Chapter
7
Andrew J. DuBrin
PowerPoint Presentation by Charlie Cook

1. Understand the nature of conflict and its leading causes.
2. Have the necessary information to resolve many workplace conflicts.
3. Understand the nature of work stress, its causes and consequences.
4. Explain what organizations can do to manage and reduce stress.
5. Do a more effective job of managing your own stress.
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A. J. DuBrin, Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior, Second Edition. Copyright © 2002 by South-Western.

Is the opposition of persons or forces that gives rise to some tension.
 Occurs when two or more parties perceive mutually exclusive goals, values, or events.
 Among individuals, conflict also occurs when persons face incompatible choices and are emotionally stressed as a result of the conflict.
A. J. DuBrin, Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior, Second Edition. Copyright © 2002 by South-Western.
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Conflict Frames
 The differing lenses through which the disputants view a conflict situation.
Three dimensions of conflict frames:
 Relationship versus task
 differences between disputing parties in adopting either a relationship or task orientation to a conflict.
 Emotional versus intellectual
 degree of attention the parties pay to the affective components (feeling and behaviors) of the dispute.
 Cooperate versus win
 degree to which parties share the blame for the conflict.
A. J. DuBrin, Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior, Second Edition. Copyright © 2002 by South-Western.
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Perceived Adverse Changes
 Changes in working methods, conditions, or employment opportunities that are considered negative developments.
 Downsizing
 Laying off of workers to reduce costs and increase efficiency affects both dismissed and surviving employees.
A. J. DuBrin, Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior, Second Edition. Copyright © 2002 by South-Western.
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Sexual Harassment
 Is unwanted sexually oriented behavior in the work place that results in discomfort and/or interference with the job.
 Types of sexual harassment:
 Quid pro Quo
– offering an explicit or implied employment-related benefit conditioned on an exchange of sexual favors. Acceptance or rejection of the offer has no bearing on the relevance of the harassment conduct.
 Hostile working environment
– creating an employment environment that is perceived by the harassed party as intimidating, hostile, or offensive.
A. J. DuBrin, Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior, Second Edition. Copyright © 2002 by South-Western.
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Line Versus Staff Differentiation
 Line units and managers deal with the primary purposes of a firm in manufacturing or selling its products or services.
 Staff units and managers serve in advisory roles and are concerned with secondary purposes of the firm.
 Conflict between line and staff units arises when:
 Staff professionals attempt to influence line decisions and enforce compliance with organizational policies.
 Staff professionals appear have more loyalty to their professions than to the organization.
A. J. DuBrin, Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior, Second Edition. Copyright © 2002 by South-Western.
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Oncale vs. Sundowner Offshore Services Inc.
 Sexual harassment is “conduct” not “cause” (i.e.,sexual desire) and is actionable even in same sex cases.
Burlington Industries vs. Ellerth


