Challenges of Dealing with Conflicts and Confluence

            A large number of social and public issues are faced by organizations. Normally, they are concerned with conflicting interests. For instance, SARS or severe acute respiratory syndrome in 2003 with its effects on the Canadian economy, government, and businesses should be considered. The management of this issue was subjective of media and public scrutiny. Another example of such attention and conflict was followed by the death of Robert Dziekanski who was seemingly tasered by the officers of RCMP at the VIA or Vancouver International Airport in the early hours of 15th October 2017. Throughout the country and the world, Canadian Immigration and Customs officials along with the police force had to face not only public outcries but also media coverage and analysis. Using a camera of a cellphone, a bystander was capable of using the internet for sharing the video of the scene.

            With innovations and advancements in technology, greater access has been prompted to information, and the pace of change has been accelerated. Due to it, leaders are facing various challenges in managing the expectations and interests of stakeholders. In international society, the growing complexities within organisations add another element or dimension which involves the potential for additional networks or layers of secondary and primary stakeholders. If their requirements are not fulfilled, actions might be taken by stakeholders, and government and business will be pressurised to make different changes concerning their environmental, economic, and social issues.

            It can be said that managing the gap between stakeholder or customer expectations and the original performance is one of the most important challenges which are being faced by the organisations. Large firms might have some officers of public affairs, governmental relations, shareholder relations, consumer affairs, employee communications, and relations with trade associations, groups of public interests, and economic issues. The gap is strategically managed by them between the expectations of the stakeholders and the performance of the organisation. To control the media, some controls are exerted by governments on media promotions and advertising. For instance, there are some significant limitations on tobacco sponsorship and advertising in Canada. This intervention is capable of addressing socially or ethically responsible for media advertising and promotions (Dietz.).

            Organisations are unable to manage stakeholder expectations and requirements in some situations because results don’t match the requirements. For instance, if customers need high-quality products at a cheap cost which they need, organisations will either have to lower the quality or increase the price. They cannot just develop the products which are fitting the stakeholder requirements because if they do, they will experience a loss in profits. Sometimes, organisations are not the ones to blame because it is not possible for them to meet the requirement which stakeholders have. And the other times, organisations are responsible because they are not truthful to their customers. For instance, if a firm announces that it will be launching a new version of the product at a cheaper cost, and doesn’t, then it will negatively affect the perceptions of customers. This example occurs when expectations of customers and stakeholders are ignored.        

References of Dealing with Conflicts and Confluence

Brookfield, H., 2012. Interdependent Development. s.l.:Routledge, .

Dietz., I. E. C. N. S., 2011. System-of-systems” approach for interdependent critical infrastructures.. Reliability Engineering & System Safety, 96(6), pp. 679-686..

Gregorio D'Agostino, A. S., 2014. Networks of Networks: The Last Frontier of Complexity. s.l.:Springer, .

Turku, D. H., 2013. Isolationist States in an Interdependent World. s.l.:Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., .