Final individual project

1. Introduction

Diversity is a common thing in our daily workplace; it means the variety of experiences and perspective which arise from differences in race, culture, religion, mental or physical abilities, age, gender identity and other characteristics. (The Chancellor's Committee). Now, the world become closer contact, the new century has seen an increasingly globalized world economy, and consequently emphasis has been given to various cultural in workforces and its effect on organization practices. With more national economies opened to and integrated with the world market, people with different cultural backgrounds have often come together to work within heterogeneous groups in multinationals(Zhenzhong Maa, Dapeng Liang, Ahmet Erkus and Akif Tabak, 2012). Due to different cultural and background, conflict is, and always has been part of human enterprise (Kirstie Mcallum, 2013). Actually, in modern management, the realization that conflict management and resolution has become an increasingly important ability for a company. Diversity management is not a new topic, but diversity management experienced 3 paradigms, how to deal with diversity management when it may lead to conflict remains an elusive goal for company. In following paragraphs, I will give more details about how these shifts influence the conflict management.

2. Conflict management

We all know diversity workforce have different perspectives, values, norms and communication style which may become the causes of conflict in a company. Conflict management refers to the process of limiting the negative aspects of conflict while increasing the positive aspects of conflict. The aim of conflict management is to enhance learning and group outcomes, including effectiveness or performance in organizational setting (Rahim, M. A., 2002).

3. Three paradigm of diversity management

Thomas and Ely (1996) discuss the progression of organizational diversity strategies by observing three paradigms: two surface levels include the discrimination-and-fairness paradigm and the access-and-legitimacy paradigm, one deep level called the emerging learning-and-effectiveness paradigm.

(1). Surface level paradigms

①.  The discrimination-and-fairness paradigm

The discrimination-and-fairness paradigm means when company deal with diversity problem, it use a principle called colorblindness. This is a way which ignore identity group and everyone in company is treated same. Actually, it emphasizes on fairness and no discrimination to all employees. The advantage of this approach is people have a sense of equality, but the downside is also obviously, it is hard for a company to get greater progress and be creativity. Because everybody is same, they have common behavioral pattern and cannot use their own knowledge. For a long term, employees may feel boring and disappointed to their job.

②.  The access-and-legitimacy paradigm

In 1980s, due to trade globalization, the access-and-legitimacy paradigm is a way to get into diversity market. Company hire diversity employees because they can give you access to markets that might be tough to access. And the legitimacy refer to it would be easier when dealing with people that look similar to you. But you also can find the weakness of this paradigm. Company just use this as a tool to get into marketing but don’t learn from these employees which lost crossing-learning opportunities.

(2). Deep level paradigm

①.  The emerging learning-and-effectiveness paradigm

This approach emerging in 1990s and aims to cultivate the positive implications of integrating differences among employees, which enables the organization share knowledge and adapt to environmental changes. Along with the development of knowledge economic, company know they must focus on non-observable traits like knowledge, creativity, innovation and the ability to learn when deal with diversity problem.

4. Why I choose conflict management?

As I have mentioned, due to diversity, employees value things differently and vary in their belief. And it is obvious lead to conflict. So conflict management is become a critical competency for a company. The goal of organizational leadership is not to eliminate conflict, but to use it-to turn the released energy to good advantages (Gordon L.Lippitt, 1982). If we can deal with conflict very well, we can benefit from it.

(1). Advantages

• Improves problem-solving quality

Conflict rose when people have varied opinions, and that means everyone place a great deal of importance on this issue, so it will help manger to solve the problem more effective and to improve collaboration.

• Stimulate learning and change

When we have conflict with others, we will do more efforts to think about this problem. We do more researches and communicate more with others which help us to promote.

• Encourage innovation

Conflict force parties to search for solutions to underlying problems. For example, executive teams that experience more conflict perform better than those with low levels of conflict because they gain a deeper understanding of strategic issues and come to more creative decisions (Eisenhardt, Kahwahy, et al 1997). Innovation means taking risks(Ed Catmull, 2008), conflict is a kind of risk.

(2). Disadvantages

• Creates distrust and suspicion between coworker

It is easy to understand. Because everyone has their own opinion, it is hard for them to change their beliefs. If we don’t manage conflict well, the outcome would be coworker regard each other as enemies and lose trust.