Sexual harassment threats do not have to be carried out to be actionable.
An affirmative defense limits employer liability if it takes action to prohibit or remedy sexual harassment and the harassed employee did not pursue corrective opportunities offered by the employer.
Faragher vs. City of Boca Raton, Florida
 Employer is liable for hostile environment whether or not it was aware of the environment.
A. J. DuBrin, Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior, Second Edition. Copyright © 2002 by South-Western.
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Gender Approach
 Sexual harassment is the likely outcome of increased interactions between men and women in the work place.
Role Approach
 Sexual harassment results for the inappropriate carryover of sex-based expectations in the work place.
Power Approach
 Sexual harassment is a mechanism for maintaining the economic and political superiority of men over women.
A. J. DuBrin, Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior, Second Edition. Copyright © 2002 by South-Western.
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Increased Job Stress
Lowered Morale
Increased and Severe Conflict
Lowered Productivity
A. J. DuBrin, Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior, Second Edition. Copyright © 2002 by South-Western.
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Guidelines for Minimizing Sexual Harassment and
Protecting the Company Against Harassment Charges
·
Develop a zero tolerance policy on harassment and communicate it to your employees. Inform employees that harassment between members of the same sex is also forbidden.
·
Deflect the sexual harassment charge with an affirmative defense.
First, take care to prevent and correct promptly any sexually harassing behavior. Second, show that an employee failed to use internal procedures for reporting abusive behavior.
·
Ensure that employees will not face reprisals if they report offending behavior. Appoint several managers to take complaints, and train these managers in sexual harassment issues. Have at least two methods of reporting charges available such as an 800 number, an open-door policy, or internal review procedures.
·
Conduct training for employees and all levels of management on antidiscrimination and antisexual harassment policies and practices.
·
Publicize the anti-harrassment policies as aggressively and regularly as possible —in handbooks, on posters, in training sessions, in reminders in paychecks, and on the intranet.
·
Punishments against employees found guilty should be swift and sure.
Source:
Susan B. Garland, “ Finally, A Corporate Tip Sheet on
Sexual Harassment,” Business Week , July 13, 1998; Jennif er
Laabs, “Steps to Protect Your Company Against Sexual
Harassment,” Workforce , October 19 98, p. 41.
EXHIBIT
7-1
A. J. DuBrin, Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior, Second Edition. Copyright © 2002 by South-Western.
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Work-family Conflict
 Occurs when an individual has to perform multiple roles: worker, spouse, and parent.
 Meta-analytic study found negative relationship between all forms of work-family conflict and both job and life satisfaction.
 Organizational programs that reduce work-family conflict:
 flexible working hours
 work-at-home programs
 dependent care programs
 parental leave programs
A. J. DuBrin, Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior, Second Edition. Copyright © 2002 by South-Western.
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Functional conflict:


Occurs when the organization’s interests are served as a result of a dispute or disagreement.
Fosters higher levels of performance.
 Leads to crossfunctional problem solving and constructive change.
Dysfunctional conflict:
 Occurs when a dispute or disagreement harms the organization.
 Is disruptive in many ways.

 Wastes time and company resources.
Leads to anger and workplace violence by employees.
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A. J. DuBrin, Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior, Second Edition. Copyright © 2002 by South-Western.

Positive
The Relationship between
Conflict Intensity and Performance
Appropriate
Conflict
Neutral
Too Little
Conflict
Too Much
Conflict
Negative
Low High
EXHIBIT
7-2
Intensity of Conflict
A. J. DuBrin, Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior, Second Edition. Copyright © 2002 by South-Western.
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C-type (Cognitive) Conflict
 Focuses on substantive, issued-related (concrete) issues and differences that can be dealt with more intellectually than emotionally.
A-type (Affective) Conflict
 Focuses on subjective, individually oriented issues that are dealt with more emotionally than intellectually.
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A. J. DuBrin, Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior, Second Edition. Copyright © 2002 by South-Western.

Benefits of C-type Conflict:
 Conflict is functional in requiring teams to engage in activities that foster team effectiveness:
 All team activities focus on core issues of the problem
 Creativity and innovative thinking that create stretch goals
 Open communications where all can speak freely without fear of retribution
 Integration in making use of all team members, instead of one or two carrying the load for all.
A. J. DuBrin, Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior, Second Edition. Copyright © 2002 by South-Western.
7 –16

