Chapter 9 Flashcards
What is conflict?
a process that begins when one party perceives that another party has negatively affected or is about to affect something that the first party cares about
Functional Conflict
-support the goals of the group, improve performance, they are constructive
Dysfunctional Conflict
- hinder group performance, destructive
What is the difference between dysfunctional and functional conflict?
group performance (can the group function and achieve)
Types of Conflict
- Task Conflict
- Relationship conflict
- Process conflict
Task Conflict
conflict over content and goals of the work
- believed to be associated with top performers (now considered unrelated)
relationship conflict
conflict based on interpersonal relationships
- almost always dysfunctional
- most emotionally exhausting
process conflict
conflict over how work gets done
- likely related to shirking, leads to members feeling marginalized
- become highly personalized and dissolve into relationship
- arguing about how to do something takes away from actually doing it
Relationship between conflict and performance
- Top Management
- top management conflict resulted in better performance, whereas at lower levels it was counter productive - Strength of Conflict
- if conflict is low, people are not engaged
- if too high, infighting will degenerate into personal - Personalities of Team Members
- high in openness and emotional stability can use conflict to improve group performance
dyadic conflict
conflict that occurs between two people
intragroup conflict
conflict that occurs within a group or team
intergroup conflict
conflict between two different groups or teams
Sources of Conflict
- Communication
- Structure
- Personal Variables
Communication (source of conflict)
- misunderstandings, noise in communication channels, semantic difficulties
Structure (source of conflict)
- consequence of the requirements of the job
Structural Variables
- Size, specialization and composition
- Ambiguity
- Reward Systems
- Leadership Style
- Diversity of Goals
- Group Interdependence
- Size, specialization and composition
- larger group = more specialization = increase conflict likelihood
- conflict increases when group members are younger and turnover is high
- Ambiguity
- ambiguity in defining exactly where the responsibility for actions lies creates more conflict
- fight for resources, control, territory
- Reward Systems
- create conflict when one member gains at another’s expense
- or when evaluations are not fair
- when managers and employees have different ideas about job responsibility
- Leadership Style
- tight control and oversee can create conflict
- employees want discretion in how they carry out tasks
- Diversity of Goals
- when groups seek diverse ends opportunity for conflict increase
- Group Interdependence
- could allow one group to gain at another’s expense etc.
Personal Variables (source of conflict)
- personality, values, emotions
- individuals who rank high in disagreeableness, neuroticism or self-monitoring are prone to tangle with others
How long do managers spend managing conflict?
20% of their time
Dual Concern Theory
consider how one's degree of cooperativeness and assertiveness determine how a conflict is handled The Five Conflict Handling Strategies 1. Forcing 2. Problem Solving 3. Avoiding 4. Yielding 5. Compromising
Forcing
imposing one’s will on another party
- satisfying your interests only
- make threats and bluffs
- persuasive arguments + positional commitments
- win-lose situation
Problem Solving
- mutually beneficial outcomes
- exchange information about priorities and preferences
- show insights
- make trade-offs between important and unimportant issues
- win-win situation
Avoiding
ignoring or minimizing the importance of the issues creating the conflict
- withdrawing or ignoring, don’t think about it
- lose-lose situation
Yielding
accepting and incorporating the importance of the will of the other party
- placing the other’s interests above your own
- unilateral decisions, unconditional promises, offer help
- win-lose situation
Compromising
balancing concern for oneself with concern for the other party
- giving up something to reach an outcome (done by both parties)
- match concessions, search for middle ground
- lose-lose situation
When is Forcing effective?
- emergencies
- important but unpopular issues
- on vital issues where you know you are right
- against people who take advantage of noncompetitve behaviour
When is Yielding effective?
- when you are wrong
- show reasonableness
- issues are more important to others than yourself
- build social credits
- harmony and stability is more important
When is problem solving effective?
- both sets of concern are too important for compromise
- to merge different perspectives
- gain commitment through consensus
- mend a relationship
When is compromising effective?
- goals are important but not worth assertive approaches
- committed to mutually exclusive goals
- achieve temporary settlements to complex issues
- arrive at expedient solutions under time pressure
When is avoiding effective?
- issue is trivial
- your concerns won’t be met
- disruption outweighs the benefits of resolution
- let people cool down and regain perspective
What can individuals do to manage a conflict?
- Problem Solving
- Develop overarching goals
- Smoothing
- Compromising
- Avoiding
- Expansion of resources
- Authoritative Command
- Altering human variable
- Altering Structure
How much time do managers spend managing personal conflicts?
