Conflict Strategy 1
BRIEF: CONFLICT STRATEGY ASSIGNMENT
Richard Gilmore
School of Business, Liberty University
Author Note
Richard Gilmore
I have no known conflict of interest to disclose.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Richard Gilmore
Email: rgilmore2@liberty.edu
Conflict Strategy 2
Executive Summary
Conflict may occur when there is alleged lack of fairness and justice associated to policies,
procedures, or discipline. The issue of fairness may include increased wages, extensive work
assignments, unsatisfactory or damage tools, or inadequate working environment. According to
Meierhans et al (2008), both leaders and workers must be fair and cooperative in sustaining community
through appropriate support (Sarkus, 2022). Conflict is resides in every organization because when there
is a large group of people, then situation may change for some but not all. Not all conflicts are bad,
some actually helps improve organizations. When an organization has good conflict, individual's
opinions can be utilized to improve the work environment. According to Seppala et al, (2012), when
conflict does persist, there is a collective conscience to call upon to be guided by the organization's
values, express fairness, and subsequently improve and maintain trust throughout (Sarkus, 2022).
Conflict must be incorporated as a part of the enhancement practice and initiated by workers or a large
number of people whom are fully aware the issues and know how to fix them. Conflict should be
tackled immediately, directly, and respectfully so potential encounters linked to the conflict. According
to Meyer (2004), handling conflict well reduces the unwanted side effects that produce absenteeism,
quality issues, morale challenges, and increases in errors and incidents (Sarkus, 2022).
Professional Analyze
At my workplace, there is daily conflict either within the organization or externally with the
customers. I have recently stepped in the position and I have learned that when it comes to transporting
equipment many people on satisfied with their place in line. My organization supports roughly 40
companies that usually transport equipment from one location to another. We have developed a system
that ensures everyone is placed in line with a first come first serve approach. All customers are treated
equally and depending on the severity of the training, some people might have to shift their training
because another company is priority. Higher management usually dictates what is priority and what can
Conflict Strategy 3
be done later. There has been times where customers are not satisfied because their training and
equipment need for it has to shift to a later date. To reduce the amount of conflict between the
customers and my organization, we host weekly meetings to address any issues. Conflict transformation
plays a role when we discussing scheduling, amount of assets, and routes. Conflict transformation is to
envision and respond to the ebb and flow of social conflict as life-giving opportunities for creating
constructive change processes that reduce violence, increase justice in direct interaction and social
structures, and respond to real-life problems in human relationships (Lederach, 2015). Our face to face
conversations have proven to be essential because new faces are introduced to the group usually every
three months. Face to face conversation helps to eliminate confusion especially when it comes to
scheduling. Dialogue is needed to provide access to, a voice in, and constructive interaction with, the
ways we formalize our relationships and in the ways our organizations and structures are built, respond,
and behave (Lederach, 2015). Most of the time we communicate through company email with
customers. The customer seemed confused about the status of the scheduling and the assets available
to transport equipment. By hosting meetings, dialogue has cleared confusion and helped bring everyone
closer together. In the meeting we have also addressed the bigger picture on why certain comes have
priority. The idea of transformational platform was utilized during our dialogue. Transformational
platform includes an understanding of the various levels of the conflict (the “big picture”), processes for
addressing immediate problems and conflicts, a vision for the future, and a plan for change processes
which will move in that direction (Lederach, 2015). Face to face interaction helps with explain the
objective that higher management has planned. Some organizations could possibly depart on a
international mission and so that is why their transportation request was placed first. Once that is
explained to the other customers, then conflict is averted and everyone is satisfied. Not all meetings go
according to plan especially when scheduling collides and no one is dictated as priority. There has been
times where emotions have taken control and anger becomes present. Once everyone is calm, we start
Conflict Strategy 4
a brainstorming session. A brainstorming session is designed to produce as many ideas as possible to
solve the problem at hand (Fisher, Ury, and Patton, 2011). This has solved many problems and
everyone’s voice his heard. Ideas are expressed and ultimately the solution is narrowed and
implemented. The use of the group brainstorming process is most helpful with complex issues,
especially when a solution may impact downstream processes or require significant capital investment to
implement (Brace and Nusser, 2021). By practicing group brainstorm process, this could reassure
everyone that all avenues of approach and unforeseen issues were discussed.
Conflict Strategy 5
References
Brace, T., & Nusser, J. (2021). Guided brainstorming: A Method for Solving Ergonomic Issues. Professional
Safety, 66(4), 35-39. Retrieved from https://go.openathens.net/redirector/liberty.edu?
url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/guided-brainstorming-method-solving-
ergonomic/docview/2509374104/se-2
Fisher, R., Ury, W. L., & Patton, B. (2011). Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In.
Penguin US. Retrieved from https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/books/9781101539545
Lederach, J. (2015). Little Book of Conflict Transformation. Simon & Schuster. Retrieved from
https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/books/9781680990423
Sarkus, D. J. (2022). Building Community Through. Professional Safety, 67(11), 24-29. Retrieved from
https://go.openathens.net/redirector/liberty.edu?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-
journals/building-community-through/docview/2731821633/se-2
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