Business Issues in Context Of Human Resources Free Sample

Question: 1. Understand key contemporary business issues affecting the HR function within private, public and third sector organisations.2. Understand the main external contextual factors impacting on organisations and the HR function.5. Know how to identify and respond to short-term changes in the business and external contexts. Answer: Introduction: In the present business environment, organizations will have to consider several internal and external factors in order to maintain proper operational process. The present competitive business environment structure has induced organizations to deal with many business related issues so that it can able to maintain its position in the market. However, effective utilization of all the factors heavily depends on human resource activity of the organization. Since, human resource management team plays a key role in developing working atmosphere within the organization. In this assignment, the focus will be on a law firm namely Duncan Lewis Solicitors. The organization is established in 1998 that focusing on providing services for both private individual and corporate entities. The organization has total 45 directors with more than 750 employees working for the organization. With its high quality services, Duncan Lewis Solicitors has able to increase its popularity in the entire UK region. Legal 500 has recommended Duncan Lewis Solicitors as one of the top tier law firm present in the UK region. In this assignment, we will focus on several business related issue that is affecting the human resource functions of the organization. The assignment will also try to provide specific recommendations to improve the effectiveness of the human resource functions for the enhancement of the operational process. Key contemporary business issues affecting the HR functions: Organization and its management: The selected organization, titled Duncan Lewis Solicitors is a renowned law firm in England. It was founded in 1998[1]. The organization is providing legal support to both the individual as well as the corporate clients. However, according to the website of the organization, it is also providing services to the disadvantaged, who may find the law complex and daunting[2]. The organization is a private organization and it is operating on the functional structure. The organization has, chairperson, CEO and team of management with directors for every wing, which is responsible for the overall management of the organization. The organization is HR and the functional area of management: The organization is now operating with more than 750 employees with 45 directors[3]. As the organization is serving diverse legal help, it has a number of managerial heads for every segment. However, the management is comprised of individuals from diverse cultural background, which is helping the organization in attracting clients from various cultural groups. Moreover, the organization has different segments for different pattern of services. It is helping the organization to employ the individuals with specialisation in their concerned field[4]. It is also helping the organization in ensuring better employee satisfaction. Business performance and the change management agenda: The organization can be identified as one of the majorly popular legal firm in UK. It is now operating in a diverse field of legal assistance. However, in recent times, the profit count has been noted as significantly low and the organization is losing its profit potentials due to lack of effective operational management. Moreover, the organization is facing the limitations of its functional management process. As the organization has directors for each of its wings, it is complicating the operation of the organization and the clashes of values have been noticed in some cases[5]. On the other hand, with the recent changes in the external issues, the company is losing a number of competent employees, which is posing a threat to the organizational management. In addition, the diversified service pattern of the organization is helping the organization to serve a large number of client bases[6]. However, with the huge management team, the organization is facing difficulty in interdepartm ental co-ordination. All these are leading the organization to opting for change management. Main contextual factors that affecting HR functions of the organization: The market and competitive contexts of organisation: The organization is now facing some market and competitive issue, which is directing the organization to opt for a change management strategy. The legal market of England is a major part of the economy. According to an article it had a total output of 22.6 billion in 2013, up from 10.6 billion in 2001, and is equivalent to 1.6% of the country's gross domestic product for that year[7]. Competitors: with the increase in the number of the competitors on the legal market of UK, the organization is now facing a huge threat in the market and retaining the customer base. According to a research, by July 2010 almost 11,100 legal firms were listed in England[8]. The demographic, social and technological trends affecting organisation: The demography, sociological and the technological factors are the key issues for a businesss performance. Here, in the selected organization, the demographic change is altering the business pattern of the organization. UK is facing the issue with its growing population of the aged people. Hence, the cases, the firm is mainly dealing with is the issues related to welfare benefits and clinical negligence[9]. One of which has the policy of no win no fee. It is decreasing the profit count of the organization. On the other hand, the modern advancement in the technological sector is also posing a threat to this legal firm. As the organization is lacking the technological advancement in the operation of the business and then social media promotion, it is hampering the customer base of the organization[10]. However, with the changes in the sociological terms in the modern world, the organization is reaping a good level of profit count[11]. As the familial structure in the western world is continuously disrupting, the organization is getting cases in the family and divorce service section. Moreover, with the increased trend of immigration, the organization is also gaining clients from the private and business immigration segment. Globalisation and its influence on the organization: With the global opportunity of business, the organization is gaining more business from the firms with are dealing in the global market. Moreover, with the cross border transportation facilities the nation is being populated with the immigrants[12]. It is helping the organization to serve cases related to immigration. Moreover, the organization is now serving the clients