Unit 4&5: Organization

System
4.1-Conflict Management
and 5.1-Stress
Management
Contents :
Conflict Management
– Definition and Meaning, Sources of Conflict, Types
of Conflict, Conflict Management Approaches
-Meaning of stress, Stressors, Sources of Stress
-Types of stress, Burnout
-Stress Management – Individual & Organizational
Strategies
Stress at workplace: Work Stressors – Prevention and
Management of stress – Balancing work and Life,
workplace spirituality.
➢ It is a process that begins when one party perceives that
another party has negatively affected or is about to negatively
affect something that the first party cares about.

When two or more people with different backgrounds and

expectations interact with each other, the stage is set for
potential conflict in organizational life.

That point in an ongoing activity when an interaction “crosses

over” to become an interparty conflict
 Encompasses a wide range of conflicts
that people experience in organizations
Incompatibility of goals
Differences over interpretations of
facts
Disagreements based on behavioral
expectations
Forms of Interactionist Conflict
Functional Conflict

14-5
• Conflict that supports
the goals of the group
and improves its
performance

Dysfunctional
Conflict
• Conflict that hinders
group performance
Types of Interactionist Conflict
 Task Conflict
 Conflicts over content and goals of the work
 Low-to-moderate levels of this type are FUNCTIONAL

 Relationship Conflict
 Conflict based on interpersonal relationships
 Almost always DYSFUNCTIONAL

 Process Conflict
 Conflict over how work gets done
 Low levels of this type are FUNCTIONAL
 Types and levels of conflict:

IntraIndividual (Intrapersonal
Conflict)
Interpersonal Conflict
Organizational Conflict
Conflict Management: The use of resolution and simulation
techniques to achieve the desired level of conflict

Conflict Management Techniques:

➢ Conflict Resolution ➢ Conflict Stimulation
Techniques Techniques
 Problem solving  Bringing in outsiders
 Superordinate goals  Communication
 Expansion of resources  Restructuring the
 Avoidance organization
 Smoothing  Appointing a devil’s
advocate
 Compromise
 Authoritative
command
 Altering the human
variable
 Altering the structural
variables

14-8 pp. 59–89

Source: Based on S. P. Robbins, Managing Organizational Conflict: A Nontraditional Approach (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1974),
 People who work more
than 39 hours a week
are putting their health
at risk

Indian professionals
suffer higher stress level
than most workers
globally, shows study

As the pandemic continues to

unfold, three in five employees in
India (59%) reported feeling
extremely, highly, or somewhat

Stress Management stressed on a daily basis, a higher

level than both the global and Asia
region averages, according to a
survey report by Marsh India, the
largest insurance broker in the
country.
 An adaptive response to a situation that is
perceived as challenging or threatening to the
person’s well-being
 Stress can be defined as our mental, physical,
emotional, and behavioral reactions to any
perceived demands or threats.
 Stress is the reaction people have to excessive
pressures or other types of demand placed
upon them. It arises when they worry that they
can’t cope.
 Stress is the “wear and tear” our minds and
bodies experience as we attempt to cope with
our continually changing environment

S=P>R

Stress occurs when the pressure is greater

than the resource
 Stress isthat feeling experienced by an individual at the time
to work or during the time of work or on completion of a
particular task assigned to him by his superior fro time to
time- James Haney
 Stress isregarded as an interaction between the coping skills
possessed by an individual and the exact demands imposed by
the environment surrounding him-Spielberger
 Stress isconsequence of any external action in the form of an
adaptive response which is followed by individual
characteristic or psychological factors affecting an individual
during a given situation or even that calls for special physical
or psychological favors from a particular individual
Features of Stress:

 Stress may result in any kind of deviation

 Stress may be result of individual’s interaction with environmental
stimuli
 It is not necessary that stress is always dysfunctional
 Stress can be temporary or long term
• Stress can also have a positive effect, spurring
motivation and awareness, providing the stimulation
to cope with challenging situations.
• Stress also provides the sense of urgency and
alertness needed for survival when confronting
threatening situations.
• Conditions that tend to cause stress are called as
stressors
Stressors and Stress Outcomes
Individual Consequences
Challenge Stressors Differences of Stress
Work Load

Task Pressure Physiological

Stress
Time Urgency Behavioural

Psychological

Hindrance Stressors

Keep you from reaching goals

Office politics
Red tape
Role clarity
Types of Stress:
1] Eustress
• Eustress is the good stress that motivates you to continue working.
• It is this stress that helps us to continue to be happy, motivated,
challenged and productive.
• Hence, eustress contribute to outstanding performance and output.

