chapter 6-communication & conflict

8/6/2019 Chapter 6-Communication & Conflict

1/38

Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton,Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition.

Copyright 2004 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Chapter 6

Communication,Conflict and

Negotiation


2/38



Communication

1. How does communication occur?

2. Are there barriers to communication?3. How can communication be encouraged?

4. What are the current issues in communication?

5. What is conflict?

6. What are the sources of conflict?

7. How does a situation turn into a conflict?

8. What is negotiation and how does it help?

Questions for Consideration

Questions forConsideration


3/38



Communication

Problems People spend nearly 70 percent of their waking hours

communicatingwriting, reading, speaking, listening

WorkCanada survey of 2039 Canadians in six industrial and

service categories found 61 percent of senior executives believed that they did a good job of

communicating with employees.

only 33 percent of the managers and department heads believed thatsenior executives were effective communicators.

Only 22 percent of hourly workers, 27 percent of clerical employees,and 22 percent of professional staff reported that senior executives did

a good job of communicating with them.

Canadians reported less favourable perceptions about theircompanys communications than did Americans


4/38



Communication Terms

Communication

Sender

Receiver


5/38



Communication Terms

Message

Encoding

Channel

Decoding


6/38

Exhibit 6-1 The CommunicationProcess Model

Encodes the

messageChooses the

channelChooses

a message

Provides

feedbackDecodes the

message

Sender ReceiverConsiders the receiver

Considers the sender


7/38



Choosing Channels

Channels differ in their capacity to convey

information.


8/38

Exhibit 6-2 Information Richnessof Communication Channels

Source: Based on R. H. Lengel and R. L. Daft, The Selection of Communication Media as an Executive Skill,Academy of Management Executive, August 1988, pp. 225-232; and R.

L. Daft and R. H. Lengel, Organizational Information Requirements, Media Richness, and Structural Design, Managerial Science, May 1996, pp. 554-572. Reproduced from R. L.

Daft and R. A. Noe, Organizational Behavior(Forth Worth, TX: Harcourt, 2001), p. 311.


9/38



Barriers to Effective

Communication Filtering Selective Perception


10/38

Barriers to Effective Communication

Defensiveness

Information Overload Language


11/38



Nonverbal

Communication Messages conveyed through body

movements, facial expressions, and the

physical distance between the sender andthe receiver

Kinesics

Proxemics


12/38

Silence as Communication

Defined as an absence of speech or noise

Not necessarily inaction

Individuals should be aware of what silence might

mean in any communication.


13/38



Communication BarriersBetween Men and

Women Men use talk to emphasize status, women

use it to create connection

Women and men tend to approach points

of conflict differently


14/38



Communication BarriersBetween Men and

Women Men and women view directness and

indirectness differently

Men criticize women for apologizing, but

women say Im sorry to express

empathy


15/38



Cross-CulturalCommunication

Difficulties Sources of barriers

Semantics

Word connotations

Tonal differences


16/38



Cross-CulturalCommunications:

Helpful Rules Assume differences until similarity is

proven.

Emphasize description rather than

interpretation or evaluation.

Practise empathy.

Treat your interpretations as a working

hypothesis.


17/38



Effective Listening

If you want to improve your listening skills, look to thesebehaviours as guides Make eye contact

Exhibit affirmative head nods and appropriate facialexpressions.

Avoid distracting actions or gestures.

Ask questions.

Paraphrase.

Avoid interrupting the speaker. Dont over talk.

Make smooth transitions between the roles of speaker andlistener.


18/38



Conflict

A process that begins when one party

perceives that another party has

negatively affected, or is about tonegatively affect something that the first

party cares about.

FunctionalDysfunctional


19/38



Types of Conflict

Cognitive

Conflict related to differences in perspectives

and judgments

Affective

Emotional conflict aimed at a person rather

than an issue


20/38

Exhibit 6-5

Conflict Intensity ContinuumAnnihilatory

conflict

No

conflict

Overt efforts to destroy

the other party

Aggressive physical attacks

Threats and ultimatums

Assertive verbal attacks

Overt questioning or

challenging of others

Minor disagreements or

misunderstandings

Sources: Based on S. P. Robbins,Managing Organizational Conflict: A Nontraditional Approach (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall,

1974), pp. 93-97; and F. Glasl, The Process of Conflict Escalation and the Roles of Third Parties, in Conflict Management and Industrial

Relations, ed. G. B. J. Bomers and R. Peterson (Boston: Kluwer-Nijhoff, 1982), pp. 119-140).


21/38



Exhibit 6-4 How Conflict

Builds

Functional:increasedperformance

Dysfunctional:decreased groupperformance

Behaviour

Outcomes

Competing Collaborating Compromising Avoiding Accommodating

Conflict-handlingIntentions


22/38



Conflict handling

intentions Two Dimensions

Cooperativeness

Assertiveness


23/38

Five Conflict-Handling Strategies

Forcing.

