Conflict and Negotiation

1. 9 Conflict and Negotiation

2. Chapter Outline • Conflict Defined • Functional vs. Dysfunctional Conflict • Resolution-Focused View of Conflict • Sources of Conflict • Conflict Resolution • Conflict Management Strategies • What Can Individuals Do to Manage Conflict? • Resolving Personality Conflicts • Resolving Intercultural Conflicts • Third-Party Conflict Resolution • Conflict Outcomes

3. Chapter Outline • Negotiation • Bargaining Strategies • How to Negotiate • Individual Differences in Negotiation Effectiveness • Personality Traits in Negotiation • Moods/Emotions in Negotiation • Gender Differences in Negotiation

4. Learning Outcomes • What is conflict? • How can conflict be resolved? • What are the effects of conflict? • How does one negotiate effectively? • How do individual differences influence negotiations?

5. Conflict Defined • A process that begins when one party perceives that another party has negatively affected, or is about to negatively affect, something that the first party cares about. • Functional • Supports the goals of the group and improves its performance. • Dysfunctional • Hinders group performance.

6. Research Findings • Cognitive • Conflict related to differences in perspectives and judgments. • Task-oriented • Results in identifying differences • Usually functional conflict • Affective • Emotional conflict aimed at a person rather than an issue. • Dysfunctional conflict

7. Exhibit 9-1 Conflict Intensity Continuum

8. Resolution-Focused View of Conflict • Researchers have started to focus more on managing the whole context in which conflicts occur • One can minimize the negative effects of conflict by • focusing on preparing people for conflicts • developing resolution strategies • facilitating open discussion

9. Sources of Conflict • Communication • Through semantic difficulties, misunderstandings and “noise” in the communication channels • Structure • Size, specialization, and composition of the group • Ambiguity responsibility • Zero-sum reward systems • Leadership style • The diversity of goals • If one group is dependent on another

10. Sources of Conflict • Personal Variables • Personality • People high in disagreeableness, neuroticism, or self-monitoring are prone to tangle with other people more often, and to react poorly when conflict occurs • Emotions • Values

11. Conflict Resolution:Two Dimensions • Cooperativeness • The degree to which one party attempts to satisfy the other party’s concerns. • Assertiveness • The degree to which one party attempts to satisfy his or her own concerns.

12. Conflict Management Strategies • Forcing • Imposing one’s will on the other party. • Problem solving • Trying to reach an agreement that satisfies both one’s own and the other party’s aspirations as much as possible. • Avoiding • Ignoring or minimizing the importance of the issues creating the conflict. • Yielding • Accepting and incorporating the will of the other party. • Compromising • Balancing concern for oneself with concern for the other party in order to reach a solution

13. Exhibit 9-2 Conflict-Handling Strategies & Accompanying Behaviour

14. What Can Individuals Do to Manage Conflict? • Problem solving • Developing overarching goals • Smoothing • Compromising • Avoidance

15. Techniques for Managing Work-Related Conflicts • Expansion of resources • Authoritative command • Altering the human variable • Altering the structural variables

16. Resolving Personality Conflicts • Misunderstandings based on age, race, or cultural differences • Intolerance, prejudice, discrimination, and bigotry • Perceived inequalities • Misunderstandings, rumours, or falsehoods about an individual or group • Blaming for mistakes or mishaps (finger-pointing)

17. Tips for Handling Personality Conflict • Communicate directly with the other person to resolve the perceived conflict. • Avoid dragging co-workers into the conflict. • If necessary, seek help from direct supervisors or human resource specialists.

18. Tips for Handling Personality Conflict • Do not take sides. • Suggest the parties work things out themselves. • If necessary, refer the problem to parties’ direct supervisors.

19. Tips for Handling Personality Conflict • Investigate and document conflict. • If appropriate, take corrective action (e.g., feedback or behaviour shaping). • If necessary, attempt informal dispute resolution. • Refer difficult conflicts to human resource specialists or hired counsellors.

