Conflict Resolution In Church Essay - 1736 Words

CONFLICT In 1996, I was called to serve as pastor of Pryorsburg Baptist Church, located near Mayfield, Kentucky. The Pastor Search Committee had informed me that the church was currently experiencing a time of great unity, harmony, and growth. They further told me that my call was unanimous. They said that the church had grown to the point that the last pastor had resigned, a after a three-year tenure, because he had been promoted to Dean of Students at a nearby Baptist college and could no longer serve as pastor of a church of this size. I arrived at the church ministry field on a Saturday and preached the morning and evening services on the next day. On Monday evening, a member came to my home†¦show more content†¦They also informed me that they had wanted to tell me the truth before I accepted the call, but never had the opportunity. As we talked, it became clear that the church was in a horrific spiritual warfare. The deacon and his wife told me that the church had been doing very well and had been slowly growing, when a nearby church split and its disenfranchised members came to Peyorsburg. Almost immediately upon coming to Pryorsburg, these new members began to take control of the church. The old members did not do anything, because of a suddenly they were outnumbered in the business meetings by these newer members. These newer members had also voted to throw out the Church Constitution and Bylaws in order that they might do as they please regarding the operations of the church. So, there were three basic groups in the church: those in control, those who had been forced from office, and the largest group Ââ€" those who had no idea that anything was wrong. When I arrived, three of the deacons told me that they felt that they were being wrongly accused of running the church, but they had no idea why anyone would have such conceptions. Thereupon, I requested the deacons to provide me with a list of church officers. They said that they would get me a copy. It was three months later, with me constantly badgeringShow MoreRelatedThe World Monotheistic Religions Of Islam, Christianity, And Judaism981 Words   |  4 Pagesthis imperative about loving God/Allah with all the mind, heart, soul, and strength, and love one’s neighbor as oneself, which do indeed run contrary to the adversarial processes of managing conflict in the American legal system. It is evident in a litigation situation in a courtroom or in a dispute resolution forum, may it be negotiation, mediation, or arbitration, the two parties locked in argument, debate, and discussion are not applying this principle of unconditional love required by these religiousRead MoreThe Differences Between Prejudice And Stereotyping1137 Words   |  5 PagesIn class, we had also discussed the different type of conflict styles/resolutions. 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Conflict and power can be found in several areas and levels such as colonization process, wars, inside an organization, and even in our own family, and it can have political, economic, social and cultural reasons. However, there are different types of power such as Reward, Coercive, Referent, Expert and Legitimate, and three perspectives of conflict as Traditional, InterpretiveRead MoreConflict Is Inevitable And Good For Us Essay951 Words   |  4 PagesConflict is inevitable and happens everywhere: church, school, the workplace, and interpersonal relationships. It is our human nature to engage in conflict, handled effectively and with love, conflict results in a learning experience (Barna, 1997). Handled ineffectively by pointing blame (Barna, 1997), conflict can destroy. In the church environment, conflict between church leaders and their congregations create barriers to innovation and positive change (Barna, 1997). Left unresolved, it canRead MoreA Brief Note On Alternative Dispute Resolution And Other Forms Of Helping Professions1462 Words   |  6 PagesAlternative Dispute Resolution Conflict resolution is used in various aspects of counseling and other forms of helping professions. It is vital that conflicts between opposing parties are managed in order for progress to be achieved. By maintaining a controlled environment during the negotiation process, the two parties will often be able to come to a resolution of their differences. Sometimes it can be difficult for two parties to work together without the help of a third party to assist in theRead MoreThe Relationship Between Religious Institutions And Society1456 Words   |  6 Pages2013, Pope Francis delivered an apostolic exhortation on family life, â€Å"Amoris Laetitia,† better known as â€Å"The Joy of Love.† Establishing a sense of resolution within the Catholic Church about homosexuality has also reopened the original debate on the propriety of a coexisting homosexual Christian. This has been a concern in not only the Catholic Church, but sub-religions within the entire Christian communi ty. It is interesting to comprehend the relationship between religious organizations and society—mainlyRead MoreThe Crucible- Conflict Resolution Essay734 Words   |  3 PagesThe Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, is a movie that focuses on the conflict and resolution that occurred during the Salem witch trials during 17th century Puritan New England. After a group of young girls are found dancing and chanting during the night in the middle of the woods, strange things begin to happen within the small town. Conflict arises when Reverend Parris, the local minister, discovers the girls in the forest being led by a black slave named Tituba. Two girls out of the groupRead MoreConflict Resolution Of The United States1511 Words   |  7 Pageswonderful world of conflict resolution; more importantly, conflict resolution in the church. For the past six weeks students have constantly studied the different type of conflicts as well as the different methods of resolving the conflicts in question. This paper will cover a variety of the types of conflicts and some of the resolution learned in the class this year. In addition to that, the paper will also detail different case studies of the Bible where these particular conflicts are shown, how

