1. Leadership: The Human Side of Project Management Managing Conflict © Peter Dominick, Zvi Aronson1

2. Managing Conflict: Objectives  Understand sources of conflict  Understand the impact of culture and diversity on managing conflict  Discuss productive versus counterproductive approaches to conflict  Communication  Conflict management style/strategy  Discuss Negotiation 2© Peter Dominick, Zvi Aronson

3. The Good, the Bad… the Inevitable Conflict can:  Be source of new ideas and innovation  Promote diversity  Build loyalty, trust, understanding  Bring problems into open  Increase organizational commitment  Lead to better outcomes Conflict can:  Increase stress  Divert energy and attention  Make leaders shift to authoritarian style  Increase negative stereotyping  Lead to group think 3© Peter Dominick, Zvi Aronson

4. Sources of Conflict SOURCES OF CONFLICT FOCUS OF CONFLICT Personal differences Perceptions and expectations Informational deficiency Misinformation and misrepresentation Role incompatibility Goals and responsibilities Environmental stress Resource scarcity and uncertainty 4© Peter Dominick, Zvi Aronson

5. PowerDistanceIndividualismUncertaintyAvoidance Quantity Versus Quality of Life Hofstede’s Dimensions of National Culture N=116,000; 40 countries

6. Managing Conflict in Teams  Discuss Negotiation  Cognitive (task-oriented) vs. Affective Conflict (emotionally oriented)  Cognitive conflict improves performance; affective conflict degrades decision making in teams (Jehn, 1994, 1995)  Promotes dialogue  Information sharing  Synthesis 6© Peter Dominick, Zvi Aronson

7. DECISION CONSENSUS GOAL ACHIEVEMENT COGNITIVE CONFLICT Cognitive (task- oriented) Conflict (+) DECISION QUALITY (+) WITHIN SCHEDULE (+)

8. Managing Conflict in Teams  Results  Superior group decision to any individual perspective (Schweiger & Sanberg, & Rechner, 1989).  Higher levels of innovation (potentially)  Higher levels of commitment to decision (Amason, 1996) 8© Peter Dominick, Zvi Aronson

9. What Can Team Leaders Do About Conflict? 9  While much of the conflict research has focused on attributes of the team as determinants of conflict, project leaders can impact cognitive conflict. Goal Clarity Team Conflict (Constructive vs. Affective) © Peter Dominick, Zvi Aronson Supportive Communication Norms (vs contentious)

10. Conflict Focus and Communication 10 Communication Style Issue focused People Focused Contentious Communication X Collaborative Communication X © Peter Dominick, Zvi Aronson

11. Assertive Unassertive Uncooperative Cooperative Two-Dimensional Model of Conflict Behavior 11 Forcing Collaborating Avoiding Accommodating Compromising Cooperativeness (attempting to satisfy the other party’s concerns ) Assertiveness (attempting to satisfy one’s own concern ) Importance of the issue © Peter Dominick, Zvi Aronson

12. Conflict Resolution by Conflict Type & Method of Resolution 12 Communication Structure Personal Method of Resolution Conflict Type © Peter Dominick, Zvi Aronson

13. Matching Conflict Management Approach with the Situation 13 Situational Considerations Conflict Management Approach Forcing Accommodating Compromising Collaborating Avoiding Issue Importance High Low Medium High Low Relationship Importance Low High Medium High Low Relative Power High Low Equal Low-High Equal Time Constraints Medium-High Low Medium- High © Peter Dominick, Zvi Aronson

14. Choosing a Conflict Management Strategy  Take a few minutes to read the Phelps, Inc. Case (p. 424).  What are the salient situational factors?  What do you think is the best conflict management strategy?  Give the above questions some thought before going on to the next slide 14© Peter Dominick, Zvi Aronson

15. Conflict Management Strategy: Phelps Inc.  Situational characteristics in this case include high issue importance, high relationship importance, relatively equal power and low time constraints  These characteristics suggest that collaboration is the best approach. While compromise might seem like a reasonable approach the issue is probably too important for the department heads to simply split their differences.  Can you think of a personal experience in which any of these situational considerations were factored into your conflict management style 15© Peter Dominick, Zvi Aronson

16. Collaborative Approach The collaborative approach to managing conflict generally produces the best results, but requires more skill than the other approaches.  Problem solving process: typically has the following phases: problem identification (sets the tone); solution generation, examination and agreement; implementation; and follow-up  Guidelines for managing the problem identification and solution generation stages can be examined from the vantage point of:  the complaint initiator  the responder  and the mediator (if needed) 16

17. Collaborative Approach Guidelines for the initiator:  Maintain personal ownership of the problem to reduce defensiveness in the respondent  Describe the problem in terms of behaviors, consequences and feelings  Avoid drawing evaluative conclusions and attributing motives to the respondent  Persist until understood  Encourage two-way interaction  Approach multiple or complex problems incrementally  Focus on commonalities as the basis for requesting a change 17© Peter Dominick, Zvi Aronson

18. Collaborative Approach Guidelines for the responder:  Establish a climate for joint problem solving by showing genuine interest and concern  Seek additional information about the problem  Agree with some aspect of the complaint  Ask for acceptable alternatives 18© Peter Dominick, Zvi Aronson

19. Collaborative Approach Guidelines for the mediator  Acknowledge that a conflict exists and propose an approach for solving it  In seeking out the perspectives of both parties, maintain a neutral posture regarding the disputants, if not the issues  Manage the discussion to insure fairness  Facilitate exploration of solutions, rather than judge responsibility for the problem  Explore options by focusing on interests, not on positions  Guidelines for agreement and follow up stages for all roles  Ensure that all parties understand and support the agreed- upon plan  Establish a mechanism for follow-up