16% of their time
What leads to a personality conflict?
- misunderstandings based on age, race, culture
- intolerance, prejudice, discrimination
- perceived inequities
- rumours, falsehoods
- blaming for mistakes
How to handle a personality conflict as an employee?
- communicate directly
- Avoid involving others
- Seek help from direct supervisors
How to handle personality conflict as a third party?
- do not take sides
- suggest the parties work things out between them
- refer the problem to supervisors
How to handle personality conflict as a manager?
- Investigate and document conflict
- Take corrective action
- Attempt informal dispute resolution
- Refer difficult conflict to HR
Cultural Differences in Conflict resolution
- North Americans prefer problem solving (win-win)
- win-win is less likely in Asia
- East Asians use avoiding (don’t want to make public)
- Japanese use non-confrontational styles
- Chinese prefer compromising
- Westerners are more comfortable with competition, so they are more likely to choose forcing
When is conflict constructive?
- improves quality of decisions, stimulates creativity, encourages interest and curiosity, provides the medium for problems, fosters self evaluation and change
- prevents ‘rubber-stamp’ on decisions
Desired outcomes for Conflict
- Agreement
- Stronger Relationships
- Learning
Negotiation
a process in which two or more parties exchange goods and services and try to agree on the exchange rate for them
Issues
items placed on the bargaining table for discussion
Position
individual’s stand on the issues
Interests
underlying concerns that affect your negotiation resolution
Distributive Bargaining
negotiation that seeks to divide up a fixed amount of resources (win-lose)
- zero-sum conditions
- negotiation over fixed pie
Distributive Bargaining Tactics
- persuading your opponent of the impossibility of reaching their target
- arguing that your target is fair
- get your opponent to feel emotionally generous and accept outcome near your target
- reveal deadline
- make first offer, aggressively, shows power, use anchoring bias
Integrative Bargaining
negotiation that seeks one or more settlements that can create a win-win solution
- forms long-term relationships, makes working together easier in future
- each party walks away happy or ‘winning’
Conditions necessary for integrative bargaining
- open with information
- candid about concerns
- sensitivity by both parties to the other’s needs
- trust
- flexibility
Integrative Bargaining Tactics
- negotiate in teams (more people means more ideas for solution)
- put more issues on table, more opportunity for ‘logrolling’ and trading issues
- focus on underlying interests rather than issues
- compromise is worst enemy!
How to Negotiate
- Develop Strategy
- Define Ground Rules
- Clarify and Justify
- Bargain and Problem Solve
- Achieve closure and implementation
BATNA
the Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement; the outcome an individual faces if negotiations fail
bargaining zone
the sone between each party’s resistance point, assuming that there is overlap in this range
What individual differences influence negotiation effectiveness?
- Personality Traits
- Moods/Emotions
- Gender Differences
Personality Traits in Negotiation
Big Five Personality Traits
agreeableness = cooperative, compliant, kind, conflict-averse
- empathy can help create win-win situations and understand interests
Moods/Emotions in Negotation
- ANGER indicates that no further concessions are possible (only show anger if you have power though)
- East Asians demonstrating anger resulted in the most concessions as traditionally they are taught to restrain it
- ANXIETY plays a huge role
- anxious negotiators expect lower outcomes, respond to offers more quickly, and exit bargaining process quickly leading to worse outcomes
WOMEN in Negotiation
- place higher value on compassion and altruism
- value relationship outcomes
- considered less assertive, less self-interested
MEN in Negotiation
- place higher value on status, power and recognition
- value economic outcomes
MBA Males vs. Females
- 57% of males took the step of negotiating after the first offer
- only 4% of women negotiated after the first offer
- leading to $4000 difference in salary
Mediator
a neutral third party who facilitates a negotiated solution by using reasoning, persuasion and suggestions for alternatives
- more aggressive in proposing solutions (vs. conciltator)
- 60% of disputes are resolved within 60 days after mediation
- 90% of mediations resolved all issues
- over 90% satisfaction with resolution
Arbitrator
a third party to a negotiation who has the authority to dictate an agreement
- always results in a settlement
- may cause issue to resurface if one party is overwhelmingly defeated
Conciliator
a trusted third party who provides an informal communication link between the negotiation and the opponent
Conflict Resolution and Culture
- collectivistic cultures see people as deeply embedded in social situations, whereas individualistic cultures see people as autonomous
CHINA = compromising, avoiding, like integrative
US = competing tactics, reject offers and see as unfair
