Organizational Communication, Conflict, and/or Negotiation

This paper analyzes the scope of organizational communication, conflict, and negotiation. It discusses different styles of communication, various forms of conflict, and the main method of conflict resolution through negotiation.

Running head: ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION
Organizational Communication, Conflict, and/or Negotiation
[Author Name(s), First M. Last, Omit Titles and Degrees]
[Institutional Affiliation(s)]
Author Note

Organization communication 1
Abstract
Communication is vital for organization growth. In addition, most people in an organization
come from different backgrounds, cultures, and understand language differently. With this, it is
impossible to have an organization that has never experienced a conflict. Organization conflicts
are normal as people will have different thoughts or different understanding of some concepts.
However, even if conflicts inevitable, they can easily lead to the fall of the organization. The best
method is to always have a resolution plan that can address the conflicts when they come up. The
intention of this paper is to discuss the issue of organizational communication, conflicts, and
their resolution through negotiations.
Keywords: Communication, Conflicts, Negotiation, Resolution

Organization communication 2
Organization Communication, Conflict and Negotiation
Communication is essential for every business success. In the business world,
communication is necessary for conducting business in an efficient manner. In respect of
organization performance, business communication refers to the sharing and understanding of
information inside or outside the organization among the stakeholders. In addition to
communications, organization conflicts are also inevitable because people will always differ in
terms of opinions, culture, and background among others. On the other hand, it is alarming to
have an organization marred with frequent conflicts. Again, it would also me alarming having an
organization that experiences no conflict. The determination of this paper is to focus on the
analysis of organizational communication, conflicts, and their management.
Organization Communication
A common definition of communication is the exchange of information between the
sender and the receiver either through visual, oral, written or via an electronic channel with an
implication that the receiver comprehends the message (Bovée & Thill, 2018, p. 52).
Organization communication is then understood as the process of sharing and understanding
information among the organization stakeholders both those within and outside the organization
(McLean and Moman 2012). The work of further explains that communication can be defined in
terms of how the receiver interprets the sender’s message together with the intention (Bovée &
Thill, 2018, p. 52). Given that, the work of (Putnam & Mumby, 2014; Ruck & Welch, 2012)
states that there has never been an overarching theory of organization communication since
communication takes place in different forms all depending on the subject and stakeholders.
Therefore, the key approach to organizational communication is matching the message contents
to the appropriate mode of communication for precise interpretation an intention of the sender.

Organization communication 3
The two types of organizational communication are external and internal communication
(Agarwal, n.d., p. 10). External communication refers to communication that happens between
the organization and its actors within the organization environment. Internal communication
refers to the exchange of information with organizational communication. In overall,
organization communications happen in several directions which are downward, upward,
horizontal, and diagonal communication (Lunenburg, 2010; Verma, 2013). The information in
downward communication flow from the top of the management to the bottom. Downward
communication is more common in organizations that use authoritative management style where
the content of the information is mainly, organization directives, work instructions, and
information on policies and procedures (Verma, 2013).
Information in upward communication moves from the low levels to the top where there
is the management. The main task of this communication is to inform top management of the
situation. According to (Trajkova & Trajkova, 2014), upward communication enables the top
management to hear what is happening with the employees and understand the organizational
problems. Therefore, upward communication gives the employees an opening for expressing
their needs, opinions, and inspire the top management decision-making.
Horizontal communication occurs where there is an exchange of information between the
organization departments and the employees within their organizational level, or a different unit
of the same status in the organization (Trajkova & Trajkova, 2014). Horizontal communication
enables the organization to coordinate and integrate relevant information and activities within the
departments that engage independent tasks. Diagonal communication occurs where information
flow between people who are on different organizational levels, and on an indirect relationship
within the organizational hierarchy (Trajkova & Trajkova, 2014). There are only a few

Organization communication 4
organizations that use diagonal communication and it is mainly used to supplement other types
of communication. In most cases, it is used where there is a need for direct communication
between top-level management and employees without the need to use the middle levels.
Conflict in An Organization
In most cases, conflict in an organization results from lack of communication preventing
employees from raising their opinions. If organizational management communicates on time, it
prevents the situation from escalating, thus avoiding the conflict or its impact. There is no
organization that can operate without meeting some conflicts at some point. However,
management needs to act fast and solve the situation. Also, there is a need to recognize that
conflicts are part of human nature, and they can be helpful if the causes are analyzed and
rectified. Conflict in an organization has been defined in as a condition of social discord which
constitutes distress and other negative feelings such as frustration, anxiety, and anger (Gilin
Oore, Leiter, & LeBlanc, 2015).
According to (Hener, 2010), the most common types of organizational conflicts are
vertical conflicts, horizontal, line staff, and role conflicts. Vertical conflicts are caused by the
nature of the supervisor to micro-manage always try telling the employees what to do instead of
letting them do their job (Fahed-Sreih, 2017, p. 29). In most cases, this type of conflict is
common in organizations that use high levels of formalities. Horizontal conflicts happen between
employees working in the same department (Fahed-Sreih, 2017, p. 29). In most of the times,
horizontal conflicts result from differing ideas and interests relating to the way resources are
distributed. The line staff conflict happens between line employees and their supporting staff
within the same department or within the entire organization (Fahed-Sreih, 2017, p. 29). Role

