AS2 Portfolio: Conflict Resolution and Servant Leadership Approach

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Added on 2024/07/12

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This portfolio addresses conflict management and servant leadership within a professional context. Task 1 identifies problems in a case study, including interpersonal conflicts between employees and personal conflicts affecting performance. It analyzes the causes of these conflicts and suggests avoidance strategies through effective leadership. The portfolio details how a manager could handle the situation using conflict management, motivation, and negotiation skills. Task 2 defines servant leadership, emphasizing its focus on serving others and sharing power, and discusses how implementing its principles could benefit the company in the case study by fostering a better work environment and resolving conflicts effectively. The portfolio concludes that early identification of issues allows for strategic reformative approaches.

Professional Skills AS2 Portfolio
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................4
1. Identify problems presented in the case study. (150 words)...................................................4
2. What could have been the causes of the described conflict? (150 words)..............................4
3. How could have this conflict been avoided? (150 words).......................................................4
4. As a manager, how would you deal with the described situation? (400 words) Use the
following headings:..................................................................................................................... 6
• Conflict management................................................................................................................ 6
• Motivation................................................................................................................................. 6
• Negotiation Skills...................................................................................................................... 6
Task 2...............................................................................................................................................8
1. What is Servant Leadership? (300 words and refer to at least 2 academic sources................8
2. How might implementing the principles of Servant Leadership benefit the company
described in the case study? (250 words).................................................................................... 9
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................... 10
References......................................................................................................................................11
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Introduction
The report has been developed with an aim to comprehend the case scenarios provided in the
case study. The case study depicts various issues and conflicts occurring in an organisation. It
will answer various questions regarding the case study. The report will comprehend concepts of
Servant Leadership, Conflicts and Conflict Management.
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Task 1
1. Identify problems presented in the case study. (150 words)
The issues identified in the above case study relates to interpersonal conflicts amongst the
employees. Team members named Emma and Sophia were involved in a heated argument which
has impacted on their professional services. The employees reflect interpersonal conflicts. These
conflicts refer to the issues and disputes which occur in an organisation between two or more
individuals. The interpersonal conflicts occur due to differences in perceptions, viewpoints, ideas
and mindsets of an individual. Interpersonal conflicts between Sophia and Emma resulted in each
other claiming the others clients and customers which have impacted on the personal
performance. Another issue identified in the case study is the personal conflict (Saeed, et. al.,
2014). This conflict was identified with Liam. The manager had noticed decreased performance
by 30% in the individual and increased work absenteeism. The cause of actions for Liam was
associated with personal issues or problems at his home. It has been identified that the major
issues associated with the case study are interpersonal and personal conflicts.
2. What could have been the causes of the described conflict? (150 words)
The types of conflicts identified in the case study may arise in an organisation due to various
reasons. The conflicts may occur due to differences in the perceptions, ideology, mindsets and
family issues etc. The causes of conflicts for interpersonal and personal issues are mostly due to
differences in perceptions and ideas for individuals. It occurs due to mutual dislike and
personality clashes between the colleagues. In the above case study, the reason for conflicts may
be inedited as both the employees approaching others consumers and resulting in power conflict
(Rahim, 2017). The causes for Liam’s personal issues are identified as family problems he is
facing at home. His work absenteeism and late log in timings have been impacting on his work
performance. Also, the lack of guidance and effective leadership approaches at the manager’s
end can be described as another main cause for issues.
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3. How could have this conflict been avoided? (150 words)
The personal and interpersonal conflicts in the workplace can be avoided through effective
leadership approaches and strategies. Leadership enables to guide and assist the employees in
order to understand their mindsets and influence behaviours. Leadership creates opportunities to
comprehend the causes for issues and conflict between the group members and develops
effective approaches to resolve them without impacting on the performance and work
environment (De Dreu, 2015). Leadership can be applied in the above case study to avoid such
situations in the organisation. The managers in workplaces must communicate and interact with
the group members on a daily basis to assess conflicts and reasons for such issues in order to
safeguard the work performance and productivity. Leadership builds for conflict resolution
approaches such as accommodation, confrontation, counselling, avoidance and smoothing in the
right and directive approach.
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4. As a manager, how would you deal with the described situation? (400 words) Use the
following headings:
• Conflict management
• Motivation
• Negotiation Skills
As a manager, it is necessary to apply developed and strategic managerial decisions and
approaches to identify and resolve conflicts in the workplace. It is required that the manager
applies strategies of conflict resolution and management for resolving the developed conflicts
and issues. The situation described in the above case study can be handled and dealt in three
manners described as below.
Conflict Management
Conflict management refers to techniques and approaches applied in the conflicting situations in
order to resolve conflicts. Conflict management approaches include accommodation, smoothing,
avoidance, counselling and confrontation. As a manager in the described situation, the approach
of counselling is the most appropriate mode to resolve the conflict. The manager must
communicate and guide the employees having interpreted the conflicting situations (Rahim,
