Lecture 9

Business Communication
BY Mrs Neha Juglaul
Conflict and Negotiation
• Conflict arises when two parties do not agree
to reach a specific decision. They both
perceive a task in two different ways. They
think that their own ideas or suggestions are
the best and the one of their opponents are
wrong.
There are different views on conflict namely:

• Traditional view of conflict: they believe that all conflicts

are completely wrong and have negative impacts. They
suggested that conflicts should be completely steered
clear of. They also stated that poor flow of
communication, resistance to share information and
failure to give feedback are the main causes of failure.
• Human Relations View of Conflict: They believe that
conflict cannot be avoided as it is nature to occur in any
team.
• Interactionist view of conflict: they believe that conflicts
do not always have negative impact on a team but it can
bring positive changes and increase effectiveness.
There are two types of conflicts:

• Functional Conflict: this has positive impact

on the goals of the team and aid to increase
effectiveness to perform better.
• Dysfunctional Conflict: this has negative
impact on the goals of the team and stops the
team from performing well.
Types of conflicts:

• Task Conflict: this is when there is

disagreement over the goals of a project.
• Relationship conflict: this is when there is
disagreement between team members
• Process conflict: this is when there is
disagreement over the methods to undertake
the task.
Potential causes of conflicts

• Adopting wrong channels of communication

• Using the wrong leadership styles
• Unfair treatment among team members
• Different personalities
Methods to avoid conflicts:

• Compromising: this is when both parties

agree to give up something
• Accommodating: this is when one party puts
his challenger’s interests above his own.
• Avoiding: this is when both parties or one
party withdraw from the conflict.
• Communicating: this is when both parties use
the appropriate channel of communication to
send a message and give feedback.
Less desired way to solve conflict:

• Dictatorship: this is when the manager forces

the member to solve their disputes.
Functional Outcomes from conflict

• Improve group performance

• Encourage effective decision-making
• Encourage innovative changes
• Increase employee’s interest towards the task
Dysfunctional Outcomes from conflict

• Employees feel left out

• Poor flow of communication
• Reduced group productivity
• Delay completion of a task
Negotiation

• This is a process where two parties agree to solve

their conflicts and work towards a goal using an
agreed method.

• There are different bargaining strategies:

• Integrative Bargaining: this is when the parties solve
the conflict by ensuring none of them suffers from
any loss and all parties gain equally from the
bargaining
• Distributive Bargaining: this is when only one party
gain and the other one lose.
The Third-party negotiators are:

• Arbitrator: this is someone who is legitimate to

dictate an agreement.
• Mediator: this is someone who listens to both
parties’ ideas and solution first then looks for
solution which is the best for the task.
• Conciliator: This a trusted third party acting as the
main point of communication for both parties
• Consultant: this is someone who has experience in
conflict management and provides problem-solving
techniques to the parties.
Process of negotiation