Conflict Management Sundial Brands

Overview Article Define phases of conflict Apply phases of conflict situation Questions Conclusion

Objectives

In the wake of the Brussel Bombing Shea Moisture shared a photo on their Facebook and Instagram pages in support

This created tension with the consumers because they didn’t show support to the West African countries who suffered from terrorist attacks just days before

Article Overview

The issue stems form Shea Moisture founders being Liberia and in the eyes of the consumer they weren’t showing concern for people who were closure to home

Many people were upset and expressed that they would boycott the company for not showing solidarity to these African countries

Overview Continued

With all the constant comments CEO Rich Dennis made a statement saying that no issue outweighs another

Brussel is the major transit point for Liberia and some of the Liberians were trapped in Brussel when the attack happened

Dennis said if consumer don’t support him bringing awareness to issues he supports their decision not to support the company anymore

Overview Continued

Dennis ended his response urging those to continue to help fight injustice by supporting the company “If you really care to fight injustice, now more than ever is the

time to support the one business that comes from and stands for community and stands to fight these injustices not just with words and social media posts but with millions of dollars, time, effort and love! “

Overview Continued

Facebook Post

Organizational Conflict is a state frictions caused by perceived or actual opposition of needs, values and interest between people

There are 5 phases of organizational conflict

Organizational Conflict

Latent Conflict Interaction of parties in a setting where conflict can occur

Perceived Conflict One or more parties see that there is incompatibility and

interdependence Felt Conflict

Parties personalize conflict and management steps are put into place to began to solve the conflict

Phases of Organizational Conflict

Manifest Conflict Communication has begun and the conflict will escalate and

deescalate before a resolution is found Conflict aftermath

Short term and long term effects felt after the conflict

Phases of conflict continued

I will use the example of Brussel post to show how the phases of organizational conflict happen

This conflict does not occur between employee but it is

still perceived as organizational conflict

Application

Latent Conflict Once the photo of the heart was posted this was the

necessary conditions for the conflict to start

Application

Perceived Conflict Immediately after the picture was posted comments flooded

the comment box with questions Some of the comments were in solidary Most of the comments questioned their authenticity and why

they weren’t supporting the African countries

Application

Felt Conflict The administer of the Instagram page immediately

apologized for the misunderstanding There was a period 5 hours before the CEO of Sundial Rich

Dennis made his statement I believe during this time he was brain storming how he would

address the conflict.

Application

Manifest Conflict The administrator of Instagram directed the commenters to

Facebook to see the official response Although Dennis response was clearly articulate there was

discourse between the patrons of the FB page and the FB admin The admin replied to many comments trying to reconcile with the

consumers.

Application

Aftermath In the aftermath Shea Moisture may have lost some

customers but they were able to enlighten the rest of the consumers on how they stand on issues

This instance shows just how much the care about their brand and how much the value their customers opinions

Application

What steps were used mange the situation? What change will Sundial make to their conflict

management process? What steps have been taking to prevent an issue like this

from happening in the future?

Questions

These are questions I would ask current employees How are decisions made when there is a huge disagreement

that could have a large negative impact on the company> Who has the power to implement the necessary changes to

resolve conflict? How does “politics” play in making decisions regarding

resolving conflict?

Questions

Conflict is essential to the growth of a company

How a company handles conflict will revel strength and weaknesses in

the organization

Shea Moisture dead a great job with managing the conflict

Conflict is a natural occurrence and it is great that they have a system

in place to help them manage

Conclusion

C. (2016, March 26). Customers Blast SheaMoisture for Supporting Brussels But Ignoring Terrorist Attacks in West Africa. Retrieved March 31, 2016, from http://blackgirllonghair.com/2016/03/customers-go-in-on-sheamoisture-for-ignoring-black-lives/

Miller, K. (2012). Organizational communication: Approaches and processes (6th ed.). Stamford, CT: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Retrieved March 31, 2016

Work Cited