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For use with Organizational Behaviour and Managementby John Martin and Martin Fellenz

1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning

CONFLICT AND NEGOTIATION

Chapter 9



CONFLICT

• A natural occurrence in social situations

• Broadly it refers to circumstances in which the interests of different parties are not aligned- which can lead to open hostilities

• Traditionally seen as negative and counterproductive, its role – and management – has evolved drastically



NEGOTIATION

• Is commonplace in social and organizational settings

• A process of maximizing one’s value through interpersonal decision-making in situations where outcomes for each party are interdependent

• Can help address conflict, and conflict frequently arises in negotiations



Perspectives on conflict• Unitarianist - views the whole organization as the natural

unit of consideration and suggests that within it, objectives are aligned

• Pluralist - holds that an organization comprises a collection of groups each with their own objectives, aspirations and agenda to follow

• Marxist and radical - suggests that conflict is an inevitable function of capitalism

• Labour process theory - seeks to explore the way in which capitalism acquires labour as a commodity and uses it to produce other commodities to the benefit of the capital owners



Labour process theory

Thompson and McHugh (1995) – consequences from the capitalist nature of the labour process:

• Work organizations are distinct from other organizations – can only be understood within a theory of capital accumulation and labour process

• Organizations are structures of control and managers act as agents of capital owners

• Organizational structures and processes involve political issues, decisions and choices on job design, control systems, etc

• Organizations do not embody a universal rationality, but rather a contested rationality arising from antagonistic and conflictual relationships between capital and labour

• Organizational change reflects the balance between control and resistance expressed in the daily dynamic of experience



Labour process theory

Thompson (1989) - five core elements:• Labour as a unique commodity

• Labour as a special focus of attention is capitalism

• Capitalism forces minimization

• Control as an imperative

• Institutionalized conflict



NATURE OF ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICT

• Latent conflict - the condition where the relevant interests of interacting parties are not aligned

• Open or explicit conflict - refers to situations in which the goal oriented behaviour of one party negatively affects the goal-oriented behaviour of another party which results in changes in the interactions between the parties



Sources of organizational conflict

Figure 9.1



Sources of organizational conflictIntrapersonal

Interpersonal• Whetten and Cameron (1991) - four sources of interpersonal conflict

• Personal difference• Role incompatibility• Information deficiency• Environmental stress

Intragroup

Intergroup

Intraorganizational

Interorganizational



Sources of organizational conflictFigure 9.2



Sources of organizational conflictFigure 9.3



Types and Forms of organizational conflict

• Task conflict (cognitive conflict) - disagreements among group members about the content of the tasks performed, including differences in viewpoints, ideas, and opinions

• Relationship conflict (emotional or affective conflict) - interpersonal incompatibilities among group members, which typically includes tension, animosity, and annoyance among members within a group

• Process conflict - controversies about aspects of how task accomplishment will proceed

• Sabotage• Bullying or harassment• Whistleblowing• Work manipulation• Work-to-rule• Work restriction• Strike or lock-outs



Conflict impact on performance • Figure 9.4



Consequences of conflict

Figure 9.5



Conflict handling strategies

• Conflict prevention - any organizational or interpersonal arrangement or process that reduces the risk of open conflict

• Conflict management - any activity or provision that aims at reducing, increasing, creating or solving conflict to achieve an appropriate level of conflict

• Conflict resolution, - any attempt to lower the level of conflict by reducing the source or consequence of differences in interests between conflicting parties



Conflict handling strategies

Thomas (1976) - five generic conflict handling styles:• Smoothing or accommodating

• Avoidance

• Collaboration and problem solving

• Competitive or authoritarian

• Compromise



Five conflict handling styles • Figure 9.6



Negotiation terms• Distributive negotiation - the available value is fixed and can be distributed

between the involved parties), sometimes referred to as a fixed pie approach

• Negotiation goal drift, - the change in negotiators’ objectives from gaining absolute value to competitive or even punitive goals

• BATNA - Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement

• Reservation point (resistance point) - the lowest value that makes an offer acceptable

• Aspirations or target points - reflect what a party hopes to get out of a negotiation in the most favourable circumstances

• anchor - comparison point for all further considerations

• Concessions - improvements in the offer made to the other party on the way to reaching negotiated agreements



A purely distributive two-party negotiation situation with possible

outcome optionsFigure 9.7



Negotiating tactics

Win-lose tactics:• Probing• Get/give• Emotion• Good guy/bad guy• Poker face• Managing the minutes• Understanding not agreement• Getting upstairs• Forcing



Factors influencing negotiation tactics

Figure 9.8



Integrative approaches to negotiation

• Value creation - increasing the total value available for claiming by the parties through the development of integrative solutions.

• Integrative solutions - combinations of outcomes for each party that exceed the total benefits available for claiming from purely distributive compromise

• Logrolling - value is created through trading differences in the value of particular aspects of an agreement for different partners




Successful integrative negotiation leads to outcomes that:• are better for the parties than their respective BATNAs;• satisfy the interest of the involved parties as well as avoid problems

with third parties due to the agreements• are acceptable for all parties so that nobody experiences remorse or

feels taken advantage of• are enforceable, possibly through planned commitment keeping (such

as legal contracts or agreement on how problems will be resolved)

Ideally, successful integrative agreements will also: • maximize the total value achievable to all parties • be based on efficient negotiation processes• contribute to a well-maintained or even improved relationship among

the parties




The strategies and tactics that have proven to be valuable in integrative negotiation include:

• Actively sharing information about own interests

• Building trust within the context of the negotiation

• Asking diagnostic questions to determine the other parties interests and any relevant differences

• Separating issues in the discussion only

• Separating discussion and exploration of issues from decision making about issues

• Making decisions about packages that include all relevant aspects rather than dealing sequentially with different tissues

• Making multiple offers simultaneously to communicate options of equal value to one’s own party

• Trade-off differences in interests, preferences, values, and perceptions for mutual gain



Integrative potential in two-party negotiations

Figure 9.9



Principled negotiations

Fisher and Ury (1986)

• Separate the people from the problem

• Focus on interests, not positions

• Invent options for mutual gain

• Insist on objective criteria



Third parties in negotiation and conflict resolution

• Conciliators - content experts that can provide advice on the negotiation content and suggest agreement options

• Mediators - act as facilitators to improve communication and other aspects of the negotiation process to increase the chances of mutually acceptable agreements

• Arbitrators - independent third parties that can impose binding agreements on the parties involved

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