According to Jean Miller from TIG (Taking It Global) “Conflict is the

source of all growth and is an absolute necessity if one is to be

alive.”[15] An effective manager must be able to manage conflict and also

learn from it to help the organization to grow and be challenged. Conflict

is not always negative but can prove to have some positive outcomes as

well. The effective manager can balance this delicate relationship and

works hard to handle conflict with care.

As further stated in the article, conflict can be viewed as something to

manage or something to resolve. John Burton, one of the world’s leading

scholars in the field of conflict resolution commented “…resolution means

terminating conflict by methods that are analytical and that get to the

root of the problem.” Miller explains that “conflict management is a multi-

disciplinary, analytical, problem-solving approach to conflict that seeks

to enable participants to work collaborately towards its management.”[16]

Conflict is not easily avoided in any organization; therefore, an effective

manager is prepared by knowing how he will approach certain issues before

they happen. There are many books and articles written that address this

topic in great detail. An effective manager will consult these items and

use his or her own judgment in taking the advice of these publications.

According to James Cribbin, there are three basic kinds of conflict as

follows: Approach-Approach, Avoidance-Avoidance, and Approach-

Avoidance.[17] Approach-Approach would seem to be the most straight

forward type of conflict as there are two alternatives that are equally

feasible. If an employee is not being productive in the company this

affects how the manager’s boss views that department. The manager wants to

please his boss but also stay on good terms with his employee. In each

case the manager needs to approach the other person with open communication

and deal with the situation.

Avoidance-Avoidance is very difficult because whatever decision is made to

have negative consequences. If a manager knows that his boss is cheating

the company financially, he must make a decision. Tell on his boss and

suffer the wrath, or stay quiet and sacrifice his ethics. He would like to

avoid the conflict on either side, but staying quiet may not be an option.

The last type of conflict according to Cribbin is Approach-Avoidance. He

gives a clear example of a manager put in a situation in which he must make

a decision that will affect himself and his family. He wants to approach

the situation but also avoid it completely. He is given a great promotion

in the company but must move his family from his nice comfortable town to a

large metropolis city. Cribbin has outlined the options he has and

portrays what a difficult situation this could really be:

1. Accept the position and move

2. Accept the position, leave the family in the small town and visit them

on the weekends.

3. Bribe the family to make the move.

4. Ask the family to try to the new city for a year and then assess the

situation.

5. He can refuse the promotion.

6. He can try to stall in making the decision and hope that something

different will turn up.

7. He can try to convince his superiors that he can take the promotion

and contribute more from where he already is.

8. He can get another job.[18]

While this is a personal conflict for this manager, the skills a manager

uses to deal with personal conflict must be transferable to the workplace

environment involving other employees as well as superiors. If a manager

knows that there are always several options in dealing with a situation, he

will be more open to choosing one that will work for that unique conflict.

As mentioned earlier, consistency is an important part of an effective

manager and can be applied to conflict as well. A good manager is

consistent in executing rules and regulations with his employees. He will

not let close relationships with employees cloud his judgment and rationale

for making a decision. When conflict arises, the employees will know that

each person will receive the same treatment regardless of who they are.

According to Robbins, “Consistency can relate to an individual’s

reliability, predictability, and good judgment in handling situations.

Inconsistencies between words and actions decrease trust. Nothing is

noticed more quickly… than a discrepancy between what executives preach and

what they expect their associates to practice.” People want to be able to

“predict what you are going to do.”[19]

In order for a manager to improve their effectiveness in a conflict

situation they can also use “The Five A’s of Improving Your Personal

Effectiveness” Model from Kerns. The A’s are assess, analyze, action plan,

act, and adjust – then repeat.[20] A good manager will always assess the

situation in order to gather all of the details. Once he has all of the

information, he will analyze it and develop an action plan. After

implementation of the plan, he will be able to be flexible with that plan

if something needs to be adjusted. Effective managers use the Five A’s

constantly without even realizing it. This helps a manager approach

conflict with confidence knowing there is a steady process he can rely

upon.

3. Flexibility and Creativity

“Managers exist in a state of steady

uncertainly and their success rests upon

constant exploration of uncharted waters.”

Barry Munitz,

President of Federated Development Company

Houston, Texas

Today changes in the business environment become more rapid and more

complex and of course each manager must solve more problems in a limited

period of time. As Dr. Abraham Zaleznik of Harvard University mentioned:

"No matter how much you plan, when you get to the work place there are

unanticipated problems: And the added constant challenge is that most of

these problems cannot be solved effectively in old, familiar, or

straightforward manners. Hence the quality most necessary for business and

career success these days, and increasingly so in the future, is

flexibility.”[21] But our group consider also creativity to be important

today. These two aspects help manager not to be lost and not to lose in the

modern business world and of course to be effective.

According to the dictionary flexibility is “the ability to change or to be

changed easily to suit a different situation”[22]. What factors made this

aspect so important? Thirst of all the growing volumes of information a

manager should deal with. Second, environment and technologies which

changed quicker and quicker every year and the third point will be

internationalization. According to these three situations we can determine

the following characteristics of the flexible manager:

1. A flexible manager is able “to stay loose and to choose and explore a

wide variety of approaches to problems, without losing sight of the

overall goal or purpose”[23]

2. Shows a resourcefulness in their ability to adapt himself quickly and

easily to developing situation and changing environment

3. He "does not see the environment as something to which they should

passively respond, but as something they should actively shape."[24]

Some authors also associated flexibility with personal openness of the

manager[25]. They pointed out that if managers are open then they can be

influenced by what is happening around them and as a result they react more

flexible to all the changes around them. The one thing is obvious that

flexibility is a key feature of personal growth and an indispensable

condition for being an effective manager.

