k Paslavierretl couflid Was is one person OF ry ee denn gonselling Hak wo coneeceptabe 4p attr 4or wel 01 0 tony. “Plat Bfheads” athe 4 using profane | Rempaage are &S5 of bgatewaneaveel comm Lick - : Gaya Swomap Sabagedy e / CONFLICT MANAGEMENT — (72.8%;, gaain Rens f Conflict is difficult to define because it acours in many different settings. However, if ‘across the diverse settings the essenice of conflict seems to be disagreement or contradiction or s incompatbty ‘oVitagonistc iteration, his dofniton recognized tee basi types of conflict. Goal conflict, which oceurs when, desired end-states or preferred outcomes appear to eae’ \ then one penn ch Gem be incompatible “0a Co hi Com OLLUr, | : net with then, ef eta he ype of confie Bonide ches: tn polie 9B Atfectve conthel, wwtueh occurs when feelings or emotons are moompatible, Le. * - Neds conjbich ts 428n bn Stratis people iteraly hocome “mad” a each other, ot eee pS Xe : lame hoo éditduals x qs Cue problem in defining and studying couflict has beew the tandency to ~ along ; Ia t & competion, However conflict is not synonymous with competition. Competition easlother vives actions taken by one person to attain his or her goal. or sxample, two pole vultures ~ thoughts are incon Tay compete (0 achieve the.highont yt A oF iterdependongy ‘ beiween thei, it is un that they will engage in conden OF cours . Competition: “a Produce contiet, but not conliet involves compettion. Fur example, two snanagers who spree 10 pursue the same goal, such as increes Butt ie 3, they are not necessarily computing, y openly disagree on the best sales, a2 not necessarily competing. Butifdiey opeuly gree on the £2" sales policy to attain their shared goal, they are in c distinction bs 1 ct. The Fs 8 conflict and competition 1s not made merely to split hairs. Conflict in many different forms besides that which may resutt fram sumpetion exists Given out Concer with the management of :. fier itis amportant to understand the dullerent ways 1 wiueh eontil en #68 ANG 4 FesoiveU. Ie processes uf contlet resouubon + te Uely w be strongly iilluenced by the setting of Ue coullict erarmined fi ‘Thus contict will be Hu a vallely of viewpoints, First, we will lok at the bold the postive & ine asfiatve aspects of conflict Second, wo wil disouns the defen ecue within organiza conflict fone levels of conflict that ean inal, we wilidenlly some of the basic strategies for managing Positive and Negative Aspects of Contiiet ‘the likehood of conflict is high in group settings, However, this is not negatve leature, Otten the resolution of contlict leads to constru Conflict as a Positive Fore, t necessarily a jouve problem solving, *> ont " tooha ret for way «to rel conflict may fea! 10.8 86 ate positive ch thin the “Tha need tres c = voce a af 9 innovation & i che et omy me search for way oup, Moreover, the fe change , but may make change more acceptable, even des b camfick nko, the decision ; ional infroduetion of eonflich oe tutions. The introduction anaking process my be The ink beneficial. For example, in group decision making a problem 0 : ir ith it ideration of alternative so! desire for agreement interferes with its considerat Se es oe of conflict takes the form of one or more dissenting opinions solutions. ceo that loads to conflict over onc or more goals may also have aa beneficial effects, Employees who perceive a competitive atmosphere among follow worker with respect lo performance may be motivated lo pul forth grealer efforl lo come oul ee in such competition. Empirical evidence suggests that competition enhances the quantity of Product produced per time period. If an organization’s primary goal is ! produce a large number of units m a given time perind, a competitive atmosphere may advisable For example, the employee responsible for the most units produced may be giv. a bonus. Conflict as a Negative Force Conflict can have serious negative effects. Onc serious problem is the prop @xsity for conflict to divert eftors trom’ goat attainment tnatead of organizational resourc s Deng directed —~ Primarily toward reaching prescribed goals, relouces rany be depictedtyy the atiemmpt to > resolve conflict Time and money are two important resources that arte res, :ently diverted to conflict resolution, Conflict may ako take its role on the psychological well being of members. Several ‘tudes have ahown exposure to conflicting opinions resus in “hard feelings” tension and Sivity, These ard fooling appear to be a result of conflict threatening important personal Boab and beliefs, Over an extended period of time, conflict condition {0 exlablish supportive and h s may make it di Ticult ling rebstionships: Finally, compettion that requires interaction between the Parties appears to have a ne, oHeeton product quality. For example, pressure for result tends to emphasi-e immediass measurable goals, such as product quantity, at the expense of Product quality Whey Product quality i primary organizational gol, competion may be ill advis: Levels of Conflict Confict can be intrapersonal individuals), ‘intragroup( within ‘@ group), eves of confich unm qcear wi highaa comfbic L ale, one PLUM ontdapersont Cmfittt é ie eT tating confit, we distinguished between goal confit and eogritve confic | “This dstnation ia woeful whon considering intapersonal confit Goal confit exists for an individua! when thot individual's behavior wil result in outcomes that (1) are mutually \ogative outcomes). For exchisive or (2) have incompatible elements (both positive and in cays yrulunton might Tv cei