Chapter 7 - Managing Conflict Flashcards
What is one of the leading causes of business failure among major corporations?
Too much conflict p306
The lack of tension among between competing perspective can foster a climate of what?
Complacency p306
When is the problem of complacency compounded?
When the board of directors fail to play an aggressive oversight role. p306
The reality of lack of conflict as a sign of good leadership is what?
A leading indicator of being out of touch with significant changes in the marketplace p306
Conflict is essential. True or False?
True p306
What type of conflicts generally produce dysfunctional outcomes?
Personality conflicts and arguments over things that cant be changed p306
According to whom do people value conflict and competition?
Abraham Maslow p307
What book best illustrates, according to our text, the importance of conflict?
Moneyball p307
What are the key “rules of engagement” for effective conflict management?
- Work with more, rather than less, information
- Focus on the facts
- Develop multiple alternatives to enrich the level of debate
- Share commonly agreed-upon goals
- Inject humor into the decision process
- Maintain a balanced power structure
- Resolve issues without forcing consensus
Is interpersonal conflict inevitable? True or False
True
Conflict that focuses on issues or facts can actually enhance decision making? True or False
True
There is a widespread tendency to create conflict? True or False
False
The key to increasing comfort with conflict is to become proficient in particular skills? True or False
True
What is the first the first conflict related skill essential for managers?
Must be able to accurately diaagnose the type of conflict, including their causes. ex: managrs need to understnad how cultural differences and other forms of demographic diversity can spark conflicts in organizations
What is the second of the conflict related skill essential for managers?
Managers must be able to select an appropriate conflict management strategy.
What is the third of he conflict related skills essential for managers?
Skillful managers must develop the skills to resolve interpersonal disputes effectively while maintaining working relationships between disputants
What are the two identifying characteristics of diagnosing type of conflict?
Focus and source
What do you gain by understanding the focus of a conflict?
gain an appreciation for the substance of the dispute
What do we gain by learning about the source of the conflict?
A better understanding of how things got started
What can we categorize conflicts as primarily?
People or Issues
What is people-focused conflict?
“in your face” kind of confrontations in which emotions run high and people feel moral indignation
About how much time is estimated to be wasted in people conflict?
18%
What is issue-focused conflict?
rational negotiations where people represent the interest of their department
What are personal differences?
Perceptions and xpectations
What are the four sources of conflict in contrast to the personality-defect theory?
- Personal differences
- Informational deficiencies
- role incompatibility
- Environmental stress
What is informational deficiencies?
Misinformation and misrepresentation
What is role incompatibility?
Goals and responsibilities
What is environmental stress?
Resource scarcity and uncertaity
What are the five categories to interpersonal confrontations?
- Forcing
- Accomodating
- Avoiding
- Compromising
- Collaborating
What do the five approaches to conflict reflect?
Different degrees of cooperativeness and assertiveness
What dimension is the forcing response?
Assertive and Uncooperatve
What is the forcing response?
an attempt to satisfy on’s own needs at the expense of the needs of the other individual
How do you implement the forcing response?
Formal authority, physical threats, manipulation ploys, or by ignoring the claims of the other party
What is the problem with the repeated use of the forcing response?
It breeds hostility and resentment
What dimension is the accommodating approach?
Cooperative and unassertive
What is the accommodating approach?
it satisfies the other party’s concerns while neglecting one’s own
What is the problem with the use of accommodating approach?
it emphasizes preserving a friendly relationship at the expense of critically appraising issues
What dimension is the avoiding response?
uncooperative and unassertive
What is the avoiding response?
neglecting the interests of both parties by sidestepping the conflict or postponing a solution
What is the problem with avoiding response?
it causes frustration for others because issues never seem to get resolved and the really tough problems are consistently avoided
What dimension is the compromising response?
It occupies the intermediate space between high and low levels of both assertiveness and coooperativeness
What is compromising response?
An attempt to obtain partial satisfaction for both parties
What is a common mistake made in compromising?
It can be counterproductive due to employees thinking the manager only wants to resolve disputes than solving problems
What dimension is the collaborating approach?
cooperative and assertive
What is collaborating approach?
it is an attempt to address the concerns of both parties. Is referred to as the problem solving mode
What is the bennefit of using collaboration approach?
It has the most beneficial effect on the involved parties
What is the objective of forcing?
