Intergoup negotiation and conflict

1. Intergoupnegotiationandconflict Tutorial: Socialidentityprocesses in organziations Tutor: Alina S. Hernandez Bark Speaker: Maria Wittek

2. Overview The basics: Intergroup negotiations 1. Individual differences approach 2. Cognitive approaches 3. Motivational approaches Groupwork: Social identity, negotiations and conflict management Plenary: Should conflict be avoided?

3. Intergroup negotiations • In pay negotiations between union and management – what would be the most desired outcome? • Which quadrant represents this outcome? • What are the possible results of the other outcomes?

4. Intergroup negotiations “the goal of negotiations is typically to reach so-called ‘win-win’ or integrative agreements that satisfy the minimum requirements of both parties” → this is represented in quadrant D (the bargaining zone) into which integrative agreements fall Integrative agreements require creativity and flexibility on the part of the negotiators

5. Intergroup negotiations Which psychological and material conditions lead to integrative solutions? • Individuals need to be addressed as group members • “The most satisfactory and enduring outcomes will be those that make sense of group differences within the framework of a shared superordinate social identity”

6. An overview of negotiation research • Individual differences approach • Cognitive approaches • Motivational approaches

7. An overview of negotiation research • Individual differences approach • Cognitive approaches • Motivational approaches

8. 1.Individual differences approach This approach suggests that negotiation results are a product of the personalities or management styles involved in negotiations. • Individual differences are used to predict negotiators behavior

9. 1. Individual differences approach Approach 1: 4 types of motivational orientation • Individualistic: want to maximize own gain with no concern for others • Altruistic: want to maximize others gain with no concern for self • Competitive: want to maximize own gain at the expense of others • Cooperative: want to maximize own and others gain →consequently two cooperative negotiators would be most likely to reach an integrative agreement Approach 2: Dual concern model – differentiates on the basis of conflict styles • Concern for self • Concern for others →useful tool for managers to identify own and others’ negotiation style and what outcome to expect from negotiations

10. 1. Individual differences approach Pro Contra • The various negotiation styles are readily identifiable • Dual concern model provides a useful conceptual framework for thinking about the negotiation process as a whole • Negotiation styles appear to be products of the particular negotiation context – and not fixed and invariant inputs

11. An overview of negotiation research • Individual differences approach • Cognitive approaches • Motivational approaches

12. 2. Cognitive approaches This approach aims to understand why individuals adopt a particular negotiation style and, specifically, what factors induce them to behave cooperatively rather than competitively. • Discrimination, conflict and injustice are natural products of intergroup division

13. 2. Cognitive approaches Stereotyping – conserves limited cognitive resources (cognitive miser model) BUT: • Prone to error as it oversimplifies the true nature of one’s opponents, because we tend to see members of outgroups as (a) more similar or (b) more extreme Difficulties that arise from these errors are: framing, anchoring, availability, overconfidence, mythical fixed pie, stereotyped views, reactive devaluation →Solution: decategorization strategies, i.e. gaining individualizing information on the other party

14. 2. Cognitive approaches Pro Contra • Stereotyping does not actually lead to cognitive load reduction and is not as prone to error as often claimed – instead it adds information that is not provided by individual perception • Decategorization strategies can lead to the problem that core issues of intergroup conflict might not be tackled if negotiations take place on an interpersonal level

15. An overview of negotiation research • Individual differences approach • Cognitive approaches • Motivational approaches

16. 3. Motivational approaches This approach aims to recategorize rather than decategorizeand therefore uniting groups under an umbrella of an all new, all-encompassing identity. • Parameters and outcomes of negotiation are shaped by the motivations of participants

17. 3. Motivational approaches Negotiation outcomes depend (among other things) on the extent to which participants • Establish high or low outcome limits • Take the perspective of their opponents into account • Frame negotiation as a process in which they are likely to win or lose →these findings also support the dual concern model

18. 3. Motivational approaches Pro Contra • Demonstrate that negotiators’ orientation (toward the negotiation process) and, hence, the outcomes of that process are structured by features of the social context that the parties confront • It is not clear why orientations and motivations often change over the course of negotiation and why these changes play a important role in the negotiations outcome

19. Group work Your task: Using the text, devise a negotiation/ conflict resolution strategy for your case study. Case study 1: DB vs GDL Case study 2: IvIvsFranconofurt

20. Plenary Should conflict be avoided? →conflict management should take the form of conflict resolution, not conflict suppression “Conflict is natural and inevitable. Yet an emerging view is that cooperation – not conflict or competition – is the way to achieve high performance. The new trends in management … all assume employee cooperation is a good thing. This means that successful organizations must find healthy ways to confront and resolve conflict. Managers champion a cooperate model of organization, meaning they foster cooperation and don’t stimulate competition or conflict, which work against the achievement of overall company goals.” Daft (1995)

21. Bibliography Haslam, A. Psychology in Organizations – The Social Identity Approach. London: Sage. 2004

22. Thank you for your attention!