1. Importance of Conflict Management Skills
“As managers we spend about 21% of our time dealing with conflict.”
Conflict management skills predict managerial success
High Emotional Intelligence (EI) needed to manage conflict

2. Perspective of Conflict
Interactionist view
Conflict is valuable to organizations
“When two people in business always agree, one of them is unnecessary”
“You put a lot of smart people in a room and listen to them duke it out, and the best idea will pop out”
View of Michael Eisner, CEO of Disney
Minimization view
Conflict reduces harmony and should be avoided
Norm of agreement

3. Functional Outcomes Improve quality of decisions
Boost innovation and creativity
Vent problems and tensions
Promote self-evaluation
Prentice Hall, 2001
Chapter 13

4. Dysfunctional Outcomes
Impede communication
Reduce cohesiveness
Replace goals with infighting
Prentice Hall, 2001
Chapter 13

5. Causes of Conflict Perceived fairness of resource allocation decisions
Budgets, raises, promotions
Structural variables
Goal incompatibility
Sales department versus credit department
Dependence issues
One group (accounting) dependent upon another (MIS)

6. Causes of Conflict Communication problems Personal factors Ambiguity
Mixed messages
Verbalize one thing, yet your body language says another
Jargon (finance, accounting, info systems terminology)
Personal factors
Personality clashes
Type A versus Type B
Value systems
National culture dimensions
Different emphasis on quality or quantity

7. Types of Conflict
Task conflict - conflicts over content and goals of work - low-to-moderate levels usually lead to functional conflicts (i.e., those that support goals of the group and improve performance) ~ stimulation of discussion of ideas
Process conflict - conflicts over how work gets done - low levels lead to functional conflicts but intense levels creates task role uncertainty, longer time to complete tasks

8. Relationship conflict - conflicts resulting from interpersonal relationships - dysfunctional conflict (i.e., hinders group performance) ~ personality clashes, decrease mutual understanding and hinders organizational tasks

9. Emotions and Conflict
Negative emotions (Tension, frustration, hostility)
Limits ability to generate solutions
Oversimplification of issues
Distrust
Positive emotions
Generate more solutions
More creative solutions
See the bigger picture

10. Survey

11. Stage III: Dimensions of Conflict-handling Styles
High
Competition
Collaboration
Compromising
Interest in achieving OWN goals
Avoidance
Accommodation
Low
Low
High
Interest in helping the other party to
achieve its goals

12. Conflict-Handling Styles
Competing (assertive & uncooperative)
“I am right, you are wrong” approach
Use in emergency situations
The plane is leaving in 5 minutes
Short-term relationships, one-time interaction
Avoidance (unassertive & uncooperative)
Suppress conflict by avoiding it or the other party
Use when the matter is trivial
Allow other party or yourself time to cool down

13. Conflict-Handling Styles
Accommodating (Unassertive & cooperative)
Put the interests of the other party above your own
Use when the issues are more important to others than to you
Cautions:
You may eventually “blow-up” by continuing to put others interests above your own

14. Conflict-Handling Styles
Compromising (the middle ground)
Each party intends to or is asked to “give-up” something: “Let’s split the difference”
Middle ground results in incomplete satisfaction of both parties concerns
Collaborating (assertive & cooperative)
“Win-win” strategy
Each party seeks to fully satisfy their concerns
and the concerns of the other party
Searching for a mutually beneficial outcome
Commitment to long-term relationships

15. Ineffective Techniques for Dealing with Conflict
Nonaction
Character Assassination
Secrecy
Conflict
Due Process Nonaction 20

16. Organizational Conflict Resolution Techniques
Superordinate goals
Overarching, shared goal that cannot be attained without cooperation of each of the conflicting parties
Altering structural variables
Changing the organizational chart
Reporting relationships
Create joint-task forces
Gain appreciation of each others (groups) constraints and needs
Altering individuals
Human relations training
Transfers

17. Minimizing perceived conflict through fairness
Procedural
Interactional