Chapter 9
CONFLICT AND
NEGOTIATION
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
CONFLICT
• A natural occurrence in social situations
• Broadly it refers to circumstances in which the interests
of different parties are not aligned- which can lead to
open hostilities
• Traditionally seen as negative and counterproductive,
its role – and management – has evolved drastically
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
NEGOTIATION
• Is commonplace in social and
organizational settings
• A process of maximizing one’s value
through interpersonal decision-making in
situations where outcomes for each party
are interdependent
• Can help address conflict, and conflict
frequently arises in negotiations
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
Perspectives on conflict
• Unitarianist - views the whole organization as the natural
unit of consideration and suggests that within it,
objectives are aligned
• Pluralist - holds that an organization comprises a
collection of groups each with their own objectives,
aspirations and agenda to follow
• Marxist and radical - suggests that conflict is an
inevitable function of capitalism
• Labour process theory - seeks to explore the way in
which capitalism acquires labour as a commodity and
uses it to produce other commodities to the benefit of the
capital ownersFor use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
Labour process theory
Thompson and McHugh (1995) – consequences from the capitalist nature of
the labour process:
• Work organizations are distinct from other organizations – can only be
understood within a theory of capital accumulation and labour process
• Organizations are structures of control and managers act as agents of
capital owners
• Organizational structures and processes involve political issues,
decisions and choices on job design, control systems, etc
• Organizations do not embody a universal rationality, but rather a
contested rationality arising from antagonistic and conflictual relationships
between capital and labour
• Organizational change reflects the balance between control and
resistance expressed in the daily dynamic of experience
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
Labour process theory
Thompson (1989) - five core elements:
• Labour as a unique commodity
• Labour as a special focus of attention is capitalism
• Capitalism forces minimization
• Control as an imperative
• Institutionalized conflict
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
NATURE OF ORGANIZATIONAL
CONFLICT
• Latent conflict - the condition where the
relevant interests of interacting parties are
not aligned
• Open or explicit conflict - refers to
situations in which the goal oriented
behaviour of one party negatively affects
the goal-oriented behaviour of another
party which results in changes in the
interactions between the parties
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
Sources of organizational conflict
Figure 9.1
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
Sources of organizational conflict
Intrapersonal
Interpersonal
• Whetten and Cameron (1991) - four sources of interpersonal conflict
• Personal difference
• Role incompatibility
• Information deficiency
• Environmental stress
Intragroup
Intergroup
Intraorganizational
Interorganizational
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
Sources of organizational conflict
Figure 9.2
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
Sources of organizational conflict
Figure 9.3
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
Types and Forms of organizational
conflict
• Task conflict (cognitive conflict) - disagreements among group members about the
content of the tasks performed, including differences in viewpoints, ideas, and opinions
• Relationship conflict (emotional or affective conflict) - interpersonal incompatibilities
among group members, which typically includes tension, animosity, and annoyance
among members within a group
• Process conflict - controversies about aspects of how task accomplishment will
proceed
• Sabotage
• Bullying or harassment
• Whistleblowing
• Work manipulation
• Work-to-rule
• Work restriction
• Strike or lock-outs
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
Conflict impact on performance
• Figure 9.4
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
Consequences of conflict
Figure 9.5
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
Conflict handling strategies
• Conflict prevention - any organizational or
interpersonal arrangement or process that reduces the
risk of open conflict
• Conflict management - any activity or provision that
aims at reducing, increasing, creating or solving conflict
to achieve an appropriate level of conflict
• Conflict resolution, - any attempt to lower the level of
conflict by reducing the source or consequence of
differences in interests between conflicting parties
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
Conflict handling strategies
Thomas (1976) - five generic conflict handling styles:
• Smoothing or accommodating
• Avoidance
• Collaboration and problem solving
• Competitive or authoritarian
• Compromise
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
Five conflict handling styles
• Figure 9.6
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
Negotiation terms
•
Distributive negotiation - the available value is fixed and can be
distributed between the involved parties), sometimes referred to as a fixed
pie approach
•
Negotiation goal drift, - the change in negotiators’ objectives from gaining
absolute value to competitive or even punitive goals
•
BATNA - Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement
•
Reservation point (resistance point) - the lowest value that makes an offer
acceptable
•
Aspirations or target points - reflect what a party hopes to get out of a
negotiation in the most favourable circumstances
•
anchor - comparison point for all further considerations
•
Concessions - improvements in the offer made to the other party on the
way to reaching negotiated agreements
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
A purely distributive two-party
negotiation situation with possible
outcome options
Figure 9.7
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
Negotiating tactics
Win-lose tactics:
• Probing
• Get/give
• Emotion
• Good guy/bad guy
• Poker face
• Managing the minutes
• Understanding not agreement
• Getting upstairs
• Forcing
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
Factors influencing negotiation
tactics
Figure 9.8
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
Integrative approaches to
negotiation
• Value creation - increasing the total value available
for claiming by the parties through the development
of integrative solutions.
• Integrative solutions - combinations of outcomes for
each party that exceed the total benefits available for
claiming from purely distributive compromise
• Logrolling - value is created through trading
differences in the value of particular aspects of an
agreement for different partners
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
Integrative approaches to
negotiation
Successful integrative negotiation leads to outcomes that:
• are better for the parties than their respective BATNAs;
• satisfy the interest of the involved parties as well as avoid
problems with third parties due to the agreements
• are acceptable for all parties so that nobody experiences
remorse or feels taken advantage of
• are enforceable, possibly through planned commitment keeping
(such as legal contracts or agreement on how problems will be
resolved)
Ideally, successful integrative agreements will also:
• maximize the total value achievable to all parties
• be based on efficient negotiation processes
• contribute to a well-maintained or even improved relationship
among the parties
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
Integrative approaches to
negotiation
The strategies and tactics that have proven to be valuable in integrative
negotiation include:
• Actively sharing information about own interests
• Building trust within the context of the negotiation
• Asking diagnostic questions to determine the other parties interests and any
relevant differences
• Separating issues in the discussion only
• Separating discussion and exploration of issues from decision making about
issues
• Making decisions about packages that include all relevant aspects rather
than dealing sequentially with different tissues
• Making multiple offers simultaneously to communicate options of equal
value to one’s own party
• Trade-off differences in interests, preferences, values, and perceptions for
mutual gain
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
Integrative potential in two-party
negotiations
Figure 9.9
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
Principled negotiations
Fisher and Ury (1986)
• Separate the people from the problem
• Focus on interests, not positions
• Invent options for mutual gain
• Insist on objective criteria
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
Third parties in negotiation
and conflict resolution
• Conciliators - content experts that can provide
advice on the negotiation content and suggest
agreement options
• Mediators - act as facilitators to improve
communication and other aspects of the negotiation
process to increase the chances of mutually
acceptable agreements
• Arbitrators - independent third parties that can
impose binding agreements on the parties involved
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning