Managing_Organizational_Conflict_from_Islamic_Perspective

1.0 Introduction This assignment reviews a journal article written by Suhaili Sharif, Kamaruzaman Nordin and Ahmad Sufian Che Abdullah (2004) entitled “Managing Organizational Conflict from Islamic Perspective”, which was published in Jurnal Syariah, Volume 12. This article seeks to analyze the concept of conflict in an organization and how it can be dealt with according to the Islamic Shariah. In their abstract, Suhaili et al., (2004) explained that conflict is one process where two or more different parties clash in sense of their personal interest and objective. Conflict is something unavoidable in any organization thus the religion of Islam has outlined some methods on how to resolve conflicts in an organization’s environment. Managing Organizational Conflict from Islamic Perspective was laid out by Suhaili et al., (2004 who pointed out in Jamilah Othman (1997) that the commonalities among most common conflict definitions includes concepts of opposition, scarcity and blockage and assumption where there are two or more parties whose interests or goals appear to be incompatible. Here, it is acknowledged that when resources are scarce, it encourages a party to block the goal of the other which causes a state of conflict. In this article, there are three views of conventional Organizational Conflict Perspective summarized in Table 1 below. Table 1: Three Perspective of Organizational Conflict View Description Traditional View (1930s -1940s) Stephen P.R (1994) told that conflict is a bad and negative connotation which must be avoided. It is consistent with attitudes on group behaviour. It is a result of poor communication by the managers to their employees. In this perspective, mere direct attention is given to the causes of conflict where they will only correct the malfunction to improve the group and organizational performance. Human Relation View (mid-1970s) Under the Human Relation's view, conflict is taken as a natural occurence. Conflicts are unexpected thus it is rationalized to acknowledge its existence. Other than that, conflict is seen to provide benefits to group performance. Interactionist View (current) David B. & Andrej H. (1997) explained that this approach encourages conflict on grounds of a harmonious, peaceful, tranquil and cooperation it is likely to become static, apathetic and nonresponsive to needs for change and innovation. This view encourages group leaders to maintain an on-going minimal level of conflict in order to keep the group together. Stephen P. Robbins (1994) acknowledged hat the process of conflict is succeeded through four stages and is summarized in Table 2 below. Table 2: The Conflict Process, Essentials of Organizational Behaviour by Stephen P. Robbins (1994), Prentice Hall. Stage Activity Description 1 Potential Opposition Presence of conditions that causes conflict to arise: communication, structure and personal variable. 2 Cognition and Personalization If the conditions exist, there is potential for disagreement thus conflict becomes realised. 3 Behaviour The intended act of others that frustrates the attainment of others’ goal. Overt conflict that involves highly controlled and uncontrolled behaviour. 4 Outcomes The consequences or the outcomes of the interaction between the overt conflict behaviours and handling the conflict-handling behaviour, 2.0 Objective of the Study The study was carried out to show how Organizational Conflicts be dealt with through the perspective of Islam according to the methods suggested in the Islamic Shariah law. The study involved looking into case issues such as the distribution of land of the conquest of Iraq and the succession of the khilafah after the death of Uthman RA. 3.0 Issues The issues in the study can be seen from the three research questions posed in the article. The research questions are: 1. Is the relation of the parties preserved when the conflict is resolved according to the basic guidelines of Islamic Shariah in conflict management' 2. How can this paper address the gap by presentation of an empirical analysis of the suggested Islamic models of conflict management' 3. To what extent are the guidelines actually applied in organizations' The paper describes that there are three Islamic models of conflict management that can be summarized in Table 3 below. Table 3: Concept of Syura, Ta'awun, Nasihah , Suhaili et.al., (2004) Types Model Description 1 Syura The act of joining together as one to get ideas and also to solve issues of the group / meeting 2 Ta’awun To deal with issues in a pro-active way to reduce incidence of conflict that could be dysfunctional. 3 Nasihah A context of avoiding conflict by resorting to sincere advice as a normal mode of inter-personal and inter-group behaviour. This paper describes the four processes resolving organizational conflicts as Islam emphasizes its followers to avoid and resolve any conflict before the crisis happen by practicing the concept of syura, ta'awun and nasihah in its guidelines. In Suhaili et.al., (2004), the of processes of resolving conflicts first established what nature of conflict is at stake and how quickly the conflict needs to be resolved based on its seriousness. It then allows conflicting parties focus on the issue and state the other sides’ position fairly. Next, parties will have to listen, learn and exercise their mutual resources to attack the problem. Finally, conflicts are solved according to the suitable approaches which are higlighted in the paper. David B. & Andrej H. (1997) introduced that conflict resolution approaches is based on the assertiveness and coorperative effort of each parties in satisfying the concerns of the other. David A.W & Kim S.C (1991) pointed out that the five approaches emphasizes on different values of approach involving competition, avoiding, compromising, accomodating and collaborating. Overall, collaborating approach delivers parties to focus on the conflict that they face and how it would be resolved. Both parties are also committed to the solution and satisfied that they have been treated fairly. Naceur Jobnoun (1994) said that individuals or group involved in a conflict sometimes sought to get expert opinion in order to make the right decision in the settlement of conflict. He added that conflict could be resolved by way of negotiation for reconciliation or agreement. However, it is not effective if the judging has a tendency to favor one side only. He also highlighted that arbitration is the kind of approach that can cover conflicts where the degree of communication between parties has already decreased. This form of approach must be accepted by a person, who has shown knowledge of the issue, understand the interest and impartiality and justice. 4.0 Conclusion This paper had presented that in any organizations, conflicts cannot be avoided because people or groups of people will always have different objectives, views and interests. However as crystalized in the Islamic perspective, conflicts can be resolved in a timely and mannerly way before it aggravates into something more serious and complicated which will affect the relationship of the people in the organization and in the end, affects the performance and interest of the organization. Comparing to the conventional conflict approch resolutions, the pillars of Islamic Shariah principles plays a distinctive role to deal with conflicts even before it actually starts. For conflicts that is already at a serious level, options laid out such as soughting expert advice, negotiation and even arbitration could be opted to smoothen the conflicting issues between the parties by emphasizing the common interests and de-emphasizing their differences. In my opinion, resolving such organizational conflict according to the Islamic perspective is practical to be implemented in all organizations. Relationships are important in any organizations and an organization without the strong professional bond of the people holding it together will cause the organization to crumble apart. The principles in the Islamic Shariah enshrines to ensure the bond between people is preserved by emphasizing the virtue of brotherhood and love which are the core values in the religion of Islam itself. In conclusion, the notion of preserving relationship which is to deal with conflicts at its early stages is important to maintain a win-win relationship situation between people working within the same environment or even outside the organization itself. References Suhaili Sarif, Kamaruzaman Noordin, Ahmad Sufian Che Abdullah (2004). Managing Organizational Conflict from Islamic Perspective, Jurnal Syariah 12:2, p.107-122 Jamilah Othman (1997). Handling Conflict With Organizational Members. The Experience of Malaysian Malay Women Human Resource Managers in The Banking and Finance Industry, (PhD Thesis University of Minnesota), p. 21 - 24 Robbins Stephen P (1994). Essentials of Organizational Behaviour, 4th Edition, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, p.169 David Buchanan and Andrej Huzynski (1997). Organizational Behaviour, 2nd Edition, Prentice Hall: United Kingdom, p.638 David A.Whetton and Kim S.Cameron (1991). Developing Management Skills, 2nd Edition, Harper Collins Publishers Inc. Naceur Jabnoun (1994). Islam and Management, Kuala Lumpur: Institut Kajian Dasar, p.171