from the global market. The globalization is now directing the company to upgrade the technological strength so that it can serve the clients through the web interface. Moreover, with the diversity induced by the globalization the organization has become able to serve diverse demography with better precision[13]. Describe the impact of government and EU policy: Being a legal firm the organization needs to follow the governmental rules strictly. However, with continuous changes in the legal frameworks, the government is posing complexity in the management of the organization. The Legal Services Board serves a cross-sector supervision on the legal firms in England[14]. Moreover, the legal firms have to comply with the reulations of the Legal Services Act 2007. Previously, the organization had to follow the legal procedures while dealing with the clients and cases involving the policies of EU. However, with the recent changes in the British politics and Brexit, a number of confusion has been emerged. As, the nation is going through a legal complexity due to this Brexit the law firms are also facing some legal dilemma. Moreover, it will make the organization loose a number of lawyers who were serving in the EU countries for the company[15]. On the other hand, the workload will increase which will affect the service status. The Brexit can be identified as the major governmental impact on the organization. Identification and evaluation of the major external contexts affecting the organisation, including any international factors: The external factors: As described previously, the decision of Brexit, is now being the major issue of concern for the legal firms in England. It will make the organization lose its business in the EU countries[16]. Now the company will have to depend on the domestic market to a great extent. As discussed earlier, the legal market of Britain is very profitable which has made it hugely competitive. Moreover, the organization now have to hire the employees with national identity, which may cause them pay an increased level of compensation for the employees or solicitors[17]. Moreover, the organization is still suffering the economic issues aroused from the great recession in 2010[18]. As discussed in a scholastic article, the threat to the national economy and the previous job cut and collapse of the major legal firms in the UK, is hurting the potentiality of the organization in attracting the competent employees. In addition to this, as discussed in a scholastic article, the UK legal market is facing the trend of changed fee structure. Previously, the market trend was charging the clients based on hour. However, now the clients are demanding to have a flat and fixed pricing strategy, so that they become more aware of the expenses of such legal helps[19]. It is forcing the organizations to provide more services on a fixed price, enabling the clients to make choice that is more informed. It is helping the potential clients to switch among the suppliers and reduce the profit count of the organizations like Duncan Lewis Solicitors. In addition, the domestic legal boundaries stemmed from the Legal Services Board, Legal Services Act 2007, Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and Bar Standards Board is always there to regulate the operation of the organization. Moreover, with the changes brought by the Legal Services Act 2007, the organization is now facing a huge competition in the domestic level[20]. The internal factors: The external threats are creating issues in the internal operation of the organization. With the threat of losing business in the EU countries, the organization is facing the issue of high employee turnover. On the other hand, the inherent limitation of the functional management system of the organization is creating a glitch in the co-ordination and complete development of the organization[21]. The Brexit is causing the organization a huge threat in the profit count. As the organization is losing the business in the EU countries and being compelled to hire employees with increased compensation, it is affecting the return of the organization. Moreover, with the Brexit, the organization is also losing one of its organizational strength, i.e. diversity in work force. It is affecting the management as well as service of the organization. Moreover, as the company is suffering from the technological issues, it is losing the advantage of the changing trend of virtual employment in British legal market[22]. Finally, the changed free structure in the domestic legal market is posing a threat to the operation of the organization. The role of human resource management regarding to the identified internal and external context: As per a scholastic article, human resource management team plays a key role in developing strategies so that the organization can able to utilize all the internal and external factors effectively[23]. HR management also has critical role in developing organizational structure of the organization. From the above discussion, it can be assessed that Duncan Lewis Solicitors has developed a functional structure of management for the proper utilization of the operational process. Since, the focus organization is a legal firm; it had to deal with several rules and regulations for utilizing the operational process effectively. Furthermore, the organization deals with services like health, debt and insolvency, public administrative law, crime and fraud many other legal issues. Furthermore, the organization also provides legal services to the corporate entities[24]. As a result, human resource management of Duncan Lewis Solicitors has developed separate teams for providing effective services to the clients. The HR management team has consciously separated team according to the specialization of the employees so that they can feel satisfied with their organizational responsibility. Furthermore, it will also ensure that clients of the organization can able to receive the best possible services from the organization. The above discussion highlighted the fact that Duncan Lewis Solicitors is presently having more cases on clinical negligence, childcare and divorce related issue. Therefore, HR management team of the organization is focusing on to recruit people who are specialized in providing these services[25]. Furthermore, the organization is facing challenges regarding the decrease in the profit level. It has been assessed that the organization is facing challenges with the high rate of attrition. As a result, it is creating negative impact on the profit level. On the other hand, HR management of the organization is facing challenges regarding maintaining the amount of workforce at the desired level. It is also has been highlighted that the organization have to focus on several rules and regulations at the time of recruiting people. For that