1. Chapter 10 Conflict and Negotiation
Don’t underestimate
the power of “Yes”

2. Chapter 10 Study Questions
What is the nature of conflict in organizations? How can conflict be managed? What is the nature of negotiation in organizations? What are alternative strategies for negotiation?
Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

3. What is the nature of conflict in organizations?
Conflicts are disagreements that occur in social situations.
Substantive
A disagreement over goals, and the means for their accomplishment.
Emotional
Interpersonal difficulties that arise over feelings of anger, mistrust, dislike, fear, and resentment.
Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

4. What is the nature of conflict in organizations?
"If I had a formula for bypassing trouble, I would not pass it round. Trouble creates a capacity to handle it. I don't embrace trouble; that's as bad as treating it as an enemy. …But I do say meet it as a friend, for you'll see a lot of it and had better be on speaking terms with it." —Oliver Wendell Holmes
Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

5. Inter-organizational
Levels of Conflict in Organizations
Interpersonal
Can be caused by rivalries; personality differences
Intrape rsonal
Pressur e from incom patible (intern al) goals or expect ations
Intergroup
Causes are substantive (competition for resources) or emotional
Competition for market share
Inter-organizational
Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

6. What is the nature of conflict in organizations?
Functional conflict
Results in constructive, positive benefits to individuals, the group, or the organization.
Dysfunctional conflict
Destructive to an individual or team.
Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

7. Dysfunctional Conflict
Figure Functional and
Dysfunctional Conflict
Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

8. What is the nature of conflict in organizations?
Potential benefits of functional conflict
Surfaces important problems so they can be addressed.
Causes careful consideration of decisions.
Increases information available for decision making.
Provides opportunities for creativity.
Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

9. What is the nature of conflict in organizations?
Potential outcomes of dysfunctional conflict
Diverts energies.
Hurts group cohesion; erodes trust.
Creates overall negative environment.
Can decrease work productivity and job satisfaction.
Can contribute to absenteeism and job turnover.
Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

10. What is the nature of conflict in organizations?
Culture and conflict
Culture and cultural differences must be considered for their conflict potential.
Cross-cultural sensitivity and respect for differences helps defuse dysfunctional conflict.
Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

11. How can conflict be managed?
Conflict resolution
Situation in which the underlying reasons for a given destructive conflict are eliminated.
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12. Figure 10.2
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13. How can conflict be managed ?
Conflict antecedents
Underlying reasons or conditions from which conflicts are likely to develop.
Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

14. How can conflict be managed?
Perceived conflict
When the antecedents become the basis for substantive or emotional differences between people or groups.
Felt conflict
Conflict experienced as tension that motivates the person to take action to reduce feelings of discomfort.
Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

15. How can conflict be managed?
Manifest conflict
Conflict can be manifested in actual behaviors that attempt to remove or correct conflict antecedents.
Failure to resolve antecedents results in suppression of the conflict - only to re-emerge at a later time, or in another form.
Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

16. How can conflict be managed?
Causes of conflict
Vertical conflict
Occurs between hierarchical levels.
Horizontal conflict
Occurs between persons or groups at the same hierarchical level.
Line-staff conflict
Involves disagreements over who has authority and control over specific matters.
Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

17. How can conflict be managed?
Role ambiguity conflicts
Occur when the communication of task expectations proves inadequate or upsetting.
Workflow interdependencies
Occur when people or units are required to cooperate to meet challenging goals.
Domain ambiguities
Occur as misunderstandings over such things as customer jurisdiction or scope of authority.
Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

18. How can conflict be managed?
Resource scarcity
When resources are scarce, working relationships are likely to suffer.
Power or value asymmetries
Occur when interdependent people or groups differ substantially from one another in status and influence or in values
Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

19. How can conflict be managed?
Indirect strategies:
Reduced interdependence
Adjusting the level of interdependency among units or individuals when workflow conflicts exist
Decoupling, buffering, and linking
pin strategies address specific organizational situations.
Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

20. How can conflict be managed?
Appeal to common goals
Focusing the attention of potentially conflicting parties on one mutually desirable conclusion.
Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

21. How can conflict be managed?
Hierarchical referral
Problems are referred up the hierarchy for more senior managers to reconcile.
Altering scripts and myths
Superficial management of conflict by using behavioral routines that become part of the organization’s culture.
Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

22. Figure 10.4. Direct conflict management strategies.
Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

23. Direct Conflict Handling Styles
Cooperative
Accommodating
Collaborating
Avoiding
Competing
Compromise
Assertive
Unassertive
Uncooperative
Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