20. Exhibit 9-3 Strategies For Dealing With Intercultural Conflict

21. Resolving Intercultural Conflicts • Those from Asian cultures show a preference for conflict avoidance, compared with Americans and Britons. • Chinese and East Asian managers prefer compromising as a strategy, contrary to North Americans. • North Americans prefer a problem-solving approach to conflicts, which yields a win-win solution. • Win-win solutions are less likely to be achieved in Asian cultures. • East Asian managers tend to ignore conflict rather than make it public. • Japanese managers tend to choose non-confrontational styles. • Westerners are more likely to choose forcing as a strategy than Asians. • North Americans expect that negotiations may lead to a legal contract; Asian cultures rely less on legal contracts and more on relational contracts.

22. Exhibit 9-4 Conflict and Unit Performance

23. Third-Party Conflict Resolution Mediator Arbitrator Conciliator Consultant

24. Third-Party Conflict Resolution • Mediator • a neutral third party who facilitates a negotiated solution by using reasoning, persuasion, and suggestions for alternatives. • Labour-management negotiations and civil court disputes • Settlement rate is about 60 percent; satisfaction rate is about 75 percent • Participants must be motivated to bargain and settle • Most effective under moderate levels of conflict • Mediator must appear neutral and non-coercive

25. Third-Party Conflict Resolution • Arbitrator • has authority to dictate an agreement. • Voluntary (requested) or compulsory (imposed by law or contract) • Always results in a settlement • Conflict may resurface at a later time

26. Third-Party Conflict Resolution • Conciliator • Trusted third party who provides an informal communication link between the negotiator and the opponent. • Informal link • Used extensively in international, labour, family, and community disputes • Fact-find, interpret messages, persuade disputants to develop agreements

27. Third-Party Conflict Resolution • Consultant • Skilled and impartial third party who attempts to facilitate problem solving through communication and analysis, aided by a knowledge of conflict management • Does not try to settle the issues but rather works to improve relationships between parties so they can reach a settlement for themselves • Help parties learn to understand and work with each other • Longer-term focus – to build new and positive perceptions and attitudes between the conflicting parties

28. Conflict Outcomes Three desired outcomes of conflict: • Agreement:equitable and fair agreements are the best outcomes • Stronger relationships:when conflict is resolved positively, this can lead to better relationships and greater trust. • Learning:handling conflict successfully teaches one how to do it better next time.

29. Negotiation • A process in which two or more parties exchange goods or services and attempt to agree upon the exchange rate for them. • Distributive bargaining • Negotiation that seeks to divide up a fixed amount of resources; a win-lose situation. • Integrative bargaining • Negotiation that seeks one or more settlements that can create a win-win solution.

30. Exhibit 9-5 Distributive vs. Integrative Bargaining

31. How to Negotiate • Five steps to negotiation: • Developing a strategy • Definition of ground rules • Clarification and justification • Bargaining and problem solving • Closure and implementation • Identify BATNA: • Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement.

32. Exhibit 9-6 The Negotiation Process

33. Exhibit 9-7 Staking Out the Bargaining Zone

34. Individual Differences in Negotiation Effectiveness • Personality Traits in Negotiation • Moods/Emotions in Negotiation • Gender Differences in Negotiation

35. Personality Traits in Negotiation • Negotiators who are agreeable or extraverted are not very successful in distributive bargaining • Extraverts are outgoing and friendly, they tend to share more information than they should • Agreeable people are more interested in findings ways to cooperate rather than to butt heads

36. Moods/Emotions in Negotiation • Distributive negotiations • 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 • Those in a less powerful position, displaying anger leads to worse outcomes • Integrative negotiations • positive moods and emotions appear to lead to more integrative agreements (higher levels of joint gain).

37. Gender Differences in Negotiation • Popular Stereotypes of Men and Women • Woman more cooperative and pleasant in negotiations than men • A few hundred dollars more in salary or the corner office is less important to women than forming and maintaining an interpersonal relationship • Women are “nicer” than men is probably due to a confusion between gender and the lower degree of power women typically hold in most large organizations • Men are expected to be “tough” • Women’s attitudes and behaviours hurt them in negotiations • Managerial women demonstrate less confidence in anticipation of negotiating and are less satisfied with their performance afterward

38. Conflict Resolution and Culture • Collectivistic cultures see people as deeply embedded in social situations, whereas individualistic cultures see people as autonomous. • As a result, collectivists are more likely to seek to preserve relationships and promote the good of the group as a whole than individualists.