reason, HR management team is not able to recruit the best talent available in the market. Now, quality of the provided service is heavily depends on the kn owledge and skills of the employees. Thus, recruiting relative low quality people is actually affecting the quality of the provided services by the law firms. In addition, due to intense competition in the domestic legal market of UK, organization is facing huge amount of challenges to maintain its position in the market. Therefore, HR management team is facing challenges in providing the effective level of benefit structure for the employees[26]. Furthermore, reduce profit level of the organization is increasing pressure for the HR management team to develop such a recruitment strategy that can able to attract the best possible available talent from the market. However, many studies have identified that benefit structure plays a key role in retaining employees for a long period of time. Therefore, HR management is trying to provide the best possible benefit structure that can help both employees and organizations effectively. Recommendations for the identified internal and external context: HR role in business planning: Human resource team of an organization plays a key role in developing business plan for the future. Since, HR team has to consider factors like recruitment plan, demand plan, wastage plan and also career plan for the organization[27]. Thus, the role of the HR team will have to provide a clear path for the business development management regarding the kind of internal environment they will receive for the fulfillment of the planning. The role of HR management also include continues evaluation process of the internal environment of the organization. The HR management team will also have to provide proper guidance to the new employees so that they can able to adjust with the work culture of the organization. The role of HR in business planning also includes the factors like minimization of the operational cost of the organization[28]. Thus, HR management team of Duncan Lewis Solicitors will have to focus on all the factors to develop an effective business plan for the organization. The benefit of utilizing HR team for the development of business plan is as follows: Activity Benefit Value Recruitment planning Proper identification of talent Better utilization of the operational process Demand planning Effective utilization Reduce the possibility of sudden adverse impact Career planning Improve performances Reduce attrition rate Wastage planning Proper utilization Lower operational cost Table 1: HR role in business planning (Source:[29]) Environmental planning: Environmental planning reflects a process that organization utilizing at the time of developing decision-making strategy. It helps organizations to include factors like political, social, governance and economic factor at the time of implementing decision-making strategy. In UK, several rules and regulations has been implemented by government that legal firms like Duncan Lewis Solicitors have to focus in order to implement effective decisions for the development of the organization. As mentioned earlier, UKs domestic market is extremely competitive in the legal industry. In this situation, Duncan Lewis Solicitors planning will have to focus on the provided quality of the services so that it can able to maintain its position in the market[30]. Furthermore, the organization has to focus on its internal environmental structure so that it can able to influence employees to employees to keep associated with the organization for a long period of time[31]. Furthermore, environmental plannin g of Duncan Lewis Solicitors will also have to encourage the team bonding among the all the members of the teams. Furthermore, it will also have develop a proper two way communication structure so that senior management can able to share the information regarding any change in the operational processes. This will help the organization to maintain a proper working environment for a certain timeframe. Impact of strategies, policies and plans within the organization: The above discussion highlighted the fact that, Duncan Lewis Solicitors will have to focus on the implementation of several strategies in order to maintain its position in this competitive market. For instance, UK has recently separated itself from the EU region. Therefore, it has created lot of difficulties for the organization to handle in order to maintain their business in an appropriate manner[32]. For instance, the organization will have to identify a plan that can help to maintain the relationship with the clients. Duncan Lewis Solicitors will also have to develop strategy regarding the enhancement of the communication process among the different level of employees[33]. Since, it has been identified that the organization utilizes several team for providing effective services. Majority of the time senior management face difficulties in convey a certain important message to all member of the organization in an appropriate way. This eventually is reducing the effectiveness of the employees. Furthermore, government policies and regulations have also created difficulties in maintaining the profit level of the organizations[34]. For instance, client previously used to pay on a per-hour basis but recent regulation from the government has induced the organization to utilize contractual technique in order to collect payment for the provided services. As a result, Duncan Lewis Solicitors has to change its operational procedure for calculating the payment structure for the clients. Thus, it actually increasing the pressure on the HR management team to recruit people that can able to formulate proper payment structure for the client so that the organization can actually able to maintain its position in the market. Conclusion: From the above analysis, it can be assessed that human resource management is an essential part of any organization. It can made significant amount of contribution on reducing external and internal issues for the organization. Thus, HR management team of Duncan Lewis Solicitors also has to utilize several policies and procedures so that it can able to made positive impact on the business operation of the organization. References: Armstrong, Michael, and Stephen Taylor.Armstrong's handbook of human resource management practice. Kogan Page Publishers, 2014. Aswathappa, K.Human resource management: Text and cases. Tata McGraw-Hill Education, 2013. Bamberger, Peter A., Michal Biron, and Ilan Meshoulam.Human resource strategy: Formulation, implementation, and impact. Routledge, 2014. Begg, Iain, and Fabian Mushvel. "The economic impact of brexit: jobs, growth and the public finances." (2016). Berman, Evan M., James S. Bowman, Jonathan P. West, and Montgomery R. Van Wart.Human resource management in public service: Paradoxes, processes, and problems. Sage Publications, 2015. Bratton, John, and Jeff Gold.Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. Cummings, Thomas G., and Christopher G. Worley.Organization development and change. Cengage learning, 2014. Delahaye, Brian.Human resource development. Tilde Publishing, 2015. Dhingra, Swati, Gianmarco IP Ottaviano, Thomas Sampson, and John Van Reenen. "The consequences of Brexit for UK trade and living standards." (2016). Flood, John. "Institutional bridging: How large law firms engage in globalization."Boston College Law Review54, no. 1 (2013): 2014-9. Gottschalk, Petter. "Law Firms as Knowledge Organizations." InFinancial Crime and Knowledge Workers, pp. 93-106. Palgrave Macmillan US, 2014. Grillo, Ralph.Muslim Families, Politics and the Law: A Legal Industry in Multicultural Britain. Routledge, 2016. Hill, Charles WL, Gareth R. Jones, and Melissa A. Schilling.Strategic management: theory: an integrated approach. Cengage Learning, 2014. Hirst, Paul, Grahame Thompson, and Simon Bromley.Globalization in question. John Wiley Sons, 2015. Kluge, Fanny, Emilio Zagheni, Elke Loichinger, and Tobias Vogt. "The advantages of demographic change after the wave: fewer and older, but healthier, greener, and more productive?."PloS one9, no. 9 (2014): e108501. Mathis, Robert L., John H. Jackson, Sean R. Valentine, and Patricia Meglich.Human resource management. Nelson Education, 2016. McGregor, Duncan, and David Simon, eds.The peri-urban interface: Approaches to sustainable natural and human resource use. Routledge, 2012. McMorrow, Judith A. "UK Alternative Business Structures for Legal Practice: Emerging Models and Lessons for the US."Geo. J. Int'l L.47 (2015): 665. Purce, John. "The impact of corporate strategy on human resource management."New Perspectives on Human Resource Management (Routledge Revivals)67 (2014). Slapper, Gary, and David Kelly.The English Legal System: 2012-2013. Routledge, 2013. Stone, Raymond J.Managing human resources. John Wiley and Sons, 2013. Storey, John.New Perspectives on Human Resource Management (Routledge Revivals). Routledge, 2014. Stredwick, John.An introduction to human resource management. Routledge, 2013. Ulrich, David.Human resource champions: The next agenda for adding value and delivering results. Harvard Business Press, 2013. Whish, Richard, and David Bailey.Competition law. Oxford University Press, USA, 2015. Whish, Richard. "Brexit and EU Competition Policy."Journal of European Competition Law Practice7, no. 5 (2016): 297-298. Wilton, Nick.An introduction to human resource management. Sage, 2016. www.duncanlewis.co.uk,2016.Duncanlewis.Co.Uk.https://www.duncanlewis.co.uk/employment_ourteam.html. [1] www.duncanlewis.co.uk,2016.Duncanlewis.Co.Uk.https://www.duncanlewis.co.uk/employment_ourteam.html. [2] www.duncanlewis.co.uk,2016.Duncanlewis.Co.Uk.https://www.duncanlewis.co.uk/employment_ourteam.html. [3] www.duncanlewis.co.uk,2016.Duncanlewis.Co.Uk.https://www.duncanlewis.co.uk/employment_ourteam.html. [4] Hill, Charles WL, Gareth R. Jones, and Melissa A. Schilling.Strategic management: theory: an integrated approach. Cengage Learning, 2014 [5] Hill, Charles WL, Gareth R. Jones, and Melissa A. Schilling.Strategic management: theory: an integrated approach. Cengage Learning, 2014 [6] Hill, Charles WL, Gareth R. Jones, and Melissa A. Schilling.Strategic management: theory: an integrated approach. Cengage Learning, 2014 [7] Slapper, Gary, and David Kelly.The English Legal System: 2012-2013. Routledge, 2013. [8] Gottschalk, Petter. "Law Firms as Knowledge Organizations." InFinancial Crime and Knowledge Workers, pp. 93-106. Palgrave Macmillan US, 2014 [9] Kluge, Fanny, Emilio Zagheni, Elke Loichinger, and Tobias Vogt. "The advantages of demographic change after the wave: fewer and older, but healthier, greener, and more productive?."PloS one9, no. 9 (2014): e108501 [10] Flood, John. "Institutional bridging: How large law firms engage in globalization."Boston College Law Review54, no. 1 (2013): 2014-9. [11] McMorrow, Judith A. "UK Alternative Business Structures for Legal Practice: Emerging Models and Lessons for the US."Geo. J. Int'l L.47 (2015): 665. [12] Hirst, Paul, Grahame Thompson, and Simon Bromley.Globalization in question. John Wiley Sons, 2015 [13] Flood, John. "Institutional bridging: How large law firms engage in globalization."Boston College Law Review54, no. 1 (2013): 2014-9 [14] McMorrow, Judith A. "UK Alternative Business Structures for Legal Practice: Emerging Models and Lessons for the US."Geo. J. Int'l L.47 (2015): 665 [15] Dhingra, Swati, Gianmarco IP Ottaviano, Thomas Sampson, and John Van Reenen. "The consequences of Brexit for UK trade and living standards." (2016). [16] Wilton, Nick.An introduction to human resource management. Sage, 2016. [17] Begg, Iain, and Fabian Mushvel. "The economic impact of brexit: jobs, growth and the public finances." (2016). [18] Whish, Richard, and David Bailey.Competition law. Oxford University Press, USA, 2015 [19] Whish, Richard. "Brexit and EU Competition Policy."Journal of European Competition Law Practice7, no. 5 (2016): 297-298 [20] Grillo, Ralph.Muslim Families, Politics and the Law: A Legal Industry in Multicultural Britain. Routledge, 2016 [21] Cummings, Thomas G., and Christopher G. Worley.Organization development and change. Cengage learning, 2014 [22] Stredwick, John.An introduction to human resource management. Routledge, 2013. [23] Ulrich, David.Human resource champions: The next agenda for adding value and delivering results. Harvard Business Press, 2013. [24] Storey, John.New Perspectives on Human Resource Management (Routledge Revivals). Routledge, 2014. [25] Stone, Raymond J.Managing human resources. John Wiley and Sons, 2013. [26] Aswathappa, K.Human resource management: Text and cases. Tata McGraw-Hill Education, 2013. [27] McGregor, Duncan, and David Simon, eds.The peri-urban interface: Approaches to sustainable natural and human resource use. Routledge, 2012. [28] Purce, John. "The impact of corporate strategy on human resource management."New Perspectives on Human Resource Management (Routledge Revivals)67 (2014). [29] Armstrong, Michael, and Stephen Taylor.Armstrong's handbook of human resource management practice. Kogan Page Publishers, 2014. [30] Berman, Evan M., James S. Bowman, Jonathan P. West, and Montgomery R. Van Wart.Human resource management in public service: Paradoxes, processes, and problems. Sage Publications, 2015. [31] Bratton, John, and Jeff Gold.Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. [32] Bamberger, Peter A., Michal Biron, and Ilan Meshoulam.Human resource strategy: Formulation, implementation, and impact. Routledge, 2014. [33] Mathis, Robert L., John H. Jackson, Sean R. Valentine, and Patricia Meglich.Human resource management. Nelson Education, 2016. [34] Delahaye, Brian.Human resource development. Tilde Publishing, 2015.

