I.

TIME CONTEXT

The conflict begun when the Department of Education started with the
implementation of K-12. The principal was at a lost what Senior High School
Program should be offered and how many programs. The principal and the teachers
are heavily arguing and debating as to what programs should be offered. This has
caused much delay in the decision-making of the Principal. Until now, the principal
has not yet decided on the problem. The parents are now asking the teachers to
immediately inform them.

The Principal started his term a month ago only. The previous principal decided
not to act on the matter before he left because of his disagreements with the
teachers and the community. It seemed that what he wants was different from what
the community and teachers want. So the problem of decision making was given to
the new Principal. He too, was at a lost.

One of the provisions of the Senior High School is that the program which must
be offered should be available in the community. However, the parents and teachers
do not want Agriculture. They want ICT. This was the cause of disagreements.

II. VIEWPOINT

From the viewpoint of the principal, the problem emanates from the the
disagreements of the community and the school. The school has not yet come up
with the decision on what SHS program should be offered to incoming Grade 11
students. Thus, it resulted to conflict between the community and the school.

III. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The study focused on the conflict arising from disagreements among community,
teachers and the principal.

Specifically, it answered the following questions:

1. What is the cause of the conflict among stakeholders of the school?

2. What recommendation can be given to manage the conflict?

IV. OBJECTIVES

1. To determine the cause of conflict in the department.

2. To recommend actions manage the conflict.

V. AREAS OF CONSIDERATION/ANALYSIS

The initial cause of the conflict, the unattended laboratory procedure which
should have done by the medical technologists and the negligence of the
department to conduct laboratory tests on the blood sample caused the affiliate
doctor to file a notice of complaint to the medical director.
 Negligence is a major problem especially in a medical laboratory. The
medication of a patient depends on its results. However, the case became worst
because the members of the department failed to resolve the problem. Much worst
is the failure of the supervisor to communicate with the members.

Much is expected of the supervisor because he is the leader of the department.

As seen in the confict between the supervisor and the medical technologists, all of
them had personal issues involving work ethics and communication.

Their differences and disagreements with each other have consequently

affected their performance thus endangering the life of the patients. The supervisor
failed to exercise the necessary monitoring and evaluation of each members work
and performance.

Anxiety creates a reactive atmosphere that stifles creative problem-solving.

People are so caught up in the emotion of the situation that calm and rational
thinking is impossible, both within an individual and within an organization.
Obviously, this affects work performance. This individual and collective impact of
anxiety makes identification of stakeholders in Supervisor and Medical
Technologists's conflict an easy process. Besides them, the patients and the
company have a stake in the outcome due to the anxiety level in the office affecting
their performance. The Director also has a stake in the conflict for the same reason.

VI. ALTERNATIVE COURSES OF ACTION

1. The first step toward finding a resolution of the conflict is to discover what the
supervisor truly wants. He could choose to pursue the matter through an
investigation to find out what really happened since all the medical technologists
were claiming to have been preoccupied with their respective works. Or he could
choose to pursue the matter through a meeting with the medical technologists.
This way, all parties could identify their interests and concerns to arrive at a
mutually acceptable agreement (Costantino and Merchant, 1996. p. 45).

2. An interest-based approach is better suited to the conflict between the supervisor

and his subordinates focusing on interests can help them better understand each
other. The Director can help bring about greater understanding through listening,
facilitation of dialogue between the supervisor and subordinates, problem-
solving, and mediating the conflict. These interest-based techniques are
considered better methods of dispute resolution "because they result in lower
transaction costs, greater satisfaction with outcomes, less strain on the parties'
relationship, and lower recurrence of disputes (Costantino and Merchant, 1996,
pp. 45-46).

VII. RECOMMENDATION

From the alternative courses of action, it is recommended that the company

settle the issue through conflict resolution. Conflict resolution practice has largely
focused on conflict taking place in public, as if it was set on a theater stage with an
audience watching the interactions unfold. In reality, conflict plays out behind the
scenes, unobserved by the conflict analysts and system designers. Kolb and
Bartunek, editors of Hidden Conflict in Organizations, bring to light the dynamics
 of informal conflict resolution. In this context, informal conflict resolution is defined as
resolution facilitated by organizational members through other means than the formal
processes of grievances, investigations and litigation (Kolb and Bartunek, 1992. p.
19). These informal conflict resolvers make a significant impact upon organizations
either by resolving the conflict or channeling it to a formal mechanism.

Informal conflict resolution often takes a nonrational approach (Kolb and

Bartunek, 1992, p. 20). Kolb and Bartunek describe this approach as accenting "the
unconscious or spontaneous aspects of disputing, ones that are driven by impulse
and the feelings of participants and not simply their cognition" (1992, p. 20).
Therefore, emotions are seen as a means of conflict management rather than a
hindrance to conflict management (Kolb and Bartunek, 1992. p. 20). In essence,
Kolb and Bartunek are attempting to reclaim emotion as a valid expression in conflict
resolution, and that expressing emotion does not necessarily imply a loss of reason.
Furthermore, they imply that the formal methods of conflict resolution favor the
rational over the emotional.

Retrieving the power and validity of emotion that was tossed along the wayside
during the Age of Reason, is needed to gain a holistic picture of conflict dynamics.
But it also needs a caveat; for intense emotion can cause reactivity that clouds the
way to resolution. From a family systems perspective, "the problem that triggered the
emotions is never addressed; emotions are merely generated and circuited and
recircuited through the system (Gilbert, 1992. p. 40). In the context of family systems
theory, emotions are neither bad nor good. What matters is the level of intensity of
emotion and the duration in which it occurs.

While the family systems approach may seem to conflict with Kolb and
Bartunek's validation of emotion as a conflict resolution tool, the two ideas are
actually complimentary. The intense emotion, otherwise called anxiety, calls attention
to the need for resolving a conflict that may not be expressed publicly. Once the
cause of the anxiety is identified and emotions expressed, people can think more
clearly and be better equipped to solve the problem. The following workplace conflict
illustrates this continuum of emotion and its intersection with cognitive reasoning. It
also highlights the important role an Ombudsman can play in uncovering and
working through emotion, paving the way toward resolution.

References

Costantino, C.A., Merchant, C.S. (1996). Designing Conflict Management Systems. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

Bartunek, J.M., Kolb, D.M., Lewicki, R.J. (1992) "Bringing Conflict Out From Behind the
Scenes", in Hidden Conflict in Organizations. Bartunek, J.M., Kolb, D.M., (Eds). London:
SAGE Publications.

Gilbert, R.M. (1992). Extraordinary Relationships. Minneapolis: Chronimed Publishing.