ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION
Dr. Christopher Mayes
Conflict can be disastrous for an organization if not handled properly. Do you think that internal or external conflict is more dangerous for an organization?
Casey McCloskey
Hello Everyone,
A crisis can affect any organization at any given time. The crisis can come from a natural disaster, human induced, or intentional by the organization. However, the crisis comes about, there are four phases an organization must approach. According to Chadha, the four crisis management phases are,
- Mitigation
- Preparedness
- Response
- Recovery
Mitigation means to create a game plan to set in motion when a crisis hits. Determine who needs to be informed first and create an open line of communication.
Preparedness refers to making sure the plan is in place when it is needed and periodically reviewing it.
Response is the actions an organization takes when a crisis has happened. Things like putting out correct information, virtual work set up, and stakeholder communications need to be addressed.
Recovery means what the organization does to bounce back from the crisis. Like, how the organization gathers together, how they fix the crisis, and the type of communication they offer their stakeholders. This is the most difficult phase of a crisis because trust or reputation of the organization may have been lost in the crisis. It takes careful actions and time to create a trust with their consumers again.
Chadha, P. (2020). The Four Phases of Crisis Managment. AGB. Retrieved from https://agb.org/blog-post/the-four-phases-of-crisis-management/
Jennifer Gelert
Good afternoon, Professor Mayes, and class,
I must admit I was trying to make a connection between our readings that deal with crisis communication and organizational conflict. Especially when the words ‘organizational conflict’ was not stated. I figured the best place to start was with the term ‘organizational conflict.’ Herrity (2022) shares that organizational conflict is an internal misunderstanding or disagreement. A lack of cohesion and collaboration in the workplace is lost. If everyone is at odds with each other, it could be challenging to get everyone in agreement with the company’s goals. It is important to understand the five phases of organizational conflict. Noticing when things are escalating allows for stepping in before things get out of hand (Resource Center, n.d.)
The five phases are:
- The Latent Stage – This is the stage that has the potential for conflict. Competition for resources, wanting control of an activity that clearly is in someone else’s domain and two parties working on a project who cannot reach consensus on what they should do.
- The Perceived State – One or more of the parties are becoming aware of actual conflict. This would be an appropriate time to try and improve communications.
- The Felt Stage – Emotions are coming into play. It may be that there are inconsistent demands or organizational and induvial growth which can cause anxiety.
- The Manifest Stage – The conflict is now out in the open. Attempts are made to blocks another person’s goal achievement. Attempts are made to sabotage or impede the other person’s plans.
- The Aftermath Stage – This is the conflict and the outcome. It can be negative or positive. The conflict will either be rectified, or the relationship will dissolve.
I believe the Manifest Stage is the most problematic. When emotions ae involved, it is quite easy to lose sight of what the conflict was about in the first place. Everyone is aware of the conflict and trying to ensure their way is used. This is the worse possible thing that can happen in a crisis. Emotions run high; people are not thinking of the problem at hand. Your integral communication plan is crucial during a crisis. Hartley (2019) shares that a crucial step in the communication plan is having a clearly defined chain of command and who will make the final decision during this time. Without these individuals being explicitly stated, conflict can occur. If no one knows who is in charge, what everyone’s assigned task is and who has the final authority, the Manifest stage can occur. It is quite possible to lose sight of the crisis because there is now some potentially dangerous conflict going on among the people in the organization.
Hartley, Kate. “Chapter 21 – Practical Steps to Prepare, Execute and Analyze a Crisis Response (And Avoid Common Pitfalls)”. Communicate in a Crisis: Understand, Engage and Influence Consumer Behavior to Maximize Brand Trust. Kogan Page. © 2019. Books24x7. <http://library.books24x7.com.lopes.idm.oclc.org/toc.aspx?bookid=145418> (accessed October 19, 2022)
Herrity, J. (2022). What is organizational conflict? (With steps to overcome it). Indeed. https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/organizational-conflict
Resource Center (n.d.). Navigating the phases of organizational conflict. Concordia St. Paul. https://online.csp.edu/resources/article/phases-of-organizational-conflict/
Antonio Tolson
Oct 19, 2022, 4:10 PM
Conflict in organizations are bound to happen there are ways to resolve them with minimal damage to the organizational structure. The only way to overcome conflict is to first identify it by understanding its stages. There are five stages of conflict, and only through learning and comprehending the issue can they be resolved. There are numerous options open that can aid in dispute resolution. The only way to overcome conflict is to first identify it by comprehending its stages. There are five stages of conflict, and only through learning and comprehending the problem can they be resolved. The only way to overcome conflict is to first identify it by comprehending its stages. discovering and comprehending the problem’s solution. The stages are
Latent Stage-the first stage in the five stages of conflict, people may be in conflict without being aware that they are in conflict.