2] Distress
• Distress or bad stress, is when the good stress becomes too much to
bear or cope with.
• Distress can lead to poor decision making. Also it can bring in various
physiological and behavioral symptoms.
• It can break a person’s potential success and fulfillment in life. It is
one of the main killers of winning and success.
Potential Sources of Stress at Work:
❑ Environmental Factors
– Economic uncertainties of the
business cycle
– Political uncertainties of
political systems
– Technological uncertainties of
technical innovations
– Terrorism in threats to
physical safety and security
 Organizational Factors
– Task demands related to the job
– Role demands of functioning in an
organization
– Interpersonal demands created by
other employees
– Organizational structure (rules and
regulations)
– Organizational leadership
(managerial style)
– Organization’s life stage (growth,
stability, or decline)
❑ Individual Factors
– Family and personal relationships
– Economic problems from exceeding earning capacity
– Personality problems arising for basic disposition
❑ Individual Differences
– Perceptual variations of how reality will affect the
individual’s future.
– Greater job experience moderates stress effects. –
Social support buffers job stress.
– Internal locus of control lowers perceived job stress.
– Strong feelings of self-efficacy reduce reactions to job
stress.
Consequences of Stress
Stressors are additive: high levels of stress can lead to the
following symptoms
– Physiological
• Blood pressure, headaches, stroke
– Psychological
• Dissatisfaction, tension, anxiety, irritability, boredom, and
procrastination • Greatest when roles are unclear in the presence
of conflicting demands
– Behavioral
• Changes in job behaviors, increased smoking or drinking, different
eating habits, rapid speech, fidgeting, sleep disorders
Managing Stress
Individual Approaches
– Implementing time management
– Increasing physical exercise
– Relaxation training
– Expanding social support network
Organizational Approaches
– Improved personnel selection and job placement
– Training – Use of realistic goal setting
– Redesigning of jobs
– Increased employee involvement
– Improved organizational communication
– Offering employee sabbaticals
– Establishment of corporate wellness programs
 Individual coping Strategies:
 Physicalexercise
 Relaxation
✓ Bio-feedback
✓ Meditation
 Work home transition-review of activities,
priorities, next day activities
 Cognitive therapy
 Net working
Organizational coping strategies
 Supportive organizational climate-
participation and involvement of employees
in decision making process, feeling of
belongingness
 Job- enrichment-improving content factors
such as responsibility, recognition,
opportunity for achievement of
advancement. Skill variety, task identity, task
significance & feedback
Organizational coping strategies(cont.)

 Organizational role clarity: role analysis

technique
 Career planning & counseling: Professional
advice
 Stress control workshops & employee
assistance program: periodical workshops
for control and reduction of stress
Balancing Work and Life:

 Work–life balance is a concept including proper

prioritizing between "work" (career and ambition)
 and "lifestyle"
(health, pleasure, leisure, family and spiritual
development/meditation) WORK LIFE BALANCE
Workplace Spirituality

 The recognition that people have an inner life that

nourishes and is nourished by meaningful work that
takes place in the context of the community

 NOT about organized religious practices

 People seek to find meaning and purpose in their work.

Why Spirituality Now?
 Asa counterbalance to the pressures and stress of a
turbulent pace of life and the lack of community many
people feel and their increased need for involvement
and connection.
 Formalized religion hasn’t worked for many people.
 Job
demands have made the workplace dominant in
many people’s lives, yet they continue to question the
meaning of work.
 Thedesire to integrate personal life values with one’s
professional life.
 Anincreasing number of people are finding that the
pursuit of more material acquisitions leaves them
unfulfilled.
Characteristics of a Spiritual
Organization
 Concerned with helping people develop and reach their full
potential
 Directly addresses problems created by work/life conflicts
 Four characteristics of spiritual organizations:
1. Strong sense of purpose
2. Trust and respect
3. Humanistic work practices
4. Toleration of employee expression
 Spirituality is shown in a workplace
in the form of following activities
 Bereavement programs.
 Wellness information displayed and distributed.
 Employee Assistance Programs.
 Programs that integrate work/family.
 Management systems that encourage personal and spiritual transformation.
 Servant leadership – the desire to serve others first in preference to self.
 Stewardship – leadership practices that support growth and well-being of others.
 Diversity programs that create inclusive cultures.
 Integration of core values and core business decisions and practices.
 McKinsey, the global consultancy giant
introduced meditation program for their
employee wellbeing and was once even able
to secure a business worth 20 million USD
through a spiritual program designed for an
Australian client
Southwest Airlines provide their air services at
the lowest possible rates and are
compassionately committed to delivery best
The world’s biggest independent customer experiences. They give the credits to
electrical power producer in their spiritual beliefs and values in their
Virginia, AES (Advanced organization for keeping up their business
Encryption Standard)
corporation, contributes to the
economic wellbeing of people
throughout the globe by
distributing electricity in a way
that it leads to a greener energy
future
Factory Like A Garden
 This new factory for the world’s largest motorcycle manufacturer is
located in the arid climate of northeast Rajasthan; a place where
heat and humidity are pervasive and water is a valued resource. In
response, WM+P has designed a facility which brings nature and
technology together. Vegetation surrounds the workplace, penetrates
inside to the assembly line, and makes its way onto the roof; at every
scale enhancing ambient temperatures, air quality, and the visual
environment.

The Neemrana plant is Hero’s one-of-a-kind-garden factory. From efficient

building envelope, to the Big Foot air handlers, to water and energy
optimisation – the Garden Factory demonstrates HMCL’s environmental
aspirations.
 Criticisms of Spirituality
 What is the scientific foundation?
 It is still pending: needs more research
 Are spiritual organizations legitimate: do they have the right to
impose values on employees?
 Spirituality is not about God or any religious values
 It is an attempt to help employees find meaning and value in
their work
 Are spirituality and profits compatible?
 Initial evidence suggests that they are
 Spirituality may result in greater productivity and dramatically
lower turnover
SPPU PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTIONS:

 What Strategies Bank Managers are using to manage a stress,

employees in the month of March? [10 MARKS]
 What is constructive conflict?[2 marks]
 Explain the modern view of organizational conflict[5 marks]
 Enumerate physical & emotional symptoms of stress handled by
employees of various sectors during covid pandemic. Discuss the
remedies to overcome it.[10 marks]
 Enumerate two ways to manage stress?[2 marks]
 Articulate Different Strategies used for resolving Interpersonal
Conflicts[10 Marks]
 Examine atleast 5 Organisational Strategies which can be used for
Stress Management?[10 Marks]
END OF UNIT 4……