wheter 1 ke job ir Daan ov re tutualy exclusive outcomes), Further, if they take jobs in business, they might tke more money but be involved in less interesting work (incompatible ‘clements), Because goal conflict involves interplay of positive and negative outcomes, we cen identify three basic ‘ypes: 1. _Approach-approach conilict occurs when a person has a choice between two or more alternatives with positive outcomes, For example, choosing between two jobs that appear ly be equally alinwetive 12> Avoidance-avoidance conflict occurs when a person has to ch more alternatives with negative consequences. For example, when employees are threatened with punishment (a demotion) unless they do something they dislike (eg joose between two oF travel alot on their job), 3. Approach-avoidance contliet occurs when a person must docide whether to do something that las both positive and negative consequences, For example, being sap a gonad nm poor cing eg ‘ 4 Interpersonal Conniet iw udiatdurals diagrse on 260 wel Interpersonal Conflict involves two parties rather than one individual A distinguishing feature of interpersonal conllict is the need to recognize the joint outcomes of A, Ane parties as well as the individual outcomes of each party. Consider the following situation: am ‘ P2 Two aspects are taken into custody and separated. The district attorney is Ex: cerlain that they are guilly of a specific crime, bul he does not have adequate evidence to convict them at a trial. He points out each prisoner's alternative to him: 10 confess 10 the crime that the police are sure they have committed or not confess. If they both do not confess, then the district attorney states he will book them on some. very minor but trumped-up charge such as petty larceny and illegal possession of a weapon for which they would both receive minor punishments; if they both confess they will be prosecuted, but he will recommend less than the most severe sentence: but if one confesses ant the other does not, then the confessor will receive lenient treatment for turning states evidence, whereas the later will et “the book” slapped at him. ‘An important part of this situ:tion is that each prisoner must decide what to do without knowing the other's decision Satipusoual Coufetcl occurs whey a prrcom or Grertfe of eet came tirfong sith ascallan Parseer effortser. ceases, 9 person who accommodates is evaluated favorably but may alsa be n is df her In most cases, ‘ceived as being weak. pe s ‘A collaborative style is reflected in behaviour that is both cooperative an: olla st ‘The collaborative style represents a desire to maximize the joint outcomes of the two parties 1¢ collaborative s ent uh + arte noted i i person employing # collaborative sly le orl ve folowing eharneierilien of the p phy ; 1. Sces conflict as natural and helpful, cven leading to a more creative solution if handled properly. en Evidences trnst and candidness with others and recognized the legitimacy’ of feeling in arriving at decisions ‘ r ed and recognizes that 3. Fecls that the attitides and positions of every one need to be aired anid recoeni ‘when conflict is resolved to the satisfaction of all, commitment to the solution is Tikely. 4 Sces everyone as having an equal role in resolving the conflict, vicws the opinions of everyone as equally legitimate. 5. Does not sacrifice anyone simply for the good of the eranp People using the collaborative style tend to be perceived as lynamie individual and are evaluated favorably by others. A compromising style is reflected in behaviour that is intermediate on both ‘esertivaneas und coupenation, This wile ic Insed on a provenn of yiverm-lake amd may negotiation and a series of concessions. The cmphasis is on “splitting the difference” Cemromise is commonly used! ana widely accepted as a uieans of reschang centict People ‘who compromise with others fend tn he evaluated fwiorahly. Compared with a callahorative syle, compromising would not be expected to generate the potential for maximizing joint sausfaction. Rather compromise is viewed as a means of means of achieving moderate, but only partial, satisfaction for each party. Research on Couflict-handling Style; a maniber of studies have been conducted on wandling style. These studies indicatc that people tend to the use of the different conflict describe themselves as using collaboration more often than the other style. ‘Fhas result as Sneonraging, because collaboration tends ta he characteristic of 1) more wicoes fil managers ‘one’s performance & abilities, Antragroup Conflictnor al comb to adiuwe the Come coal eet y how + reach of ‘ discg nue Cleouk oe oe invrapersonal ¢ «1 interpersonal conflict. Conflict within « group may involve the gFoUP a8 & \w ole as well the individual members, Thus we woul! expect intragroup conflict 10 have an effect on th group's processes and output In addition, the task and social processes within ‘a group shoulo sifhience the instigation or resolution of in’ igroup conflict. feels of ints coup eoniiok on yroup prowess. A ebawic aly by Deulnch cffeets of eoop ration and competition on group process and productivity. As part of a course requirement, fi y college students were devided into ten teams, The team were assigned problems each week and graded on their performance, The method of grading allowed the researcher to ¢ sate tow very different social situations. Five of the groups were aasigned to “cooperative” + tation, In the cooperative social situation, the groups wore graded as a unit. ‘Thatis the grou ) as a whole received