Upload
claudiu-ulea
View
237
Download
1
Tags:
Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
Organizational culture and conflict explained
Citation preview
Organizational culture and conflict
Alexandru V. Mafteiu
Structure
Chapter 1. The Organization
Types of organisation
Organizational structure
Chapter 2. Organizational culture
Hofstede dimensions
Organizational dimensions
Chapter 3. The conflict
Conflict Theory
Structural Functionalism
Functions of Social Systems
Thomas-Kilmann
Chapter 4. The conflict and the organizational culture: case study AIESEC Cluj
AIESEC
Hypothesis, Research Questions & Goals of the Projects
Background, significance and motivation
Research hypothesis
Research methods, design and data analysis
Human – subject interaction
The subjects
Data analysis and interpretation
Subject characteristics
Hypothesis testing
Limitations of the present research
Future direction of investigation
Conclusion
The Organization
Organization -> mid-15c., "act of organizing," from Middle French organisation and directly from Medieval Latin organizationem (nominative organizatio), noun of action from past participle stem of organizare, from Latin organum "instrument, organ". (Oxford Dictionary, 2012)
Types of organisation
Organizational structure
Organizational culture
Every company has two organizational structures: The formal one is written on the charts; the other is the everyday relationship of the men and women in the organization. Harold S. Geneen
Hofstede dimensions
Organizational dimensions
The conflict
Peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means. Ronald Reagan
Thomas Kilmann instrument
The conflict and the organizational culture: case study AIESEC Cluj
AIESEC
AIESEC is a global platform for young people to explore and develop their leadership potential. We are a non-political, independent, not-for-profit organisation run by students and recent graduates of institutions of higher education. Its members are interested in world issues, leadership and management. AIESEC does not discriminate on the basis of ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion or national / social origin.
AIESEC
Hypothesis, Research Questions & Goals of the Projects
What are the predominant organization’s cultural traits?
How is the conflict represented in an NGO?
Is there a difference between management and unpaid volunteers in matter of culture and conflict?
What the organization’s policy toward conflict? Is in embedded and related to the organizations culture?
What is the trend in conflict resolution approach in management ranks?
What about the unpaid voluntaries?
What is the level of satisfaction in matter of conflict management?
Background, significance and motivation
The motivation of this study relates to 6 months of direct participant observation from management ranks where the conflict that emerged where raised in daily agenda but avoidance was the only acceptable solution from higher chains of command.
Research hypothesis
Hypothesis Question from the questionnaire or method used
H1 – In NGOs where the number of unpaid volunteer is
higher than the number of paid personnel there is a
negation of the existence of conflict and conflictual
situations.
Direct questions: 5
Support questions: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12
H2 – If the organisation has a strong control (Hofstede
Organizational Culture dimension) there is a
predominance of latent conflict between individuals
that are aiming towards the chain of command
Interview (Appendix A)
H3 – the management of and NGO tends to approach
conflict resolution in a compromising and
accommodating manner (Thomas-Kilmann conflict
resolution model)
Question 10 from online questionnaire
Thomas-Kilmann instrument (Appendix C)
Interview
H4 – In an NGO with a strong hierarchic chain of
command the conflict is solved by a third party with a
higher rank
Interview (Appendix A)
Research methods, design and data analysis
Survey: self-applied (online and print) or in the case of impracticability applied by questioning the subject (directly, by phone or Skype)
Interview: structured and required just in browsing the sample with specific targeted questions
The subjects
62 respondents. From those 55 were considered valid because they answered all the questions in the form.
24 interviews (structured) and 9 interviews (semi structured)
Subject characteristics
Subject characteristics
Subject characteristics
Subject characteristics
Subject characteristics
Subject characteristics
Subject characteristics
Subject characteristics
Yes Yes (blank) No Yes No YesEmployee Executive Team Leader Volunteer
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
In your opinion is AIESEC – its leaders and staff – competent in dealing with conflict? by the role in the organisation
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738394041424344454647484950515253540
1
2
3
4
5
6How AIESEC manages conflicts?
Hypothesis 2
No Yes
No; 3
Yes, 22
Are the volunteers dependent in their daily routine of those that have the
power?
Often20%
Rare11%
Very often65%
Very rarely4%
How often is the delegation of responsibility encountered in the organisation?
