Sustaining Organizational Infrastructure

Answer

Sustaining Organizational Infrastructure

Sustainability in business is vital as it indicates continuity in both the long and short term. Ideally, the process of starting a business is simple and straightforward as long as there is sufficient capital. However, sustainability, especially in the long run, requires efficient management practices that will facilitate timely realization of organizational goals. Consequently, sustainability practices affect the whole organization and related stakeholders as things might change along the way while stakeholders will be required to maintain proper motivational levels vital for pushing the organization forward. A key element to ensuring sustainability is organizational infrastructure. Ideally, it comprises of protocols, processes, and systems that offer the structure to the organization, embed routine practices and support the company’s crucial functions. In a hospital setting, the organizational infrastructure comprises operating procedures and policies, which build and guide practice aimed at creating a shared understanding of how to provide safe and quality healthcare services to patients. Moreover, organizational infrastructure consists of an established system of operations, which include human resources, supervisors, communication systems, training, evaluation, and systems dedicated to continuous quality improvement (CQI). Primarily, an organization’s structure is vital in supporting practices at a company that leads to the realization of the organizational vision, goals, values, and mission. Moreover, achieving organizational sustainability calls for proper conflict management practices as well as informed decision-making processes that support the relationships between the organization, its stakeholders, and high-performance teams in a way that leads to high efficient performance as per the expected standards.

Potential Conflicts That May Arise Among Internal and External Stakeholders

Stakeholders

Conflict in organizational management is a standard practice that occurs occasionally. In the regard, Pakdil and Leonard (2015) estimate that often, members of different teams disagree on specific elements and end up in conflict. Similarly, stakeholders can differ in particular organizational aspects and conflict. Therefore, it is vital to have effective conflict management process in place to help in managing heated disagreements whenever they occur in a proper way that will leave both the conflicting parties satisfied. One area that can experience conflict is disagreements between internal and external stakeholders. Primarily, Meixell and Luoma (2015) define internal stakeholders as entities that are within a business and they include employees, directors, managers, and investors. In a hospital setting, these would be nurses, doctors, administrators, unit supervisors, managers, and other staffs. On the other hand, external stakeholders refer to entities that are outside businesses but are affected by the performance of the business. They include customers, suppliers, and regulators. In hospital settings, the external stakeholders comprise of patients, community members, regulatory authorities, and suppliers of equipment and medication.

Potential Conflicts

Internal and external stakeholders may conflict at some point based on the conditions and performance of an organization. For a healthcare facility, the primary disagreement source is a conflict of interest. In this regard, one group of stakeholders may feel that the hospital is advocating for goals or targets that do not meet their interests. Consequently, they may be unhappy and request for change, which can be rejected by the other group of stakeholders (Bryson, 2018). For example, investors in a community hospital may want the facility to generate profits as part of their return on investment. However, internal stakeholders such as nurses may tend to prioritize affordability of care by all community members thereby setting low prices for the services offered.

Improper balancing of the expectations of stakeholders’ reconciliation might also elicit conflict in healthcare organizations. The eternal stakeholders might be expecting particular elements that may not be within the capability of the company to offer (Davis, 2016). For instance, a not for profit healthcare facility might go in for volunteer nurses and cheap supplies that can only manage to offer standard quality care. However, the patients might be expecting top quality care similar to the one offered in leading private facilities that focuses on profit making.

Ethical considerations might also be a source of conflict between internal and external stakeholders. For instance, a hospital might go in for the cheapest supplier of goods as a means of keeping the operating costs down and lowering the price for patients whenever they seek care. However, the practice may result in a lack of ethical conduct on the side of the supplier. For example, the supplier might produce cheap products in a way that does not promote safety (Edwards, 2017). Therefore, the internal stakeholders, which might include managers, will respond in a conflicting way to the supplier, as the product will be threatening the reputation of the facility with regard to patient safety and quality care.

Lastly, operating environments might lead to a conflict between internal and external stakeholders in healthcare. For instance, some facilities may offer out of hospital care practice to community members in which nurse’s move around offering medical care to sick persons. Due to the difference that exists between hospital and home settings, nurses may find it difficult to provide top quality care. However, patients might still demand similar care in terms of quality as that offered in hospital settings.

Role of Team Leadership in Preventing or Managing Conflict at the Interpersonal, Team, and Organizational Levels

Team Leadership

Team leadership involves having a dedicated member of a group or team provide guiding instruction, direction, as well as leadership to the group of the people involved. In this regard, it functions in a way that allows the group to focus its activities on achieving the targeted outcomes. According to Wallensteen (2018), proper team leadership does not only focus on carrying out activities that lead to the achievement of targeted goals, but it also involves diagnosing problems within the team and solving them using proper approaches that will maintain cooperation and proper motivation levels among the members. According to Steiner (2018), proper team leadership requires that the team leader possess various skills such as proper communication abilities, consistency, organization, be able to delegate duties, knowledgeable and confident, available and approachable, inspirational and innovative. With these skills, team leaders can help in managing various types of conflicts that can occur within a healthcare organization.

Managing Conflict at the Interpersonal Level

Team leadership plays a crucial role in solving the interpersonal conflict. Primarily, a proper team leader identifies the existence of conflict between two people. The role is facilitated by the qualities of a team leader to understand the members and detect any changes. In this regard, the signs of a conflict between two people include aggressive body language, intense arguments, gossip, negative facial expressions, and absence of honesty (Steiner, 2018). The other role played by capable team leadership in resolving personal conflict includes encouraging the conflicting individuals to listen to each other. After that, through effective team leadership, the leader develops a solution for the conflict, which will ensure that each person is satisfied even if they do not get all that they had advocated for in the argument.