39. Cultural Differences in Negotiating Style • Negotiating styles vary across national culture • French: Like conflict. • Chinese: Draw out negotiations, believing they never end. • Japanese: Negotiate to develop relationships and commitment. Early offers lead to more information sharing and better integrative outcomes. • Americans: Impatient, desire to be liked.

40. Exhibit 9-8 Negotiating Attitude: Win-Win or Win-Lose

41. Culture, Negotiations, and Emotions • East Asian negotiators were less likely to accept offers from negotiators who displayed anger during negotiations • When confronted with an angry negotiator, Chinese negotiators increased their use of distributive negotiating tactics, whereas US negotiators decreased their use of these tactics.

42. Summary and Implications • What is conflict? • Conflict occurs when one party perceives that another party’s actions will have a negative effect on something the first party cares about. • How can conflict be resolved? • Depending on how a conflict is defined, they can be settled in a win-lose solution or a win-win solution. • What are the effects of conflict? • Conflict can be functional and improve group performance, or it can be dysfunctional and hinder it.

43. Summary and Implications • How does one negotiate effectively? • Integrative bargaining tends to provide outcomes that satisfy all parties and build lasting relationships. • How do individual differences influence negotiations? • Personality traits, moods and emotions, and gender differences affect negotiating styles

44. OB at Work: For Review • What are the disadvantages to conflict? What are its advantages? • Under what conditions might conflict be beneficial to a group? • What is the difference between functional and dysfunctional conflict? What determines functionality? • What is dual concern theory? • What causes personality conflicts, and how can they be resolved?

45. OB at Work: For Review • What is the difference between a conciliator and a mediator? • What defines the bargaining zone in distributive bargaining? • Why isn’t integrative bargaining more widely practised in organizations? • How can you improve your negotiating effectiveness? • How do men and women differ, if at all, in their approaches to negotiations?

46. OB at Work: For Critical Thinking • Do you think competition and conflict are different? Explain. • “Participation is an excellent method for identifying differences and resolving conflicts.” Do you agree or disagree? Discuss. • From your own experience, describe a situation you were involved in where the conflict was dysfunctional. Describe another example, from your experience, where the conflict was functional. Now analyze how other parties in both conflicts might have interpreted the situation in terms of whether the conflicts were functional or dysfunctional. • Assume one of your co-workers had to negotiate a contract with someone from China. What problems might he or she face? If the co-worker asked for advice, what suggestions would you give to help facilitate a settlement? • Michael Eisner, CEO at the Walt Disney Corporation, wanted to stimulate conflict inside his firm. But he wants to minimize conflict with outside parties—agents, contractors, unions, etc. What does this say about conflict levels, functional versus dysfunctional conflict, and managing conflict.

47. Point-CounterPoint Conflict Is Good for the Organization Conflict is a means by which to bring about radical change. Conflict facilitates group cohesiveness. Conflict improves group and organizational effectiveness. Conflict brings about a slightly higher, more constructive level of tension. All Conflicts Are Dysfunctional! The negative consequences from conflict can be devastating. Effective managers build teamwork, not conflict. Competition is good for an organization, but not conflict. Conflict is avoidable

48. Breakout Group Exercises • Form small groups to discuss the following: 1. You and two other students carpool to school every day. The driver has recently taken to playing a new radio station quite loudly. You do not like the music, or the loudness. Using one of the conflict-handling intentions, indicate how you might go about resolving this conflict. 2. Using the example above, identify a number of BATNAs (best alternatives to a negotiated agreement) available to you, and then decide whether you would continue carpooling. 3. Which conflict-handling style is most consistent with how you deal with conflict? Is your style effective? Why or why not?

49. From Concepts to Skills: Negotiating • Begin with a positive overture. • Address problems, not personalities. • Pay little attention to initial offers. • Emphasize win-win solutions. • Create an open and trusting climate.