Disagreements in an organization arise from differences of opinions, values, and goals. Although many people try to avoid conflict by all means, sometimes it is inevitable in an organization comprising diverse individuals. Conflict is a normal part of life, and several issues cause conflict. Conflict can be both destructive and constructive depending on how the parties involved resolve their differences. Negotiation skills are required for teams to come up with solutions to disagreements. While negotiating, the parties involved have to "generate options, brainstorm ideas, give and take, and attempt to meet their mutual goals" (Wilmot & Hocker, 2014). The conflict negotiation and resolution plan will explore the cause of conflict, its effect on the organization, suitable conflict resolution, negotiations strategy, and the expected outcome.
Factors Causing the Conflict
The volunteer organization's primary cause of conflict is the lack of clear goals, objectives, and policies to govern the organization. The organization failed to establish clear goals on the organization's purpose and issues to address. Due to this, executive members had differing ideologies on the topic to center on and the type of event to sponsor, which affected decision-making. Conflict also results from differences in personalities as group members had differing backgrounds and cultural beliefs ( Buchanan & Huczynski, 2019) . The group members were from three different racial representations whose opinions differed significantly. Another cause of conflict is unequal racial and gender representation in the leadership position. The leadership position comprises seven members where six are women and only one male leader. Based on race, there are two African-American leaders, one Hispanic and four Caucasians. Unequal representation escalates conflict since the minority like Hispanics feel the Caucasians are controlling the group.
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Effect of Conflict on the organization.
Conflict can have both positive and negative effects on the staff, customers, and leaders. If not solved correctly and within the shortest time, a constructive conflict can negatively affect organizational performance. In this case, conflict leads to reduced productivity. For instance, the staff's productivity is immensely reduced when conflicts affect their morale. Besides, the organization has spent the last year dealing with disputes, taking away the time and concentration required to achieve the set goals. Also, conflict among leaders affects workplace morale and leads to high employee turnover as members find it challenging to continue working in the volunteer organization ( Black et al., 2019 ). The effect is detrimental since members who want to quit are part of the executive team responsible for making vital decisions and ensuring smooth running. If more than half of the executive leaves, the organization is at risk of dissolution. Conflict is also affecting working relationships among the seven executive teams. A poor relationship might lead to poor decision-making, which affects accomplishing the set goals (Wilmot & Hocker, 2014) . The impact of organizational conflicts extends to the customers, who may not receive the desired services due to their unproductivity. Hence, the customers may shift their attention to better organizations. Lastly, if not solved, the volunteer organization is at risk of losing its reputation and positive image.
Conflict Resolution Style
In this case, a constructive conflict resolution style will be most effective since it allows every member to freely express their opinions. A well-managed conflict will bring gain in the future by creating trust, growing individuals' mindset, and giving the team morale to invest their innovation into the organization ( Black et al., 2019 ). Collaboration is the most effective conflict resolution style to solve the conflict that exists in the volunteer organization. The collaborative style is both assertive and cooperative as every individual participates in identifying a solution that fully satisfies their concerns. The collaboration resolution style is useful when dealing with equal power members and who have differing perspectives ( Schaubhut, 2007) . Through collaboration, the negotiator will lead the parties into finding an integrative solution since every individual's concern is vital to be compromised. The team's working relationship has already been affected, and they require to be fully guided into working their feelings to focus on the organizational goals entirely. The collaboration will work best when a long-term working relationship is needed among conflicting parties. In this case, the team needs to be guided into understanding their different personal background, which is causing conflicts, and guides establishing a healthy working relationship. Although collaboration style will consume a lot of time before coming to a consensus, the result will positively impact the organization's future.
Conflict Negotiation Strategies
As the mediator, the suitable negotiation strategy will be integrative aimed at gaining a win-win solution. A win-win strategy involves careful exploration of both parties' positions to find a mutually acceptable outcome that satisfies each party's needs ( Hocker & Wilmot, 2003; Castro & Engel, 2007 ) . In a win-win situation, parties are prepared to trade until everyone reaches satisfaction. In a win-win strategy, the dominant strategy includes cooperation, sharing information, and mutual problem solving ( Black et al., 2019 ). Voluntary participation of all parties is fundamental for the success of a collaborative approach to manage conflict. When choosing a negotiation strategy, the mediator should keep in mind the importance of the relationship with the other party and the importance of the outcome. Before starting the negotiation process, the mediator should understand that pursuing negotiations does not necessarily mean the other party is sincerely willing to reach into negotiation solution. The mediator will lead the team to generate options and brainstorm good ideas to arrive at a consensus (Wilmot & Hocker, 2014) . The team will also willingly give some ideas or values and willingly take some from the other team. Together, the team will focus on meeting their mutual goal leading to a win-win solution.
Likely Outcome.
The selected integrative negotiation strategy will produce a positive outcome once the team support and accept the final agreement. A successful negotiation leads to a better agreement among conflicting parties as they all agree to work out specific issues over time ( Hüffmeier et al., 2019) . It is expected that a strong working relationship among the leaders will be established, making it possible to solve other issues in the future ( Wilmot & Hocker, 2014 ). The team will agree to work towards a common goal and shared interest leading to high productivity and healthy decision-making.
References
Black, S., Gardner, D., Pierce, J., & Steers, R. (2019). Organizational Behavior (1st ed.). OpenStax. https://opentextbc.ca/organizationalbehavioropenstax/chapter/causes-of-conflict-in-organizations/
Buchanan, D. A., & Huczynski, A. A. (2019). Organizational behavior . Pearson UK.
Castro, A. P., & Engel, A. (2007). Negotiation and mediation techniques for natural resource management. Case studies and lessons learned . Food & Agriculture Org. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2018.04.017.
Hocker, J. L., & Wilmot, W. W. (2003). Collaborative Negotiation. V Making Connections ur. Kathleen M. Galvin in Pamela J. Cooper , 237-244. https://eprints.uthm.edu.mg/id/eprint/9849.
Hüffmeier, J., Zerres, A., Freund, P. A., Backhaus, K., Trötschel, R., & Hertel, G. (2019). Strong or weak synergy? Revising the assumption of team-related advantages in integrative negotiations. Journal of Management , 45 (7), 2721-2750. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206318770245.
Schaubhut, N. A. (2007). Thomas-Kilmann conflict mode instrument. CPP Research Department . http://www.lig360.com/assessments/tki/smp248248.pdf
Wilmot, W., & Hocker, J. (2014). Interpersonal conflict (9th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. https://doi.10.1177/0022002791035004008.