Conflict management styles
 Are combinations of satisfying one’s own desires (assertiveness) and satisfying the desires of others (cooperativeness).
A. J. DuBrin, Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior, Second Edition. Copyright © 2002 by South-Western.
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C o n f f l l i i c t t
M a n a g e m e n t t S t t y l l e
C o m p e t i i t i i v e
M e t t h o d o f f
R e s o l l v i i n g C o n f f l l i i c t t
D e s i i r e s t t o w i i n o n e ’ ’ s o w n c o n c e r n s a t t t h e e x p e n s e o f t t h e o t t h e r p a r t t y , , o r t t o d o m i i n a t e .
.
P e r s o n a l l
A c t t i i v i i t t y
E n g a g e i i n w i i n l l o s e p o w e r s t r u g g l l e s i i n t t h e o f f f i i c e .
.
A
S c h c a o r i i m n m g o d a t t i i v e F a v o r s a p p e a s e m e n s a t i i s f f y i i n g o t t h e r p a r n t t , , o r t t y
’ ’ s c o n c e r n s w i i t h o u t t t a k i i n g c a r e o f f o n e ’ s o w n n e e d s .
.
P r e f f e r s m o d e r a t t e b u t i i n c o m p l l e t e s a t i s f f a c t t i i o n f f o r b o t h p a r t t i i e s w h i i c h r e s u l l t t s i i n c o m p r o m i i s e .
.
G r a n t i i n g e x c e s s i i v e p a y r a i i s e s t t o d i i s s a t t i i s f i i e d w o r k e r s t t o b u y t t h e i i r l l o y a l l t t y
“ S p l l i i t t t i i n g t h e d i i f f f e r e n c e ” t t o r e a c h a g r e e m e n t o n a n i s s u e .
.
C o l l a b o r a t t i i v e R s e a t f f i i l l e s f f c y t s b a o t d h e s p i a i r r e t t i i t e o s ’ ’ f u c l l o l l y n c e r n s w h i i c h a w i i n w i i n s i i t u a t i i o n f f o r b o t h p a r t t i i e s .
.
A g r e e i i n g t o h i i r e f f e w e r t t e m p o r a r y w o r k e r s i i f t t h e u n i i o n w i i l l l l a g r e e t t o r e l l a x w o r k r u l l e r e s t r i i c t t i i o n s .
.
A v o i i d a n t I I n d i f f f e r e n c e t t o t t h e c o n c e r n s o f f e i t h e r p a r t y ; l e a v i i n g r e s o l l u t i i o n o f f t t h e c o n f f l l i i c t t t o f f a t t e o r t t o t t h e o t t h e r p a r t i i e s t o w o r k o u t t t h e i i r d i i f f f e r e n c e s o n t t h e i r o w n .
.
T h e a b s e n t e e o w n e r o f a f f i r m l l e t t t t i n g t h e f i i r m ’ ’ s m a n a g e m e n t a n d l l a b o r u n i i o n w o r k o u t t a c o n t r a c t t a g r e e m e n t t w i i t h o u t t i i n t t e r f f e r e n c e f f r o m t h e o w n e r .
.
A. J. DuBrin, Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior, Second Edition. Copyright © 2002 by South-Western.
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Competitive
(Dominant)
Conflict-Handling Styles According to Degree of Cooperation and Assertiveness
•
Sharing
(Compromise)
Collaborative
(Integration) •
Avoidant
(Neglect)
Accommodative
(Appeasement) •
Uncooperative Cooperative
Party’s desire to satisfy other’s concern
EXHIBIT
7-3
Source: K. W. Thomas, “Organizational Conflict” in Steve Kerr (ed.), Organizational Behavior
(Columbus, Ohio: Grid Publishing, 1979), p. 156.
A. J. DuBrin, Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior, Second Edition. Copyright © 2002 by South-Western.
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Confrontation and Problem Solving
 A method of identifying the true source of the conflict and resolving it systematically, emphasizing a tactful and noncombative approach to maintaining a harmonious relationship with the other party.
A. J. DuBrin, Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior, Second Edition. Copyright © 2002 by South-Western.
7 –20

D. H. Stamatis’ Six steps
 Step 1: Awareness—recognizing that conflict exists.
 Step 2: The decision to confront—conflicting parties come into open contact, no longer avoiding conflict.
 Step 3: The confrontation—parties choose conflict management styles and work toward resolution.
 Step 4: Determining the cause of the conflict—parties jointly identify the source of the conflict.
 Step 5: Determining the outcome and further steps— parties attempt to reduce or eliminate cause of the conflict.
 Step 6: Follow-through—parties should check periodically
A. J. DuBrin, Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior, Second Edition. Copyright © 2002 by South-Western.
that agreements are being kept.
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Confront
 Jump in and get agitated workers talking to prevent future blowups.
Contain
 Move the angry worker out of sight and earshot of fellow workers.
Remain impartial in the situation.
Connect
 Ask open-ended questions to get at the real reasons for the angry outburst.
A. J. DuBrin, Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior, Second Edition. Copyright © 2002 by South-Western.
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The organizational structure of a firm can create conflict among and between employees.
 Structural methods emphasize juggling work assignments and reporting relationships to minimize disputes by:
 exchanging members of an organizational unit for another unit’s members.
 resolving the conflict through an appeal to a higher authority
 by maintaining an “open door” policy.
A. J. DuBrin, Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior, Second Edition. Copyright © 2002 by South-Western.
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Stress is the mental and physical condition that results from a perceived threat that cannot be dealt with readily.
 Stress has productivity, legal, and human consequences.
 Stress can result from both negative and positive situations.
 Stress creates psychological, physical, and behavioral health problems.
A. J. DuBrin, Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior, Second Edition. Copyright © 2002 by South-Western.
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Stress is a discrepancy between an employee’s perceived state of being and desired state.
 For stress to occur, the discrepancy must be important to the employee.
 The worker attempts to deal with the discrepancy by coping through altering the perceptions, desires, and importance surrounding the discrepancy.
 To manage stress properly, a person must narrow the discrepancies between actual conditions and a desired state.
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A. J. DuBrin, Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior, Second Edition. Copyright © 2002 by South-Western.