2017). The manager should conduct meetings and informal discussions with Emma, Sophia and
Liam. This will provide with opportunities to resolve conflicts and issues on an early stage and
clear the differences amongst the employees.
Motivation
Motivation refers to an approach which is the ability of an individual to influence the behaviours
and actions of an individual or group of individuals. Motivation creates opportunities to study the
behaviours of individuals and develop actions for influencing these behaviours in the desired
manner. Motivation can be applied in the above-described situation to analyse the reasons for
conflict between Emma and Sophia. Motivation will provide with an understanding of the
behaviours and action causes for Emma and Sophia’s conflicts. With developing an effective
understanding of the reasons the manager will be able to motivate and guide both of them to
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resolve the conflicts on personal levels. In the case of Liam, the manager can apply the approach
of motivation to develop empathy with him for unfavourable conditions in his personal lives and
provide with support to overcome these issues.
Negotiation Skills
Negotiation is referred to as the process which is applied in order to settle out the differences
amongst individuals related to various work-based programs and policies. As a manager, it is
necessary to deploy negotiation skills to resolve the issues and problems between the employees
and co-workers (Reif and Brodbeck, 2017). These skills include decision making, problem-
solving, and effective verbal communication, development of approaches and interpretation of
behaviours or actions. In the case of Liam, the manager can negotiation impact on productivity
by allowing him leaves to resolve his personal matters and coming back to work with fuller
efficiency.
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Task 2
1. What is Servant Leadership? (300 words and refer to at least 2 academic sources.
Servant Leadership is referred to as a contemporary form of leadership which creates the
opportunities for the leaders to serve the society and the regions they belong. It is the leadership
form in which the benefit and advantages of others are considered first and personal needs and
requirements are secondary. Servant leadership focuses on the sharing power amongst the team
members. It creates possibilities to comprehend the needs of other first and develop their skills or
abilities as high as possible. Servant leadership entails the desires and feelings to serve other and
accomplish their needs (Liden, et. al., 2014). The traits of a servant leader demonstrate for
valuing diversified opinions of all the team members. The servant leader focuses to fulfil
personal goals and achievements of the team members and develops approaches for attaining
these goals. The servant leaders also depict a trait of building cultures of trust. A trust
relationship is essential for a group working and for team development. Trust creates possibilities
and opportunities to increase work coordination and interpersonal relations in the organisations.
Servant Leadership also supports for developing each member of the group as a future leader. In
contrary to the traditional leadership aspect, this leadership accounts for developing the abilities
and capacities of other team members as future leaders. Servant leaders envision group members
as future leaders this is practised in the group operations by exercising delegation of authority
and power amongst the group members (Spears and Lawrence, 2016). It can be stated that
servant leadership must be practised in an organisation in order to strengthen the organisational
relations and work environment.t servant leadership must be practised in relation to the
specifications and dynamic of the work environment of an organisation. Lastly, servant
leadership can be witnessed as a leadership style which provides for better management of the
conflicts and relations operating in the work environment.
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2. How might implementing the principles of Servant Leadership benefit the company
described in the case study? (250 words)
There are various principles of Servant Leadership such as Listening, Empathy, Healing,
Awareness, Growth, Foresight, Stewardship and Commitment to Growth etc. These principles
provide with opportunities to build a better and caring work environment in an organisation.
These principles can be applied in the case study provided as it will enhance work relations and
may aid in conflict resolution for the employees. For example, the principle of Listening will
create an opportunity for the manager to discuss the issues and conflicts between the group
members in an empirical manner (Greenleaf, 2013).
The principle of Empathy will benefit in developing an effective and clear understanding of other
perspectives or opinions. Empathy will enable the manager to comprehend the problem Liam is
facing at his home and will allow him to provide with the required support for overcoming the
negative impact of personal pressure on the productivity. Another principle of Awareness will
provide with increased benefits for the above-described case study. The manager will be made
aware of the interpersonal conflicts and issues of the individuals in the organisation. This way
the conflicts between Emma and Sophia could have been detected at an earlier stage and sorted
without causing a scene at the social meeting of the organisation (Greenleaf, 2013). The timely
detection of these issues will reduce the negative impact on the work environment and will
reduce the influence on behaviours of the peers or colleagues of the organisation. Thus the
principles of Servant Leadership will benefit the company describes in the case study in various
manners.
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Conclusion
It has been established from the above readings and discussions that it is necessary to identify
issues and conflicts in an organisation at early stages. The timely detection of issues provides
with opportunities to develop strategic reformative approaches and strategies.
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References
 De Dreu, C.K., 2015. Conflict and conflict management. Wiley Encyclopedia of
Management, pp.1-4.
 Greenleaf R. K., 2013. Ten Principles of Servant Leadership. Kent State University at
Stark. Available at: https://www.starkstate.edu/public/system/uploads/files/Student-
Life/Servant-LeadershipPowerPoint.pdf.
 Liden, R.C., Wayne, S.J., Liao, C. and Meuser, J.D., 2014. Servant leadership and
serving culture: Influence on individual and unit performance. Academy of Management
Journal, 57(5), pp.1434-1452.
 Rahim, M.A., 2017. Managing conflict in organizations. Routledge.
 Reif, J.A. and Brodbeck, F.C., 2017. When do people initiate a negotiation? The role of
discrepancy, satisfaction, and ability beliefs. Negotiation and Conflict Management
Research, 10(1), pp.46-66.
 Saeed, T., Almas, S., Anis-ul-Haq, M. and Niazi, G.S.K., 2014. Leadership styles:
relationship with conflict management styles. International Journal of Conflict
Management, 25(3), pp.214-225.
 Sipe, J.W. and Frick, D.M., 2015. Seven pillars of servant leadership: Practicing the
wisdom of leading by serving. Paulist Press.
 Spears, L.C. and Lawrence, M., 2016. Practicing servant-leadership: Succeeding through
trust, bravery, and forgiveness. John Wiley & Sons.
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