Tesco's Internal & External Conflicts: A Case Study

Introduction

In the past few years, Tesco, which is a major supermarket in the UK, experienced many internal conflicts. There were conflicts between individuals and other organizations in the supermarket chain. The internal conflicts were experiences on the treatment of employees as well as the customers. There were also some conflicts with the government authorities and the human rights groups on the approaches of the business in foreign countries. The organization had also conflicted externally with the other small businesses as they were perceived as a threat from their monopoly (Arena et al., 2017). The organization had been unable to handle the conflicts resulting in litigations to the extent that they appeared in court. This essay shall focus on internal conflicts and how the management dynamics are vital in solving them.

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Internal conflicts in Tesco began after there were changes instituted. As illustrated by Arena et al., 2017, change results in the emergence of losers and winners. The losers are usually not happy, and they may hinder the smooth running of the organization's operations. The conflicts in Tesco, as indicated by Arena et al., 2017 began back in 2004 after the supermarket reduced the sick pay aiming at decreasing the impromptu absence. The reduction required workers to work while they were all sick or with a less salary. The organization was able to achieve the desired goal in reducing the unplanned absence from the employees. Also, the company's move to acquire the other local supermarkets to expand had the organization in conflict with the local retailers, consumers, and also other groups. This led to the organization being investigated by the competition commission on the matters concerning obtaining a dominant position making the small business owners unable to carry out their operations.

In the current working environment, the employer needs to maintain excellent communication with employees through several means, motivating them and encouraging them to increase their productivity and competition. In the retail sector, the manager should maintain a communication bridge with the employees to have a competitive working environment that will increase company productivity in the overall market. As observed by Chatzipanagiotou et al., 2016, the organization's main problems are the management of conflict among the internal staff of the organization and maintaining their work productivity. In that regard, Tesco needed to manage conflict management to achieve the employees well and maintain productivity.

Most of the Tesco internal conflicts could be handled by having effective conflict management. Chatzipanagiotou et al., 2016 illustrates that not all disputes are harmful. If appropriately managed, the arguments can help improve teamwork in the organization and between different organizations. The internal conflicts in Tesco with the employees were dealt with inappropriately, resulting o an escalated tension that leads to the suffering of the company perception by the employees and the consumers. As illustrated by Chatzipanagiotou et al., 2016, Tesco applied some reduced levels of mindfulness when dealing with the employees, the suppliers, and the local retailers. There was a need to have a mindful ability to assess the internal and external situations in a way that would yield some essential ideas.

The initial plan by Tesco was to reduce the number of unexpected absences by the employees. However, the organization did not consider the plan into action that would yield in the long run. As explained by Gounaris et al., 2016, once the program was implemented, there was a conflict between the organization and the employees. Gounaris et al., 2016 further note that conflict is the process through which the problems are acknowledged and solved. Therefore having effective conflict management would be useful in the case of helping improve productivity and employee innovation. In this situation, Gounaris et al. (2016) demonstrate that the most effective conflict management technique that was suitable was collective bargaining and negotiation. Through the strategy, the company management could meet the employee representatives to find common ground that could benefit both parties. The use of mediation and arbitration could have been effective in dealing with local retailers and suppliers. The company also could have developed positive conflict management culture that would be built on a collaborative relationship. This would ensure an open-minded discussion with the employees in case of conflicts. Gounaris et al., 2016 indicate that Tesco organization handled the disputes in an inappropriate manner, which led to an escalation of disputes rather than resolution. Following is a management dynamic that could have been used in the decision of the disputes in Tesco supermarket.

First & Kochenderfer, 2017 indicates that conflict is inevitable when working with others. This is because people have different views that escalate to the conflict under certain circumstances. How the disputes are handled, determine whether it will work for the advantage of the team, or will contribute to the demise of teamwork. As a manager, you can choose to ignore the conflict, complain or put the blame to others, deal with it through hints and suggestions or clarification on the matter and having an attempt to resolve a technique such as negotiation or compromise. It is now clear that the conflict has to be solved. First & Kochenderfer, 2017, it should be dealt with in a constructive manner and with a vivid plan to prevent further conflicts and even a massive mess.