Often
Rare
Very often
Very rarely
Hypothesis 2 Alexa, 21:“Personally, I haven’t been part of any conflict or major misunderstanding within the organization; however, taking part in a lot of projects, I’ve been able to hear about a few. I remember few years ago, when we were starting a new initiative for a new phase of a local project, we were taking part to a brainstorming session for ideas about the next actions, held within a team of 15 members. Of course, some proposals weren’t eventually selected, but two members were so affected by their proposal exclusion, that they weren’t willing to participate actively to the development of the selected ideas and they were questioning every step in this process, putting resistance to the progress, things that I consider that were unnecessary, especially when all other team members were agreeing on this things. Things got almost back to the normal only when this part of the project was finished.”
Hypothesis 3 - the management of and NGO tends to approach conflict resolution in a compromising and accommodating manner (Thomas-Kilmann conflict resolution model)
Hypothesis 3 - the management of and NGO tends to approach conflict resolution in a compromising and accommodating manner (Thomas-Kilmann conflict resolution model)
12
5
3
3
2
TKI interview subjects (least dominant)
COLLABORATING
COMPETING
ACCOMMODATING
AVOIDING
COMPROMISING
Hypothesis 4 – In an NGO with a strong hierarchic chain of command the conflict is solved by a third party with a higher rank
The majority of the respondents 72% answered that in a case of conflict the person responsible for the solving is “The coordinator that has the persons that are involved” or another common answer was “The Local Committee (referring to the executive managers) are the ones that deal with this problem”. Also, the respondents tend to see that the executive committee’s main responsibility is to solve problems. And by problems most of the respondents understand conflicts.
Hypothesis testingHypothesis Testing
H1 – In NGOs where the number of unpaid volunteer is higher than the
number of paid personnel there is a negation of the existence of
conflict and conflictual situations.
Infirmed due to: the number of unpaid volunteers is smaller than the number of
paid personnel.
H2 – If the organisation has a strong control (Hofstede Organizational
Culture dimension) there is a predominance of latent conflict between
individuals that are aiming towards the chain of command
Confirmed
H3 – the management of and NGO tends to approach conflict resolution
in a compromising and accommodating manner (Thomas-Kilmann
conflict resolution model)
Confirmed
H4 – In an NGO with a strong hierarchic chain of command the conflict
is solved by a third party with a higher rankConfirmed
Figure 22 - the conflict in AIESEC is...
Conflict in one word
Limitations of the present research
In matters of limitations, in this paper could be identify a few by the methodology used, the subject and the sampling and the research design.
In matters of research design, this paper was designed to be a explorativ study that aimed towards the 5W of the organizational conflict. Also, the hypothesis are constructed based on observation (participant observation) and this has a bias that could influence the outcome of the results.
In regards to the methodology half is statistical so, quantitative and the other half is qualitative. The qualitative section of the paper bases itself on interview that were meant to be semi-structured and this can created biases at the level of understanding the question or the answer.
Also, the sampling was presumed to be integrative, but the answers were in a smaller number than expected. This might interfere with the statistical results and also with the hypothesis validation.
Future directions of investigation
A better understanding of the phenomena of conflict denial might improve the outcome and the performance of the activities developed under the organization’s umbrella. Therefor research questions like what is the source of the denial of conflict phenomena? Or what can we do to have a clear and manageable view over the conflict? Might create results that are practicable and will create an immediate impact.
Conclusion and discussions The study raised awareness in matters of organizational conflict perception and management. The organization’s
members agreed upon the existence of conflict but attribute negative words toward conflict. From this perspective a set of recommendation emerged:
Increasing awareness upon the conflict and its implications by Creating a course or a training for with this purpose only
Developing and embedding conflict management culture within the organisation
Having clear proceeding in matters of conflict resolution
Stating the role of executives and their interference within the conflict
Creating a body that deal with this aspect in the HR departments
Assigning people that deal with conflictual situations and training them.
Creating valves of latent conflict ventilation by: Offering team building that are aiming to this purpose only
Creating anonymous feedback mail and encourage the use of it
Assigning or creating a body design to identify and solve this aspect
Developing conflict management techniques of its members by: Assisting and understanding personal conflict management (like using TKI)
Developing self-awareness about own conflict management style
Creating training programs meant to encrust personal conflict management style
Thank youand enjoy the rest of your day