conflicts and negotiations

8/2/2019 Conflicts and Negotiations

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Conflicts and negotiations


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Conflict Defined

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

That point in an ongoing activity when an

interaction crosses over to become an

interparty conflict


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Encompasses a wide range of conflicts that

people experience in organizations

Incompatibility of goals

Differences over interpretations of facts

Disagreements based on behavioral

expectations


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Transitions in Conflict Thought Traditional View of Conflict

The belief that all conflict is harmful and must beavoided

Prevalent view in the 1930s-1940s

Conflict resulted from:

Poor communication

Lack of openness

Failure to respond to employee needs


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Continued Transitions in Conflict

Thought

Human Relations View of Conflict

The belief that conflict is a natural and

inevitable outcome in any group

Prevalent from the late 1940s through mid-

1970s


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Interactionist View of Conflict

The belief that conflict is not only a positive force

in a group but that it is absolutely necessary for a

group to perform effectively

Current view


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Forms of Interactionist Conflict

Functional Conflict

Conflict that supports thegoals of the group and

improves its performance

Dysfunctional

Conflict

Conflict that hindersgroup performance


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Types of Interactionist Conflict Task Conflict

Conflicts over content and goals of the work

Low-to-moderate levels of this type areFUNCTIONAL

Relationship Conflict Conflict based on interpersonal relationships

Almost always DYSFUNCTIONAL

Process Conflict Conflict over how work gets done

Low levels of this type are FUNCTIONAL


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Nature of conflict

Conflict may be within an individual

Conflict may be between two individuals

Conflict may be between two groups in anorganization


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CAUSES OF CONFLICT IN ORGANIZATIONS

Communication

Semantic difficulties, misunderstandings, and noise

Structure

Size and specialization of jobs

Jurisdictional clarity/ambiguity Member/goal incompatibility

Leadership styles (close or participative)

Reward systems (win-lose) Dependence/interdependence of groups

Personal Variables

Differing individual value systems

Personalit t es


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BENEFITS OF CONFLICTS

Increases awareness of what problems exist, who

is involved, and how to solve the problem.

Motivates organizational members to consider

problems.

Promotes change.

Enhances morale and cohesion.

High quality decisions.

Stimulates interest and creativity.

Adds to the forum of working with others when

not taken seriously.


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Difference between conflict and

competition Competition

Competition takes place when individuals or groups haveincompatible goals but do not interfere with each other

In competition one will not try to frustrate the attempt of

another, Example of competition : Track events

Conflict

Goals interfere in conflict

Attempts of one are sought to be thwarted by the other.

Games like football, involve more conflict and competition


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Levels of conflict

There are three levels of conflict in organisational life:

Intra Personal conflict

Inter- Personal conflict

Inter-group conflict


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Intra personal Conflict:

Arises from frustration, numerous roles which

demand equal attention, cognitive dissonance &neurotic tendencies.

Conflict from frustration:

when a motivated drive is blocked by barriers which

may be overt (external) or covert (internal) before a

person reaches a desired goal.


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The frustrated individual adopts any of the

following mechanisms:

Aggressive Mechanisms

Fixationan individual keeps up a

dysfunctional

Displacementan individual directs his or her

anger toward someone who is not the source of

the conflict

Negativisma person responds with

pessimism to any attempt at solving a problem


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Compromise Mechanisms

Compensation - an individual attempts to make

up for a negative situation by devotinghimself/herself to another pursuit with

increased vigor

Identification - an individual patterns his or herbehavior after anothers

Rationalization - a compromise mechanism

characterized by trying to justify onesbehavior by constructing bogus reasons for it


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Withdrawal Mechanisms

Flight/Withdrawal - entails physically escapinga conflict (flight) or psychologically escaping

(withdrawal)

Conversion - emotional conflicts are expressedin physical symptoms

Fantasy - provides an escape from a conflict

through daydreaming


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Goal conflict: occurswhen the attainment of

one goal excludes the possibility of attaining

another. Approach-approach conflict

Approach-avoidance conflict

Avoidance-avoidance conflict

Multiple approach-avoidance conflict


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Approach-approach conflict- this conflict

arises when the individual is caught between

two or more positive but mutually exclusive

goals.


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Approach-avoidance conflict- this conflict

arises when an individual is simultaneously

attracted to and repelled by a single goal

object.


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Avoidance-avoidance conflict- this conflict

arises when an individual is forced to choose

between two mutually exclusive goals, each ofwhich possesses unattractive qualities.


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Multiple approach-avoidance conflict- when

people are confronted with several

possibilities for action , each having several

desirable & undesirable features.


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Role conflict-the need for an individual to

play several roles simultaneously but finding

time & resources inadequate to do so.


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Cognitive Dissonance


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Neurotic tendencies: These are irrational

personality mechanisms that an individual

uses that create inner conflict. In turn, innerconflict often results in behaviors that lead to

conflict with other people.


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Interpersonal Conflict

It arises mainly because of differences in

perception, temperaments, personalities,

values systems, socio-cultural factors and roleambiguities. Role conflict and role ambiguity

can result in interpersonal conflict.


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ROLE CONFLICT: Role can be defined as A

cluster of tasks and behaviors which others

expect a person to perform while doing a job.


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There could be four types of role conflict

Intra sender role conflict- When differentmessages and pressures from a single member ofthe role set are incompatible.

Inter sender role conflict- When messages andpressures from one role sender oppose messagesand pressures from one or more other senders.

Inter role conflict- When role pressuresassociated with the membership in one group areincompatible with the pressures arising frommembership in other groups.

Person role conflict- When role requirements areincompatible with the focal persons own values,attitudes or views of acceptable behavior.


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ROLE AMBIGUITY: This refers to the

uncertainty and lack of clarity associated with

the expectations from a single role. Role

ambiguity can cause stress and trigger copingbehaviors such as aggressive action, hostile

communication, withdrawal or attempt at

joint problem solving.


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Transactional Analysis Eric Berne Thomas

Harris in the 1960s.

When people interact, there is a socialinteraction in which one person responds to

another and the study of such interaction

between people is called Transaction Analysis.

Ego states: parent, adult & child.


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The parent ego= taught ego state

authoritative, dogmatic, overprotective,

controlling & righteous. Learnt from ones parents or other adults who

guided ones early life experiences.


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The adult ego= thinking ego state

mature, rational & objective part of a persons

personality.

acquired as one matures into adolescence and

adulthood.


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The child ego= felt ego state

childish, dependent, & immature part of a

persons personality.

grow out of ones childhood experiences.

Behaviors that are influenced by the ego state

are laden with emotion, in-subordination, joy

or rebellion.


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Social transactions- depending on the kind of

ego states involved, the interaction can be

complimentary, crossed & ulterior.


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Complimentarytransactions- these occur

when the message sent or the behaviour

exhibited by one persons ego state receivethe appropriate or expected response from

the other persons ego state.


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Crossed transactions- the stimulus &

response lines are not parallel.


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Ulterior transactions- involve at least two ego

states on the part of the first person. The

individual may say one thing but mean

something quite different

J h i Wi d


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Johari Window


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1 Open area There is no scope for conflict


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1. Open area- There is no scope for conflict.

2. Hidden area- This area has potential for

inter-personal conflict.3. Blind area- The more the person

understands strengths and weaknesses of

self, and is open to others views, the bettermanager he or she will become.

4. Undisclosed self- Unknown area carries high

potential for conflict.

Johari Window


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Johari Window


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Stroking

It refers to recognition of ones presence by

others. Strokes may be positive or negative.

In the absence of positive strokes, people seek

negative strokes, mainly because of guilt orlack of self-image.

Negative strokes cause interpersonal conflict.


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Life Position

I am not OK You are OK

I am not OK You are not OK I am OK You are not OK

I am OK You are OK

Of the four life position the ideal one is I am

OKYou are OK. It shows healthy acceptance

of self & others.


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Life Positions

Im OK

Im Not OK

YoureNot OK

YoureOK


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Inter-organizational conflict

Intergroup conflict

Inter-role conflict Intra-role conflict

Personal-role conflict


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CONFLICT MANAGEMENT STYLES

Avoiding style

Forcing style

Accommodating

Competing

Compromising

Collaborating


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Avoiding Conflict Resolution Style

Low on both assertiveness and cooperativeness. manager is not very cooperative in helping the

other individuals to achieve their goals, butneither is he/she aggressively pursuing his/her

own preferred outcomes in the situation. The original problem, conflict, or situation is

never directly addressed or resolved.

Appropriate when the issue is perceived by the

manager to be trivial. Appropriate when there is no chance of winning

or when disruption would be very costly.


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A d ti C fli t R l ti


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Accommodating Conflict Resolution

Style

This style reflects a high degree ofcooperativeness.

It has also been labeled as obliging.

A manager using this style subjugates his/herown goals, objectives, and desired outcomes toallow other individuals to achieve their goals andoutcomes.

Appropriate when people realize that they are in

the wrong or when an issue is more important toone side than the other.

This conflict resolution style is important forpreserving future relations between the parties.

C i i C fli t R l ti


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Compromising Conflict Resolution

Style

Characterized by moderate levels of bothassertiveness and cooperativeness.

Bargaining or trading.

Produces suboptimal results.

Used when goals of both sides are of equalimportance, when both sides have equal power,or when it is necessary to find a temporary,timely solution.

Should not be used when there is a complexproblem requiring a problem-solving approach.


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Collaborating Conflict Resolution Style

High on both assertiveness and cooperativeness

Win-win scenario.

Both sides creatively work towards achieving the

goals and desired outcomes of all partiesinvolved.

Appropriate when the concerns are complex anda creative or novel synthesis of ideas is required.

Requires sincere effort by all parties involved andit may require a lot of time to reach a consensus.


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STRATEGIES FOR RESOLVINGCONFLICT


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Intra-personal conflict

Remove barriers

Cognitive dissonance

Refuse to select either approach

Minimise and prioritise roles

Develop compatibility between personal and

organisational roles


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Inter-personal conflict

Lose-lose

Win-win

Lose-win

Developing complementary transactions

Altering behavioural inputs


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Intra-group conflict

If divided, they fall


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Inter-group conflict

Problem solving

Organisation re-design

Super-ordinate goals

Expansion of resources

Avoidance

Smoothen


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Conflict Resolution Techniques Problem solving

Superordinate goals

Expansion of resources

Avoidance

Smoothing

Compromise

Authoritativecommand

Altering the human

variable Altering the structural

variables

Communication

Bringing in outsiders

Restructuring theorganization

Appointing a devilsadvocate


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APPROACHES TO NEGOTIATION

Distributive Bargaining

the goals of the

parties are in conflict and each party tries to

maximize its resources

Integrative Negotiation

focuses on merits of

the issues and seeks a win-win solution


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EFFECTIVE NEGOTIATION- GUIDELINES

Consider the other partys situation & viewpoint Have a plan & concrete strategy

Begin with a positive outlook

Address problems & not personalities

Pay little attention to initial offers Emphasize win-win solutions

Create a climate of trust

Have open mind

Insist on using objective criteria

Adapt to cultural differences

conflicts and negotiations

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