Personal Statement On Workplace Negotiations - 1556 Words

Workplace Negotiations I. 1. The most important issue in taking any form of employment is whether it will involve something that I am interested or was trained to do. Second, a salary that is reasonably related to the position and/or the work performed is important. Third, having the independence to work without constant supervision (as long as my responsibilities are satisfied) would be important. Fourth, the ability to have a flexible work schedule. Fifth, training and development opportunities that allow me to get better at what I’m doing would be important. 2. My BATNA would be the non-guaranteed offer I received prior to the holidays from another position. Although the salary (U.S. $3,000 per month) is the same as I am currently†¦show more content†¦In that case, my source of power would be years I’ve worked at my present employer, including the experience I’ve gained, the work-product I’ve produced, my relationship with clients and customers, and the fact that I understand the goals of the company and have proven that I can assist the company in achieving those goals. Perhaps, however, the ultimate source of my power is that my interests are not completely focused on salary and that if I can achieve all of my other interests except for a salary than I will personally be successful. 4. Although I cannot know for certain but I can assume that in this negotiation my opponent’s five most important issues would be: (1) keep my salary the same or as close to the current amount that it is now, (2) increase the amount of work that I do without any or a significant increase in the salary that I am paid, (3) any increase in salary is mirrored with an equal increase in duties and responsibilities, (4) keeping the work circumstances as they presently are arranged; or more specifically keeping the status quo, and (5) decreasing my salary but keeping my work level the same or increasing it. 5. My opponent’s BATNA is keeping me in my present position. The position includes the following benefits: U.S. $3,000 per month; seven days paid vacation; supervised work for 40 hours per week (five days a week). Accordingly, my opponents target price is U.S.

