There are five different conflict management styles, avoiding, accommodating, compromising, competing and collaborating. In this case study, I noticed that Robert has used Competing conflict management style.
The Competing style of management will be considered for use when the other four are unsuccessful, as the competitive management style appears the most extreme of the five and can also damage relationships between people. Robert has brought a large increase in profits to the company and feels that he needs to use the money from the increase to get a pay rise for his team. Robert refuses to listen to Kay’s offer to expand the company’s business by allocating the current funds and only cares about getting the benefit for himself. Moreover, Robert threatened Kay with union involvement in the case if his demands were not met.
Which bargaining approach (distributive or integrative) did Kay used.
In this case, I noticed that Kay used a distributive bargaining approach to find a way to use the money in a way that would benefit both the company and Robert’s team, not only in terms of accelerating the company’s growth, but also in terms of getting the oppotunities of team promoted, working abroad, etc. Kay was willing to sit down with Robert to talk through the new project and achieve a win-win partnership.
What aspect of interpersonal communication is contributing to the poor working environment? How is this demonstrated in the case?
There are four basic elements of interpersonal communication: verbal, listening, written and non-verbal communication. In this case, I found that Robert’s refusal to accept Kay’s invitation to negotiate and his refusal to communicate when Kay presented her ideas was a sign of a lack of effective listening; Robert was focused on his own interests and those of his team at the expense of the long-term development of the company. Perhaps Robert would have changed his mind if he had sat down with Kay and listened to her views on the project to expand the company and its business.
Using Hall’s context model (high and low context culture), describe one of the characters’ behaviour.
Through Kay’s desire to have a business conversation with Robert I can see that Kay is in a high-context culture mode and that Kay is thinking about the company as a whole and wants to work with Robert to negotiate a way of spending the money that will benefit both the company and the employees (Robert’s team). The fact that Kay has formally invited Robert for a business conversation shows the importance Kay places on how the funds are allocated and her respect for Robert’s ideas. This is a sign of collectivism.
In social psychology, a stereotype is a certain general perception that people have about some specific categories of people. It is a fixed thought about all things in a group. Stereotypes ignore the complexity and variety of individuals in real life. Of course, it is not the only bad thing; when a person is faced with the same situation in life, he or she can react quickly and accordingly (the way a person greets a new colleague changes when he or she recognizes that the new colleague is from Japan) .
In what ways do stereotypes affect the way communicate between people?
The impact of stereotypes on communication actually has two sides. Positive effects, as mentioned above, can simplify the cognitive process (perceiving things in a one-side approach). Negative effects can be more diverse, such as placist, racist, gender bias, age discrimination etc. This can cause harm to others as well as to oneself.
The impact of stereotype on employment job-seeking
It is common in hiring environments for stereotypes to influence recruitment outcomes. Therefore based on the stereotypes that recruiters have of candidates, the way they communicate with each other may also change. Appearance stereotypes are widespread in people’s lives and include information such as physical appearances and clothing. During the recruitment process, recruiters create simple and fixed impressions of candidates with different levels of appearance and subconsciously give higher ratings to candidates with better appearance. For example, when a candidate comes to an interview dressed in a sloppy outfit, the recruiter may subconsciously focus on his personal work habits, such as his ability to arrive at work on time or his strong sense of teamwork. This may result in the candidate’s qualifications being overlooked to some extent.
Effect on making friends
A university is like a small social environment. People from different cultures have distinct boundaries and stereotypical attitudes. Everyone is in the same classroom together but not necessarily friends with everyone. Group activities do not necessarily reduce tensions or prejudices in groups, and there is research evidence to suggest that people prefer to interact with people who are similar to them(Homans, 1950). For example, being of a similar age, being from the same country, etc.
Personal Experience
In the year 2020, I was just getting ready to enter university. When I was choosing my major, I was basically sure that I wanted to enter the Internet industry in the future and chose the major of Computer Science. But some of my relatives expressed their disapproval and questioning attitude towards my decision: “Can you be good at computer science as a girl?”, “Computer science should be chosen more by boys, right?”. But the louder their doubts became, the more I was convinced that I wanted to prove to them that there was nothing wrong with girls studying computer science.
