Conflict and Change Management Flashcards
Conflict
Opposing pressures from different sources, occurring on the level of psychological conflict or of conflict between individuals or groups.
Cognitive conflict= Good!
Issue-based differences in perspectives or judgments.
Affective conflict= Bad!
Emotional disagreement directed toward other people.
Devil’s advocate
A person who has the job of criticizing ideas to ensure that their downsides are fully explored.
Dialectic
A structured debate comparing two conflicting courses of action.
Avoidance
A reaction to conflict that involves ignoring the problem by doing nothing at all or deemphasizing the disagreement.
Accommodation
dealing with conflict through cooperation on behalf of the other party but not being assertive about one’s own interests.
Compromise
dealing with conflict through moderate attention to both parties’
concerns.
Competing
A style of dealing with conflict involving strong focus on one’s own goals and little or no concern for the other person’s goals.
Collaboration
emphasizing both cooperation and assertiveness to maximize both parties’ satisfaction
Superordinate Goals
Higher level organizational goals that takes priority over individual or actual group goals
Cohesiveness
The degree to which a group is attractive to its members, members are motivated to remain in the group, and members influence one another.
Line Departments (think “front Line”)
employees in areas that deal directly with the company’s primary good and services; tend to know more about the industry they are in and be focused on products/services and customers.
Staff Departments (think “Support”)
employees in areas that provide support to line departments; tend to be experts in their functional areas (think HR, accounting, legal, etc.) and be focused on procedures, requirements and mitigating risks.
Motivating People to Change
Force-field analysis
An approach to implementing the unfreezing/ moving/refreezing model by identifying the forces that prevent people from changing and those that will drive people toward change
Managing Resistance to Change
Approach :
Education and communication
Used In:
Where there is a lack of information or inaccurate information and analysis.
Advantage:
Once persuaded, people will often help with the implementation of the change.
DrawBacks:
Can be very time-consuming if lots of people are involved.
Managing Resistance to Change
Approach :
Participation and involvement
Used In:
Where the initiators do not have all the information they need to design the change, and where others have considerable power to resist.
Advantage:
People who participate will be committed to implementing change, and any relevant information they have will be integrated into the change plan.
DrawBacks:
Can be very time-consuming if participators design an
inappropriate change.
Managing Resistance to Change
Approach :
Facilitation and support
Used In:
Where people are resisting because of adjustment problems.
Advantage:
No other approach works as well with adjustment problems.
DrawBacks:
Can be time-consuming and expensive, and still fail.
Managing Resistance to Change
Approach :
Negotiation and rewards
Used In:
Where someone or some group will clearly lose out in a change, and where that group has considerable power to resist.
Advantage:
Sometimes it is way to avoid major resistance.
DrawBacks:
Can be too expensive in many cases if it alerts others to negotiate for compliance.
Managing Resistance to Change
Approach :
Manipulation and cooptation
Used In:
Where other tactics will not work, or are too expensive.
Advantage:
It can be a relatively quick and inexpensive solution to resistance problems.
DrawBacks:
Can lead to future problems if people feel manipulated.
Managing Resistance to Change
Approach :
Explicit and implicit coercion
Used In:
Where speed is essential, and the change initiators possess considerable power.
Advantage:
It is speedy and can overcome any kind of resistance.
DrawBacks:
Can be risky if it leaves people angry at the initiators.