Principals-Agents’ Conflict of Interest Free Essays

Principals (shareholders) – agent (managers) problem represents the conflict of interest between management and owners. For example, if shareholders cannot effectively monitor the managers’ behaviour, then managers may be tempted to use the firm’s assets for their own ends, all at the expenses of shareholders. Discuss the pros and cons of this statement with regard to duties of Board of Directors. We will write a custom essay sample on Principals-Agents’ Conflict of Interest or any similar topic only for you Order Now Most organisations these days are no more owned by their managers. This separation of ownership and management gives rise to what is called agency relationship. Jensen and Meckling (1976) define the agency relationship as â€Å"a contract under which one party (the principal) engages another party (agent) to perform the some services on their behalf. As part of this, the principal will delegate some decision making authority to the agent â€Å". However, it is important to mention that this relationship is not always peaceful and harmonious; rather, it usually raises some agency problems commonly called conflict of interests between shareholders and managers of the company. These conflicts occur when a person i. . the manager has an obligation not to act in his own personal interest but in another person’s interest i. e. the shareholders. This means that in whatever situation, managers must prioritise shareholders’ benefits. But is this commitment always respected in principals-agents relationships? Hopefully, between these two groups, is the board of directors; directors who are elected by shareholders to act as their representatives by monitoring and controlling managers tasks and ensuring they are in line with shareholders’ expectations. With clear evidence that conflicts of interest are almost unavoidable in any agency relationships, an attempt will be made will be made to get an insight into that issue with regards to board of directors duties. Brennan (1994) states that â€Å" agency problems emanate from the arrangement where the interests of the agents differ substantially from those of the principals because of the impossibility of perfectly contracting for every possible action of the agents whose decisions affect both his welfare and the welfare of the principal â€Å". Therefore, this raises the issue of finding ways to motivate managers to solely act in the best interest of shareholders. However, in a world where the labour market is becoming more and more imperfect and competitive, managers will be more concerned with their personal benefits at the expense of shareholders’ benefits. Since they are the one taking care of the day-to-day activities of the company, they know better than anyone any single details about how the various tasks are being performed and how that affects the company. Therefore, they might be tempted to take advantage of that by consuming some of the organisation’s resources in the form of lavish perquisites such as airplanes. Agency conflicts imply that shareholders wealth maximisation is being subordinated in managers’ goals for the company. Clear evidence of this assumption could be that top level managers are more worried about increasing their salaries, raising their status within the company, creating more opportunities for lower managers or assuring their job security and to achieve all this, their main objective could rather be to enlarge the firm by creating more subsidiaries. Such an action could produce results that do not necessarily maximise the value of the organisation for shareholders, rather, management welfare. We can notice that in conflict of interest, agents are mostly interested in achieving objectives that they feel will be profitable to them, but which are not necessarily or directly for the sake of shareholders. This occurs as a result of the distance created between the shareholders and the management team which prevent the former to effectively monitor and control managers’ behaviour. If agents do things that hurt principals, why don’t they take strong actions against that? In order to remedy to this situation, shareholders rely among others on the board of directors which they elect to look out for their interests and protect them for financial losses due to inadequate managerial actions. Bonazzi L. , Islam (2007) defines the function of the board as a â€Å" collective responsibility to determine the company’s purpose and â€Å"ethics†, to decide the direction, i. e. the strategy; to plan; to monitor and control managers and CEO activities, then to report and make recommendations to shareholders â€Å". To achieve this, they are expected to act in accordance with their four main duties which involve: the fiduciary duty, the duty of loyalty, the duty of confidentiality and the duty of care. In performing their fiduciary duties, directors assumes two roles, the first one as an â€Å"agent† which means acting on behalf of shareholders and the second one as a â€Å"trustee† which means they are in charge of controlling the organisation assets so they have to act â€Å" bona fide â€Å" which means in good faith towards the company; acting only within the scope of their powers and uniquely for the purpose that benefits the business and to avoid being involved in conflict between personal and the company’s interest. First and foremost, the board has as duty to govern the organisation by designing broad policies, and objectives which are intended to provide managers with guidance on how they are expected to run the business, i. e. prioritizing principals’ benefits, and, where they are expected to take the firm to in terms of increasing its value. They must continuously review the performance of the chief executive to ensure that managerial actions are in line with shareholders wishes and given that they are accountable to the former, they have to report to them about the overall organisational performance. Regarding their duty of loyalty, directors must prevent conflict of interest by avoiding transactions which may generate a potential conflict; those transactions according to Professor Bernard S. Black of Standford Law School in an article entitled The principal Fiduciary Duties of Boards of Directors are called â€Å" self-dealing â€Å" transactions. Representing at the same time the boss to one extend and the subordinate to another extend, directors must make sure never to act in ways that will harm either the shareholders or the executives, treat both parties with care and respect and try to make good decisions i. . that will compromise none of the parties, but which will be profitable to the firm. Also, board members have the duty to keep private all dealings, matters and information from the board meeting and the company in order to avoid the disclosure or misuse of information which may lead to a conflict. From the study of board members duties, we can state that companies’ corporate governance rests mostly on their shoulders. So, when effective, it permits the realisation of corporate objectives, risk management, the reduction of agency problems and an increase in the value of the firm. Despite the fact that conflict of interest is quite an obvious issue between shareholders and managers, it is important to keep in mind that the former are the owners of the business and thus, have great powers on the company; for instance through their voting rights at the annual shareholders meeting where they might decide â€Å"to vote with their feet† i. . selling their shares, exposing the organisation to a potential takeover that will lead managers to lose their job. Consequently, managers must at least try to satisfy their principals by aligning their actions and decisions with shareholders expectations; as well as must principals induce their agents to work for their best interest. To achieve this, they must incur some agency costs. In the 1976 Journal of Finance paper by Michael Jensen and William Meckling, it is stated that â€Å"there are three major types of agency costs: (1) expenditures to monitor managerial activities, such as audit costs; (2) expenditure to structure the organisation in a way that will limit undesirable managerial behaviour, such as appointing outside members to the board of directors or restructuring the company’s business units and management hierarchy; and (3) opportunity costs which are incurred when shareholder-imposed restrictions, such as requirements for shareholder votes on specific issues, limit the ability of managers to take actions that advance shareholder wealth†. In a nutshell, conflict of interest is a real fact in every business. Principal-agent relationship can be viewed as complex in terms of how exactly agents are expected to act towards their principals. Obviously, their acts must always be aimed at serving shareholders interest, but this statement seems to imply that either principals’ interests are always morally acceptable or managers might act unethically provided they fulfil shareholders’ expectations. Virtually, all corporate code of ethics addresses conflict of interest because it interferes with the ability of employees to act in the best interest of the firm. The fact is that, the agent is expected to act solely for the benefit of the principal in all matters and situations, yet, the kind of situation or dilemma the agent might be called upon to act in his principal interest are not easily predictable or identified. As optimal solution, it would be advantageous for both parties if they could work in concert prioritising the success of the organisation, and trying to satisfy as much as possible each group’s benefits, because it would help avoiding or at least reducing potential conflict of interest. How to cite Principals-Agents’ Conflict of Interest, Essay examples