Leadership and Conflict Management

This assignment delves into the complex interplay between leadership and conflict management within organizations. Students will examine various leadership styles and their impact on conflict resolution processes. The analysis will encompass theoretical frameworks and real-world case studies to illustrate how effective leadership can foster constructive conflict management, leading to improved organizational outcomes.

Running head: Management and organization
Management and organization

Management and organization
Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
Management and leadership.......................................................................................................................3
Conflict and negotiation..............................................................................................................................5
Impact of management and leadership on culture of the organization......................................................8
Impact of conflict and negotiation on culture of the organization..............................................................8
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................9
References.................................................................................................................................................10
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Management and organization
Introduction
The report provides a brief overview of the management, leadership, conflict, and
negotiation in the organization. The management and leadership is an integral part of the
organization. None of the company can survive its business without effective and dynamic
management and leadership. Along with this, the report explains the role of the conflict and
negotiation in Unilever. Conflict refers to an issue and disagreement which arise in the
organization. It can affect the success and growth of the company. Unilever has been selected in
the report to show the impact of management, leadership, conflict, and negotiation on the culture
of the organization. Unilever is one of the biggest brands in food and beverage industry. Further,
it also maintains CSR and sustainability within the organization. It describes that how Unilever
develops and builds a dynamic culture in the organization to increase the productivity of the
organization as well as employees.
Unilever is a British transnational consumer’s goods corporation with its headquartered is
located in the London United Kingdom. The company is dealing with various products such as
beverages, food, and personal care products. It is one of the biggest consumer goods companies
evaluated by the revenue. Unilever is the oldest multinational corporation in the UK. The
company provides its products in more than 190 countries. There are approx 169,000 employees
employed in the organization. In today’s era, the firm is expanding and flourishing its business
activities and operations globally (Unilever, 2017).
Management and leadership
The management is the process of planning, organizing, staffing, coordinating, directing
and controlling the activities of the business enterprises. The planning, organizing, staffing,
coordinating and controlling are the function of the management. The management helps to
assign the task and responsibilities to the people in the organization (Mujtaba, 2013). It also
helps to attain the long-term goals and objectives of the firm. There is a close relationship
between leadership and management. Further, leadership is the ability to influence and control
over the subordinates in the organization (Cummings et al, 2010.). The leadership is the action
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and process of leading people in the organization in order to accomplish the goals and objectives.
Leaders influence the behaviors of other people in several ways. A leader and manager set a
clear mission and vision for the company and they motive the employees to increase the
productivity and efficiency (Rowe, 2007). The managers and top management manage the
employees by providing guidance and suggestions and they build and develop morale among the
employees. Along with this, many companies use leadership styles to motivate and encourage
the employees. The leadership styles have been discussed below.
Autocratic leadership: This leadership style is used by the many companies to maintain control
over the supervisors in the organization. In this leadership style, leader’s holds power and
responsibilities and they do not delegate the responsibilities and authorities to subordinates. The
managers and leaders take decisions on their own without discussing with employees. There is
no flexibility in the autocratic leadership style (Nam Nguyen and Mohamed, 2011).
Democratic leadership: In this leadership style, employees are involved in the decisions
making the process of the firm. The democratic leadership style is based on the subordinates in
the organization. The democratic leaders exercise their responsibilities and authorities to the
subordinates at the workplace. The final responsibilities are held by the leaders in order to
influence the subordinates within the organization (Brauckmann and Pashiardis, 2011).
Transformational leadership: The transformational leaders motivate and encourage other
people to do work effectively and efficiently. They set the typical and challenging expectations
in order to attain the higher performance within the organization.
Laissez-faire leadership: Under this leadership style, leaders assign responsibilities and
authorities to the workers in the firm. They provide freedom to subordinate for doing work
without any pressure and interference (Antonakis and Day, 2017).
Transactional leadership: This leadership involves in the exchange process. Feedback is
collected by the top management under this leadership style in order to determine the growth and
success of the firm in near future.
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Team leadership: The team leadership style provides motivation and inspiration to the workers
to do work effectively and efficiently. But this leadership style may fail due to poor leadership
qualities in the organization (Iqbal, Anwar, and Halder, 2015).
Cross-cultural leadership: If there are various types of culture in the country then cross
leadership style is used by the company. Cross-cultural leadership style is used by the many
companies to evaluate and identify the culture of the different countries (Robert et al, 2010).
