Construction management is the designing and planning for the construction and hiring the workers on the contract and rendering better training and making them learn about the safety measures that need to be adopted by the workers and management should monitor the working so that adverse situation could be avoided. For effective working the company should formulate the cell in context of managing the conflict.
The literature quotes about the functional conflict and why such conflicts should be encouraged and in what manner does it proves to be the beneficial. The causes of conflict has been discussed along with the impact that these conflicts has on the organisation whether the results of conflict are always adverse or does it led to positivity or not. Lastly the recommendation in context of conflict management in the construction company has been explained followed with the meaningful conclusion. In nutshell, the conflicts are the common procedure that is part of every organisation and they need to be wisely handled and learning drawn out of it should be remembered so that similar situation could be dealt whenever it occur the next.
According to Harris & McCaffer (2013), construction management is the technique where the plans are made in context of constructing, designing and developing the project. It starts from the beginning of the thought that is when the idea originated and resists till the completion of the construction process. In the particular case the company quoted is Caledonian LLC which is a medium sized organisation, when the crowd of people get collected for the accomplishment of the common cause there are chances that conflict is likely to arise at any point of time. In the quoted company the problems starts to take place when the conflict arise between and within the organisation and even the disputes took place with the client as well. Such a conflict resulted in financial loss and even the bond within and outside the organisation faced a downfall and relations with clients also suffered a lot.
According to Dastbaz, Gorse & Moncaster (2017), the construction profession should support the functional conflict that give birth to the challenging situations that creates dissatisfaction and disagreement among the conflicting parties and argument take place on the basis of tasks, roles and process related to the construction management. Functional conflicts are favoured as it reflects the problems and the frequency of risk reduces and thereby the large range of solutions are made available by collecting the varieties of ideas and this helps in developing the better understanding. As stated by Walker (2015), for analysing the problems and rendering the solution in the functional conflict firstly the problem is identified and thereafter the problem is studied thoroughly and alternatives are figured out, afterwards the one best alternative which is fairly suitable is applied to the problem to seek the solution. Leckie, Widing & Whitwell (2017) states that due to functional conflict the fear and stress enhances which could ruin the relations within and outside organisation. Also the best thing about the functional conflict is that if the conflict is timely and nicely resolved than the relationships gain their strength.
As per Mikkelsen & Clegg (2017) there are multiple reasons that contribute in arising of the conflicting situation some of it is the failure in attaining the goals and meeting the customer’s expectations. The attention is paid on the insufficiency of the employees and they should be trained accordingly to maintain the standard and fulfil the client’s requirements. In the situation of conflict there is a need of efficient leader who hears the problems calmly and choose the better approach to arrive at the appropriate solution that is partial solution should be prevented. De Clercq, Rahman & Belausteguigoitia (2017) quotes that there are certain conflicts that are previously known that are likely to appear as they are the common in nature and meant to occur, such problems have a ready solution as the management knows about it in advance but along with the sure possibilities there occurs the uncertain situation that are not predicted and these are the times when actual quality of management and the good leader is known to the organisation as in such an uncertain event the decision making skill of the management is tested and the wise decision on the short notice are made.
In an organisation there are various aspects that prove to be the cause for the conflict which could be focussed so that the problem does not become a repetitive one. Also there are various parties that are involved in the conflict; it arises at different places and the nature of conflict variates from situation to situation. As per McKibben (2017), if the organisational conflict is considered in context of Construction Company there are chances that the quarrel between employees, employer, stakeholders, community organisations and society might arise and the management have to take step to resolve this on the early notice. Some types of organisational conflicts are described as under:
Misunderstanding: The basic reason that prevails in all kind of problems is misunderstanding. It occurs due to lack of knowledge and not having clarity about the things that are going to appear in the future or what all measures are need to be taken to accomplish the construction work. Oke & Aigbavboa (2017) argued that in the construction company the entire plan has to be made and then the costing part starts that is the most crucial portion of the construction company and this is the part where most of the conflicts take place between the contractor, client, labours and government that are involved in the construction contract. Licari (2017) proclaimed that the things need to made clear previously and all the doubts should be clarified well before the time so that the situation of confusion do not come up because most of the time because of the lack in listening or staying in the confusion and not conforming the things from the either parties lead to the situation of the misunderstanding.