Getting your way
What is the objective of avoiding?
Avoiding conflict
What is the objective of compromising?
Reach an agreement quickly
What is the objective of accommodating?
Don’t upset the other person
What is the objective of collaborating?
solve the problem together
What is the point of view of forcing?
i know what right, dont question my judgment or authority
What is the point of view of avoiding?
I’m neutral on that issue, let me think about it, that’s someone else’s problem
What is the point of view of compromising?
let’s search for a solution we can both live with so we can get on with our work
What is the point of view of accommodating?
How can i help you feel good about this encounter, my position isn’t so important that it is worth risking bad feelings between us
What is the point of view of collaborating?
this is my position what is yours, i’m committed to finding the best possible solution, what do the facts suggest.
What is the supporting rationale of forcing?
It is better to risk caausing a few hard feeligns than to abandon an issue you are committed to
What is the supporting rationale of avoiding?
disagreements are inherently bad because they create tension
What is the supporting rationale of compromising?
prolonged conflicts distract people from their work and engender bitter feeelings
What is the supporting rationale of accommodating?
maintaining harmonious relationships should be our top priorty
What is the supporting rationale of collaborating?
the positions of both parties are equally important, equal emphasis should be placed on the quality of the outcome nd the fairness of the decision-making process
What is the likely outcome of forcing?
You feel vindicated but other party feels defeated and possibly humiliated
What is the likely outcome of avoiding?
interpersonal problems don’t get resolved, causing long-term frustration manifested in a variety of waays
What is the likely outcome of compromising?
participants become conditioned to seek expedient, rather than effective, sollutions
What is the likely outcome of accommodating?
the other person is likely to take advaantage of you
What is the likely outcome of collaborating?
The problem is most likely to be resolved, also, both parties are committed to the solution and satisfied that they have been treated fairly
What are the two negotiation strategies?
distributive or integrative
What is distributive bargaining?
negotiations focused on dividing up the limited or scarce resources
What is the intergrative perspective?
Searching for collaborative ways of expanding the limited or scarce resources, by avoiding fixed, incompatible positions
How do you choose which management style to implement?
personal preference
What is the general framework for collaborative problem solving?
- establish overarching goals
- Seperate the people from the problem
- Focus on interest, no positions
- Invent options for mutual gains
- use objective criteria for evaluating alternaives
- Define success in terms of real gains, not imaginary losses
What does establish overarching goals mean?
Both parties must share what they have in common and clarifying mutual
What does separate the people from the problem mean?
To depersonalize their disagreement and suppress their desires for revenge
What does focus on interest, no positions mean?
Positions are demands or assertions; interests constitute the reasons behind the demands
What does invent options for mutual gain mean?
creative solutions
What does use objective criteria for evaluating alternatives mean?
Determine what is fair, and examine how fairness should be judged. “what makes the most sense”
What does define success in terms of real gains, not imaginary losses mean?
real gains are what is actually gained, imaginary losses are a negative way to think about some imaginary gains lossed
What is the four phases of collaborative problem solving?
- problem identification
- solution generation
- action plan formulation and agreement
- implementation and follow-up
What are the two roles of a dispute?
Initiator and responder
What is a mediator?
a third party used to cool down the dispute, reestablish constructive communication, and help the parties reconcile their differences
What is the initiator-problem identification?
- maintain personal ownership of the problem
- succinctly describe your problem in terms of behaviors, consequences, and feelings
- avoid drawing evaluative conclusions and attributing motives to the respondent
- persist until understood
- Encourage two-way discussion
- Manage the Agenda - approach multiple for complex problems incrementally
What is the initiator-solution generation?
Focus on Commonalities as the basis for requesting a change
What is respondent-problem identification?
- Establish a climate for joint problem solving by showing genuine interest and concern
- seek additional, clarifying information about the problem b asking questions
- agree with some aspect of the complaint
What is respondent solution generation?
Ask for suggestions of acceptable alternatives
What is mediator problem identification?
- acknowledge that a conflict exists and propose a problem-solving approach for resolving it
- while seeking out the perspective of both parties, maintain a neutral posture regarding the disputants
- serve as facilitator; not as a judge
- manage the discussion to ensure fairness - keep the discussion issue oriented, not personality oriented
- Make sure all parties fully understand and support he solution agreed upon, and establish follow up procedures