Conflict is not bad, but a healthy and constructive conflict is a component of a high performing team. It often arises from the differences that make different teams more effective than those made up of people with similar experience. A team with people having a diverse perspective makes the group more effective than the one with people having the same views (Orlando, 2020). The management should be open to the differences and not allow the differences to lead to disputes. Understanding the different viewpoints and appreciating them in the conflict become critical in the resolution. These are supposed to be developed by all the team members, and it will enhance the maintenance of healthy balance in the constructive difference of opinion and avoiding negative conflict, which will be disruptive and destructive. Getting to that will require some well-developed team skills, especially the ability to resolve the disputes when they arise (Orlando, 2020). Also, the ability to keep healthy conflicts or avoiding them in the daily team working. The study shall demonstrate conflict resolution first, then the prevention of conflicts.

When two teams get to a point where they have different opinions, conflict resolution requires respect and patience. The human experience of conflict involve emotions, perceptions as well as actions that are all experienced and need an address to resolve it. The negative experiences should be replaced with positive ones (Orlando, 2020). The following are three steps that are useful in the mediation process. To start with, the members should prepare for resolution by acknowledging the conflict before it can be managed or resolved. There is a tendency that this step is ignored, as it is sometimes difficult to differentiate from normal and healthy debates. The management should, therefore, discuss the problem with the team and other members also (Orlando, 2020). After identifying the problem, in this case, the sick policy by Tesco, then the process of conflict resolutions begins. The management should discuss the impact of the conflict on the team as well as the effect on their performance. Also, there should be an agreement on the cooperative process where every party must agree to cooperate in the resolution of conflicts. This will mean setting the opinions aside and placing the team first. This will prevent parties from wanting to win more than they should and finding themselves in a stalemate (Orlando, 2020). The two parties must be ready to communicate, which is an essential thing in the conflict resolution process. The parties should be allowed to share their feeling as they also demonstrate active listening.

The manager should understand the situation once the team is ready to resolve the conflict. Every party should be appreciated and listened to according to the job. Therefore each person's position is to be heard and understood. Since it is a process full of emotions, the following should be done (Orlando, 2020). Parties should clarify their position during the disagreement. This is supposed to be done regardless of the presence of a prominent faction within the team that is supporting a particular opinion, idea, or an approach. Every party in a conflict holds a unique position that needs to be heard and well-articulated by the parties involved (Orlando, 2020). This step can take longer as the parties need to see the facts in an objective manner and with fewer emotions. This will involve the listing of the events, assumptions, and beliefs that are underlying in every position.

For effectiveness, the groups should be broken down, and only the representatives should be involved in the conflict resolution. In a smaller group, if the parties consider the facts, assumptions, and the decisions that are taking the lead in the people's positions will have a better understanding of the posts (Orlando, 2020). This will help not only in revealing new areas of agreement but also new ideas and solutions, making a better position and perspective. After this, the teams should convene back as a team at this point, and they will likely be much closer to reaching an agreement. In order to reach an agreement, the parties should understand their positions and decide on the course of action that they shall take. Having facts and assumptions laid on the table, it will be much easier to come to the best work of reaching an agreement. Any further analysis or evaluation will require an agreement on further actions to be taken. Here, the decision-making tools, as well as the evaluation tools, should be applied.

Conclusion

In conclusion, after conflict resolution, there should be a celebration and acknowledgment of the contributions from everyone to the reaching of a consensus. This will build the team cohesion and confidence in the problem-solving skills that will prevent future conflicts (Orlando, 2020). The three steps will help the management in resolving the conflict in the most effective and efficient manner. The basis is just gaining an understanding of the different perspectives and the use of an understanding of various aspects. Conflict can be constructive as long as it is dealt with and managed directly and as quickly as possible.

References

Arena, M., Arnaboldi, M., & Palermo, T. (2017). The dynamics of (dis) integrated risk management: A comparative field study. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 62, 65-81.

Chatzipanagiotou, K., Gounaris, S., Boukis, A., & Perks, H. (2016, July). Applying a Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis for Conflict Resolution During New Service Development. In 2016 Global Marketing Conference in Hong Kong (pp. 92-92).

Gounaris, S., Chatzipanagiotou, K., Boukis, A., & Perks, H. (2016). Unfolding the recipes for conflict resolution during the new service development effort. Journal of Business Research, 69(10), 4042-4055.

Ong, H. Y., & Kochenderfer, M. J. (2017). Markov decision process-based distributed conflict resolution for drone air traffic management. Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, 69-80.

Orlando, L. (2020). Ancient Genomes Reveal Unexpected Horse Domestication and Management Dynamics. BioEssays, 42(1), 1900164.