies and procedures help to encourage issues out into the open. Therefore the issues can be dealt with, rather than allowed to continue unnoticed by management.

5. Awareness of enforced procedures of discipline discourages negative work ethics, and unhealthy behaviour.


An Example of How a Conflict can be Solved

Below is an example of a conflict being resolved on the Jeremy Kyle Show.

( Clip available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=do9n95YpLiU )

In the clip, a young man denies sleeping with a minor behind his girlfriends back. The point of the exercise would have been as follows. Grievance procedures help to encourage issues out into the open. Therefore the issues can be dealt with, rather than allowed to continue unnoticed.
The young girl confessed that he’d cheated with her, while the young man denied it, unable to get his story straight. Jeremy Kyle used his expert power to control the situation, and find out the truth, using lie detector testing. The young man was found to be lying, while the young girl was found to be telling the truth. Therefore, the fact that they had slept together was conclusively evidenced.
Jeremy Kyle clearly approaches his outlook on the world with a Pluralist view. This is because he sees groups are made up of people with separate interests, and therefore conflict is inevitable (Spicer, 1997). He acts as the negotiator who is needed for the group to function without conflict.
Although the clip shows how the answers are found, it fails to discuss how the people involved will compromise to make their relationships work. This is a key issue, as there is a teenage god-daughter and a 20 month old baby involved. The group would need to agree to a system or policy, and have a mutual understanding of freedoms and boundaries.


To Conclude...

So when conflict occurs due to a clash of interests and personalities, sources of power are needed to solve or control the situation. However, an abuse of power can also lead to more conflict, so a balance must be found. Groups appear to function best in an honest environment, where all voices are heard and well communicated to each other.

References:

Boonstra, J. J. (1998) Power dynamics and organizational change. Hove: Phsycology Press Ltd

Business Dictionary (2010) Referent power definition [online]. Available from: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/referent-power.html [Accessed 8th April 2010]

Deutsch, M (2006) The handbook of conflict resolution: theory and practice. 2nd ed. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Dubrin, A. J. (2010) Leadership: research findings, practice, and skills. 6th ed. Mason: South-Western

Johnson, D.W. (1995) Reducing school violence through conflict resolution. Alexandria: Association for Supervision Curriculum

Manktelow, J (2009) There are many types of power that leaders can use [online]. Available from: http://www.consultpivotal.com/building.htm [Accessed 8th April 2010]

Spicer, C (1997) Organizational public relations: a political perspective. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

The Negotiation Academy (2010) Reward power [online]. Available from: http://www.negotiationtraining.com.au/articles/coercion-tactics/ [Accessed 8th April 2010]