a grade depending on how well they did compared with the intividude were graded ne innvenligaed the he olher yrov sti the competitive soci sila individuals, Wit fa cach gre ip, the person who contributed the most was given the highest grede Moreow «the grade us bused on a ranking system so that the individual contributing most received » “I the nes! sighest contribution recsived a "2", and kon on dawn to a "5" for the person cont buting the lest. Thus, inthe cooperative situation the group members shared | 8 comsmon goe (maximize the groups grade) while in the competitive situation the goals were not sharec (maximize an individual's grade). Ay dhe ond oF the alouly (ive wore, ik wan eer Dl es ovo grains nysenns ud effect: on the groups procosses and output. Compared with groups in the competiive sstuation, group in the cooperative situation showed the following characteristics: (1) greater coordination of +ffort, (2) hetter understanding of communications, (3) greater friendliness, (4) more favor: ole evaluations of the group, (5) greater productivity per unit tine, and (6) higher quality sc ations From 1+ resulls of this study, Deutsch concluded that intragroup cooperation facihtates posith - group processes (e.g,, coordination, conmunication) while also improving the quantity quality of group oulpul However, Deuscfh's conchusions have been’ cniucized Deca > his situation of intragroup cooperation also included intergroup competition, Tht 1, the element of competition between groups may have stimulited each group to try etter intergroup Conflict The effects of intergroup competition were identified in a study conducted as part ofa naniageinenl bi ing progiatn. The participating managers were ssxigued lo groups la work 4 number of managerial “dilemmas”. After the groups had becn working together for ‘awhile (12 to 1 hours), they were given a problem that supposedly measured their ‘ffectivenens in + oup problem solving. ‘The problem was presented 0 that each group wise (She me QonfRik- eens Urhuseen oa eres Q lagu oxgeumnalion Wi fe as ool a dhe Qaowt “oevarding & erveb>.) aip would be» anion Those one ExCUD W pee ex the element 0 come up with the competing with another group to come UP fe the problem was assig “winner” and the other group would be a “loser”. One vee of competition began to affect behavior within cach group as We weer i: reounne clon and a sere Of I OMp ‘As work on the problem gol underway, # group bece loyalty developed, The group experienced a rapid increase in cohesion. em increased cohesiveness was pressure toward conformity (' suppression of interpersonal conflict. The group was prima Memibers become more willing to follow autocratic leaders. Th was for group members to fecl satisfied with the group and rat f their group ay a natural terms. The researchers reffered to the members high rating of their group ; vor te the reir group Hs Muper ‘the group think phen rily concerned with task goals he net result of all these trends te the group in very positive iy complex”. That is group mernbers fended lo reggae groups. An attitude of hostility develop between the groups. The other group was mewed as an “enemy”. Perceptions of the other group tended to he distorted: maccnrate stereotypes developed. These distorted and inaccurate perceptions were maintained as interaction and communication between the groups tended to decrease. The hostility, misperceptions, and reduced communication seemed to be reinforcing, The intensity of the conflict escalated. Inraganizational Conflict When coking at conflict form an intrsorganizational perspective, four types of coulict ure apparent: (1) Vertical Conflict (2) Ilorizontal Conflict (3) Line-Staff Conflict and t. Although these types of conflict may overlap, espectally with role conthct, ‘cach has distinctive characteristics. ss Superior-subordinate conflict is an example of veitical conflict. Any conttict between levels in the organization is vertical contlct. Vertical contcts usually arise because superior attempt to control subordinates and subordinates tend to resist. Employees may resist because they believe the control ix an inftingerent on their perv fieeddonn tr aceon te the Potential reaction against a loss of freedom, vertical conflict may arise because of inadequate wnuncatons, confiets of interest (goal conflict), or lack of consensus concerning perceptions of information and valves (cognitive conflict) Coufic between employees or departments at the same hierarchical level ia horizontal (lateral) conflict. A fundamental cause of horizontal conflict is the pressure for ‘sub- optimizaon in most organizations. Each department may sub-optimize by independently ial gouls. These goals amy Ine omnpalible betws ‘spartments, causing goal confi, or the perceptions ofthe importance of the goals (iter between departments, canning. cognitive conflict. Differences. in the ore “xPerience, and training of employees between departments alko may lead to eoi jence Opportunities for horizontal conflict increase the higher the functional interdepend inventories) there departments, or the greater the between departments, the fewer buffer dependence on common resourees between departments. Managing Conflict ‘A wide range tactics have been suggested for managing conflict. The major y)proaches include uuree headings: (1) Structural methods, (2) Confrontation approaches and (3) Promoting conic. In general, the structural & confrontation approaches assume that confit is eleady present and requires management. However, they differ Is that