CONFLICT AND NEGOTIATION SKILLS

Figure 1: Levels of conflict in organisation Organisational Intergroup Interpersonal Intra- individual Macro Micro

Figure 2: Micro and Macro Dynamics of Organisational Behaviour A model of frustration Need (deficiency) Drive (deficiency with direction) Frustration Defense mechanisms 1) Agressions 2) Withdrawal 3) Fixation 4) Compromise Barrier 1) Overt 2) Covert Goal/incentive (reduction of the drives and fulfillment of deficiencies

Intra individual conflict Conflict due to frustration e.g. thirsty person or minority person from a disadvantaged educational and economic background -frustration may sometimes also result in a positive impact Goal conflict Approach-approach conflict (cognitive dissonance) Approach-avoidance conflict (+ve and –ve characteristics) Avoidance-avoidance conflict (married person experiences difficulties in relationship & wants to save (painful) and exit); dislike supervisor vs. too much pride to be unemployed Role conflict and ambiguity Person and the role, intra-role (psychologist faced with a case of suicide), inter-role; Role juggling

Interpersonal Conflict Attribution Theory: fundamental attribution error. Attribute others’ behaviour to personal factors such as intelligence, ability, attitudes, etc. Sources of Interpersonal Conflict Personal differences Information deficiency Role incompatibility Environmental stress

Analyzing interpersonal conflict The Johari Window Open self Little , if any interpersonal conflict Hidden self Potential interpersonal conflict Blind self Undiscovered self Misunderstanding and interpersonal conflict almost sure to result

1 OPEN SELF 2 HIDDEN SELF 3 BLIND SELF 4 UNDISCOVERED SELF Figure 3: The Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham Johari window of interpersonal relationships. 1 OPEN SELF 2 HIDDEN SELF 3 BLIND SELF 4 UNDISCOVERED SELF The person knows about the other The person does not know about him-or herself The person doesn’t know

Interpersonal conflict resolution strategies 3 basic strategies Lose-lose (both parties lose, compromise or take the middle ground, use a mediator) Win-lose (conflicts are personalized and judgmental, own point of view) Win-win (desirable from a human and organizational standpoint, energies and creativity are aimed at solving the problems at hand)

Inter-group Behaviour and Conflict ‘Inter-group behaviour occurs whenever individuals belonging to one group interact, collectively or individually, with another group or its members in terms of their reference group identification’. Realistic Group Conflict Theory (RGCT) by Social Psychologist Muzafer Sherif The basis of RGCT is that inter-group hostility is produced by the existence of conflicting goals (competition) and reduced by the existence of mutually desired super-ordinate goals attainable only through inter-group cooperation.

Inter-group Behaviour and Conflict Interacting and Overlapping Role All organizational participants have certain expectations of others and of themselves concerning what is involved in their roles. The organization could be thought of as a set of such roles, and when these roles are in interaction with one another; this often results in conflict. Robert L. Kahn views the organization as made up of overlapping and interlocking role sets. Next figure shows the FOCAL persons. They are purchasing agent, executive vice president and design engineer. Production manager member of 2 role sets

Figure 4: The organisation as overlapping role sets. Supplier Marketing Manager Purchasing Agent Production Manager Executive vice president Human Resource Manager Accountant Design Engineer Statistician Draftsperson External consultant

Antecedents to Inter group conflict Competition for resources Task interdependence Jurisdictional ambiguity (turf problems). Taking credit for desirable activities and give up responsibility for undesirable ones. Status struggles

Characteristics of groups in conflict, some findings from research Clear distinction between ‘we’ and ‘they’ Cohesion in the group increases when it is in conflict Positive feelings Overestimation of own strength and underestimation of the other Decrease of communication between conflicting groups Members’ cohesion decreases when group is losing in a conflict. Increased tension. Look for a scapegoat to blame their failure on.

Strategies employed to reduce conflict Avoidance (ignore the conflict or impose a solution) Defusion (attempt to deactivate the conflict. Smooth things over by playing down the importance and magnitude. Establish super-ordinate goals) Containment (some conflict is allowed to surface. Structured negotiation and bargaining) Confrontation (issues are thrust into the open)

Strategies employed to reduce conflict Setting a super-ordinate goal (a common goal that is appealing to conflicting groups) Reducing inter-dependence between the groups Expanding resources (competition minimized) Creating a formal appeals system

Organization conflict Hierarchical conflict Functional conflict (between functional departments such as marketing and production) Line managers/supervisors-staff conflict Line managers often view staff advice (especially from younger and more qualified) as a threat Formal-informal conflict

Negotiation skills Negotiation can go beyond just resolving conflict and become a managerial skill for both personal and organizational success.

Traditional negotiation approaches Negotiators tend to be overly affected by the frame of information Negotiators tend to non-rationally escalate commitment to a previously selected course of action when it is no longer the most reasonable alternative Negotiators tend to assume that their gain must come at the expense of the other party. Miss opportunities for mutually beneficial trade-offs. Negotiators tend to fail to consider information that is available by focusing on the opponent’s perspective

Newly emerging Negotiation skills Whetten and Cameron suggest an integrative approach that uses problem-solving techniques to find win-win outcomes. Based on collaborating (rather than a compromising, forcing, accommodating, or avoiding) strategy, the integrative approach requires skills such as: establishing super-ordinate goals, separating the people from the problem, focusing on interests, not on positions, inventing options for mutual gain and using objective criteria.

Practical guidelines for effective negotiations Low-risk techniques Flattery (subtle flattery) Addressing the easy points first (helps build trust and momentum for tougher issues) Silence (to gain concessions) Inflated opening position (may elicit a counteroffer revealing the opponent’s position) High-risk techniques Unexpected temper losses (deliberate and can break impasse) High-balling (to gain trust by appearing to give in to the opponent’s position) ‘Boulwarism’(take it or leave it). Highly aggressive strategy. Waiting until the last moment