20. Negotiation Strategies  Closely related to conflict management strategies  Distributive (win-lose)  akin to accommodating, avoiding compromising, confronting  Integrative ( win-win)akin to collaborative style u Establish super-ordinate goals u Separate people from problems u Mutually agree on criteria for evaluating solutions u Focus on underlying issues, not positions u Invent options for mutual gains u Evaluate alternatives in relation to criteria

21. Educational Pension Investment Case Follow up questions  1. Did EPI make a mistake in hiring Mike?  2. Is Dan making a mistake by allowing Mike to leave?  3. What is the difference in resolving a single- cause conflict versus a multiple- cause conflict?  Discuss whether the relationship between causes is multiple or additive.  4. Why did the forceful approach not work in this situation?  5. Why does Dan appear reluctant to be more forceful? 21

22. Educational Pension Investment Case  Discuss whether the relationship between causes is multiple or additive.  4. Why did the forceful approach not work in this situation?  5. Why does Dan appear reluctant to be more forceful? 22© Peter Dominick, Zvi Aronson

23. Lessons from Negotiators  If you want to win as much as you can, don’t try to win as much as you can.  “Only a fool holds out for the top dollar” (Joseph Kennedy)  “A successful negotiation isn’t one where I get everything and you get nothing” (Bob Woolf) 23© Peter Dominick, Zvi Aronson

24. Lessons from Negotiators  Naïve cooperation in negotiation can make you vulnerable vulnerable to being taken advantage of  ‘You’ve got to develop the reputation for being smart and honest. Find out everything you can before you sit down to talk. Information is power” (Bob Woolf)  Arguing over positions produces bad or no agreement 24© Peter Dominick, Zvi Aronson

25. Positional Bargaining  Start with an extreme position, stubbornly hold it, deceive the other party as to your true views and make only small concessions  Requires a large number of individual decisions  Leads to dragging one’s feet, stonewalling and other tactics 25© Peter Dominick, Zvi Aronson

26. 26 Positional Bargaining  Start with an extreme position, stubbornly hold it, deceive the other party as to your true views and make only small concessions  Requires a large number of individual decisions  Leads to dragging one’s feet, stonewalling and other tactics © Peter Dominick, Zvi Aronson

27. The Problem with Bargaining over Positions  You can get locked into the position  U.S. vs. Russia: negotiated # of inspections. U.S. said they wanted 10 a year, talks broke down but “inspection” was never defined.  As more attention is paid to positions less concern is given to the underlying concerns of the parties  Arguing over positions is inefficient 27© Peter Dominick, Zvi Aronson

28. Principled Negotiation  Separate the people from the problem  Focus on interests, not positions  Generate a variety of possibilities before deciding what to do.  Insist that the results be based on some objective standard 28© Peter Dominick, Zvi Aronson

29. Separate People from Problem  People have strong emotions and may have radically different perceptions  Emotions typically become tangled with the objective merits of the problem  Egos become identified with their positions  Participants should see themselves as working side by side, attacking the problem, not each other 29© Peter Dominick, Zvi Aronson

30. Focus on Interests, Not Positions  Too much focus on the stated position can obscure people’s interests  Compromise between positions is not likely to produce a satisfactory result  Avoid having a bottom line 30© Peter Dominick, Zvi Aronson

31. Insist on Using Objective Criteria  Some negotiators try to obtain a favorable result by being stubborn  rewards intransigence and produces arbitrary results  Can be countered by insisting that agreement must reflect some fair standard independent of the naked will of either side  market value, custom, law  Both parties can stop worrying about giving in and defer to the fair solution 31© Peter Dominick, Zvi Aronson

32. Stages of Negotiation  Analysis: diagnose the situation, gather information, organize it, and think about it.  People problems, hostile emotions, unclear communication, what are interests, criteria  Planning: generate ideas, decide how to handle people problems, what are most important interests, what are realistic objectives? Generate additional options and criteria 32© Peter Dominick, Zvi Aronson

33. Stages of Negotiation  Discussion: differences in perception, feelings are discussed. Jointly generate options that are mutually advantageous and seek agreement on objective standards. 33© Peter Dominick, Zvi Aronson

34. Savage, Blair & Sorenson Decision Tree 34 Manager’s Priorities Other Party’s Priorities Suggested Strategies Is the substantive outcome very important to the manager? Is the relationship outcome very important to the manager? Is the substantive outcome very important to the other party? Is the relationship outcome very important to the other party? Unilateral Strategies C1 C2, P2 C1 S2 C2, P2 P1, C2 P2, C1 C2, P2 C1 S1 C1 S1 C2, P2 A3, P1 A2 A1 Interactive Strategies Situations 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No C1: Trusting collaboration C2: Principles collaboration P1: Firm competition P2: Soft competition S1: Open subordination S2: Focused subordination A1: Active avoidance (refuse to negotiate) A2: Passive avoidance (delegate negotiation) A3: Responsive avoidance (apply regulation) C1 P1 S1 A1

35. Summary of Models of Conflict Management 35 Dispute Resolution Problem- solving process Context characteristics Personal preferences Source of conflict Strategy selection © Peter Dominick, Zvi Aronson

36. Educational Pension Investment Case Follow up questions  1. Did EPI make a mistake in hiring Mike?  2. Is Dan making a mistake by allowing Mike to leave?  3. What is the difference in resolving a single- cause conflict versus a multiple- cause conflict?  Discuss whether the relationship between causes is multiple or additive.  4. Why did the forceful approach not work in this situation?  5. Why does Dan appear reluctant to be more forceful? 36