In addition, the company uses models of the management to increase and enhance the
efficiency and effectiveness. There are various management theories used by the company to
increase and maximize the productivity and efficiency. The theories of the management include
contingency theory, systems theory, and Chaos theory. The management theories have been
discussed below.
Contingency theory: The contingency theory is effective and dynamic management theory. It
depends on the management behaviors and specific situations. This theory is used by the various
companies in order to gain success and growth within the organization.
System theory: In today’s era, system theory is one of the significant theories of the
management. A system theory is used by the companies to evaluate and identify the marketing
elements which affect the profitability and growth of the business. This theory helps to maintain
coordination and collaboration between employees and employers as well (Hatch and Cunliffe,
2013). The organization uses system theory in order to attain the long-term mission and vision of
the firm.
Conflict and negotiation
The conflict management may be defined as a process of minimising the adverse aspects of
conflicts while maximizing the positive aspects of the conflicts. The main objective of the
conflict management is to enhance and increase the learning and outcomes including
performance and effectiveness within the organization (Kilgour and Eden, 2010). The conflict
management plays a vital role in every organization. The significance of the conflicts has been
discussed below.
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 The conflict management is the long way process to resolve the key issues and problems
of the workers. Further, the conflict management also plays an effective and significant
role in the personal lives of the people.
 This management helps to find a middle and unique way to implement the ideas
successfully and effectively (De Wit, Greer, and Jehn, 2012).
 It is also important to reduce and prevent the fight within the organization.
There are many potential and effective causes of conflict at the workplace which have been
discussed below.
 The conflict depends on the organizational framework. For example, if the organization
uses a matrix structure then decisional conflict arises at the workplace.
 Limited resources are other reason of conflict which affects the business activities and
operations globally. There is a high competition among the people for inadequate
resources in the organization. As a result, it increases the conflicts and disputes among
the people.
 Task interdependence is one of the biggest causes of the conflicts which affects the
efficiency and performance of the workers (Rahim, 2010).
The outcomes of the conflicts have been discussed below.
 If the conflicts arise at the workplace then it increases the stress and anxiety among the
employees which reduces the efficiency and productivity of the organization.
 The employees’ turnover and absenteeism will be increased due to conflicts. Further, it
also reduces teamwork and collaboration within the organization (Jehn, Rispens and
Thatcher, 2010).
If the conflict arises in the organization then the company needs to resolve the conflicts to
accomplish the long-term goals and objectives of the firm. There are various ways to manage the
conflict and dispute in a business that have been discussed below.
 First, the top management and managers must understand and measure the people’s
emotional responses and actions to resolve the various issues in the organization.
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 Further, the organization needs to conduct and implement regular feedback meetings to
address the key issues and barriers of the workers. Along with this, the firm must create a
formal grievance procedure at all level of management to eliminate the conflicts and
disputes of the workers.
 Apart from this, a committee must be appointed by the organization to handle the
disputes and conflicts of the workers (Moore, 2014).
 Personal differences among the employees are common issues in the organization. In
addition, conflicts arise due to ineffective and poor communication at the workplace.
The firm uses effective and dynamic conflict management strategies to resolve the conflict
and dispute of the people. The conflict management strategies and approaches include
accommodating, avoiding, compromising, competing and collaborating strategies to reduce the
key issues and problems. Many companies use conflict and negotiation theories to attain the
goals and objectives. The collaborating approach helps to develop and find the solution to
resolve the conflicts easily. Further, if the company needs to take urgent and immediate decisions
then competing approach is used by the organization to eliminate the conflict. In addition,
compromising approach is used by the firm to overcome the conflicts and barrier in the
organization. Along with this, accommodating approach is one of the most significant and
passive conflict resolution approaches within the organization. The firm maintains a reciprocal
relationship with employees by using accommodating approach to eliminate the disputes.
Avoiding is the final approach to avoid and remove the conflict at the workplace (Deutsch,
Coleman, and Marcus, 2011).
