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1.
II. The Conflict Process
A. Introduction
1. The conflict process has five stages: potential opposition or incompatibility,
cognition and personalization, intentions, behavior, and outcomes. (Exhibit 14-2)
B. Stage I: Potential Opposition or Incompatibility
1. Communication
a. Communication as a source of conflict represents those opposing forces that arise
channels.
b. Differing word connotations, jargon, insufficient exchange of information, and
noise in the communication channel are all barriers to communication and
potential antecedents to conflict.
communication takes place.
d. Communication is functional up to a point, after which it is possible to over
communicate, increasing the potential for conflict.
2. Structure
systems, and the degree of dependence.
b. Size and specialization act as forces to stimulate conflict.
likelihood of conflict.
ii. The potential for conflict is greatest where group members are younger and
turnover is high.
3. Personal variables—include personality, emotions, and values.
poorly when conflicts occur.
b. Emotions can also cause conflict even when they are not directed at others.
C. Stage II: Cognition and Personalization
aware of it.
personalized.
involved.
delineates the possible settlements.
5. Second, emotions play a major role in shaping perceptions.
7. Positive feelings increase the tendency to see potential relationships among the
elements of a problem, to take a broader view of the situation, and to develop
more innovative solutions.
D. Stage III: Intentions
1. Intentions are decisions to act in a given way.
a. Why are intentions separated out as a distinct stage? Merely one party attributing
the wrong intentions to the other escalates a lot of conflicts.
b. One author’s effort to identify the primary conflict-handling intentions,
represented in Exhibit 14-2, is along two dimensions:
i. Cooperativeness—the degree to which one party attempts to satisfy the other
party’s concerns.
ii. Assertiveness—the degree to which one party attempts to satisfy his or her
own concerns.
2. Five conflict-handling intentions can be identified: competing, collaborating,
avoiding, accommodating, and compromising.
a. Competing
i. When one person seeks to satisfy his or her own interests, regardless of the
impact on the other parties to the conflict.
b. Collaborating
i. When the parties to conflict each desire to fully satisfy the concerns of all
parties. The intention is to solve the problem by clarifying differences rather
than by accommodating.
c. Avoiding
i. A person may recognize that a conflict exists and want to withdraw from or
suppress it.
d. Accommodating
i. When one party seeks to appease an opponent, that party is willing to be
self-sacrificing.
e. Compromising
i. When each party to the conflict seeks to give up something, sharing occurs,
resulting in a compromised outcome. There is no clear winner or loser, and the
solution provides incomplete satisfaction of both parties’ concerns.
E. Stage IV: Behavior
1. Stage IV is where conflicts become visible. The behavior stage includes the
statements, actions, and reactions made by the conflicting parties. These conflict
behaviors are usually overt attempts to implement each party’s intentions.
(Exhibit 14-4)
2. Stage IV is a dynamic process of interaction; conflicts exist somewhere along a
continuum.
3. At the lower part of the continuum, conflicts are characterized by subtle, indirect,
and highly controlled forms of tension.
4. Conflict intensities escalate as they move upward along the continuum until they
become highly destructive.
a. Collaboration may be especially effective for tasks that require innovation, but
can lead to mistrust and conflict when groups are splintered into smaller groups of
two or three based on task. Individuals who have been assigned power tend to
have a more difficult time using collaborative strategies.
5. If a conflict is dysfunctional, what can the parties do to de-escalate it? Or,
conversely, what options exist if conflict is too low and needs to be increased?
a. This brings us to techniques of conflict management.
b. Exhibit 14-5 lists the major resolution and stimulation techniques that allow
managers to control conflict levels.
c. We have already described several as conflict-handling intentions.
d. Under ideal conditions, a person’s intentions should translate into comparable
behaviors.
F. Stage V: Outcomes
1. Outcomes may be functional—improving group performance, or dysfunctional in
hindering it. (Exhibit 14-1)
2. Functional outcomes
a. How might conflict act as a force to increase group performance?
i. Conflict is constructive when it:
(a) Improves the quality of decisions.
(b) Stimulates creativity and innovation.
(c) Encourages interest and curiosity.
(d) Provides the medium through which problems can be aired and tensions
released.
(e) Fosters an environment of self-evaluation and change.
