Contents

• Conflict & Coordination – Building strategies
• Organisation- Bases for the Conflict
• Co-ordination strategies
• Perceptions and feelings
• Conclusion
• List of references

Description

Academicians and administrators are involved in conflict in the social sciences department of a university because of the hierarchal power structure existing there. Hierarchal power structures are vertical in nature and can be damaging in case of conflicts. Equity power structure is the answer to these conflicts. However, equity structures require a number of strategies in order to become effective. Further, it should be noted that conflicts are common, sometimes even healthy, in working environments.
While devising strategies to overpower conflicts there are a few essential questions that must be answered first. These include- What are some key sources of conflict in our workplace? When do they tend to occur? How do people respond to these conflicts as they arise? When we solve problems, do we do so for the moment, or do we put in place systems for addressing these types of concerns in the future?
Working around these questions we can summarise about the administrators and academicians conflict as follows-
Key sources of conflict are goal orientation, self image and stereotype, overlapping authority and task interdependencies. They tend to occur during peak time, but are present perpetually throughout the year in the university. The response to these conflicts is obviously detrimental for the working environment as it furthers hostility and hampers the efficiency of work. Therefore, collaboration and compromise are seen as two most viable principles for co-ordinating and eliminating conflicts between the two above mentioned groups.
Engaging in dialogue and negotiation around conflict is something we tend to approach with fear and hesitation, afraid that the conversation will go worse than the conflict has gone thus far. However, confronting conflicts is an important task in any organisation to weed out unnecessary redundant work hampering elements. It is the duty of the managers to ensure a conflict free, healthy working environment.