• Decrease productivity and low performance

When conflict exists in employees, it will influence their emotion. They may pay less attention on their job which results in lower performance.

• Less ethic and produces irresponsible behavior

We often heard some tragedy due to conflict. When conflict among two people, if one part cannot deal with it correctly, they may do some bad things to harm another part.

From the above analysis, we can see how important of conflict management is. So you can overcome the downsides and benefit from it if you do well in conflict management when deal with diversity issue.

5. How does each paradigm influence conflict management?

(1). The discrimination-and-fairness paradigm and the access-and-legitimacy paradigm

We have talked before, the discrimination-and-fairness paradigm emphasis on “quota”. Quota refer to an assigned share, a proportional result, a fixed division of numbers, must remit, precise (no variation below or above), rigid, permanent (Jacqueline A. Gilbert, Bette Ann Stead, John M, Ivancevich, 1999). Company requires hiring workers when there are no vacancies, or hiring unqualified worker. The access-and-legitimacy paradigm pays more attention on difference culture background of employees. Employees are assigned to the geographic and functional areas due to employee’s ability to enter one market. It’s about differences emphasized, but not used as leverage. Actually, both of the two paradigms are surface level paradigm, so when talk about the influence we can combine two paradigms. The influence of these paradigms includes several aspects:

①.  The view of conflict is change

The traditional view (dominant from the late nineteenth century until the mid-1940s) assumes that conflict is bad, always has a negative impact, and leads to declines in performance as the level of conflict increases. Conflict must therefore always be avoided. (Vijay K. Verma, 1998). When faced conflict, manager use an authoritarian approach to managing. But in the 1970s, due to the two paradigms, the view of conflict also changed. The behavioral or contemporary view, also known as the human relations view plays an important role. From two of the paradigm we know that company pays attention on treat their employees equally and they gradually appreciate differentiate. So the view of conflict gradually focus on conflict is inevitable cannot be eliminated and may have positive effect. This approach advocates acceptance of conflict and rationalizes its existence. It focus on conflict can be managed. The evidence come from the conflict management style I will introduce in the following paragraph. In that phase, due to company’s attention, conflict management becomes more important for a company.

②.  The style of conflict management is change

One of the earliest, Mary Parker Follett (1926/1940) found ways to handling conflict between employees, such as avoidance and suppression. But in the 1970s and 1980s, researchers began classify the styles of conflict management by using the intentions of the parties that they would include in their models. Both Thomas (1976) and Pruitt (1983) put forth a model based on the concerns of the parties involved in the conflict. (Uzma Mukhtar, 2012). Five conflict management styles rose due to the combination of the parties concern for their interests (i.e. assertiveness) and their concern for the interests of those across the table (i.e. cooperativeness). 

When a company deals with diversity problem, due to their concern for fairness and no discrimination, they should consider not just individual but people in a group. Assertiveness and cooperativeness exhibit that company focus on individual and collective. And develop by accept differences between employees. So they have to resolve conflict rather than just avoid it, they have to face it and try to choose the best way to resolve it.

③.  The ways of managing conflict is changed

1. Non-Union Grievance Procedure

We can see much company have experimented with a grievance procedure for managing conflict and avoid discrimination in the workplace. Similar to unionized grievance procedures, the non-union grievance procedure begins with an informal step and then, if needed, a more formal step where the aggrieved individual or group has representation (from Human Resources or a respected manager). This means employees can say their dissatisfied. Conflict is not just avoided by company. The substance of the grievance will likely be associated with an entitlement under a workplace policy or procedure.

2. Workplace regulation

Workplace regulation is the most common form of conflict management. The employer creates a list of rules which are related to workplace governance and interaction, and provide clarity for workplace participants. It reduces conflict related to unclear work direction or standards. It also influenced by the shift. Conflict management shift from avoid to accept, company want to managing it well, so regulation arise, in order to regulate employees behavior and provided the right way to working. The final purpose is conflict can be solved by give standard for people and high collaboration will be achieved. They have to obey these rules. And workplace regulation include external and internal. External regulations are the laws governed from outside the workplace – these regulations provided necessary standard. Internal workplace regulation is rules to mitigate conflict. Like: codes of conduct, business expense procedures, standard work practice rules, and procedural guidelines and directives.

