chapter 6, stephen p. robbins and nancy langton, fundamentals of organizational behaviour, second...

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


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 ConsiderationQuestions for Consideration


Communication Problems

• People spend nearly 70 percent of their waking hours communicating—writing, 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 that

senior 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 their company’s communications than did Americans


Communication Terms

• Communication

• Sender

• Receiver


Communication Terms

• Message

• Encoding

• Channel

• Decoding

Exhibit 6-1 The Communication Process Model

Encodes themessage

Chooses thechannel

Choosesa message

Providesfeedback

Decodes themessage

Sender Receiver

Considers the receiver

Considers the sender


Choosing Channels

• Channels differ in their capacity to convey information.

Exhibit 6-2 – Information Richness of 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.


Barriers to Effective Communication

• Filtering

• Selective Perception

Barriers to Effective Communication

• Defensiveness

• Information Overload

• Language


Nonverbal Communication

• Messages conveyed through body movements, facial expressions, and the physical distance between the sender and the receiver– Kinesics– Proxemics

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.


Communication Barriers Between 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


Communication Barriers Between Men and

Women• Men and women view directness and

indirectness differently

• Men criticize women for apologizing, but women say “I’m sorry” to express empathy


Cross-Cultural Communication

Difficulties• Sources of barriers

– Semantics – Word connotations– Tonal differences


Cross-Cultural Communications:

Helpful Rules• Assume differences until similarity is

proven.

• Emphasize description rather than interpretation or evaluation.

• Practise empathy.

• Treat your interpretations as a working hypothesis.


Effective Listening

• If you want to improve your listening skills, look to these behaviours as guides– Make eye contact– Exhibit affirmative head nods and appropriate facial

expressions.– Avoid distracting actions or gestures.– Ask questions.– Paraphrase.– Avoid interrupting the speaker.– Don’t over talk.– Make smooth transitions between the roles of speaker and

listener.


Conflict

• A process that begins when one party perceives that another party has negatively affected, or is about to negatively affect something that the first party cares about.– Functional– Dysfunctional


Types of Conflict

• Cognitive– Conflict related to differences in perspectives

and judgments

• Affective– Emotional conflict aimed at a person rather

than an issue

Exhibit 6-5Conflict Intensity Continuum

Annihilatoryconflict

Noconflict

Overt efforts to destroythe other party

Aggressive physical attacks

Threats and ultimatums

Assertive verbal attacks

Overt questioning orchallenging of others

Minor disagreements ormisunderstandings

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).


Exhibit 6-4 How Conflict Builds

• Functional:increased

performance• Dysfunctional:

decreased groupperformance

Behaviour

Outcomes

• Competing• Collaborating• Compromising• Avoiding• Accommodating

Conflict-handling Intentions


Conflict handling intentions

• Two Dimensions– Cooperativeness

– Assertiveness

Five Conflict-Handling Strategies

• Forcing.

• Problem solving

• Avoiding

• Yielding

• Compromising

Exhibit 6-6 Conflict-Handling Strategies and Accompanying Behaviours

Uncooperative Cooperative

COOPERATIVENESS

Trying to satisfy the other person’s concerns

Forcing

Satisfying one’s own interestswithout concern for the other’s

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 between important and unimportant issues

Compromisingr

Giving up something to reach anoutcome (done by both parties) • Match other’s concessions • Make conditional promises and threats

• Search for a middle ground

Avoiding

Withdrawing from or ignoringconflict

• Don’t think about the issues

Yielding

Placing the other’s interests aboveone’s own

• Make unilateral concessions • Make unconditional promises • Offer help

AS

SER

TIV

EN

ES

S

Try

ing

to s

ati

sfy o

ne’s

ow

n c

on

cern

s’

Un

ass

ert

ive

Ass

ert

ive

Sources: Based on K. W. Thomas, “Conflict and Negotiation Processes in Organizations,” in Handbook 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 of Conflict Management Strategies in the Workplace,” Journal of Organizational Behavior 22, 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).

Factors That Lead to Personality Conflicts

• Misunderstandings

• Intolerance

• Perceived inequalities

• Falsehoods

• Blaming

Tips for Employees Having a Personality Conflict

• 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.


Conflict Outcomes

• Functional (supports the goals of the group and improves performance)

• Dysfunctional (hinders group performance)


Negotiation

• A process in which two or more parties exchange goods or services and attempt to agree upon the exchange rate for them


Issues, Positions and Interests

• Individuals have issues, positions, and interests – Issues are items that are specifically placed on the

bargaining table for discussion– Positions are the individual’s stand on the issue – Interests are the underlying concerns that are

affected by the negotiation resolution


Types of Bargaining

• Distributive bargaining

• Integrative bargaining


Bargaining Distributive IntegrativeCharacteristic 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 with each other

Long term

Exhibit 6-9 Distributive versus

Integrative Bargaining

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:– Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement.

Exhibit 6-8 The Negotiation Process

Developing a strategy

Defining ground rules

Clarification andjustification

Bargaining andproblem solving

Closure andimplementation

Source: This model is based on R. J. Lewicki, “Bargaining and Negotiation,” Exchange: The Organizational BehaviorTeaching Journal 6, no. 2 (1981), pp. 39-40.

Exhibit 6-9 Staking Out the Bargaining Zone

Buyer’s aspiration rangeSeller’s aspiration range

BargainingZone

Buyer’stargetpoint

Seller’s resistance

point

Buyer’sresistance

point

Seller’stargetpoint

$400 $475 $525 $600

Getting to Yes

• Separate the people from the problem.

• Focus on interests, not positions.

• Look for ways to achieve mutual gains.

• Use objective criteria to achieve a fair solution.


Summary and Implications:

Communication• A common theme regarding the relationship between

communication and employee satisfaction• Less distortion in communication equals:• Ambiguity between verbal and nonverbal communiqués

increase uncertainty and reduce satisfaction• The goal of perfect communication is unattainable• The issue of communication is critical to motivation


Summary and Implications

• Conflict can be either constructive or destructive to the functioning of a group.

• An optimal level of conflict:• Inadequate or excessive levels of conflict can

hinder group effectiveness.


Summary and Implications

• Don’t assume there's one conflict-handling intention that is always best.

• Negotiation is an ongoing activity in groups

• Intergroup conflicts can also affect an organization’s performance.

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