3. Dysfunctional outcomes
a. The destructive consequences of conflict on the performance of a group or an
organization are generally well known.
i. Uncontrolled opposition breeds discontent, which acts to dissolve common
ties and eventually leads to the destruction of the group.
b. A substantial body of literature documents how dysfunctional conflicts can reduce
group effectiveness.
i. Among the more undesirable consequences are hampered communication,
primacy of infighting among members.
ii. All forms of conflict—even the functional varieties—appear to reduce group
member satisfaction and reduce trust.
iii. When active discussions turn into open conflicts between members,
information sharing between members has been shown to decrease
significantly.
group’s survival.
4. Managing functional conflict
a. If managers recognize that in some situations conflict can be beneficial, what can
they do to manage conflict effectively in their organizations?
i. One of the keys to minimizing counterproductive conflicts is recognizing
when there really is a disagreement.
the same general course of action.
(a) For example, someone in marketing might focus on “distribution
problems,” while someone from operations will talk about “supply chain
management” to describe essentially the same issue.
iii. Successful conflict management recognizes these different approaches and
contrast distributive and integrative bargaining styles).
iv. Another approach is to have opposing groups pick parts of the solution that
are most important to them and then focus on how each side can get its top
needs satisfied.
v. Neither side may get exactly what it wants, but both sides will get the most
important parts of its agenda.
solution.
ii. Managers need to emphasize shared interests in resolving conflicts, so groups
that disagree with one another don’t become too entrenched in their points of
view and start to take the conflicts personally.
iii. Groups with cooperative conflict styles and a strong underlying identification
competitive style.
c. Differences across countries in conflict resolution strategies may be based on
collectivistic tendencies and motives.
i. Collectivist cultures see people as deeply embedded in social situations,
whereas individualist cultures see them as autonomous.
resolving differences of opinion.
iv. Collectivists may also be more interested in demonstrations of concern and
working through third parties to resolve disputes, whereas individualists will
be more likely to confront differences of opinion directly and openly.
v. Some research does support this theory. Compared to collectivist Japanese
high-technology firms prefer collaboration even more than compromising and
avoiding.
III. Negotiation
A. Introduction
negotiation and bargaining interchangeably.
2. Although we commonly think of the outcomes of negotiation in one-shot
economic terms, every negotiation in organizations also affects the relationship
between the negotiators and the way the negotiators feel about themselves.
3. Depending on how much the parties are going to interact with one another,
B. Bargaining Strategies
1. Two general approaches to negotiation: (Exhibit 14-6)
a. Distributive bargaining
b. Integrative bargaining
2. Distributive bargaining
of a fixed pie.
i. By fixed pie, we mean a set amount of goods or services to be divvied up.
ii. When the pie is fixed, or the parties believe it is, they tend to bargain
distributively.
negotiations over wages.
i. The essence of distributive bargaining is depicted in Exhibit 14-7.
(a) Parties A and B represent two negotiators.
(b) Each has a target point that defines what he or she would like to achieve.
(c) Each also has a resistance point, which marks the lowest outcome that is
acceptable.
likely to make initial offers, speak first at meetings, and thereby gain the
advantage.
ii. Another reason, the anchoring bias, was mentioned in Chapter 6. People tend
to fixate on initial information.
it.
3. Integrative bargaining
a. In contrast to distributive bargaining, integrative bargaining operates under the
assumption that one or more of the possible settlements can create a win-win
solution.
bargaining is preferable to distributive bargaining.
i. Because integrative bargaining builds long-term relationships and facilitates
working together in the future, it bonds negotiators and allows each to leave
the bargaining table feeling victorious.
ii. Distributive bargaining, on the other hand, leaves one party a loser. It tends to
build animosities and deepens divisions.
negotiations often take a win-at-any-cost dynamic.
ii. Employees’ personal characteristics and perceived accountability also play a
role in whether negotiators come to an integrative solution.
iii. The use and effectiveness of negotiation strategies may depend on regulatory
focus of the parties involved (i.e., promotion or prevention focus; see Chapter
emotional ambivalence.