④.  Use more law-based system

Law-based strategies originated in an era when unions took on a third-party role to remedy the power imbalance between workers and management (McALLUM, K, 2013).  As we have mentioned, the discrimination-and-fairness paradigm treat everyone equally and avoid discrimination. Under this environment, when company deal with conflict problem which caused by discrimination, the way they take to solve is law, arbitration, adjudication and so on. “Fair” strategies to resolve the conflict is the main stream.

⑤.  Case study

• Real life case(negative)

In New Zealand, for example, when there exists conflict between employer and employees, employers may structure the conflict management. Employer federations successfully lobbied the government to implement trial periods for new employees that deny them the right to file personal grievances during their first 90 days of employment. We can learn from this case that law become more useful to regulate people behavior, and if a law give a clear direction of what things have to do, people feel fair to do that.

• Arbitration

Arbitration uses a neutral third party to make binding decisions after hearing evidence from the parties. When there exists a third party, people have a sense of fair. Because they think the third party can give justice opinion and from a fair perspective to deal with problem. They trust the third party and expect they give professional opinion. But arbitration is often the last step in a dispute resolution system. This is the most expensive remedy short of litigation and can be very resource intensive.

(2). The emerging learning-and-effectiveness paradigm

We have talked this paradigm before. The philosophy behind this is “we are the same, with our differences not in spite of them”. It focuses on individual knowledge, perspectives and experiences are shared and with this paradigm, diversity is a resource for learning. The influence of this paradigm is as followings:

①.  The view of conflict is change

In the above paragraph, we figure out company not just avoid conflict but also know conflict can be managed. In the 1990s, the view of conflict changed again. The newest perspective which is called interactions view supposed that conflict may play a role in increase performance. Instead of the behavioral approach, the interactionist view encourages conflict based on the belief that stable is cannot get progress, conflict can create innovation. In that period, knowledge management becomes more and more important. It also influences conflict management. We have to use knowledge to gain best outcome, to utilize conflict and transfer the disadvantages to advantages. This approach encourages managers to maintain an appropriate level of conflict—enough to keep projects self-critical, viable, creative, and innovative (Vijay K. Verma, 1998).

②.  The way of conflict management is change

Nowadays, we find conflict is not a problem for a company which they want to avoid. It became more useful for a company to gain competitive advantage. Khun and Poole (2000) established a system of group conflict management. In their system, they concluded two sub models: distributive and integrative. Distributive means conflict is approached as a distribution of a fixed amount of positive outcomes or resources. Integrative - groups utilizing this model to see conflict as a chance to integrate the needs and concerns of both groups and help them reach best outcome. We can see these two models have a heavier emphasis on use model to gain outcome. And they are not just use, Khun and Poole found that the integrative model resulted in consistently better task related outcomes than those using the distributive model. Due to the emerging learning-and-effectiveness paradigm, knowledge management become more important, company care about conflict problem not just in order to show their fairness, they try to get benefit from conflict management.  If there are conflict among employees, employees can interact more with others and also learn from conflict. The change of conflict management is the way becomes more and more diversity and based on interact principle.

Case study

1. Share

In the 1990s, the emerging learning-and-effectiveness paradigm focuses on knowledge sharing. So when the company deal with diversity problem, the way to managing conflict also emphasis on share. We all know conflict may arise due to a lack of transparency. If one wants to know something another knows. But the others aren’t willing to tell him, it may lead to conflict among employees. Share doesn’t mean tell others but also include learning from each other. You can make up your weaknesses. When manage conflict, share is a good way to reduce conflict and get collaboration. How to use the way of share to managing conflict is a critical issue for a company to consider.

• Real life case(Bonnie Hagemann&Saundra Stroope, 2012)

With the development of technology, share information is a common phenomenon in our daily life. When you surfing the internet, you want to find the information you need, you may have diversity choices. Like Wikipedia, Google and Baidu. You just need input the key word, and then you can find the information you need. This is kind of information sharing. According to professional data, these website have a combined estimate of 221million visitor per month and making the information easies to get. So when your coworker isn’t willing to give you informations, don’t be angry and have conflict with him, just use these search engines. And then you may get more information than he had.