Managing Conflict at the Team Level

Team leadership also plays a crucial role in managing group conflict. In this regard, the first role of team leaders is having the awareness that it is normal for conflict to occur in a team setting. Ideally, the conflict can even be constructive depending on how it will be solved. Moreover, it can also be a source of various ideas that can help come up with proper views and thoughts on various matters. In this regard, proper team leaders create a suitable environment that allows conflicting members to openly discuss issues affecting them with honesty. Based on this, the leader can set ground rules, which will focus on developing approaches for resolving the conflict. In this regard, it includes appreciating the ideas of each member then finding a way to create an understanding between them where they can compromise and settle on a midpoint solution (Wallensteen, 2018). Another role played by team leadership in preventing team conflict is preventing groupthink. Groupthink emerges where members do not handle the possible conflicting views by avoiding them in order to maintain harmony in the group. Even though the approach is right, it can do more harm to the team as the shelved arguments will arise on a higher level than in previous times.

Managing Conflict at the Organization Level

Team eldership helps solve the organizational conflict by advocating for honesty and clarity in arguments. In this hard, team leaders can offer suggestions to managers that can be used to find solutions to the existing problem. Moreover, they are able to compromise with other individuals for the good of the organization. Consequently, the conflict is solved correctly.

Maintaining a Relationship with Stakeholders during Organizational Change Processes

Organizational change processes involve a shift in particular elements at a company. Ideally, the change can be on a single specific area such as adopting a technological approach in reporting and record management or can involve a shift in various organizational activities. Usually, organizations carry out change as a response to particular changes that can be in the internal or external environment (Benn, Edwards, & Williams, 2018). For instance, the lack of enough physical storage space can lead an organization to adopt an electronic record management system. Similarly, a company can change to adopt technology as a means of enhancing its operational efficiency and cut on cost. The objectives of change are realized only when the process is implemented positively. According to Watson et al. (2018), it is critical to ensure that all elements at an organization including stakeholders are ready and support a change to prevent occurrences of adverse outcomes.

Stakeholders are vital at an organization, and they can be said to be the reason why a company exists. Therefore, they have to be connected in the day-to-day happenings at an organization. Primarily, it is vital to maintain a positive relationship with stakeholders at all times to foster the development and growth of an organization. Similarly, during a change management practice, Shantz (2016) states that a positive relationship with stakeholders is vital because it will enable them to support the change. In this regard, they will help by providing information and resources such as finances that can be crucial in ensuring that the change occurs successfully. Ideally, without these resources, it may be challenging to realize the targets of the change process. Moreover, support of internal stakeholders such as nurses or the staff in a healthcare facility is vital in adopting the change, as they are the ones that are directly affected (Silver et al., 2016). Moreover, information from such individuals will be critical in understanding the specific areas to change or modify and improve the operational efficiency and outcomes from the new change.

Stakeholders contribute to the development of a conducive environment for the organization’s operation. According to Willis et al. (2016), this conducive environment is critical to implementing change, as everyone needs to be part of the change. As such, it is vital to relate with all stakeholders well even before the change to ensure that a proper working environment is experienced through the change process. Lastly, stakeholders are the organization in that they carry out everything that embodies the company. Therefore, without them, the change count occurs. As a result, the relationship with them enhances the efficiency of the change processes.

Strategies for Resolving Stakeholder Conflict

The high potential of conflict to occur among both external and internal stakeholders makes it vital to have proper strategies for managing it. According to Mitchell et al. (2015), it is proper to prevent conflict rather than waiting for it to occur and come up with processes to solve it. Primarily, the first strategy to prevent the occurrence of conflict among stakeholders is ensuring that the decision-making process at an organization is effective. In this regard, before any decision is made, the involved individuals have to ensure that it incorporates or considers the interests of all stakeholders. The approach will make all the stakeholders to lack any course for complaining, as all their needs will be represented at the organization. According to Meixell and Luoma (2015), inclusivity is vital in preventing the occurrence of conflict in an organization. Primarily, inclusivity involves considering the input of all stakeholders in organizational activities. For instance, in healthcare settings, the opinion of nurses should be factored in when implementing a change in practice guidelines requiring them to have a multi-professional approach to patient care. The strategy will make them support the change and avoid questioning the management in a way that can result in conflict.

Sometimes, conflict among stakeholders occurs even if preventive measures have been adopted. Consequently, it becomes vital to solving the disagreement in a proper way. In healthcare settings, the first approach involves recognizing that the conflict has occurred and then understanding what might have caused it. Knowing the reasons for the disagreement helps in establishing a common point where the two disagreeing parties can agree (Steiner, 2018). The strategy can also be complemented by having a conflict resolution team in a healthcare organization. Primarily, the function of the team will be engaging in processes that resolve any disagreements between two or more people. The team has to comprise specialists from different parts of the healthcare facility to ensure that they can meet the needs of different stakeholders.

Conclusion

Organizational sustainability is crucial, especially in the long run. In this regard, stakeholders are vital in ensuring that continuity occurs at the organization especially in healthcare. Therefore, it is vital to maintain a positive relationship with stakeholders as they support all company practices before and during the change implementation process. Primarily, stakeholders provide resources for supporting organizational activities and create a conducive working environment. On the other hand, conflict in an organization can occur at different levels such as interpersonal, team, and organizational. In all these conflicts, specific approaches could be used to solve the dispute if there are proper team leadership skills. Based on the significance of stakeholders, healthcare organizations should prevent conflict by having a proper decision-making process that will cater to the interests of all stakeholders. Moreover, it is ideal to have an inclusive process that will incorporate the views of all stakeholders thereby leading to their proper representation.