Poor communication: According to Devirishnaya, Ismail & Jamaludin (2017), communication is the most important thing that connects people and before starting any activity or concluding it at every step there is a need of effective communication. In order to make contract the fair and clear communication has to be there with all the parties. It should be seen that the message that has to be send to the other party is clear, concise and meaningful that delivers the entire important things that has to be there. Poor communication spoils the contract and meaning turn out to be wrong if in the whole communication various other noises occur. Poor communication occurs due to unclear message, interruption in voice while interacting on the phone, delay delivery in message if electronic mode has been used and breakage of technology.
Inappropriate planning: For an organisation it is necessary to adopt the adequate planning system in order to gain success. Corvello, Javernick & Ratta (2017) argued that the construction company faces the conflict because adequate planning is not achieved and when the blueprint of the construction in not appropriate the objective will it be met and there are chances that conflict will arise because the client will not be satisfied in receiving the inappropriate and low quality of work. The inappropriate planning consumes the time, energy and moreover the budget gets unadjusted.
Incompetent staff: The selection of staff should be efficient and adequate because competent person could do miracles and the incompetent will only result in loss. As per Nadda, Rafiq & Tyagi (2017) when the correct candidate has been selected not only the work will be better but also the applicant knows the work well and will give their best in the work they are performing because they are enthusiastic, energetic, comprise of knowledge and holds interest in the wok that they are performing. The inadequate person will not be motivated enough and won’t be able to work with the same zeal as the competent one is doing and this could become the cause of conflict and the person also starts feeling ill in context of the organisation thus portraying the negative image in the external environment and therefore the client, contractor and other parties to the construction might get upset and level of complaints increases.
Conflicts are the part of organisation that arises between the employer, employee, labourers, clients and investors. Some of the conflict concludes with the negativity whole there are certain conflicts that are positive as well which led to the expansion of organisation and opens up the new ways for the organisation. According to Chen, Chao & Xie (2017) with certain conflicts the dissatisfaction is attached while with the other issues and challenges the satisfaction level could also be attained. Some of the negative and positive impacts of the organisational conflicts are quoted as under:
Change: When there is the adverse situation and the problem starts to arise than it is highly dependent upon the nature of the conflict and the after effects of it on the organisation and the organisational relationship. Al-Krenawi (2017) states that in order to resolve these conflicts certain changes need to be made and these changes could be fruitful and bitter as well. If the major changes have been made then it might affect the structure and culture of the organisation and for the smaller organisation this could be beneficial as they could adopt these changes and these changes might positively affect the development of the organisation. If these changes have ever occurred in the big organisation than it would adversely affect the organisation as at the large scale the changes cannot be easily absorbed and this might lead to massive loss in financial terms as well.
Allocation of resources: According to Sundarmurthy et al, 2017 most of the time optimum allocations of resources are the main cause of conflict and in the construction company resource allocation is the major thing. When the over utilization of resources takes place it results in over budgeting as well and if the underutilization is done it affects the quality of services that is ben provided. Therefore the solution should be such that standard utilisation has to be designed so that the appropriate use is promoted and compromise with quality and quantity will be there.
Innovation: When certain new policies and procedures have been designed it is the time when most of the conflicts take place as the resistance to change has to be there among the employees and the staff could not always revert positively towards the changes as the entire new thing has to be learnt and therefore the employees get confused in such an activity and the conflicts take place. Hunter, Cushenberry & Jayne (2017) quotes that the positive thing of such a conflict is such that employees and management get to learn many new things and the organisation attain the entire different level to grow. Innovations are difficult in the start but delivers bets results if tested and applied in the correct manner.
Departmentalisation: Ahmed (2017) argues that there are two parties involved in the organisation and both are equally powerful than the suppression and domination takes place. In the construction company the contactor and client both are powerful and need perfection in there work in such a case the one who is likely to suffer is the staff because they have two authorities to whom they are answerable. According to Fayol’s 14 principles the unity of command should be with the one authority only and if the employee performs according to the contractor than the client might raise the conflict and vice versa. Hough in such a case the better options and more varieties of ideas are made available to the employees and they could choose the wise step to accomplish the given work.