Perceived Stage- is when the people involved in a conflict become fully aware that there is a conflict
Felt Stage- stress and anxiety are felt by one or more of the participants due to the conflict
Manifest Stage- during which the conflict can be observed.
Aftermath Stage-which takes place when there is some outcome of the conflict, such as a resolution to, or dissolution of the problem.
The most problematic to me is the felt stage because at the stage people can feel like they are up against the wall and they have to do anything to resolve the conflict. The key is to make sure you inform the parties involved that the resolution will come if parties remain level headed and work together to form a resolution.
Editor, U. (2022, October 5). 5 stages of conflict and workplace conflict resolution. Udemy Blog. Retrieved October 19, 2022, from https://blog.udemy.com/stages-of-conflict/
Leslie Shelton
Oct 19, 2022, 4:30 PM
There are five stages of organizational conflict as identified by Louis Pondy (1967). The stages are as follows:
Latent Stage: This first stage is where conflict is first hatched and can become an idea of a problem. Can an issue be resolved, or does a conflict start.
Perceived Stage: The perceived stage is where misunderstandings are occurring, and a conflict is becoming evident. This is where communication would be utilized to come together for righting the misunderstanding.
Felt Stage: This stage is where both parties are feeling the miscommunication and tensions/anxieties are coming to a head.
Manifest Stage: This stage is where aggression and tempers come into play by one or both sides of the situation. Ugliness can occur and some may become violent to prove or push their point.
Aftermath Stage: This is where the determination of if the conflict is resolved, and if it has a negative or positive result. Either things are resolved satisfactorily, and the parties move forward, or the relationship stalls/ends.
As to which stage is the most problematic to deal with, that is hands down the manifest stage. This stage is where the ‘point of no return’ can happen, and people go too far and push past the point where heads are clear and relationships can be mended. This stage ultimately determines how the aftermath stage will go. If violence and ugliness are in this stage, irreparable damage is more than likely going to happen.
When looking for the different phases of organizational conflict, I came across a great article from Louis Pondy, after he created his original article from the 60s about organizational conflict. What I found very interesting is that his perspective from the 60s to the 90s morphed a bit. Admittedly, Pondy referred to himself as a product of the ‘silent generation’ and viewed conflict much differently than his did decades later. (Pondy, 1992). Pondy surmised that his article of the 60’s was a “fundamentally cooperative set of relationships, negotiated as part of the process of forming the organization, misfired occasionally because of human failings — selfishness, jealousy, empire building, failures of communication and limitations on cognitive capacities lead to conflict” (1992). Pondy further shared that perhaps the biggest flaw was the “assumption that organizations are cooperative, purposive systems which occasionally experience conflicts or breakdowns in cooperation” (1992). Ironically, Pondy regards his past evaluation as being the opposite of what he considered the ‘cooperative system’. He regards organizations as having internal conflicts. I really enjoyed his perspective of relating organizations as ‘arenas’ and managers are the fight promoters and they “organize the ‘bouts’ as well as referee them” (1992). Pondy further said that if conflict is not evident, then the organization has essentially no reason for ‘being’ (1992).
References
Pondy, L.R. (1967). Organizational conflict: concepts and models. Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 12, No. 2 (Sep., 1967), pp. 296-320. Retrieved from http://www-personal.umich.edu/~lroot/ConflictMgtConceptMap/Pondy-Organizational-Conflict-1967.pdf
Pondy, L. R. (1992). Reflections on organizational conflict. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 13(3), 257–261. https://doi-org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1002/job.4030130305
Bryan Velez Rodriguez
Oct 19, 2022, 8:10 PM
Unread
Hello,
There are five different phases of organizational conflict. The first is the latent stage in which the conflict first arises but those involved might not yet know there is a conflict. The second stage is the perceived stage in which people are now aware of the conflict and the situation has been notified. The third stage is the felt stage in which the parties feel the emotions toward the conflict. The fourth is the manifest stage in which the conflict becomes apparent and may be observed. The last stage is the aftermath stage in which some sort of resolution or dissolution occurs with respect to the conflict (blog.udemy.com). If there were one stage more problematic than the rest, it might be the manifest stage because if multiple people can observe a conflict occurring, it may be impactful. It may also have the potential to involve them in the conflict.
-Editor, U. (2022, October 5). 5 stages of conflict and workplace conflict resolution. Udemy Blog. Retrieved October 19, 2022, from https://blog.udemy.com/stages-of-conflict/