• Knowledge management

Knowledge management is defined as the process of creating, acquiring, sharing and managing knowledge to augment individual and organizational performance (Society For Human Resource Management, 2010). The tool of KM include communicates of practice, storytelling, knowledge retention practices and leadership development. All of these foster learning and knowledge sharing. I will introduce the knowledge management system in GE. At GE, on the one hand, Jack Welch had built a knowledge sharing culture. Welch purported that excellent organizations exhibited two characteristics: boundarylessness and a learning culture. The result was Support Central, a portal application designed to enable knowledge sharing across the organization (Richard V. McCarthy & Aronson, J. E., 2004). On the other hand, GE’s Corporate Executive Council (CEC) is composed of the heads of GE’s fourteen major businesses and the two-day sessions are forums for sharing best practices, accelerating progress, and discussing successes, failures, and experiences (Garvin, 1985). CEC in GE exhibits how company put a knowledge management system in place to help executives cut through the noise, share information, reduce conflict and improve their decision-making. It is obviously through knowledge management, GE encourages employees to share, and employees can provide their own opinion and make comments on others. The more transparency companies have, the less conflicts company will have. And this way solves many problems and employees learn from each other which effectively reduce conflict. The final outcome is effective collaboration in GE and brings good profit for company.

2. Coaching

In order to reduce conflict and know how to do better when employees faced conflicts, company takes much action like coaching. That means give employees a safe area to practice how to handle conflict well. The ways includes conflict management workshops, a peer coaching assignment, online courses, one-on-one coaching, and mentoring sessions with those who handle conflict well. All of these ways refer to communicate and interact with others to share knowledge which help you deal with conflict well.

• IBM: coaching for conflict(Jeff Weiss&Jonathan Hughes, 2005)

At IBM, company provided training in conflict management and those who get training can coach other employees by online resources. Coaching is a way to communicate with followers. In IBM, Manager through corporate intranet has a variety of conversations with employees who are uncertainty to resolve a dispute with people from one or more group in company. Actually, coaching is also a way of sharing information and learning knowledge from others. IBM gives training for manager and then they can coach employees when faced at conflict, it will enhance the effective of problem-solving process and collaborative in company.

③.  The basic system is changed

When deal with conflict, unlike past decades focus more on crime-and-punishments model, nowadays we emphasis on management-based system. This system aims to accept conflicts and use conflicts.  One company not just stay in legal level to resolve conflict, they encourage interpersonal differences and disagreement about task processes or goal of company. It is obviously finding this system help company to be more democratic because they care about employee’s grievances and give them more power to control. And this system not see conflict from negative perspective, it enlist a range of interest-based policies and procedures that emphasize mutual gain by all parties involved. Why could this system arise? Because the paradigm called the emerging learning-and-effectiveness cares more about learning from others and valued employees’ value. When company deal with conflict, they also change the system to management-based system. They figure out interpersonal difference and more interaction among employees play an important role in reduce conflict. Hotlines, suggestion boxes, open-door policies, ombudsmen, employee assistance programs and interest-based alternative dispute resolution are some ways of this system.

Case study

• Motorola: Open door policy

In Motorola, every manager is required to form a relationship between general operatives. "Respect each person in the same way "is the personality of the company. Best reflects the personality is its “Open Door” policy. “All of us office door is absolutely open, any employee at any time can be directly pushed open the door and come in”. The policy includes several aspects:

¨      Recommended. Write down your observations and recommendations

¨      Speak out. Employees have right to making comments and complaints about the real problems, the respondent must respond within 3 days and give feedback to complainant by a third party.

¨      A telephone hotline. You can use this phone to reflect your problems, both day and night.

¨      Box 589.When people's opinions can’t be solved timely and justice by above ways, you can write directly to the Tianjin box 589 which held by the human resources Director China personally.

These actions improve the connection between leader and employees. It helps to reduce potential conflict by interact with others and care about their knowledge. The employers give more power to employees and they can bravely speak out their opinions. The leader builds good relationship with employees and employees willing to share their knowledge with leader, and then the leader can gain new ideas which can help company sustainable. For employees, they feel happy when work with others. Because the environment of company is relax, people may not feel so stressful and afraid of lay off, they just care about how to use knowledge to be more creativity and do innovation. At the same time, more interaction enhances the collaboration among coworkers. You know your coworker and leader more, so when you deal with problem, you can choose the best way which your leader also prefer to and then collaboration arise.