Wireless Communication of Energy Harvesting †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Wireless Communication of Energy Harvesting. Answer: Energy Harvesting The process of obtaining energy from resources other than conventional energy source is known as energy harvesting. The major aim of energy harvesting is obtaining energy from renewable and natural resources, which include solar energy, wind energy, radio frequency energy, thermal power energy, kinetic energy, wind energy and so on. Wireless sensor networks are one of the trending technologies of todays time, which has certain limitations due to the problems of current leakage and lower energy density of the batteries (Ulukus et al., 2015). These limitations can be overcome with the help of high performance and emery efficient harvesting systems. The different energy harvesting techniques that can be implemented in order to overcome the problems faced by the wireless sensor networks includes association of different energy association techniques. Energy harvesting is necessary to be considered in case of wireless sensor network because if the sensor node is depleted, it fails to perform its responsibilities in the network further. The different energy harvesting techniques are listed below (Shaikh Zeadally, 2016)- 1) Solar Energy- This is the most common energy harvesting technique that is used for overcoming the associated energy. 2) Radio frequency- This type of energy harvesting consists of conversion of radio waves into DC power 3) Hydro energy: The energy of moving water is harvested in order to generate electricity. 4) Thermal energy: This method of energy harvesting deals with conversion of heat energy into electrical energy The other different energy harvesting techniques include hydro-based energy harvesting, wind energy harvesting and flow based energy harvesting. References Shaikh, F. K., Zeadally, S. (2016). Energy harvesting in wireless sensor networks: A comprehensive review.Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,55, 1041-1054. Ulukus, S., Yener, A., Erkip, E., Simeone, O., Zorzi, M., Grover, P., Huang, K. (2015). Energy harvesting wireless communications: A review of recent advances.IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications,33(3), 360-381.

Intergroup Conflicts in Organisations

Intergroup Conflict in Organizations In order to have order and efficiency, an organization groups work duties into different departments then staffs the department. The organization has an overall mission and strategy while the departments have their specific goals which all lead to profit-making. As the people interact in the different departments interact, there will arise conflict due to different reasons.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Intergroup Conflicts in Organisations specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More It could be cultural differences, inadequate resources or goal incompatibility. The top management can use two main methods to deal with the conflict. It can either use the rational or political approach. In using a political approach, the management has to understand the different kinds of power, the sources of power and the impact they have on the employees. Conflict within an organization is a common occurrence. As some degree of conflict occurs in all relationships involving people, these forces must be managed to achieve results properly aligned with the desired outcomes of the organization. This paper will examine the nature of intergroup conflict and how power and politics are applied in order to resolve conflict and attain organizational goal. Competition and Conflict There is a difference between conflict and competition in the organization. Conflict adversely affects the productivity of the workers and the ultimate bottom line of the company. It is not healthy at all. Competition can be healthy between the different departments as they strive to be the best in order to get rewards and other forms of compensation (Makin, Cooper Cox, 1996, p. 233). However where competition goes too far to instill prejudices, negative attitudes, biases and stereotyping then the competition has become unhealthy and it should be addressed by management. Sources of Intergroup Conflict Goal Incompatibility This is where the goals of one department are in conflict with the goals of another department. Goal incompatibility ends up leading to hostility, stereotyping behaviour, biases and prejudiced behaviour (Gallinsky, 2002). The marketing department wants to use financial resources to run promotions and other advertising campaigns while the finance department is concerned with cutting costs. This causes a lot of conflict as the marketing manager seeks to have his quarterly operational budget while the finance manager tells him that the costs are too high and to look for cheaper alternatives. The marketing department may also get into conflict with the manufacturing department.Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The marketing manager wants a diverse variety of goods to satisfy customer wants. He also wants new products and existing products to be produ ced quickly and taken to distribution points. However all these mean manufacturing costs for the manufacturing department and reaching a compromise may prove to be a difficult task. Differentiation Another source of conflict is the differences in the cognitive and emotional orientations of the different staff in the organisation. When it comes to work, different departments may have different deadlines for the completion of the work. One department may be constrained by time and experience a lot of time pressure while another group does not have any time constraints. This causes conflict as one group feels rushed while another feels that the other group is dragging its feet or delaying them. When it comes to negotiating for resources and other needs, one department may be at a higher status in terms of the revenue they bring to the organisation. This causes inequality at the negotiating table. Each of the groups has different esteem needs. There could also be differences in the info rmation that different departments have causing conflict (Spoelstra Pienaa, 1991, p. 191). Where one department does not have the correct or the latest information it causes misunderstandings. There are certain groups who have higher expertise than others in certain areas causing conflict. Cultural differences are other thorny issues. In an organisation with no training on embracing cultural diversity, there will be problems. People will not understand other people’s values, habits and attitudes in life. People tend to distrust people who are different from them (Gallinsky, 2002) Where there are mergers, it is difficult to merge the old staff and new staff work values, culture and ethics. Organisations are great at aligning the production and financial structures however integrating organisational values prove to be difficult.