Assessing the Main Issues Highlighted in the Article
Organizations constantly seek ways to enhance collaboration among the different segments. The initiatives sometimes succeed but have little impact in realizing the intended outcomes. Weiss and Hughes (2005) published an article in the Harvard Business Review suggesting that as organizations seek collaboration, they should also embrace conflict, which should be managed.
How Collaboration and Conflict Interrelate
Organizations find that they are pressed by rising competition to effectively manage limited resources to achieve more results, which creates the need for enhanced collaboration. Despite spending so much on improving collaboration, the business entities realize small gains that could be more helpful, while many fail. Weiss and Hughes (2005) argue that failure is caused by focusing on the symptoms rather than the root causes.
The management does not appreciate that conflict is inevitable due to numerous internal contrasts, so the administration should focus on managing such differences. In pushing for a higher level of collaboration, organizations need to recognize that when parties adopt different positions, they create an opportunity for developing creative solutions and wise trade-offs. The organization’s management should develop strategies to help the parties benefit from their differences and foster constructive conflict management.
Weiss and Hughes (2005) propose several methods that can be used to manage differences when conflicts occur. The first strategy is to develop and implement one approach to conflict resolution. The second goal is to create a procedure and principles to make trade-offs. The third strategy is to see the conflict escalation as an opportunity to coach the differing parties.
Upon escalation of the conflict, Weiss and Hughes (2005) suggest that the organization can consider installing and enforcing guidelines for joint escalation. The second aim is to ensure that the management resolves escalated conflicts by involving the parties. Lastly, managers should embrace transparency in attending to conflicts as they escalate.
Applying the Article’s Insights to Organizational Practices
I support the position taken by Weiss and Hughes (2005) due to their actual work, which states that organizations should focus on managing conflict instead of fostering collaboration, which may still need to be realized. It is common for people to have differences, as human beings have varying capabilities and views. It is hardly possible that all people in an organization will adopt a common position or collaborate seamlessly without clashing in one way or another.
Suppose people in an organization cannot stand out and express themselves freely. In that case, a lack of synergy and internal freedom is needed to develop distinctive solutions to problems that may arise. The proper position is that collaboration and conflict are somehow two sides of the same coin.
I have encountered a situation where the organization I previously worked for was caught up in an entanglement between the accounting and auditing departments. The two departments fall under the finance division of the organization, but there were differences in how accounting standards were being applied when preparing the company’s financial report. The main point of departure was whether to use the cash or accrual basis in accounting.
My understanding of the situation was that such differences in opinion could occur since the auditing team is in place to oversee the work of the accounting department. The approach suggested by Weiss and Hughes (2005) would apply in appreciating that the organization should enact policies to help manage such a conflict instead of insisting that they should collaborate. If the organization insists on collaboration, it would mean that one department would bow down to the demands of the other, which would limit the ability of one to watch over the other.
Reference
Weiss, J., & Hughes, J. (2015). Want collaboration? Accept—and actively manage—conflict. Harvard Business Review. Web.