Having organizational problems within the company is important as it brings out the weaknesses and conflicts that happen in the background. Once the company notes these, it is its obligation to come up with several resolutions to curb them. A disadvantage of conflicts reflects on the company’s performance, such as losses in turnover and losses in major market shareholders to its competitors, among others. Besides, Investors can back out of a company since they cannot invest in a losing company, while the workforce starts quitting or if not so, the company resorts to laying off some of its employees, to cut recurring costs. Consequently, the remaining team might not work efficiently since the job may be too much for them to handle. In the end, the company might end up closing or being sold off to other investors. However, proper diagnosis and creation of solutions to most of the problems would keep the company in business, increase the annual turnover, boosts sales, and increase market share.
As per the case of Cameron Mechanical & Automation Company, the problems arise mostly between the levels of hierarchy in the company. The most notable reason for conflict is the executives in all departments. Having too many senior executives in one company seems to bring hatred and rivalry between the departments, each battling to be superior to the other. Additionally, the company strains in terms of salary, as it has to ensure it is equal in all departments to minimize the unhealthy rivalry between the various departments. Another problem caused by the executives is miscommunication. It seems hard for the executives to share ideas and come up with collective conclusions that will benefit the company.
The removal of some of the departments and the powers given to the employees seems to wear them off, and the effects felt on the way they deal with the customers. There have been several complaints from the customers concerning the front office and customer care departments. Another issue is some of the employees have suggestions of how to improve the company, but lack a medium to talk about it with the executives. The last point to note is how the company hires new employees. Several complaints suggest that there are criticism and scrutiny in the selection of new employees as well as promotions.
There are several types of conflicts in the company and various solutions to solve them. One is conflict between employees and managers (Types of Conflict in the Workplace, 2013). Such conflicts often arise from how the employee works, the time spent doing constructive work, or time wasted. At times, the boss might not congratulate an employee upon doing an excellent job. An employee might spend hours on the computer writing down a report only for the boss to shrug it off as a shoddy work (Types of Conflict in the Workplace, 2013). Good communication, respect, and understanding will lead to a productive relationship between the bosses and workers. The manager ought to know the employee is a human just like him/her and deserves equal treatment.
The other conflict arises form clashing of personalities in the workplace (Gatlin, Wysocki, & Kepner, 2012). Having an attitude, negative behavior and being selfish are some of the characteristics of such a conflict. As observed in the company, the link between the managers and employees is weak. Even though an employee has an idea that will benefit the company, the manager seems not to care about it. The best way to eradicate such a conflict is by being open (Gatlin, Wysocki, & Kepner, 2012). Managers should it is impossible to know everything and that employees can be very good advisers since they interact more with the clients than them. Having outreaches where all the employees can socialize will help a lot in the bonding.
The power of an employee in the workplace is another cause of conflict (Workplace Conflict, 2012). In this case, the vice presidents of the different departments seem not to be working together. There is enmity among them, and it is a disadvantage to the company. The company should join all the departments together and instead of having vice presidents in each department; they should have operations manager. Each operation manager should head a team of employees and work together to deal with the different areas in the company. However, all the operation managers should be on one level and meet often to discuss the progress of the company as a whole. They should be open to ideas from people below them and discuss them on a high table.
The last conflict is personal in that it involves how each employee does the work (Workplace that Work, 2014). The company should set limits for each employee putting in mind on their capabilities. Overworking one employee and under working another employee will lead to hatred among them. Balancing workload on all employees will avoid such a scenario from happening. Rewarding the employees on a good job done will boost the employees to outdo themselves in their work.
The conflicts discussed are the most common in the company, but there are other minor ones though they do not pose a major threat to the operations of the company. However, proper implementation of the solutions will guarantee the company immediate improvement but it has to place more emphasis on keeping the resolutions as they are.
References
Gatlin, J., Wysocki, A., & Kepner, K. (2012, February). Understanding Conflict in the Workplace. Retrieved from EDIS: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/hr024
Types of Conflict in the Workplace. (2013). Retrieved from makeadentleadership.com: http://www.makeadentleadership.com/types-of-conflict-in-the-workplace.html
Workplace Conflict. (2012, June). Retrieved from Better Health Channel: http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Workplace_conflict
Workplace that Work. (2014, October 27). Retrieved from hrcouncil.ca: http://hrcouncil.ca/hr-toolkit/workplaces-conflict.cfm