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Intergroup Conflicts in Organisations specifically for you for only $16.05 $ 11/page Learn More There is also the challenge of personality differences. The marketing manager may be highly outgoing with a friendly, warm personality while the scientist is a bit reserved and withdrawn. There will arise conflict where one feels the other is invading his space while the one feels that the other is a bit cold and detached Task Interdependence The conflict occurs since one department has to rely on another in order to complete its work. There are very few cases where there is pooled interdependence. This refers to the situation where a department does not rely on another department to conduct and accomplish its tasks (Rahim, 2010, p. 150) Conflict occurs in several ways. It may be that work is done in sequential fashion. One group does its work then it passes the work to another group to continue with the second step. Therefore the output of one group serves as the input of another group (Spoelstra Pienaa, 1991, p. 189). If one group feels that it i s receiving poor quality work or the work is always late, conflict arises. This is usually the type of task interdependence present in a manufacturing plant. The product needs to be assembled first before it is considered for paint work. Multiple departments may also be giving input to one group so information is being sourced from different sources. A good example of this is in the operating theatre. There is need of one single input from the nurses, technicians, surgeons and anaesthetists. Limited Resources Conflict may arise where there are inadequate resources. This is a major source of conflict since the members end up feeling others are preferred over them (Rahim, 2010, p. 150) Each department may want a larger share of the office space, equipment, manpower or human resources. Where there are limited resources it ends up with one group winning while another one loses (Spoelstra Pienaa, 1991, p. 190). In an organisation, the department that gets access to certain resources may appear to be prestigious or influential or powerful. Scarce resources may lead managers to commit unethical actions such as inflating the departmental budget in order to gain access to higher financial resources. Other managers may opt to work behind the scenes to ensure their department gets certain resources. This causes managers to fight and have conflict and people end up taking sides against another.Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The Political and the Rational Model in Solving Intergroup Conflicts The approach that will be used to solve the conflict will depend on the degree of goal incompatibility, differentiation, task interdependence and limited resources. A political approach is used where the degree of the mentioned variables are high. Power and influence are used to solve conflicts. Where the conflict is not high, the management will be able to use a rational approach. Politics can be defined as the use of power to achieve certain results or outcomes. Power and Authority Power is the ability of an individual to influence others or the decision making process in an organisation. Authority refers to the role that has been conferred upon the individual by the organisation in terms of duties and responsibilities. An individual may be placed as the operations manager while another is under him as the operations officer. Power is different from authority in several ways. Authority is different because it is conferred by the organisational structure. It mostly flows vertically, from the managers to the subordinates (Shukla, 2004, p. 109). Power however has certain aspects that enable the staff and departments to experience it horizontally. Authority comes from the position or role that one plays in the organisation. Subordinates also respond very well to authority rather than power. They are more likely to be concerned with the orders the bosses have given out rather than listen to people or departments that are deemed to be powerful in the organisation. Vertical Sources of Power Formal Position: This comes from the position an individual occupies in the organisation. A person at the top will have certain rights, responsibilities due to the position he occupies. This is seen by many to be a legitimate source of power since it is power that has been given formally by the owners or board of the company. Financial Resources: In this form of vertical power it mainly rests with the top manag ers as they are the ones who decide how the resources will be distributed. Top management are the ones who decide the reward compensation programs, the bonuses and even the salary increases. The subordinates realise this and they do their best not to make any manager angry or disappointed in their work so that they can get the resources that they need. Control of decision premises: The manager who is able to restrict the flow of information to those who are lower than him has a lot of power. If he is the one preparing the minutes he knows how to structure the agenda to suit his needs Empowerment This is where the management shares power with the other staff in the organisations (Nelson Campbell, 2004, p. 226). They give them opportunities to gain skills and expertise in order to participate in decision making of the organisation. It gives the employees a chance to prove themselves. They become more self-confident. They are also highly motivated to work for the organisation since th ey are being trusted to make decisions and their skills and talents are being used. The three stages of empowerment for the employees is job meaning, self-determination, competence and having an impact in the organisation. Horizontal Sources of Power Horizontal power is not achieved through a hierarchical system in the organisation. Some departments have more say than others in accordance to the financial contribution they make to the organisation. The sales and marketing teams bring in more money so they are valued or are more powerful. There are events or occurrences that strengthen a department’s position within an organisation. A manager therefore needs to be strategic when charting his activities and events for