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Overview

• Problem solving
The • Task conflict Conflict • Forcing
• Relationship conflict • Avoiding
Emergence Handling • Yielding
View Styles • Compromising

• Emphasizing superordinate goals

• Reducing differentiation
The Conflict Conflict • Improving communication
Process Management • Reducing interdependencies
• Increasing resources
• Clarifying rules and procedures

• Incompatible goals • Third Party – Arbitration,

• Differentiation Inquisition, Mediation
Sources of • Interdependence Conflict • Negotiation:
Conflict • Scarce resource Resolution  Preparation
• Ambiguous rules  Negotiation Process
• Communication problems  Negotiation setting

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Conflict in the Workplace

Conflict
Definition
The process in which one party perceives that its interests
are being opposed or negatively affected by another
party.

Conflict is bad (pre-1970s) Good Optimal

Good conflict

Conflict outcomes
Conflict outcomes

0
0
Optimal Conflict
(1970s-1990s))

Bad Bad
Low Level of conflict High Low Level of conflict High

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Conflict in the Workplace
Negative Consequences
• Threatens one’s personal needs
and self concept, causing lower job
satisfaction, higher levels of stress
and turnover, and lower
performance
• Undermines information sharing
and coordination
• Encourages organizational politics
• Weakened team cohesion – when
conflict exists among team
members
Positive Consequences
• Improves decision making – debating
issues and evaluating alternatives
more thoroughly
 Tests logic of arguments
 Questions assumptions
 Generates creative thinking
• More responsive to changing
environment
• Stronger team cohesion – when
conflict exists between the team and
outside opponent
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The Emerging View

• The emerging school of thought is that there are various types of conflict
with different consequences.
• The two dominant types are task conflict and relationship conflict.

Task Conflict Relationship Conflict

• Also known as constructive conflict
• Focus on issues while maintaining
respect for people having other points
of view
• Focus on the assumptions and logical
foundation of the ideas presented and
not on the characteristics of the people
who presented them
• Focus on characteristics of the people in
the dispute
• E.g., questioning the competence of the
people who introduce the ideas, or,
using status-based arguments to
undermine the worth of others, or,
behaving abrasively to demean others

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The Emerging View
Task (Constructive) Conflict
– Conflict is aimed at issue, not parties
– Helps recognize problems, identify
solutions, and understand the issues
better
– Potentially healthy and valuable
Relationship Conflict
– Conflict viewed as a personal attack
– Dysfunctional – Threatens the other
party’s self-esteem
– Triggers defense mechanism and a
competitive orientation
– Reduces mutual trust
– Escalates more easily than task
conflict
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The Emerging View
Psychological Safety
Minimizing Relationship Conflict A shared belief that it is safe
to engage in interpersonal
risk-taking
Emotional Team • Psychological safety flourishes
Intelligence Development when team/organizational
norms:
• Better able to understand • More trust and latitude  Encourage people to respect
and regulate emotions – • Understand other team and value one another
reducing the risk of members better  Demonstrate Interest in one
escalating perceptions of
• Stronger social identity another
interpersonal hostility
• View others’ emotions as
with the group  Be open-minded and
tolerant with others’
valuable information
opinions
 Show positive intentions
toward one another

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The Conflict Process

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 Sources of Conflict

• One party’s goals perceived to

Incompatible • Motivate competition for the
interfere with the goals of Scarce Resources
Goals others
resources

• Different values or beliefs • Create uncertainty, threaten goals

Differentiation • Explains cross-cultural and Ambiguous Rules • Ambiguity encourages political
intergenerational conflict tactics and free-for-all battle to win
decisions

• Conflict increases with the • Use of emotion-laden language and

level of interdependence aggressive non-verbal behavior
Communication
Interdependence • Amplify conflicts with the use of
• Higher risk that parties Problems distorted images and stereotypes of
interfere with each other
the other party

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Conflict handling styles

Based on the results :

Please download “For Seminar 9
– Exploring Your Conflict Styles”
from the MAIN course site to know
more about your conflict handling
styles.
(a) Your most preferred style is
________
(b) Your 2nd preferred style is
________

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 Conflict handling styles
High Forcing
• Tries to win the conflict at
the other’s expense –
perceives a “fixed pie”
• A win-lose orientation
Assertiveness
(Motivation to satisfy
one’s own interests) • Tries to smooth over or
evade conflict situations
altogether
• Minimizes discussion of the
sensitive topic
Avoiding
Low
Low
Problem-Solving
• Finds a solution that is
beneficial for both parties
• A win-win orientation
Compromising
• Seeks a middle ground
between the interests of
• Gives in completely to the
th two parties other side’s wishes, or
cooperating with or no
attention to your own
interests
Yielding
Cooperativeness High
(Motivation to satisfy other party’s interests)
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 Conflict handling styles
High Forcing
• Look for a quick solution
• You have a much stronger logical
or moral foundation
• Other party would take
advantage or more cooperative
strategies
Assertiveness
• Too emotionally charged
•Want to maintain a harmonious
relationship
• Cost of trying to resolve the
conflict outweighs the benefits
Low Avoiding
Low
Cooperativeness
Choosing the Best Conflict Style
Compromising
1. Single issue conflict with
opposing interests
2. A lack of time or trust for
problem solving
3. Want to maintain a
harmonious relationship
4. Equal power
Problem-Solving
• Interests are not perfectly
opposing
• Parties have trust, openness and
time to share information
•Issues are complex
• When the issue is much less
important to you
• Your position is not as clear
• Value a harmonious relationship
• The other party has substantially
more power than you
Yielding
High
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 Conflict handling styles Problems of Each Conflict Style