6. Global forces influence conflict management

Finally, I will pay attention on the global forces which lead to the shift of conflict management. I have talked about the influence of three paradigm, we can see actually global forces is not directly work on conflict management, it through these 3 paradigm and then influence conflict management.

(1). Through the discrimination-and-fairness paradigm and the access-and-legitimacy paradigm

①.  Politic and law

Since the title of VII of Civil Rights Act of 1964, employees, state and local governments, educating institutions, employment agencies and labor organizations are protected under the Federal law from discrimination on race, color, religion, sex and national origin. (EEOC, 2009). We can see more laws published to protect diversity employees. That also influences conflict management. More and more conflict solved by set laws and regulations. If employees have conflict, company can use criteria to decide the right side.

(2). Through the emerging learning-and-effectiveness paradigm

①.  Economic

Due to new economic and knowledge economic, the whole world realized the important of knowledge and employees. From economic perspective, company not only want to gain profit, but also need to protect employees with knowledge, so when company deal with conflict issue, company choose use more collaboration ways to handle it.

②.  Politic and law

Intellectual property (IP) is a legal concept which refers to creations of the mind for which exclusive rights are recognized. In recent year, Intellectual property right is often considered to be an important determinant of foreign direct investment (FDI). (Mathew, A., & Mukherjee, A. 2014). Government also publishes related laws, All of these result in company emphasis more on the protection of IP. When deal with conflict in company, manager gradually know how to protect knowledge. They use “open door policy” to collect employee’s opinion which also protects their privacy and knowledge.

③.  Social issue

Knowledge management (KM) is how an organization manages its collective expertise and subject matter knowledge. This activity contains several elements, specifically: acting, monitoring, evaluating, planning, and decision making, all of which allow an organization to use and transfer knowledge among its workforce. (Fibuch, E., & Van Way, I. W. 2011). Because of KM, the attitude of conflict management change from avoids to use it. And conflict management is a kind of knowledge management. We share knowledge to reduce conflict is the best evidence.

7. The future of conflict management in company

Conflict management is gradually influenced by diversity management. In the future, diversity management will pay more attention on individual which means not just appreciate employees knowledge, but also respect them and put employees in the first place. So conflict management also changes its way and style. What we can predict is the outcome. Due to more respect and attention, employees will work more hard; company will gain high collaboration if they have right conflict management system.

(1). Global force

Nowadays, company not just pay attention on employees knowledge, they show more respect to employees. This is due to the emphasis on “talent is the first productivity.” So company must retention high quality employees in company who will bring big profit for company. How to achieve is the critical thing they need to figure out.

(2). The way of conflict management

Due to the global force, company deal with conflict, they may set a constitution which specialized in deal with conflict. The responsible for this constitution is supervisor if the employees satisfied with the outcome of conflict.

Reference

1. Rahim, M. A. (2002) Toward a theory of managing organizational conflict. The International Journal of Conflict Management, 13, 206-235.

2. Ma, Zhenzhong; Liang, Dapeng; Erkus, Ahmet; Tabak, Akif. (2012). The impact of group-oriented values on choice of conflict management styles and outcomes: an empirical study in Turkey. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 23 (18), 3776-3778. doi: 10.1080/09585192.2012.700171.

3. McALLUM, K. (2013). Workplace Conflict: Three Paths to Peace. IESE Insight, (18), 48-55.Retrieved from: http://web.a.ebscohost.com/bsi/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=269ed8d7-d9d1-4272-be96-bbcf25675521%40sessionmgr4001&vid=18&hid=4107

4. Rahim, M. (2002). TOWARD A THEORY OF MANAGING ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICT. International Journal of Conflict Management, 13(3), 206. Retrieved from: http://web.a.ebscohost.com/bsi/detail?sid=269ed8d7-d9d1-4272-be96-bbcf25675521%40sessionmgr4001&vid=21&hid=4107&bdata=JnNpdGU9YnNpLWxpdmU%3d#db=bth&AN=9905175

5. Thomas, David A. & Ely, Robin J. (1996). Making Differences Matter: A New Paradigm for Managing Diversity.  Harvard Business Review, 74 (5), 79-90. Retrieved from: http://web.a.ebscohost.com/bsi/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=269ed8d7-d9d1-4272-be96-bbcf25675521%40sessionmgr4001&vid=24&hid=4107