Organization communication 5
conflict stems from incomplete or mistaken comprehension of the task assigned to the employee
at a specific time (Fahed-Sreih, 2017, p. 29).
In respect of organization conflicts, the three main causes are either organizational and
personal. Organization causes are factors that involve organization systems such as
compensation plans, budgeting and decision making (Nelson & Quick, 2013, p. 474). Other
factors include organization design, the existence of different organizational units, limited
resources, an unclear differentiation of duties in the organization, interdependence,
specialization, and differing goals among others (Nelson & Quick, 2013, p. 474). Personal
reasons can come from personal interests when individuals interact. The personal causes can be
an inaccurate estimation of persons, communication errors, distrust among persons, and personal
characteristics (Nelson & Quick, 2013, p. 474).
According to (Paulo, 2016), there are both positive and negative consequences of
organizational conflicts. Positive outcomes happen when conflict causes the organization to
improve its social aspects, develop creative ideas, correct problems, make quality decisions,
organization re-engineering, develop group cohesion, and solidarity within the organization. On
the other hand, negative outcomes occur when conflict lead to a waste of time and cases of
destruction.
It is important to understand the process of conflicts in order to manage them effectively.
According to (Jones & Metzger, 2018), conflicts follow a dynamic process that comes in stages.
The initial stage is the latent stage where the conflict is concealed with few signs of its start. The
second state is the perception stage where the parties realize the existence of the hidden conflict.
The third stage is the personalization where conflicting sides start experiencing some tension,
anxiety and other unpeaceful states. The fourth stage is the actual manifestation of the conflict

Organization communication 6
with both sides showing signs of low spirits, open aggression, and breaking organizational rules.
The last stage is the consequence stage where the organization is left with outcomes of the
conflict. In this stage, either the parties find a solution, or the conflicts cools back to the latent
conflict.
Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
After defining causes, importance and effects of conflicts, an organization must have a
way of solving the conflict. Conflict resolution requires a clearly defined strategy for
management. Conflict resolution suggests various techniques that focus on addressing the root
cause of the conflict (Alex, 2013, p. 98). Ideally, most people refer to methods such as
negotiation or peaceful bargaining when they refer to organizational conflict resolution. Thus, as
each organization is different from the other, each one of them should have an identified macro
strategy that functions effectively in solving the conflict and recollecting the negative of the
conflicts (Overton & Lowry, 2013). According to (Kuper, 2013, p. 111), a negotiation which
adopts persuasion and face to face strategies is working as the main strategy of conflict
resolution in the organization.
The work of (Carneiro, Novais, & Neves, 2014) provides negotiation as the best method
of conflict resolution in an organization. Negotiation as a strategy where the interests of the
conflicting sides are partially common and partially unlike (Eemeren & Eemeren, 2010).
Negotiation as a whole can involve various techniques some of which are meant to be peaceful
while others follow the method of compelling one side to compromise. Among these is the face-
to-face tactic. By using this tactic, mutual confidence as a basis for negotiation can be
established (Carneiro et al., 2014, p. 48). The second one is the persuading tactic which assumes
usage of different methods and manners to win over allies and influence a healthier negotiating

Organization communication 7
position (Peleckis & Peleckiene, 2015). Another method used in conflict resolution is the
deceitful tactic (Gaspar & Schweitzer, 2012). This method assumes giving untrue data and
arguments. However, the success of the strategy is determined by how well the negotiating sides
know each other, as well as whether deceit is successful. There is also a threat tactic. This
method is based on deterrence from the side which is more powerful or holds a better position
(Sinaceur, Van Kleef, Neale, Adam, & Haag, 2011). The stronger side presents consequences to
the weaker if it does not accept the proposed solution. Another method of resolution is the
promise tactic. Just like the threat tactic, promise tactic is based on power and better position
(Cohen, 2010). The stronger side persuades the weaker by making a promise. Lastly, there is a
concession tactic. Of all the negotiation strategies, this one is the most important. It is meant to
make a concession in a normal way without making many concessions. The tactic helps in
creating an atmosphere of goodwill and readiness for solving the problem at hand.
Conclusion
This paper aimed to analyze the scope of organizational communication, conflict, and
negotiation. The paper started by analyzing communication in the organizational context. In this
approach, the paper looked at different styles of communication which were the downward,
upward, horizontal and diagonal communication. The paper then moved to discuss the notion of
conflict in an organization. Like communication, the paper also looked at various forms of
conflict and their causes. Finally, this paper finished by looking at conflict resolution in an
organization where it has focused on negotiation as the main method.

Organization communication 8
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