High Forcing Problem-Solving

• High level of assertiveness tends • Takes more time and requires a
to generate relationship conflict fairly high degree of trust
more quickly and intensely • can be stressful and difficult when
people experience strong feelings of
the conflict
Compromising
Assertiveness

• Settle for suboptimal solution

• Produces uncertainty and
• May give the other side
frustration rather than unrealistically high expectations and
resolution of the conflict motivate them to seek more from you
in the future

Low Avoiding Yielding

Low High
Cooperativeness
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Conflict handling styles
Cultural Differences
• High collectivist cultures:
 expect people to support and show
allegiance to the group
 Want to maintain harmonious relations
 Manage disagreements through avoidance
or problem solving
• Cultural values and norms represent
an important contingency when
choosing the preferred conflict-
handling approach
Cultural and Gender Differences
Gender Differences
• Men are more likely than women to
use the forcing style
• Women are more likely than men to
use the avoiding style
• Women are slightly more likely than
men to use problem solving,
compromising and yielding styles
• Women pay more attention to
relationship between the parties
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Conflict Management

Emphasizing superordinate goals

Sources of
Conflict
Reducing differentiation: Creating for common
grounds and experiences
1. Incompatible goals
2. Differentiation Reducing interdependence: creating buffers, use
integrators, combine jobs
3. interdependence
4. Scarce resources
Increasing resources
5. Ambiguous rules
6. Poor Communication
Clarifying rules and procedures

Improving communication and understanding

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Conflict Resolution

Third-party Any attempt by a relatively neutral person to help

Definitionconflicting parties resolve their differences
conflict resolution

High
Mediation Inquisition

Level of
Process Control
Arbitration

Low

Low Level of Outcome Control High

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Conflict Resolution

Negotiation Parties attempt to resolve divergent goals by redefining the

terms of their interdependence.

Distributive approach Integrative (mutual gains) approach

• Win–lose orientation • Win–win orientation

• View that one party loses when the • Negotiators believe the resources at
other party gains stake are expandable
• Most common when the parties • More common with multiple issues of
have only one item to resolve different value to each party

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Conflict Resolution
Preparing to Negotiate:
Bargaining Zone
Your opening offer Your realistic goal
Your Your Target Your resistance The point beyond which you will
initial point point make no further concessions
point

Area of
Potential
Agreement

Opponent’s Opponent’s Opponent’s

Resistance point Target point Initial Offer point

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Conflict Resolution
1. Develop goals and understand needs
 Develop goals about what you want to
achieve from the exchange
 reflect on what needs you are trying
fulfill from those goals
 Specific needs can be satisfied by
different goals
 Focus on underlying needs, avoid
locking into fixed goals
– Identify your bargaining zone: initial
offer, target point, resistance point
Preparing to Negotiate:
Bargaining Zone
2. Know your BATNA and Power
 Best alternative to a negotiated
agreement (BATNA) -cost of walking
away
 Investigate multiple alternatives to this
negotiation
 Know your power sources and
contingencies
 Having more than one BATNA to a
negotiation increases your power
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Conflict Resolution
1. Gather Information
• Listen closely to the other party.
• Ask questions, pay attention to
nonverbal communication.
• Cautiously volunteering information
2. Manage Concessions
• Concessions symbolize each party’s
motivation to bargain in good faith
• Concessions communicate relative
importance of each negotiated issue
• Strategy: offer concessions in instalments
because people experience more positive
emotions from a few smaller concessions
than from one large concession
The Negotiation Process
3. Manage Time
• Time pressure can be a liability
• “Exploding offer” – when on party gives its
opponent a very short time to accept the offer
• Tendency to make unwarranted concessions -- when
much time has been invested in the negotiation
4. Build the Relationship
Ways to build trust in negotiations:
• Discover common backgrounds and interests.
• Manage first impressions.
• Signal trustworthiness.by demonstrating
sensitivity to negotiation norms and
expectations.
• Use emotional intelligence.
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Conflict Resolution
The Negotiation Setting

1. Location – Own turf or neutral territory

2. Physical setting – The physical distance between the parties,
formality of the setting, and seating arrangements
3. Audience – Anyone with a vested interest in the negotiation
outcomes (direct surveillance may lead to “hard-line” behavior)

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