6. Gordon L.Lippitt. (1982). Managing Conflict in Today's Organizations. Training & Development Journal, 36(7), 66-74. Retrieved from: http://web.a.ebscohost.com/bsi/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=27&sid=269ed8d7-d9d1-4272-be96-bbcf25675521%40sessionmgr4001&hid=4107

7. Eisenhardt, K. M. & J. L. Kahwajy, et al. (1997). Conflict and Strategic Choice: How Top Management Teams Disagree. California Management Review, 39(2), 42–62. Retrieved from: http://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.unc.edu%2F~wfarrell%2FSOWO%2520874%2FReadings%2Fdiversityconflict.doc

8. Jacqueline A. Gilbert, Bette Ann Stead & John M. Ivancevich.(1999). Diversity management: A new organizational paradigm . Journal of Business Ethics, 21 (1), 61-76. Retrieved from: http://web.a.ebscohost.com/bsi/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&sid=e34f1954-3e67-4cf1-87c8-08ad7634907b%40sessionmgr4002&hid=4112

9. Verma, V. K. (1998). Conflict Management. The Project Management Institute Project Management Handbook

10. Uzma Mukhtar. (2012). Identification of frequent use of Conflict Management Styles in Pakistan Academia, Banking & Industrial Sector. International Journal of Business and Behavioral Sciences, 2(5), 41-43. Retrieved from: http://cprenet.com/uploads/archive/IJBBS_12-11291.pdf

11. Leveraging HR and Knowledge Management in a Challenging Economy (2008). Society for human resource management, 1-2.

12. McCarthy, R. V., & Aronson, J. E. (2004). Knowledge Management at General Electric: A Technology Transfer Case Study. In AMCIS, 263. Retrieved from: http://aisel.aisnet.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1839&context=amcis2004&sei-redir=1

13. Garvin, D. A. (1985). Building a learning organization. Org Dev & Trng, 6E (Iae), 274.

14. Mathew, A., & Mukherjee, A. (2014). Intellectual property rights, southern innovation and foreign direct investment. International Review Of Economics & Finance, 31128-137. doi:10.1016/j.iref.2013.11.004

15. Fibuch, E., & Van Way, I. W. (2011). What Is a Knowledge Management System ... and Why Should I Care? Physician Executive, 37(5), 34-39. Retrieved from: http://content.ebscohost.com/pdf25_26/pdf/2011/PEX/01Sep11/66651946.pdf?T=P&P=AN&K=66651946&S=R&D=bth&EbscoContent=dGJyMMTo50Sep7Y4v%2BbwOLCmr0yeprRSsqa4S7WWxWXS&ContentCustomer=dGJyMPGnrkq3qbZLuePfgeyx4Ivn

16. Weiss, J., & Hughes, J. (2005). WANT COLLABORATION? Harvard Business Review, 83(3), 93-101 Retrieved from:  http://web.b.ebscohost.com/bsi/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&sid=a46d872b-8929-4386-8a2b-c539898303e7%40sessionmgr114&hid=123

17. Bonnie Hagemann&Saundra Stroope. (2012). Conflict Management. T+D blog.

Retrieved from: http://tdblog.blogspot.hk/2012/10/conflict-management-lessons-from-2nd.html

18. Ed Catmull. (2008). How Pixar Fosters Collective Creativity. Harvard Business Review, 66-69.Retrieved from:

http://web.b.ebscohost.com/bsi/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=21&sid=a46d872b-8929-4386-8a2b-c539898303e7%40sessionmgr114&hid=123

individual assignment1

Hello, everyone, welcome to my blog. This is my first short article and in the following paragraphs I am willing to share my own experience about trust with you.

Trust is a common topic both in our daily work and life. I think almost everyone have ever trust someone and the result maybe good or gotten “burned”. And you also may have an experience that failed to trust someone and missed significant opportunities. Actually, I experienced more about trust someone but the result was gotten “burned”. I will give an instance where I got burned because I chose to trust someone. When I was in college, I was one of the ministers of our college student union and I was a leader in my department. Once, one of my subordinates told me he had something important to do and will be late to attend an important meeting, I did not ask the detail about the thing he said important because I trust him and I thought he will come later, so I let him go and make some explains to the student union that he will come but may be late. But the final truth is he didn't come until the meeting is over and the important thing which he said is play games in his dormitory. Because of his behavior, our department was punished.