Along with this, the firm uses negotiation to settle and resolve the disputes and conflicts of
the employees. Negotiation is a method and approach by which employees settle their disputes
and differences. It is a process by which agreement and compromise are reached while ignoring
the disputes and argument. The main aim of the negotiation is to attain the best possible
outcomes and results for their position in the organisation. The organization uses two types of
negotiations strategies such as distributive negotiation and integrative negotiations in order to
increase the profitability and revenue of the firm. Under distributive negotiations, two parties try
to maximize and increase the amount of the value within the organization. This strategy provides
competitive benefits in the global market. Apart from this, the organization uses integrative
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strategies in order to gain the competitive advantages globally. The integrative strategy is also
called cooperative negotiation strategy. Further, it is based on the value creation concept. Under
this strategy, problems and barriers are solved by the employees mutually. Along with this,
behavioral approach and attitudinal approach are also used by Unilever to resolve the conflict
and disputes within the organization.
Impact of management and leadership on culture of the organization
The organizational culture refers to values and beliefs which have existed in the
organization for a long time. The management and leadership highly affect the culture of the
organization. Unilever is a food and beverage company where effective leadership and
management are essential to attain the corporate goals and objectives of the firm. The effective
management helps to maintain a healthy and safe working environment in the organization. It
also helps to provide job security and job satisfaction to the employees. Effective leadership
helps to increase and enhance the productivity and efficiency of the employees. By using
leadership styles, the company is able to understand and evaluate the needs, expectations, and
requirements of the consumers. Further, Unilever manages the business activities and operations
smoothly in order to determine the long-term success and growth of the organization. Leadership
is the part of the management which is used by the company to influence the behavior of other
people in the organization. The role of the managers and top management depend on the culture
of the organization. The top management and managers perform task and duties effectively to
maintain a favorable and dynamic culture within the organization. The management functions
include planning, organizing, direction, and controlling which are completed by the managers.
Along with this, management models are also used by the firm to carry the business activities
and operations smoothly. Apart from this leaders affect the effectiveness and culture of the
organization. The leadership skills and traits are useful for promoting and enhancing a healthy
organizational culture in Unilever (Mobley, Wang, and Li, 2012).
Impact of conflict and negotiation on culture of the organization
The conflict and dispute adversely affect the culture and environment of the organization.
The conflict influences the productivity and efficiency of the employees. The employees are not
able to work effectively and efficiently due to conflict and dispute. Therefore, it has a negative
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impact on the culture and reputation of Unilever. If the conflict arises in the different department
then it disrupts the production, efficiency, and sales of the company (Gelfand et al, 2012). Due to
conflict, employees are not able to provide effective and unique products and services of
Unilever. As a result, it decreases the revenue and profitability of the company. Disputes and
conflicts damage the business of Unilever therefore, the firm needs to resolve the problems and
key issues of the employees. Unilever must maintain the code of conducts and business ethics
within the organization in order to resolve the dispute and conflict of the employees. Along with
this, negotiation has a positive impact on the culture of the organization (Ybema and Byun,
2009). Through negotiation, employees settle and resolve their disputes and conflicts within the
organization. Therefore, it helps to make a favorable working environment and culture at the
workplace. Negotiation is the flexible method to reduce and eliminate the conflict in the
organization. Various negotiation approaches are used by Unilever to overcome the conflicts and
disputes (Redpath et al, 2013). It will help to make a good position in the global market and it
will also increase the profit and revenue of the company in near future. Negotiation helps to
reduce the cultural differences and values of the organization. It also helps to maintain a good
communication and collaboration within the organization. The conflict also arises due to
different culture because people come from different countries for doing work in Unilever.
Therefore, negotiation system is used by Unilever to eliminate barriers and key issues of the
organization. By using effective negotiation strategies, the firm is able to maintain an effective
and dynamic culture in the organization (Gates, 2011).
Conclusion
On the above discussion, it has been concluded that management and leadership are
essential in every organization in order to meet the long-term goals and objectives of the firm.
Unilever uses effective and unique leadership styles to motivate and encourage employees within
the organization. Apart from this, conflict and negotiation strategies and approaches are used by
the company to eliminate the barriers and key issues of Unilever. Management, leadership,
conflict, and negotiation are the part of every organization in order to maintain a favorable
working environment and culture within the organization. By using management and leadership
strategies, the company is able to build and develop a good position in the global market. In
addition negotiation system handles the conflict and disputes of the employees. It also helps to
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develop and build a dynamic culture in the organization for doing work effectively and
efficiently.
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