the souctural approaches tend to minimize the direct expression of conflict by separating the partes, while the confrontation approaches try to surface the confit by bringing the parties toeether. In contastto the assumption i structural and confrontation approaches that conflict is already present, the promotion of conflict based on the assumption that “adequate” conflict is lacking, Siruciural Meiinod io Reduce C ei. ‘The structure of the system provides several opportunites to reduce conflict, Formal authority can be given to managers that allow them to issue directives in order to manage conflict Thus canter can he reduced through positioual authority. Another option is to design the system to promote effective cont Dominance through posite If conflict reduction authority exists at all levels of the system, managers may attempt to resolve conflict within their wings by issuing 2 directive. vs directive may specify the course of action that subordinates are expected to follow, or it may seive tu reduce ambiguity. Hor example, two vice-presidents in the same firm may be working on the ori: zationa! strategy. One vice-president may advocate a strategy’ based on. growth and the other may desire a strategy Uval requires authority to be concentrated at the top levels of he organization, In this case, the growlh cbjective may be in direct conflict wilt Whe ‘centralized authority Positional authority also can be used to settle conflicts within or between departunents. Within 4 department, the supervisor may issue a directive to resolve the conflict Between departments, . the issue is carried up the hierarchy until a common supervisor is ‘ccated for both departments, This common supervisor renders a decision intended to resolve the conflict. Sometines the use of the hierarchical uuthorily is ineffective ul resolving unerdepartmenta! conthct, It may unrealistic for a vice-president to resolve some conflict ‘issues that may crise between lower level operational units. Furthermore, the dominance ppromch does Tike fo preveni coufliel fort occur wg. Ti primarily serves lo remedy conflicl ithas occured,tepromore cooperation ad the 7 taken bet ot Forhmnately, there are other steps are that can ‘ering are two basic options f jing and bul integration of activities within the firm Decoupling dependence invenionies thal ate aging conflict, sduce inter eae etl ‘An organization may be designed to directly redu Jecoupling, whnenis will resources 4” tet heat “decouple” those departments the costs of providin:. Deiween departinen See nee provided for other departments should ‘and reduce the propensity for interdepartmental conflict, However, independence will require a duplication of efforts hetween departments csekanen Buffering with Inventory, If it is too costly to completely decoup! ae (make them totaly independent). It may be possible to bulfer the workflow betwee iz ‘ith inventory. Thus if department A produces a product that serves as input to an inventory between the departments could prevent depariment B from being severely affveted by a temporary shutdown or slowdown in department A. Suffering with an Integration Units, We need for formal integra! '0 coordinate the activities of other departments. Integration deparnnents are use + departinents i for firme thot experienced uncertain environments Confrontation Confrontation has diverse meanings. Some people see controntation as referring to warlowe conticly thal involve aulagoninic inernations. However, we will use the term to ésserbe constructive approaches to managing conflict. In this scrisc, confrontats.n isa proces ts iol parties in confi directly engage each other, openiy exchange inti Hon on the isdnes, and try lo work out the differences hetween themselves to reach a mutually Gesizable outcome. The underlying assumption is that both sides may be able ‘ something (a win-win situation). Thus, conffontation is a more complete version of the collaborative interpersonal style. Confiontation, as defined here, does not automatically occur when two par directly engage cach other. If the partics adopt win-lose strategics, the inter described as forcing rather than ‘action i be aes and Bote os ei Cup naslaniiion anneal ies’ aa ws is th important characteristic of confrontation that distinguishes it fo confrontation Thns, the atti, are crucial fo the confrantation of contparties work ar recconizing integrative (win-win) elements, negotiation offers an “portunity for conti onting confit. ‘Third Party Intervention, An effect method of managing conflict involves third arty intervention, ‘The third party is an impartial committee of members who agree to intervene in the pro ‘ess of seting conflit. Iti important thatthe members of the conflicting partion yive Breit consent fo the jnfer vention, Tie wh nygreed Mol he decision vad By the third party would be binding on the group members, The third party hears the members of the ate a number of conflicting groups and makes of its own investigation. Finally, they genert ind to be decisions aiming et the resolution of the conflict. Generally, this method ia fou effective if the third puny is pereived neutral and the yroup metnbers respect their promive of id bod & 37 (av pclemn Leann - > Conrider P Beng (roel mieasy beep | wa tundirsten cling of Rarerr een crag : Ve ee no ating Ais Con fpRtAe’ ee Pe Lip 70 de “fins Cobrole apocyts t ae 4 Spe pogness 4 Aucetd 9 hs thelnocoledpornent fe 2 A af leon mertogee FO Compe Mochouieur oy Wit S cerben de Romar Grime? goals a a We Araalilion, ars) us thee cunt &