In fact, many girls also doubt their own abilities because of these stereotypes. When I browse a social media platform, I often see some girls posting questions like “Is computer science major suitable for female students”.
StroyBoard
What are the implications of such events occurring in my social life?
I believe that stereotyping is a bad phenomenon in social interaction and is a disrespectful attitude towards others. Although we cannot easily change others’ thoughts, we should not become negative because of the threat of stereotypes against us from outside. In the social life, these negative stereotypes can spill over into myself and all I can do is to improve myself and prove to those who judged me that they are wrong. At the same time, friendly communication with others can also go some way to eliminating stereotypes.
Reference
Østreng, D. (2001). Does togetherness make friends. Stereotypes and intergroup contact on multiethnic-crewed ships. Tønsberg: Vestfold College Publication Series/Paper, 2. Cardwell, Mike (1999). Dictionary of psychology. Chicago Fitzroy Dearborn. ISBN 978-1579580643. Homans, G. (1950) The Human Group, New York: Harcourt Brace.
The Johari Window Model was developed by two American psychologists, Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham, in 1955. It is a model about communication skills that can help a person recognize his or her inner and outer personality and improve individual self-awareness and personal development.
Open and transparent working relationships tend to be the best ones.
Charles Horton Cooley
The Johari Window can be used in this two ways – to reveal to others their character in your mind and to learn about yourself from others’ feedback.
In the Johari window model, there are four sections, they are: Public arena, Hidden area (façade), Blind spot and Unknown area. People can learn more about each other through information in these four areas to enhance communication. Self-awareness can also be improved by learning from others’ feedback and feelings about oneself.
Johari Window Section 1: Pubilc arena
This area of information is known to all, including emotions, personality, family situation, skills, etc. By listening to the advice and feedback of others in the process of communication can reduce the ‘blind spots’ and thus increase the understanding between individuals in a group.
Johari Window Section 2: Hidden area (façade)
This section of information is known by oneself, It could be information and character that a person does not want to reveal to other people. This may include, but is not limited to: bad memories, fears, mental illnesses. Everyone has their own hidden areas and it is wrong to be totally unsuspecting of others. However, in effective communication in a group, revealing your true inner self in moderation is a shortcut to increase communication effectiveness.
Johari Window Section 3: Blind spot
A blind spot is information that one has not noticed but others may find. For example, certain habits and weaknesses of a person. In order to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings and troubles in communication, taking more advice from others can reduce the information in this area and thus improve communication efficiency.
Johari Window Section 4: Unknown area
The unknown area of a person is infinite, and this may include a certain area of potential, a hidden disease in the body, etc.
How do my classmate describe me:
How do my best friend describe me:
This is an accurate presentation of myself?
Truth be told, certain adjectives are not really my personality, such as ‘calm’ and ‘mature’. My inner emotions often don’t match what I show.
Is(Are) there any area(s) that I am surprised from my friend’s perception of me?
I read their comments about me and was surprised that my best friend filled in the ‘I know she is: ‘ column with some character I didn’t even realize I had. It gave me another new insight into myself. On the contrary, I was not surprised by my classmate’s evaluation of me because these adjectives were used to describe the character that I usually showed to him actively when I was with him at school.
How this result will be useful for self-awareness and my communication in a team?
Some evaluations based on first impressions need to be carefully identified compared to those who have known each other for years, as it is not that accurate. The point of communication is to continuously exchange information in order to eliminate blind spots and expand consensus. In normal work, if communication skills are used properly, the fuller the internal information sharing, the deeper the understanding among members, the more efficient communication will be improved, the communication costs will be reduced, and the unnecessary time wasted will be reduced, which in turn will provide a good space for communication and cooperation. Of course, in the process of communication, it is also necessary to depend on the specific object and the specific situation, so as not to cause unnecessary trouble to others.
Shannon Weaver model of communication was created in 1948 by Claude Shannon and Warren Weaver and is one of the first and most influential models of communication (Wikipedia contributors, 2022, November 11). In this model, the process of human communication is considered to be accomplished through the process of encoding and decoding messages. The sender edits the idea into a string of codes and transmits it to the receiver, who then receives the code and decodes it, thus accessing the ideas contained in the code. However, during the transmission of information, some environmental noise may affect the integrity of the information.