the year. If he ends up leading the organisation to address a growing need within the organisation or he helps the organisation deal with an emerging challenge outside the organisation, his departmental power will grow. There events or activities have come to be k nown as strategic congruencies. Dependency : In an organisation the department that relies on another department for information, knowledge, materials or any other outputs finds itself vulnerable. However the department that is being relied on by over five departments finds itself in a very powerful position. Financial Resources: This is another source of power. In a business it is all about achieving the bottom line or making a profit. The department that is deemed to be steering the organisation towards such a goal is deemed to be powerful. The management does everything to ensure that the organisation gets what it needs in terms of financial and non-financial resources. For these departments even in times of scarcity of resources they find themselves having most of the resources they need. They have a higher priority over other departments when it comes to the distribution of these resources. With these scarce resources that they are given they make even more profit. Centrality: This brings in the issue of support staff and operations staff. The operational departments such as production are seen to be contributing directly to the firms total output. Other support staff such as human resources may be seen not to be contributing directly to the firm’s primary output and eventually to the firm’s bottom line. Those departments with direct staff or operations staff are more powerful. Their requests are heard fully before other departments can really lay out their issues. One of the ways of recognising the central departments is their relationship to the organisational strategy (Shukla, 2004, p. 112) Non-substitutability: This comes in where there are certain staffs in the organisation that cannot be easily replaced. There is no one else with the level of skills and expertise that they possess. This gives them power. It could be an individual or a whole department. The organisation will find itself seeking for third party services or expertise when the individual is on leave or he leaves the organisation suddenly either through dismissal or resignation. Coping with uncertainty. Another source of power is when a department handles the aspect of uncertainty well. The truth is that in an organisation there will always be uncertainty to some extent on market sales, promotions and other interactions with the external environment. A department that therefore assists the organisation to deal with uncertainty is perceived to be very powerful. Managers should therefore strive to take advantage of these strategic congruencies. Organisational Politics Appropriate use: There are certain dangers of using politics to resolve conflict in the organisation. First of all, it often involves the use of deceptive or dishonesty. It usually causes even further conflict aggravating the existing tense feelings. Most people feel anxious, insecure and nervous in a working environment where there is a lot of conflict. It also increases the level of job dissatisfaction and may lead to certain levels of employee turnover. In this environment, the staff will exhibit low work morale, inferior outlook, low quality of work results and errors. There will be poor decisions made as people seek self-satisfaction showing a deviation in the staff from achieving team work and the organisational goals. However politics can be used positively in the organisation where this form of power is not abused. The proper and acceptable use and view of politics is where it is used as a tool for the bargaining and negotiating of rights and tasks in the organisation. In this way it helps to solve conflicts and equips staff in negotiation and decision making skills. Domains of Political Activity Structural Change and Management Succession Political power may be implemented through structural change in the organisation. It may occur in diverse ways. The management may change the responsibilities or tasks of certain individuals. This is where the managers will be found in meetings negotiating and striving to be heard so that they can maintain the responsibilities and roles that they had before. The organisation’s staff may experience a high level of transfers, promotions, dismissals or retrenchments and hiring of new staff (Rahim, 2010, p. 155). This occurs mostly at the top management level. To provide a buffer for themselves managers usually engage in informal networks for support, communication and cooperation is required for survival. Members in the different departments can even be exchanged so as to reduce the level of intergroup bias and attitudes. It will create understanding as staff experiences the challenges that other staff in other groups experience. The methods of communication within the organisation can even be altered so as to find a medium that gives clearer communication between the groups. Resource Allocation Political power may also be demonstrated by the degree of resources allocated to staff or groups. When speaking of resources it includes a wide range of resources such as employees or manpower, salaries, office equipment and operating budgets. In an organisation there are groups that will be given more resources than others. The discrepancies in the degree of resources given to different departments increase the tendency towards disharmony in an organisation (Alderfer Smith, 1982) Power is also vested in departments that control critical inputs for other departments in the processing process (Shukla, 2004, p. 114) Political Tactics for Using Power There are different tactics that managers use to get what they want. The use of power where there is intergroup conflicts requires the manager to be skilful or even sly. Lack of preparedness may cause him or her not to accomplish their goal. Building of coalitions: In order for a manager to be able to use this strategy, he must have a high level of interpersonal skills. To build a coalition does not happen in a formal environment, most of the time it occurs in informal meetings. Building the social networks assists the managers to accomplish certain tasks (Boyatzis, 1982, p. 122). Before a major meeting, the manager engages other managers either in one on one session or in hurdles of threes in order to convince them to see and advocate for his point of view. The manager must be perceived to be acting in the best interests of other managers and the organisation as a