Research Paper on:
Conflict Management Proposal

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
is 2.8 hours per week (CPP, 2008). That would be equal to about $359 billion in the United States and that makes conflict very expensive for companies (CPP, 2008). It  also takes a psychological and emotional toll on the people involved. This is especially true when the conflict escalates and becomes a personal attack (CPP, 2008). The efficient and effective  thing for organizations to do is to train all their people in conflict management strategies. This proposal recommends beginning such training as a workshop and continuing it on-the-job with the  manager acting as the conflict mediator. Eventually, employees at all levels will be able to deal with conflicts as they arise. Just as important is the fact that people will  learn how to avoid conflicts. The CPP (2008) report found that very little training is provided by organizations. The authors state: "our most striking - and alarming - finding was  that the majority of employees have never received conflict management training" (p. 2). The training needs to begin by identifying what a conflict is and what it is not  with some personal reflection. The training would explain there are five major styles for managing conflict although different authors may use different terminology. They are: competition where each person focuses  only on getting what they want; this is a win-lose situation; accommodation where each person places the needs and wants of the other one above their own; avoidance where the  individuals avoids the conflict altogether; collaboration where the parties look for a solution that will satisfy everyones needs; and compromise where the parties each give up something (Hofstrand, 2006). The  group needs training in effective communication processes. Clear communication is always important but in conflict situations, it is crucial. Oftentimes, conflict erupts as a result of poor communication interactions. The