Conflict, Power & Politics Flashcards
5 Conflict Management Styles
- Avoidance
- Accommodation
- Competition
- Collaboration
- Compromise
Avoidance
Let people ‘cool down’ before trying to come to a consensus
Accommodation
- Realize you are wrong
- Issues are more important to the other group
- Builds credit for the future
Competition
- No long-term intergroup relationship
- ‘Protects’ group from untrustworthy
- Issue of survival not a manufactured state of survival
Collaboration
- Both groups concerns are too important to be compromised
- Gain commitment; need other group to execute
Compremise
- Outcome is less important to your group than to other group
- Mutually exclusive goals
- Temporary settlement is needed
- Intense time pressure
Importance of Leadership
Leaders create a vision, a common understanding of who we are and where we are going (e.g. culture)
Underlying Sources of Conflict
- Miscommunication & misinformation (surface)
- Real or perceived differences in needs & priorities (deep)
- Real or perceived differences in values, perception, beliefs, attitudes and culture (deeper or rare if ever verbalized)
Power
Influence over others through
- Property
- Structure
- Discipline
Sources of Power
1. Positional/”Formal” (Control over resources valued by others)
2. Personal/”Informal” (Respect, prestige, admiration granted by others)
Positional/”Formal”
- Level of hierarchy
- Control over rewards, resources, information
- Centrality, relevance, visibility of position
- Can be coercive
Personal/”Informal”
- Reputation & track record
- Expertise & knowledge
- Personal attributes
- Voluntary
Motivation
The intensity, direction, & persistence of effort a person shows in reaching a goal
Intensity
How hard a person tries
Direction
Where effort is channeled
Persistence
How long effort is maintained
Needs Theories
Certain fundamental human needs must be met in a hierarchical order to facilitate motivation
Alderfer’s ERG Theory
3.Growth Needs
2.Relatedness Needs
1.Existence Needs
Maslows’ Hierarchy
- Self-Actualization Needs
- Esteem Needs
- Social Needs
- Safety Needs
- Physiological Needs
Equity Theory
- Recognizes that individuals are concerned not only with the absolute amount of rewards, but also with the relative value of the rewards
- Not all employees are paid the same, some have higher positions/titles due to more work experience or a higher level of education
Equity Comparisons
- Self-inside
- Self-outside
- Other-inside
- Other-outside
Self-inside
An employee’s experiences in a different position inside his or her current organization
Self-outside
An employee’s experiences in a situation or position outside his or her current organization
Other-inside
Another individual or group of individuals inside the employee’s organization
