CONFLICT

CONFLICT

occurs when parties disagree over substantiveissues or when emotional antagonisms create friction between them.

TYPES OF CONFLICT

Substantive Conflict -involves fundamental disagreement over ends or

goals to be pursued and the means for their accomplishment.

Emotional conflict-involves interpersonal difficulties that arise over feelings of anger, mistrust, dislike, fear, resentment, and the like.

Intrapersonal conflictoccurs within the individual because of actual or perceived pressures from incompatible goals or expectations.

*Approach – approach conflict - occurs when a person must choose between two positive and equally attractive

alternatives* Avoidance – avoidance conflict - occurs when a person

must choose between two negative and equally unattractive alternatives.

*Approach – avoidance conflict - occurs when a person must decide to do something that has both positive and negative consequences.

LEVELS OF CONFLICT

Interpersonal conflict-occurs between two or more individuals in opposition to each other.

Intergroup conflict -occurs among groups in an organization.

Interorganizational conflict-occurs between organizations.

•Levels of Conflict

2 FACES OF CONFLICT

Functional or constructive conflict - results in positive benefits to the group

Dysfunctional or destructive conflict - works to the group’s or organization’s disadvantage

MANAGING CONFLICT

Conflict Resolution - occurs when the reasons for a conflict are

eliminated.

STAGES OF CONFLICT

CONFLICTS SITUATIONS

Vertical conflict - occurs between hierarchical levels.

Horizontal conflict -occurs between persons or groups at the

same hierarchical level.• line–staff - often involves disagreements over

who has authority and control over certain matters

Role conflict - occur when the communication of task expectations proves inadequate or upsetting.

Work-flow interdependencies - occurs when people and units are required

to cooperate to meet challenging goals. Domain ambiguities - occur when individuals or groups are placed

in ambiguous situations where it is difficult to determine who is responsible for what

Resource scarcity -when resources are scarce, working

relationships are likely to suffer Power or value asymmetries

-occur when interdependent people or groups differ substantially from one another in status and influence or in values

• Conflict Situations

INDIRECT CONFLICT MANAGEMENT APPROACHES

Reduced Interdependence- used for adjusting level of interdependency when work-flow conflicts exists

> Decoupling> Buffering> Linking pins

Appeals to Common Goals - focusing the attention of potentially conflicting parties on one mutually desirable goals

Hierarchical referral- makes use of the chain of command for conflict resolution

Altering Scripts and Myths - conflict is superficially managed by scripts, or behavioral routines that become part of the organization’s culture

•Indirect Conflict Management Approaches

DIRECT CONFLICT MANAGEMENT APPROACHES

Lose –lose conflict - occurs when nobody really gets what he or she wants

• Avoidance - involves pretending a conflict does not really exist.

• Accommodation or smoothing - involves playingdown differences and finding areas of agreement.

• Compromise – occurs when each party gives upsomething of value to the other.

Win–lose conflict - one party achieves its desires at the expense and to the exclusion of the other party’s desires• Competition - seeks victory by force, superior skill, or

domination.• Authoritative command - uses formal authority to

end conflict.

Win–win conflict - is achieved by a blend of both high cooperativeness and high assertiveness Collaboration – involves recognition that something is

wrong and needs attention through problem solving. Problem solving - uses information to resolve disputes

5 WAYS TO MANAGE CONFLICT

NEGOTIATION

NEGOTIATION

is the process of making joint decisions when the parties involved have different preferences.

Substance goals-deal with outcomes that relate to the “content" issues under negotiation

Relationship goals-deal with outcomes that relate to how well people involved in the negotiation and any constituencies they may represent are able to work with one another once the process is concluded

effective negotiation - occurs when substance issues are resolved and working relationships are maintained or even improved

NEGOTIATION ROLES & OUTCOMES

CRITERIA OF AN EFFECTIVE NEGOTIATION

Quality— the negotiation results offer a“quality” agreement that is wise and satisfactory to all sides.

Harmony— the negotiation is “harmonious”and fosters rather than inhibits good inter-personal relations.

Efficiency— the negotiation is “efficient” andno more time consuming or costly than absolutely necessary.

two-party negotiation - the manager negotiates directly with one other person

group negotiation - the manager is part of a team or group whose members are negotiating to arrive at a common decision

intergroup negotiation - the manager is part of a group that is negotiating with another group to arrive at a decision regarding a problem or situation affecting both

constituency negotiation - the manager is involved in negotiation with other persons, with each party representing a broader constituency

ORGANIZATIONAL SETTINGS FOR NEGOTIATION

Distributive negotiation-focuses on positions staked out or declared by the parties involved who are each trying to claim certain portions of the available pie

*“Hard” distributive - negotiation takes place when each party holds out to get its own way

*“Soft” distributive - one party is willing to make concessions to the other to get things over with

Integrative negotiation-focuses on the merits of the issues, and the parties involved try to enlarge the available pie rather than stake claims to certain portions of it

NEGOTIATION STRATEGIES

•The bargaining zone-is the zone between one party’s

minimum reservation point and the other party’s maximum reservation point in a negotiating situation.

Attitudinal Foundations -willingness to trust

-willingness to share information

-willingness to ask concrete questions

Behavioral Foundations•The ability to separate the people from the problem to avoid allowing

emotional considerations to affect the negotiation.

•The ability to focus on interests rather than positions.

•The ability to avoid making premature judgments.

•The ability to keep the acts of alternative creation separate from their evaluation.

•The ability to judge possible agreements on an objective set of criteria or

standards.

Information Foundations

HOW TO GAIN INTEGRATIVE AGREEMENTS

myth of the fixed pie possibility of escalating commitment negotiators often develop overconfidence communication problems can cause

difficulties during a negotiation>telling problem—the parties don’t really talk to one

another, at least not in the sense of making themselves truly understood

>hearing problem—the parties are unable or unwilling to listen well enough to understand what each other is saying

COMMON NEGOTIATION PITFALLS

Arbitration - - a neutral third party acts as judge with the

power to issue a decision binding on all parties

Mediation - a neutral third party tries to engage the parties in a negotiated solution through persuasion and rational argument

THIRD-PARTY ROLES IN NEGOTIATION