Crisis And Conflict Management

Conflict Frame & Orientation Lecture 24

Conflict Frames and Orientations Conflict frames – Perceptual sets that people bring to conflict episodes – Perceptual filters Remove some information from an episode Emphasize other information in an episode 3

Conflict Frames and Orientations (Cont.) Relationship-Task Emotional-Intellectual Cooperate-Win Conflict frame 4

Conflict Frames and Orientations (Cont.) Conflict frame dimensions – Relationship-Task Relationship: focuses on interpersonal relationships Task: focuses on material aspects of an episode – Emotional-Intellectual Emotional: focuses on feelings in the conflict episode (felt conflict) Intellectual: focuses on observed behavior (manifest conflict) 5

Conflict Frames and Orientations (Cont.) Conflict frame dimensions (cont.) – Cooperate-Win Cooperate: emphasizes the role of all parties to the conflict Win: wants to maximize personal gain 6

Conflict Frames and Orientations (Cont.) Conflict frames – Limited research results End an episode with a relationship or intellectual frame: feel good about relationship with other party Cooperation-focused people end with more positive results than those focused on winning 7

Conflict Frames and Orientations (Cont.) Conflict orientations – Dominance: wants to win; conflict is a battle – Collaborative: wants to find a solution that satisfies everyone – Compromise: splits the differences – Avoidance: backs away – Accommodative: focuses on desires of other party 8

Conflict Frames and Orientations (Cont.) Can change during conflict episode – How firmly the person holds orientation – Importance of the issues to the person – Perception of opponent's power Collaborative orientation: more positive long- term benefits than the others 9

Conflict Frames and Orientations (Cont.) Avoidance Accommodative Dominance Compromise Collaborative Conflict aftermath High residue No residue Conflict orientation and the conflict aftermath 10

Conflict Frames and Orientations (Cont.) Combinations of conflict orientations in a group – Dominance, avoidance – Dominance, dominance – Avoidance, avoidance – Dominance, collaborative, compromise – Collaborative, compromise, avoidance – Collaborative, compromise, avoidance, dominance, accommodative 11

Latent Conflict: The Sources of Conflict in Organizations Antecedents to conflict episodes Many natural conditions of organizations act as latent conflicts Lurk in the background; trigger conflict when right conditions occur Does not always lead to manifest conflict Give us clues about how to reduce dysfunctionally high conflict 12

Latent Conflict: The Sources of Conflict in Organizations (Cont.) Some representative latent conflict – Scarce resources: money, equipment, facilities – Organizational differentiation: different orientations in different parts of organization – Rules, procedures, policies: behavioral guides that can cause clashes – Cohesive groups: value and orientation differences among groups 13

Latent Conflict: The Sources of Conflict in Organizations (Cont.) Some representative latent conflict (cont.) – Interdependence: forces interaction – Communication barriers: shift work and jargon – Ambiguous jurisdictions: areas of authority not clearly defined – Reward systems: reward different behavior in different parts of the organization Sales on commission; manufacturing rewarded for meeting schedules. Communication differences. 14

Conflict Management Model Maintain conflict at functional levels – Not complete elimination – Reducing to functional levels – Increasing dysfunctionally low conflict – Choose desired level of conflict based on perceived conflict requirements – Varies in different parts of an organization – Manager’s tolerance for conflict plays a role 15

Conflict Management Model (Cont.) Perceived conflict requirements Desired conflict level Organizational culture Fast-changing environment Product or service 16

Conflict Management Model (Cont.) Normal Increase conflict Decrease conflict Dysfunctionally low conflict Dysfunctionally high conflict 17

Conflict Management Model (Cont.) Symptoms of dysfunctionally high conflict – Low trust – Information distortion – Tension/antagonism – Stress – Sabotage of organization’s product or service 18

Conflict Management Model (Cont.) Symptoms of dysfunctionally low conflict – Deny differences – Repress controversial information – Prohibit disagreements – Avoid interactions – Walk away from conflict episode 19

Reducing Conflict Overview – Lose-lose methods: parties to the conflict episode do not get what they want – Win-lose methods: one party a clear winner; other party a clear loser – Win-win methods: each party to the conflict episode gets what he or she wants 20

Reducing Conflict (cont.) Lose-lose methods – Avoidance Withdraw, stay away Does not permanently reduce conflict – Compromise Bargain, negotiate Each loses something valued – Smoothing: find similarities 21

Reducing Conflict (Cont.) Win-lose methods – Dominance Overwhelm other party Overwhelms an avoidance orientation – Authoritative command: decision by person in authority – Majority rule: voting 22

Reducing Conflict (Cont.) Win-win methods – Problem solving: find root causes – Integration: meet interests and desires of all parties – Superordinate goal: desired by all but not reachable alone 23

Reducing Conflict (Cont.) Summary – Lose-lose methods: compromise – Win-lose methods: dominance – Win-win methods: problem solving 24

Increasing Conflict Increase conflict when it is dysfunctionally low – Heterogeneous groups: members have different backgrounds – Devil’s advocate: offers alternative views – Organizational culture: values and norms that embrace conflict and debate 25

Conflict Insights Possible positive effects of conflict Latent conflict Conflict aftermath Conflict episodes Links between episodes Latent conflict and methods of reduction 26

International Aspects of Conflict in Organizations Cultures that emphasize individualism and competition – Positively value conflict – English-speaking countries, the Netherlands, Italy, Belgium Cultures that emphasize collaboration, cooperation, conformity – Negatively value conflict – Many Asian and Latin American countries; Portugal, Greece, Turkey 27

International Aspects of Conflict in Organizations (Cont.) No direct research evidence Cultural differences imply different functional conflict levels 28

International Aspects of Conflict in Organizations (Cont.) Cross-cultural research has dealt with intergroup processes Collaborative and cooperative cultures expect little conflict during intergroup interactions Favor suppression of conflict with little discussion about people's feelings Felt conflict likely part of some conflict episodes but hidden from public view 29

International Aspects of Conflict in Organizations (Cont.) Managers from an individualistic country operating in a less individualistic country – Acceptable to express feelings during a conflict episode – Suppression of feelings could baffle them – Increasing conflict can confuse local people – Almost immediate dysfunctional results 30

Ethical Issues in Conflict in Organizations Tolerance for conflict – Manager with a high tolerance for conflict; keeps conflict levels too high for subordinates – Should such managers reveal their intentions about desired conflict levels? – Full disclosure: subordinates could leave the group if conflict levels became dysfunctionally stressful – Ethical question applies equally to newly hired employees 31

Ethical Issues in Conflict in Organizations (Cont.) Deliberately increasing conflict is an effort to guide behavior in a desired direction – Subtle methods of increasing conflict (forming heterogeneous groups) connote manipulation – Full disclosure: manager states his intention to use conflict to generate ideas and innovation – If people are free to join a group or not, the ethical issue likely subsides 32

Ethical Issues in Conflict in Organizations (Cont.) Experiencing intrapersonal conflict – Requests to act against one's moral values – Observing behavior that one considers unethical Reduce intrapersonal conflict – Report unethical acts – Transfer to another part of the organization – Quit 33

Ethical Issues in Conflict in Organizations (Cont.) Different cultures place different values on conflict – Optimal conflict levels vary among countries – Lower levels conflict in collectivistic countries than individualistic countries 34

Summary Learning Goals Functional and Dysfunctional Conflict Levels and Types of Conflict Conflict Frames and Orientations Conflict Episodes Reducing Conflict International Aspects of Conflict in Organizations 35

Thank You 36