Individual project

BUMAN204A Business Relationship Management

ASSESSMENT 3 PART A
Erica Cong / 806084000

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Table of Contents
Summary of situation (hypothetical).......................................................................................3
Introduction............................................................................................................................ 3
Types of conflicts................................................................................................................... 4
Relationships and attitudes between team members.............................................................4
References............................................................................................................................ 6

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Summary of situation (hypothetical)
There is a new team formed from two companies merging into one. There are several
problems that occur between the new team which consists of cross-generational members
and employees who have lost colleagues to redundancies. Bacal (1998, p.8) defines
workplace conflict as “issues that generates frequent expressions of emotions, frustration,
and anger”. Different age groups between the cross-generational members cause
differences in perspective, styles, and experiences. The forming stage was not going well,
whereas everyone did not get along because of the different age groups that happened
between them. Amanda, as a generation Z, is very flexible doing her job. As an individual
who was born after the widespread adoption of digital technology, Amanda used to
communicate with her colleagues by text messaging or messenger. While Gabriella always
focus on getting the necessary task in order to achieve goals. As a generation X, Gabriella
tends to communicate directly to her colleagues. These differences between Gabriella and
Amanda can cause a conflict in the workplace. Gabriella feels that she has more experience
in the world of work; therefore, she wants Amanda to follow her work style and how she
communicates with other team members. In the meantime, Amanda did not want to follow
what Gabriella just ordered because Amanda felt that everyone have different work style,
and she is comfortable with the way she works. Conflict in the workplace can have a
negative effect on the work environment and relationship between workers (Yasmin & Aleya
2017). Moreover, from the very beginning of work, some of the workers have problems
socializing with their colleagues. They act as if they are not comfortable with the new
environment of the workplace and new members. To improve the company’s performance,
as a team member, they need to get along and communicate with each other frequently. If
not resolved quickly, these conflicts will cause a problem for the manager to move the team
towards the performing stage of team development.

Introduction
Conflict is inevitable in any situation where people spend more extended periods of time
together, such as in the workplace. Workplace conflicts between team members are
common happened in the workplace because of the fact that there will have an environment
where decisions are made, and personality clashes will occur. Moreover, it is a
disagreement resulting from individuals or groups that they have different attitudes, values or
needs. Conflict in the workplace should be resolved in a timely manner to ensure that the
right resources are used in the process.

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This report will discuss types of conflicts that occur between Amanda and Gabriella as a new
team and Relationship and attitudes between team members. At the beginning of the report
will explain the summary of the situation that happened in the workplace.

Types of conflicts
The new team from the merger process between two companies requires adaptation, and it
is common for conflicts to arise in the workplace. There are some types of conflict that are
occurring between team members; one of them is Interpersonal conflict caused by personal
differences. Personal factors such values differences can cause conflict in the workplace
(Beheshtifar & Zare 2013). A difference in values is seen clearly when a generational gap is
present. Amanda, as a young worker, may have different values for the workplace than older
workers. Differences in value are not necessarily the cause of employee conflict at work, but
failure to accept these differences is. In the situation above, Gabriella feels she has a lot
more experience, than Amanda should follow her work style. These are not the right thing to
do in the workplace. When employees fail to deal with differences in a tolerant manner, it
usually triggers conflicts that offend someone’s principles.
Environmental stress is one of the conflicts that occur besides personal differences. It is very
common for new team members having environmental stress as they need to adapt to the
new workplace. The team members might experience the rapid change in the workplace
such a new role, new management, and new colleagues. Moreover, some of the workers
experience difficulties to interact with their new colleagues. Whereas creating
communication effectively is very important in the workplace. A lack of communication can
lead to low productivity and misunderstandings. In addition, these changes can lead to a
damaged relationship between the employees, and can ultimately have a negative effect on
the company’s reputation in the workplace. Even worse, it can badly affect the employee’s
mental and physical health (Harshana PVS 2018).
In this conflict situation that happened between Amanda and Gabriella, the roles that they
are adopted is a critic. Both of them are criticized each other about their work style.
Moreover, some people have a different response to conflict. The different response of team
towards conflict can lead to different consequences. In the situation above, Amanda and
Gabriella are arguing which work style of them need to follow. This style of conflict
management may damage the relationship between them, as it does not pursue a win-win
solution.

Relationships and attitudes between team members

Workplace conflict is inevitable when workers of diverse backgrounds and different work
styles are brought together for a shared business purpose. There are some conflicts appear

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between the employees because different age group lead to different work ethic and
communication. In the hypothetical above shows that some of the team members do not
have a positive attitude towards the new environment and new team. Furthermore, the
attitudes will have a huge impact on the ability to resolve conflict. In these conflicts, their
attitudes towards conflict are negative because there is no good solution to solve the
problem. Moreover, their response in conflict also not a correct response in the face of
conflict. They keep arguing about which work style they need to follow as they have different
work style. The conflict that happened between them will make their relationship and the
work environment getting worse as they need to adapt to the new team. Whereas, it is
important for employees to build quality relationships with their co-workers. Collins and
Rourke (2005) maintain that conflicts may create an opportunity for employees to learn
strategies for effectively handling similar conflicts in the future.

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References

Bacal, R 1998, Conflict prevention in the workplace: Using Cooperative Communication,

Bacal & associates.

Beheshtifar, M & Zare, E 2013, ‘Interpersonal Conflict: A Substantial factor to Organizational

Failure’, International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, vol.
3, no. 5, pp. 401-402.

Collins, D & Rourke, S 2005, Managing Conflict and Workplace Relationships, Ohio: Mason.

Harshana PVS 2018, ‘Work Related Stress: A Literature Review’, Department of Agriculture
Economic, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 001.

Yasmin, K & Aleya 2017, ‘Workplace conflicts: Classifications, causes and management
strategies’, International Journal of Academic Research and Development, vol. 2, no. 4, pp.
210.