Let’s now go back to the second aspect – creativity, and let’s see what it

means: “Creativity – producing or using new and effective ideas, results,

etc”[26]. When we think about creativity, we imagine people who are gifted,

talented, and different from others, whose ideas, decisions, and actions

are situated out of the every day’s life borders. In culture, creativity

is associated with such a people like Bach, Van Gogh, and Einstein; in

business with Steve Jobs (co-founder of Apple Computers), Jack Welch

(General Electric), and Anita Rodick (The Body Shop).[27] Today creativity

is a way of thinking, the way to integrate you visions and ideas into

relationships and business. This process can be presented as following:

Figure 3: Critical thinking

Brainstorming processes

Free association, etc.

Source: Becoming a Master Manager, By:Robert E.Qiunn,Sue R.Faerman,Michel

P. Thomson, Michael R. McGrath; USA,2003

The use of creativity in the decision making process or in problem solving

allows manager to increase the effectiveness and encourage creative

thinking among employees. An effective manager will use creativity as a

tool of motivation. When employees are encouraged to use creativity in

their problem solving and in everyday work, they are more likely to feel

unique, valued and important for their organization[28]. In this way a

manager can not only develop effectiveness but also create a group of like-

minded employees.

For an effective manager of the future creativity or creative thinking

should become the natural way to think. But to reach this ideal situation

each manager should avoid the following barriers:

1. “A negative value of fantasy and reflection as a waste of time, a sign

of laziness, or even a bit crazy”[29]

2. the ideas that only children may play and fantasise but adults must be

serious

3. the idea that problem solving is a very serious an responsible process

and you must forget about creativity and humour

4. a negative image of feeling and intuition, which are regarded as

illogical an impractical

Although it is very difficult sometimes to change the society’s cultural

barriers and to change the image of creativity, each manager should try

to overcome pragmatic influences and think individually.

4. Developing of managerial knowledge and manager’s teaching role

Every manager must be sure that he or she will develop the competence and

knowledge of those they supervise. Every employee has a potential for

personal and professional development, and a good manager should discover

and develop this potential. We will start with the idea that each person

wants to know more. When a young employee comes to the company he has a

lot of theoretical knowledge, personal ideas and visions. He has read a

lot of books and articles, but he is still asking himself a lot of

different questions. In that moment he needs someone to teach him how to

become successful.

When you are a small child your parents teach you how to walk, and when you

make your first steps in your career you also need a “parent” to teach, to

give support, to empower and whatever else necessary. The effective manager

is always ready to become such a “parent”. He is always open to his

employees and colleagues, he shares his knowledge, and he inspires others

with his own experience and example. During the process of teaching he

always remains patient and supports everyone in every step of the way. And

of course leaders take the time to thank employees for a job well done.

But teaching doesn’t mean only sharing manager’s knowledge with someone; it

also means that the manager takes a role of mentor. The term "mentor" has

been used quite often in recent years. Jacqueline D. Heads, academic

advisor for the Rutgers University College of Pharmacy in New Jersey

defines this term as the following “A true mentor motivates you and impels

you to move to the next level, mobilizes you by advising you on how to get

there, and finally, like a guide, a mentor informally monitors your

progress to make sure you are moving in the right direction,"[30]

But why should we pay so much attention to teaching role of manager or his

mentoring role? The answer is obvious: teaching is a core competency the

effective manger should have. The idea of effectiveness changed the vision

of teaching and today more authors speak not only about teaching or

mentoring but about a developmental manager.[31] That means that instead

of taskmasters and evaluators, managers are most effective as coaches,

motivators, symphony conductors and employee developers”[32] We will pay

more attention to this idea.

Developing happened not at home but mostly at the work place during the

work itself or during the special classes. That is why it will be useful

for each manager to create and to follow a development plan to avoid

pointless talks and wasting of time. The idea of “A+ employees takes A+

managers”[33] seems to our group to be a very interesting and future

oriented idea of cooperation between manager and employees. According to

this idea you should follow these rules while developing people:

. Appreciate uniqueness of the people

. Assess capability of their team members

. Anticipate the future (leads others in the future)

. Align aspirations (create win/win partnerships built on trust and

loyalty)

. Accelerate learning

But in practice the theory is always confronted with reality. One of the

main problems of teaching or developing people is that a lot of managers

are afraid of teaching other people. The main reason for such an attitude

is idea, that if you as a manager will teach someone everything you know

and after that he may become better and smarter then you, and take your

place. Of course it can happen. But then manager should turn back to his

main values and decide what is most important to him: his own career or his

company’s success.

At the same time, if you are going to share your knowledge with someone, to

teach, to develop and to become a mentor you must broaden your own

knowledge. The individual becomes a manager because he was chosen to get

results and to use his knowledge, not because he won a popularity contest.

Employees are not going to listen to a person who has no knowledge in what

he is talking about or gives out false information. People need to believe

that a manager has the proper skills and abilities to carry out what he

claims to be experienced in. Only then a manager will earn a respect and

employees will become his like-minded team. How will you be able to do

this?

Some authors[34] say that as a manager and especially as an executive

manager you are responsible for all fields of business in your company: for

marketing and sales, for finance, for information technology etc. You

should understand how things works (the IKEA-case and Kamprad’s attention

to all details can illustrate this statement) and also how employees work

whose knowledge in one particular field are deeper then yours. These are

two main corner stones of success. How to reach them? The best solution can

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