Component of the model
There are 5 elements in this communication model. At the beginning, the sender passes the message into the transmitter, which converts his message content into codes. Next, through the channel that transmits the code, this string of code is sent to the receiver to decode and then the sender’s message can be received. Furthermore, during message transmission, noise may be generated due to environmental noise(e.g. rain sound, vehicle sound) or machine failure, which may affect the integrity of the message.
In addition, noise is not really limited to these. For example, if a person is talking to someone on the phone and there is a loud renovation noise coming from upstairs, he just needs to leave the room or plug one ear to concentrate on the phone and talk louder to continue normal communication. However, if in the course of the call, he suddenly hear the person next to him is talking about the topic he is interested in or the place is playing his favorite music, then the person’s attention will be unconsciously distracted and the conversation will not go so smoothly. People’s concentration is actually one of the factors that affect the quality of communication.
Is Shannon and Weaver’s model of communication Complete?
From the above, this model describes the most basic mode of communication between people. However, it ignores some important components of human communication: para-language expression, body language expression and the individual’s mental state.
In the process of communication, besides understanding the message that sender wants to convey, it is actually equally important to pay attention to how he expresses the message. Paralanguage is a form of speech that expresses emotion, it conveys changes in emotion through different vocalizations, such as volume, pitch, speed of speech, etc. Another way to express emotion is through laughter, crying or sighing, etc. Sometimes the presence of paralanguage is the message that the sender really wants to convey, not the literal words he said. For example, a man jokes with his friend, when his friend sees him with a smile on his face, she can find out that in fact it is a joke and he does not mean that.
The sender’s psychological state can largely change his actual intention and thus affect the communication between people. In different psychological states, a sentence can be given different intentions by the sender. For example, when you buy a very expensive gift for your boyfriend or girlfriend, when he says “why did you spend so much money to buy me a gift”, he may be expressing anger, or actually expressing surprise and happiness.
Hi there! My name is Wang Qing. I was born in August 2003. I come from Fujian, China. It is nice to meet you guys in this class.
I live in Xiamen, Fujian until 2018. It was a very beautiful and warm city. After I finished middle school life, my parents and I traveled around some countries in Southeast Asia during the holidays, such as Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, including Singapore of course. We found that the environment and climate in Singapore were very similar to my hometown, and the people in Singapore were also very friendly, so we decided to let me continue my study in Singapore. Now I am currently a student of Big Data at UOW.
Hobbies
Binge-watch… Including animates, TV shows and novels. (Definitely no horror)
Chill out with friends
KPOP!!! (Wanna learn to dance but never started…) ps. going to see BLACKPINK’s concert at the National Stadium this May! My life is regrettable!!
Play Chinese traditional instruments. eg. Hulusi flute and dulcimer. However, I do not play them for a long time since I study abroad. I love music so much and I hope I can play with them asap or try to learn a new instrument in the future.
My baby cat – 66
I’m a 100% cat person, and 66 is the first cat that I had. He was turning 2yo on the first day of 2023! He is a brave cat who helps me catch cockroaches and other strange bugs that appear in my house… He was always there to comfort me when I was upset about my studies. Just petting his head made me feel better. He is living in my China home now with my parents, miss him soooo much😢
Why do I choose CS major?
Before I get into SIM, there are two choices, study management or information technology. I am not a particularly independent person, I want to learn some knowledge that I can directly apply to the work rather than some abstract theory. The facts have proved that my choice is correct. I had both pain and enjoyment in the process of learning by feeling a sense of accomplishment after completing each task. Anyways, even though programming is made me feel irritable, I’ll try my best to do this.
O-level journey
I was taking olevel courses in an international school in Singapore from September 2018 to November 2019. During this period, I made many good friends and participated in some school activities. Under the leadership of the principal, we went to Sambawang MRT station early to pick up the rubbish on the ground, contributing our part to the protection of the environment. Moreover, I also participated in the school’s business day (charity sale), and made snacks and handmade milk tea with my classmates. With the joint efforts of each class, more than 900 SGD were raised and donated to charity organizations. In the process of helping disadvantaged groups through charity sales, I have also explored some simple business communication & management knowledge and experience from this practice.
Thank you for paying attention to read my blog! Hope yall can have a wonderful 2023. Stay healthy and safe.🙂
WANG QING‘s blog 