4. Compromise might be your worst enemy in negotiating a win-win agreement.
i. The reason is that compromising reduces the pressure to bargain integratively.
ii. After all, if you or your opponent caves in easily, it doesn’t require anyone to
be creative to reach a settlement. Thus, people end up settling for less than
C. The Negotiation Process (Exhibit 14-8)
1. Preparation and Planning
a. Do your homework.
i. What is the nature of the conflict?
ii. What is the history leading up to this negotiation?
v. What are your goals?
b. You also want to assess what you think are the other party’s goals.
c. When you can anticipate your opponent’s position, you are better equipped to
counter his or her arguments with the facts and figures that support your position.
d. Relationships will change as a result of a negotiation, so that’s another outcome to
take into consideration.
are more satisfied with their jobs and less likely to turn over a year later
regardless of their actual outcomes from these negotiations.
e. Once you have gathered your information, use it to develop a strategy.
i. Determine your and the other side’s Best Alternative to a Negotiated
Agreement (BATNA).
agreement.
iii. Any offer you receive that is higher than your BATNA is better than an
impasse.
2. Definition of ground rules
a. Who will do the negotiating? Where will it take place? What time constraints, if
any, will apply?
follow if an impasse is reached?
c. During this phase, the parties will also exchange their initial proposals or
demands.
3. Clarification and justification
a. When initial positions have been exchanged, explain, amplify, clarify, bolster, and
justify your original demands.
b. This need not be confrontational.
support your position.
4. Bargaining and problem solving
a. The essence of the negotiation process is the actual give-and-take in trying to hash
out an agreement.
b. Concessions will undoubtedly need to be made by both parties.
5. Closure and implementation
formal than a handshake.
D. Individual Differences in Negotiation Effectiveness
1. Personality traits in negotiation
a. Can you predict an opponent’s negotiating tactics if you know something about
his/her personality? The evidence says “sort of.”
outcomes. Why is this the case?
i. It appears that the degree to which agreeableness, and personality more
generally, affects negotiation outcomes depends on the situation.
ii. The importance of being extraverted in negotiations, for example, will very
much depend on how the other party reacts to someone who is assertive and
enthusiastic.
personality, the effects aren’t especially strong.
i. In a sense, these weak links are good news because they mean you’re not
severely disadvantaged, even if you’re an agreeable extrovert, when it comes
time to negotiate.
2. Moods/emotions in negotiation
a. Moods and emotions influence negotiation, but the way they do depends on the
type of negotiation.
i. It appears that negotiators in a position of power or equal status who show
anger negotiate better outcomes because their anger induces concessions from
their opponents.
genuine (deep acting) is.
i. It also appears that having a history of showing anger, rather than sowing the
seeds of revenge, actually induces more concessions because the other party
perceives the negotiator as “tough.”
ii. Finally, culture seems to matter. For instance, one study found that when East
c. Another relevant emotion is disappointment.
i. Generally, a negotiator who perceives disappointment from his or her
counterpart concedes more.
(a) In one study, Dutch students were given 100 chips to bargain over.
Negotiators who expressed disappointment were offered 14 more chips
than those who didn’t.
made no difference in either study.
(c) Another study found that anxious negotiators expect lower outcomes from
negotiations, respond to offers more quickly, and exit the bargaining
process more quickly, which leads them to obtain worse outcomes.
d. Anxiety also appears to have an impact on negotiation.
3. Culture in negotiations
a. Do people from different cultures negotiate differently? The simple answer is the
obvious one: yes, they do.
b. First, it appears that people generally negotiate more effectively within cultures
than between them.
than with a Sri Lankan.
c. Second, it appears that in cross-cultural negotiations, it is especially important
that the negotiators be high in openness.
d. Third, people are more likely to use certain negotiation strategies depending on
what culture they belong to. For example, people from China and Qatar are more
States.
e. Finally, because emotions are culturally sensitive, negotiators need to be
especially aware of the emotional dynamics in cross-cultural negotiation.
4. Gender differences in negotiations
a. Men and women negotiate differently and those differences affect outcomes.
relationship-oriented in negotiations than men.
c. There is some merit to this.
d. Men tend to place a higher value on status, power, and recognition, whereas
women tend to place a higher value on compassion and altruism.
e. Moreover, women do tend to value relationship outcomes more than men, and
self-interested, and more accommodating manner.
ii. However, the disparity goes even further than that. Because of the way
women approach negotiation, other negotiators seek to exploit female
negotiators by, for example, making lower salary offers.
g. So what can be done to change this troublesome state of affairs?
stereotypes of women. Fortunately, such stereotypes are fading. However,
women can control their own negotiating behavior.