24. How can conflict be managed?
Lose-lose conflict
Nobody gets what he or she wants; underlying reasons remain unresolved. Strategies include:
Avoidance.
Accommodation- playing down differences.
Compromise- giving up something valued.
Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

25. How can conflict be managed?
Win-Lose conflict
One party achieves its desires at the expense and to the exclusion of the other party’s desires.
Competition - force, skill, or domination
Authoritative command – quick and decisive
Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

26. How can conflict be managed?
Win-Win conflict
Achieved by a blend of both high cooperativeness and high assertiveness.
Collaboration or problem solving
Stresses gathering and evaluating information in solving disputes and making choices.
Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

27. In your experience… Think of a conflict you had with a co-worker…
Was it handled directly or indirectly?
How was it resolved? Think about the technique that was used.
Has the conflict re-appeared?
Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

28. What is the nature of negotiation in organizations?
The process of making joint decisions when the parties involved have different preferences and goal expectations.
Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

29. What is the nature of negotiation in organizations?
Substance goals
Outcomes that relate to content issues.
Relationship goals
Outcomes that relate to how well people involved in the negotiations are able to work with one another once the process is concluded.
Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

30. What is the nature of negotiation in organizations?
Effective negotiation factors:
Quality– all sides are satisfied.
Harmony– good interpersonal relations.
Efficiency-optimal use of time and resources.
Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

31. What is negotiation? Negotiation and ethics
Negotiation is all about meeting one's interests – this often sets up a dilemma: my interests vs. his interests.
To maintain good working relationships, all participants should strive for high ethical standards.
Focus more on finding common ground, and less on self interest.
Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

32. In your experience…
Lying is an overt form of unethical behavior in organizations and in negotiations. But there are many more subtle forms. For example: illegal or unethical veiled threats, any sort of bribes, kickbacks, corruption, preventing others from participating, or making public negative statement about them, belittling their effectiveness, threats or negative future actions, ruining someone's reputation without cause, etc.
Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

33. What is the nature of negotiation in organizations?
Two-party negotiation
Manager negotiates directly with one other person.
Group negotiation
Manager is part of a group whose members are negotiating.
Intergroup negotiation
Manager is part of a group that is negotiating with another group.
Constituency negotiation
Manager negotiates with other persons, and each represents a larger group.
Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

34. What are the alternative strategies for negotiation?
Distributive negotiation
Focuses on positions staked out or declared by the conflicting parties
Integrative negotiation
Sometimes called principled negotiation
Focuses on the merits of the issues
Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

35. What are the alternative strategies for negotiation?
Distributive negotiation
“Who is going to get this resource?”
“Hard” distributive negotiation (win/lose)
Each party holds out to get its own way.
“Soft” distributive negotiation (lose/lose)
One party is willing to make concessions.
Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

36. What are the alternative strategies for negotiation?
Bargaining zone
Range between one party’s minimum reservation point and the other party’s maximum reservation point.
Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

37. What are the alternative strategies for negotiation?
Integrative negotiation
“How can the resource best be used?”
Less confrontational than distributive negotiation.
Allows a broader range of alternative solutions to be considered.
A win-win solution is possible.
Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

38. What are the alternative strategies for negotiation?
Foundations of Integrative negotiation
Attitudes
Willingness to trust, share information, and ask concrete questions.
Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

39. What are the alternative strategies for negotiation?
Behaviors
Separate the people from the problem.
Keep emotions in check.
Focus on common interests to find solutions.
Avoid premature judgments.
Compare solution to your baseline criteria.
Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

40. What are the alternative strategies for negotiation?
Information
Each party must know what he or she will do if an agreement can’t be reached.
Each party must determine what is personally important in the situation.
Each party must try to understand the other’s interests.
Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

41. Common negotiation pitfalls.
“Fixed Pie” is a myth
The pie can be expanded
Consider that it may not be a pie, more like a Bundt cake.
Escalating Commitment
Taking a stand forces sticking to it.
Avoid fall into this trap by being a good self-monitor.
Overconfidence
Always try to understand the merits of the other party’s position as well.
Too much telling and
not enough active listening
Seek to be understood, but also, to understand.
Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

42. What are the alternative strategies for negotiation?
Third party negotiations
A neutral third party works with persons involved in a negotiation to help them resolve impasses and settle disputes.
Arbitration
A third party acts as a “judge” and has the power to issue a decision that is binding on all disputing parties
Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

43. What are the different strategies involved in negotiation?
Mediation
A neutral third party tries to engage disputing parties in a negotiated solution through persuasion and rational argument
Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.