whole. The foundation set by the manager should be one of trust, mutual respect and harmony. Expansion of Networks: A second strategy that the manager may use is to work towards expanding the size of his network. This is where an individual either seeks out relationships with other new managers or gets a way of getting the managers who are not sympathetic to his side. The organisation opts to transfer or promote individuals to come to strategic positions so that they can fight for the departmental access to certain resources or privileges. There is also th e approach of bringing people who are against the system closer to management so as to win their support. A good example is where there are certain managers against the promotion and salary system in the organisation. In order to get their support the management promotes the managers and brings them to be in the committee. This way they can see the challenges involved in the administration of the promotion and salary policies and appreciate the approach the organisation in order to achieve balance and harmony. This is known as â€Å"modelling† the desired behaviour for the staff so that the top management is able to accomplish its task with the staff support (Boyatzis, 1982, p. 122) The Control of decision premises: In this political tactic, the manager may choose not to reveal all the information to the other managers so as to influence them to do what he wants. Similarly, he may only tell the other managers the favourable information concerning his department and hide other negative information that will not help him achieve the results that he wants. This method of control of decision premises actually refers to the act of restraining or constraining the boundaries of decision making which is what the manager is doing by giving selective information. The manager is affecting the foundation of decision making which is access to information (Gareth, 1997, p. 165). A university department while campaigning for additional resources will emphasize its growth in recent time periods. Another strategy is in manipulating the agenda during meetings. Items that the manager wants to receive crucial attention will be placed will be discussed early when the other managers have a lot of energy to discuss and give their contribution. Other items that are deemed to be less crucial at that time are placed at the end of the meeting when the people are tired and in a hurry to leave since the attention given to them will be obviously low. The manager may also choose to c all attention to certain items in the agenda and even offer viable alternatives so that he can kick off a discussion. Use of legitimacy and expertise: In an organisation there are those managers who are known to be experts in certain fields. In this strategy, the manager will seek to give other managers his requests relevant to his area of expertise. Due to his recognition in that domain, the other managers will agree to his request quickly. If the request involves some area that is a bit too complex, the manager can choose to involve third party professional or technical experts in order to increase the weight of his request in his favour. In other scenarios, change in an organisation is most of the time resisted by the established systems in the organisation for a long time. The management can use politics to remove these people in order to institute the changes that they desire (Shukla, 2004, p. 111) Balancing preferences and power: the manager cannot afford to be silent since hi s department will not get the support and resources that are needed. The managers should use power implicitly, wisely or slyly and make his requests explicitly. There are requests that are usually considered in an organisation because there were no other viable alternatives suggested by other managers. Other manager’s suggestions could have missed selection and appropriate discussion simply because the requests were ambiguous, unclear and confusing. One should be clear about his requests in meetings. The manager has to take a risk and speak out. Managers are in a position to influence the agenda of meetings (Shukla, 2004, p. 110) Power should never be announced. It leaves a bad taste in the mouth. People in the organisation know the departments and individuals who are powerful. If a manager draws undue attention to the power or say he has, other managers will not support him as they will find him to be self-seeking or selfish. Managers must therefore balance the rational and political nature of their work. They should use politics positively to achieve desired goals. Conclusion There are different ways in which intergroup conflicts can be resolved however the use of political power should be used with caution due to the precarious side effects it may have. There has to be a balance. Political power is a great tool for managers to solve intergroup conflicts that will usually be there in any organisation. References Boyatzis, R. (1982). The competent manager: A model for effective performance.  New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons. Daft, R., Murphy, J., Willmott, H. (2010).  Organization theory and design. Boston,  MA: Cengage Learning. Galinsky, A. (2002). Creating and reducing intergroup conflict: The role of perspective-taking in affecting out-group evaluations. Volume of Research on Managing Groups and Teams, 4, 85–113. van Gelder, C. (2007). Defining the issues related to power and authority in religious leadership Journal of Religious Lea dership, 6(2). Retrieved from https://arl-jrl.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Van-Gelder-Defining-the-Issues-2007-Fall.pdf Makin, P., Cooper, C., Cox, C. (1996).  Organizations and the psychological  contract: Managing people at work. Westpost, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group. Morgan, G. (1998). Images of organization. San Francisco, CA:  Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Nelson, D., Campbell, J. (2004).  Quick understanding organizational behavior. Mason, OH: South Western College Publishers. Rahim, M. (2001). Managing conflict in organizations (3rd ed.).  Westport, CT: Quorum Books. Shukla, M. (2004).  Understanding organizations: Organizational theory and  practice in Indi. New Delhi, India: Prentice Hall. Spoelstra, H., Pienaa, W. (1991).  Negotiation: Theories, strategies and skills. Cape Town, South Africa: Juta Academic. This research paper on Intergroup Conflicts in Organisations was written and submitted by user Amber K. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

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