I made such decision according to the decision making process in my mind I think. Actually, there are ten factors at play in the decision making process.

1. Risk tolerance.

I am a natural risk taker. I don’t spend much time evaluating what risk might happen in a given situation. Just like the instance, I did not think the risk of his behavior.

2.  Level of adjustment.

Psychologists have shown that individuals vary widely in how well adjusted they are. I am a well-adjusted person and see the world as a beautiful place, so I am quick to trust my subordinate.

3. Relative power.

In that situation, I am trust my group subordinate, I am a person who in a position of authority, I tend to more likely to trust, because I can sanction a person who violates my trust.

4. Security

Security–as it relates to a given situation, I ignored this factor in my experience, I even did not consider the question of what’s the worst that could happen?

5. Number of Similarities

Although there are no tribes, we are still quite tribal, which is why people, tend to more easily trust those who appear similar to themselves. My subordinate was selected by myself; he actually has the same personality like extroversion and has same ambition.

6. Alignment of Interests

When people’s interests are completely aligned, trust is a reasonable response. In the situation, I thought my subordinate had same inters with me, we are a team and need to consider the team benefit, so I chose to trust him.

7. Benevolent Concern

For this factor, I thought I am a good leader, because I demonstrated benevolent concern, which means I care more about my employees and put myself in a risk situation for them. My subordinate said he had an important thing to do, I just trust because I have benevolent concern for him.

8. Capability

This is concerned about the capability of people who work for me. In my experience, I believe the person can complete the things on time because of his ability.

9. Predictability and Integrity

I thought this is the biggest problem which I had made in this situation. I made a wrong prediction, the trustees who say one thing but do another, he was lack integrity.

10. Level of Communication

Communication is critical in trust, because open and honest communication tends to support the decision to trust. I thought the subordinate had an honest communication with me, but actually it is a miscommunication and causes me to feel betrayed. Maybe next time, I will not trust him at all.

        All above are the ten factors which may influence my decision making process.

What I have learned from this instance include several aspects: 1. Not everyone worth our trust. When we make a decision, we need to think more and know more, not just listen to the speaker. What we need is the truth. 2. As a leader, I need to build trust between group members. The reason why my subordinate would cheat me maybe also reflects my leadership problems. I am a leader, I have authority which my employee may afraid me, they are afraid to tell me the truth; they have no idea if I would say yes or no when they want to talk something with me. So both sides of us need to spend more time in knowing more about each other, include the personality, the ambition and many other things. Actually I had changed my behaviors after that issue. On the one hand, I know my attitude have to change. I was too native before and have no attitude about suspicious, after that issue, I evaluate more when my employee said something to me, it just help me to evaluate some certain situations. On the other hand, I need to communicate more with my subordinate. I try to increase the frequency and candor of communications. I think maybe some constraints of my respective roles, we are not really close, so I have to build a relationship with them and know more about them. For example, I organized a team lunch and had a small party with my subordinates. When talk about the merits of trust I think it must be include two parts: outcome and relationship. If we build trust with others, whoever you build the trust, the outcome almost will be good and both sides may achieve their own target. The relationship will also change. You will be close to the person who you build trust and you can have a heart talk with them, each of you will be more comfortable because the communication become easy and honest.

Sometimes when we got burned, we may think should we trust or not trust others. Actually, trust is the basic of work and daily life. It likes a double-edged sword which has strengths and weaknesses. The strengths I have mentioned before. When it comes to the weakness, obviously, trust also gets us into trouble. Just remind the experience of mine, because of my trust, I got burned and my team be punished. Sometimes we have difficulty in distinguishing trustworthy people from untrustworthy ones. Although, trust has some bad aspects, it is really useful if we can use it properly. When we face the problem how to distinguish trustworthy people from untrustworthy ones, we can learn some skills to trust wisely. If we tend to trust wrong people, we can collect more cues and interpret them. And sometimes people may cheat because they don’t know if they can trust another part. To deal with this problem, we should be more “generous”, not consider ourselves, but also the people we’re dealing with.

Reference

1.      Robert F. Hurley. (2006).The Decision to Trust. Harvard Business Review, 9, 55-62.

2.      Roderick M. Kramer. (2009). Rethinking trust. Harvard Business Review, 6, 69-77.