Reflection - 6

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Running head: WEEK 6 REFLECTION

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WEEK 6 REFLECTION

Week 6 Reflection

Rob Felber

University of the Cumberlands

Power tactics can be applied in a practical manner in the retail environment by applying some or all of the nine distinct influence traits. Power tactics are ways in which individuals translate power bases into specific actions. (Robbins and Judge, 2018, p. 212). Examples would include rational persuasion which would include building a business case around factual evidence and presenting an intelligent argument. Also, consultation can help improve execution and performance by including and involving the employees in building the business case or action plan. Exchange can be applied by sharing in profits if goals are met. Ingratiation can be applied by appreciating and praising the employee especially in front of their peers. You can improve your power by applying these tactics which will increase the dependence others have on you.

As it relates to sharing a personal connection, I found relationship conflict to be very interesting. Relationship conflict is conflict based on interpersonal relationships. (Robbins and Judge, 2018. p. 228). I am reminded of a situation that occurred early in my career where I found myself having to personally deal with two employees that because of personality differences were creating a lot of friction in the organization and as the chapter stated, the situation had almost become dysfunctional. In order for the business to perform smoothly, both employees, who each led a team and had different job responsibilities were directly tied to the financial success of the business and were needed to get along with each other because each had to spend time communicating every day. Once I had identified there was a problem, I began to intervene expecting to fix the issue between them with hopes that they could talk through their differences. What I found was that my efforts of attempting to help them resolve their personality differences were not very successful. Unknowingly at the time, I was also dealing with process conflict with this situation. Process conflict is conflict over how work gets done and includes delegation and roles. (Robbins and Judge, 2018, p. 228). At the end of the day, neither employee wanted the other to assign work tasks or delegate to their team members. With the help of my supervisor, the solution came from meeting with them together and discussing the expectation that in order for them to stay in their current role, to fulfill their responsibility and to move the business forward, they were to figure out how to best work out their differences. The recommendation was as simple as beginning to spend some quality time together over a cup of coffee every day and figure out what they needed from themselves and the management team to strengthen the working relationship and report back with their suggestions and plans. After a couple of weeks, I met with them again to discuss normal business. The outcome was positive, the relationship grew stronger and the business never missed a beat.

In demonstrating a connection to my current work environment, the concept of negotiation comes to mind. Negotiation is a process in which two or more parties exchange goods or services and attempt to agree on the exchange rate for them. (Robbins and Judge, 2018, p. 235). In my company, the majority of merchandise is bought, and the price negotiated from our corporate office. However, at the local level management works with our vendors on the selection, timing and price of select items to purchase and feature in order to sell. The concept of; “our customers have money, we have merchandise, all we want to do is trade” is our objective. It is on many occasions that a vendor will bring in a sample of an item that they would like to feature, and pricing is always the primary factor in negotiating. The vendor wants to sell as much of their product as possible and we want to offer the lowest most competitive price for the customer. It is through integrative bargaining where we buy the largest amount of quantities from the vendor at the best price to include coupons or rebates that becomes a win-win situation for all. Integrative bargaining is negotiation that seeks one of more settlements that can create a win-win solution. (Robbins and Judge, 2018, p. 236). It is when the vendor and the store engage in this bargaining process that the customer ends up being the primary winner of the negotiation process.