Chapter Eleven
Managing Conflict and
Negotiating
“Getting Things Done” Sequence
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Managing Change
Leadership
Influence, Power, and Politics
Managing Conflict
Note: menu of options available to you
in an organizational setting
Chapter Eleven Outline
A Modern View of Conflict
•A Conflict Continuum
•Functional versus Dysfunctional Conflict
•Antecedents of Conflict
•Desired Outcomes of Conflict
Major Sources of Conflict
•Personality Conflicts
•Inter-group Conflict
•Cross-Cultural Conflict
Chapter Eleven Outline (continued)
Managing Conflict
•Programming Functional Conflict
•Alternative Styles for Handling Dysfunctional Conflict
•Third-Party Interventions: Alternative Dispute Resolution
Negotiating
•Two Basic Types of Negotiation
•Added-Value Negotiation
Conflict
Conflict: “A process in which one party perceives that its
interests are being opposed or negatively affected by
another party.”
Functional conflict serves the
organization’s interests while
dysfunctional conflict threatens
the organization’s interests.
Exercise
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Distinguish between the Southwest
Airlines and Gateway stories.
Are these comparable?
Antecedents of Conflict
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Incompatible personalities or value systems.
Overlapping or unclear job boundaries.
Competition for limited resources.
Interdepartment/intergroup competition.
Inadequate communication.
Interdependent tasks.
Organizational complexity.
Antecedents of Conflict (continued)
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Unreasonable or unclear policies, standards, or
rules.
Unreasonable deadlines or extreme time pressure.
Collective decision making.
Decision making by consensus.
Unmet expectations.
Unresolved or suppressed conflict.
Desired Outcomes of Conflict
Agreement: Strive for equitable and fair agreements that
last.
Stronger relationships: Build bridges of goodwill and
trust for the future.
Learning: Greater self-awareness and creative problem
solving.
Personality Conflicts
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Interpersonal opposition driven by personal dislike or
disagreement
Workplace incivility, e.g. sexually offensive remarks,
ridicule about sexual orientation, ethnic slurs, racial
slurs, age-related
Examples:
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Milton’s radio
Trash talk in the office
Slurs
Are you part of the problem? (see Hands-on Exercise
p 280)
Tips for Managers Whose Employees
Are Having a Personality Conflict
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2.
3.
4.
5.
Follow company policies for diversity, antidiscrimination, and sexual harassment.
Investigate and document conflict.
If appropriate, take corrective action (e.g.,
feedback or behavior modification).
If necessary, attempt informal dispute resolution.
Refer difficult conflicts to human resource
specialists or hired counselors for formal
resolution attempts and other interventions.
Intergroup conflict
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In-group thinking
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Other groups are “all alike”
Positively and morally correct
Outsiders as a threat
Differences exaggerated.
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Figure 11-1
Minimizing Inter-group Conflict: An
Updated Contact Model
Level of perceived
Inter-group conflict tends
to increase when:
• Conflict within the
group is high
• There are negative
interactions between
groups (or between
members of those
groups)
• Influential third-party
gossip about other group
is negative
Recommended actions:
• Work to eliminate specific negative
interactions between groups (and
members).
• Conduct team building to reduce
intragroup conflict and prepare
employees for cross-functional teamwork.
• Encourage personal friendships and
good working relationships across
groups and departments.
• Foster positive attitudes toward
members of other groups (empathy,
compassion, sympathy).
• Avoid or neutralize negative gossip
across groups or departments.
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Skills and Best Practices: How to
Build Cross-Cultural Relationships
Behavior
Be a good listener
Be sensitive to the needs of others
Be cooperative, rather than overly competitive
Advocate inclusive (participative) leadership
Compromise rather than dominate
Build rapport through conversations
Be compassionate and understanding
Avoid conflict by emphasizing harmony
Nurture others (develop and mentor)
Rank
1
2
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Tie
Managing conflict
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Programmed conflict
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Defend or criticize ideas
Based on relevant facts
Avoid personal or political preferences
Disciplined role playing
Programmed conflict techniques (Fig 11-2)
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Devil’s advocacy
Dialectic method
Concern for Others
Five Conflict-Handling Styles
High
Integrating
Obliging
Compromising
Low
Dominating
Avoiding
High
Low
Concern for Self
Source: MA Rahim, “A Strategy for Managing
Conflict in Complex Organizations, Human Relations,
January 1985, p 84. Used with author’s permission.
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Alternative Dispute Resolution
(ADR) Techniques
Facilitation: Third party gets disputants to deal directly and
constructively with each other.
Conciliation: Neutral third party acts as communication link
between disputants.
Peer review: Impartial co-workers hear both sides and render
decision that may or may not be binding.
Ombudsman: Respected and trusted member of the
organization hears grievances confidentially.
Mediation: Trained third-party guides disputants toward their
own solution.
Arbitration: Neutral third-party hears both sides in a court-like
setting and renders a binding decision.
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Negotiating
Negotiation: “A give-and-take decision-making process
involving interdependent parties with different preferences.”
Distributive negotiation: Single issue; fixed-pie; win-lose.
Integrative negotiation: More than one issue; win-win.
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An Integrative Approach:
Added-Value Negotiation
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Clarify interests.
Identify options.
Design alternative deal packages.
Select a deal.
Perfect the deal.
Negotiating Zone
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Zone defined in monetary terms
Add other “issues”
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Soft-money
Non-monetary issues
Package possible?
How are min-max positions established
during actual negotiations?