Problem solving Avoiding

Yielding

Compromising


24/38

Exhibit 6-6 Conflict-Handling Strategies

and Accompanying Behaviours

Uncooperative Cooperative

COOPERATIVENESS

Trying to satisfy the other persons concerns

Forcing

Satisfying ones own interestswithout concern for the others

interests Make threats and bluffs Make persuasive arguments

Make positional commitments

Problem solving

Clarifying differences to findmutually beneficial outcomes Exchange information about

priorities and preferences Show insights

Make trade-offs betweenimportant and unimportant issues

Compromisingr

Giving up something to reach anoutcome (done by both parties)

Match others concessions Make conditional promises

and threats Search for a middle ground

Avoiding

Withdrawing from or ignoringconflict Dont think about the issues

Yielding

Placing the others interests aboveones own Make unilateral concessions Make unconditional promises Offer help

ASSERTIVENE

SS

Tr

ying

tosati s

fyonesow

nco

ncerns

Unassertive

Assertive

Sources: Based on K. W. Thomas,

Conflict and Negotiation Processes in

Organizations, inHandbook of

Industrial and Organizational

Psychology, vol. 3, 2nd ed., ed. M. D.

Dunnette and L. M. Hough (Palo Alto,

CA: Consulting Psychologists Press,

1992), p. 668; C. K. W. De Dreu, A.

Evers, B. Beersma, E. S. Kluwer, and

A. Nauta, A Theory-Based Measure ofConflict Management Strategies in the

Workplace,Journal of Organizational

Behavior22, no. 6 (September 2001),

pp. 645-668; and D. G. Pruitt and J.

Rubin, Social Conflict: Escalation,

Stalemate and Settlement(New York:

Random House, 1986).


25/38

Factors That Lead toPersonality Conflicts Misunderstandings

Intolerance

Perceived inequalities

Falsehoods

Blaming


26/38

Tips for Employees Having a PersonalityConflict

Communicate directly with the other person

to resolve the perceived conflict.

Avoid dragging co-workers into the conflict.

If necessary, seek help from direct

supervisors or human resource specialists.

Source: R. Kreitner and A. Kinicki, Organizational Behavior, 6th ed. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2004), p. 492, Table 14-1. Reprinted by permission of McGraw-Hill Education.


27/38



Conflict Outcomes

Functional (supports the goals of the

group and improves performance)

Dysfunctional (hinders groupperformance)


28/38



Negotiation

A process in which two or more parties

exchange goods or services and attempt to

agree upon the exchange rate for them


29/38



Issues, Positions and

Interests Individuals have issues, positions, and interests

Issues are items that are specifically placed on thebargaining table for discussion

Positions are the individuals stand on the issue

Interests are the underlying concerns that areaffected by the negotiation resolution


30/38



Types of Bargaining

Distributive bargaining

Integrative bargaining


31/38



Bargaining Distributive Integrative

Characteristic Bargaining Bargaining

Available resources

Primary motivations

Primary interests

Focus of relationships

Fixed amount of

resources to be divided

I win, you lose

Opposed to each other

Short term

Variable amount of resources to

be divided

I win, you win

Convergent or congruent witheach other

Long term

Exhibit 6-9 Distributiveversus

Integrative Bargaining


32/38

How to Negotiate

Five steps to negotiation:

Developing a strategy.

Definition of ground rules.

Clarification and justification.

Bargaining and problem solving.

Closure and implementation. Identify BATNA:

BestAlternative To aNegotiatedAgreement.


33/38

Exhibit 6-8 The Negotiation ProcessDeveloping a strategy

Defining ground rules

Clarification and

justification

Bargaining andproblem solving

Closure andimplementation

Source: This model is based on R. J. Lewicki, Bargaining

and Negotiation,Exchange: The Organizational

BehaviorTeaching Journal6, no. 2 (1981), pp. 39-40.


34/38

Exhibit 6-9 Staking Out theBargaining Zone

Buyers aspiration range

Sellers aspiration rangeBargaining

Zone

Buyers

target

point

Sellersresistance

point

Buyersresistance

point

Sellers

target

point

$400 $475 $525 $600


35/38

Getting to Yes

Separate the peoplefrom the problem.

Focus on interests, not positions.

Look for ways to achieve mutual gains.

Use objective criteria to achieve a fair solution.


36/38



Summary andImplications:

Communication A common theme regarding the relationship between

communication and employee satisfaction

Less distortion in communication equals:

Ambiguity between verbal and nonverbal communiqusincrease uncertainty and reduce satisfaction

The goal of perfect communication is unattainable

The issue of communication is critical to motivation


37/38



Summary and

Implications Conflict can be either constructive or destructiveto the functioning of a group.

An optimal level of conflict:

Inadequate or excessive levels of conflict can

hinder group effectiveness.


38/38

Ch t 6 St h P R bbi d N L t F d l f O i i l B h i S d C di Editi

Summary and

Implications Dont assume there's one conflict-

handling intention that is always best.

Negotiation is an ongoing activity in

groups

Intergroup conflicts can also affect anorganizations performance.

chapter 6-communication & conflict

Documents