Stressor
 Any force creating a physiological, emotional, and/or behavioral stress reaction.
Strain
 The adverse impact that the stress reaction has on employee health and wellbeing that coping with the stressor brings about.
A. J. DuBrin, Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior, Second Edition. Copyright © 2002 by South-Western.
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Physiological



Increased heart rate
Elevated blood pressure
Faster respiration rate


Dilated pupils
Increased perspiration
Risk factors





Heart attacks and strokes
Hypertension and headaches
Ulcers
Colitis
Allergies
Emotional



Anxiety and tension
Depression and discouragement
Boredom



Prolonged fatigue
Feelings of hopelessness
Defensive thinking
Behavioral


Nervous habits
Decreased job performance
 Errors in concentration and judgment
A. J. DuBrin, Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior, Second Edition. Copyright © 2002 by South-Western.
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A pattern of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion in response to chronic job stressors.
 Symptoms—cynicism, apathy, and indifference.
A. J. DuBrin, Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior, Second Edition. Copyright © 2002 by South-Western.
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Sources of burnout (Maslach and Leitier) are mismatches between the person and:
 Work overload (longer hours and less free time).
 Lack of control over one’s work.
 Lack of reward for one’s contributions.
 Lack or a breakdown in the person’s work community.
 Lack of fair treatment.
 Value conflicts between job demands and personal ethics.
A. J. DuBrin, Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior, Second Edition. Copyright © 2002 by South-Western.
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Within the Individual
 Coping with significant change.
 Being hostile, aggressive, and impatient (Type A individuals).
 Having an external locus of control.
 Negative lifestyle factors (lack of exercise, poor eating habits, smoking, abusing alcohol and drugs).
 Being pessimistic in general.
A. J. DuBrin, Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior, Second Edition. Copyright © 2002 by South-Western.
7 –30

Adverse Organizational Conditions
 Stress from high job demands and lack of control over job.
 Role overload (too much to do)
 Role underload (too little to do)
 Role conflicts
 Intrasender and intersender
 Interrole and person-role
 Role ambiguity
 Emotional labor
 Repetitive strain injuries (RSI)
 Culturally diverse work force
A. J. DuBrin, Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior, Second Edition. Copyright © 2002 by South-Western.
7 –31

The Job Demands-Job Control Model
Low Job Demands High Job Demands
Low Control
Passive Job
High Control Low-strain Job
High-strain Job
Active Job
EXHIBIT
7-5
A. J. DuBrin, Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior, Second Edition. Copyright © 2002 by South-Western.
7 –32


Providing emotional support to employees.

Making wellness and fitness programs available to employees.

Giving on-site massages to employees

Allowing napping on the job.
A. J. DuBrin, Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior, Second Edition. Copyright © 2002 by South-Western.
7 –33

Emotion support from immediate supervisors can help employees cope with job stress. Supportive behaviors include:
1. Keeping communication channels open.
2. Providing the right kind of help.
3. Acting as a catalyst for change.
4. Holding back on disseminating stressful information.
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A. J. DuBrin, Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior, Second Edition. Copyright © 2002 by South-Western.

Control
 Getting the right emotional support.
 Practice good work habits and time management.
Symptom Management
 Getting physical exercise to release endorphins.
 Using a relaxation response technique.
Escape
 Eliminating the stressor.
 Mentally blocking out the stressor.
A. J. DuBrin, Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior, Second Edition. Copyright © 2002 by South-Western.
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