Conflict management is the tactic that the mangers should know and positively deal with it by creating the mutual understanding between the parties of conflict and the bond among the staff blossoms up. In the construction management there are various parties involved in accomplishing the task and when a group of people come together for the common cause certainly the good things happens and many innovative ideas are generated and even implemented with the hope of getting better results. Meng & Boyd (2017) explained that where the achievements are enjoyed there are fights as well that has to be resolved and many times it happens that such conflicts lead the organisation towards the betterment. Also the conflicts create a miserable situation as well where the organisation has to face the losses which could be financial as well as the hurdle in the growth of the organisation. In order to improve the situation performance of the employees should be focussed because most of the time it is noted that the employee is not able to understand the task properly and impellent the activity in the confusion which led to destruction within the organisation. To improve the performance of the employee’s adequate training should be provided to them and learning in term of conflict management and seeking redressal should be given to the staff. When the appropriate training is provide to the employees the development automatically catches the pace. Shan, Ann and Wu (2017) stated that the employees and management get to learn about handling the clients and deal with the employer and peers and clarify the situation to them. For that sake first of all problem should be understood and the cause of conflict need to be studied. The various causes due to which the conflict is likely to arise are misunderstanding among the person; poor communication decreases the productivity as the message given is not clear. The person appointed should also be wise and prompt in understanding the conflict and quickly handle the things. Liu et al (2017) projected that for the appropriate working competent staffs need to be appointed who could smartly handle the adverse situation without damaging the organisational relations and images. Another cause for the conflict is that plan to attain the objective and fulfil the required goals. If the incompetent person has been selected appropriate planning will not be there which could be the major reason behind the conflict.
Conclusion
Hence, it could be concluded from the literature review that conflict management carries high importance in the business organisation and differs from company to company. In the construction company the conflict took place between and within the organisation and the client as well which if not resolved within the appropriate time could have resulted in financial and relationship loss. There are various forms and causes due to which the conflict could arise, the one could not predict the exact cause of conflict that would surely come up. In the literature review the various causes have been discussed and these causes are misunderstanding which is the common and predictable issue likely to arise when the group of people join hands for the common cause. Other than misunderstanding the general issues that should be focussed is poor communication, the language matter a lot thus it is always wise step to use the words correctly and carefully. The unpredictable thing that should be focussed is the planning for construction, it has to be appropriate and based on the count of each and every measure to avoid the adverse situation, also while designing the blueprint backup plan must be there so as to co-op up with the situation. And lastly, the incompetent staffs are also the major cause of conflict. When such the quarrel arises and solutions are rendered there are several changes that took place, therefore, the impact of these conflicts have been discussed as well.
References
Ahmed, M.A., 2017. The Importance of The Organizational Structuring and Departmentalization in Workplace. The Journal of Middle East and North Africa Sciences, 3(3), pp.30-38.
Al-Krenawi, A., 2017. Conflict Studies. In Building Peace Through Knowledge (pp. 27-38). Springer International Publishing.
Chen, Y.F.N., Chao, M.C.H. and Xie, H.Y., 2017, June. Integration of Cultural Values and Cross-Cultural Conflict Management. In GAI International Academic Conferences Proceedings (p. 44).
Corvello, V., Javernick-Will, A. and Ratta, A.M.L., 2017. Routine project scope management in small construction enterprises. International Journal of Project Organisation and Management, 9(1), pp.18-30.
Dastbaz, M., Gorse, C. and Moncaster, A. eds., 2017. Building Information Modelling, Building Performance, Design and Smart Construction.
De Clercq, D., Mohammad Rahman, Z. and Belausteguigoitia, I., 2017. Task conflict and employee creativity: The critical roles of learning orientation and goal congruence. Human Resource Management, 56(1), pp.93-109.
DeviKrishnaya, S., Jamaludin, K.R. and Ismail, S., 2017. Communication Management during Design Phase in Construction Project. In MASTER PROJECT SYMPOSIUM ON ENGINEERING BUSINESS MANAGEMENT (Vol. 13, p. 29).
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