Major Trends that Make Organizational Conflict Inevitable
Constant change
Greater employee diversity
More teams (virtual and self-managed)
Less face-to-face communication
Global economy with increased cross-cultural dealings
Conflict
process in which one party perceives its interests are being opposed or negatively affected by another party
Conflict can escalate (strengthen) or deescalate (weaken) over time.
current and future managers need to understand the dynamics of conflict and k
Relationship between Conflict Intensity and Outcomes
Work groups, departments, or organizations experiencing too little conflict tend to be plagued by apathy, lack of creativity, indecision, and missed deadlines.
Excessive conflict, on the other hand, can erode organizational performance because of politica
Functional versus Dysfunctional Conflict
Functional conflict
Serves organization's interests
Also called constructive or cooperative conflict
Dysfunctional conflict
threatens organization's interests.
Why People Avoid Conflict
we avoid conflict because we fear various combinations of the following things: "harm," "rejection," "loss of relationship," "anger," "being seen as selfish," "saying the wrong thing," "failing," "hurting someone else," "getting what you want," and "intim
Antecedents of Conflict
Among the situations tending to produce either functional or dysfunctional conflict are:
Incompatible personalities or value systems.
Overlapping or unclear job boundaries.
Interdepartment/intergroup competition.
Competition for limited resources.
Inadequ
As a manager of a forty-five person department, Connie has always heard that there are certain situations that produce more conflict than others. She is interested in learning about these situations so she can carefully read early warnings and take approp
B - Organizational simplicity
Desired Conflict Outcomes
Agreement. But at what cost? Equitable and fair agreements are best. An agreement that leaves one party feeling exploited or defeated will tend to breed resentment and subsequent conflict.
Stronger relationships. Good agreements enable conflicting parties
Types of Conflict
Personality conflict
interpersonal opposition driven by personal dislike, disagreement, or different styles
Workplace incivility
rudeness or a lack of regard for another person
Day of contemplation
A one-time-only day off with pay to allow a problem emplo
How to Deal With Personality Conflicts
Personality traits, by definition, are stable and resistant to change.
Employees in the United States suffering from psychological disorders such as depression and mood-altering diseases such as alcoholism are protected from discrimination by the American
Having taken this OB class and learned about how they deal with personality conflict, what tip(s) would you offer to employees having a personality conflict?
A - In resolving conflict, focus on personalities.
B - Bring co-workers into the conflict so you
C - Communicate directly with the other person to resolve the perceived conflict.
Intergroup Conflict
conflict among work groups, teams, and departments
A certain amount of cohesiveness can turn a group of individuals into a smooth-running team. Too much cohesiveness, however, can breed groupthink because a desire to get along pushes aside critical thinki
Contact hypothesis
the more the members of different groups interact, the less intergroup conflict they will experience
Don is an Executive VP of a regional health-insurance company. He has noticed that the different departments do not work well together and seem more concerned with "protecting their turf" than in working to reach organizational goals. Don thinks that if h
C - Contact hypothesis
Research Lessons for Handling Intergroup Conflict
The top priority for managers faced with intergroup conflict is to identify and root out specific negative linkages between (or among) groups.
A single personality conflict may contaminate the entire intergroup experience. The same goes for an employee wh
An Updated Contact Model for Minimizing Intergroup Conflict
priority number one for managers faced with intergroup conflict is to identify and root out specific negative linkages among groups.
Cross-Cultural Conflict
Because of differing assumptions about how to think and act, the potential for cross-cultural conflict is both immediate and huge.
Success or failure when conducting business across cultures often hinges on avoiding and minimizing actual or perceived conf
How to Build Cross-Cultural Relationships
Good listening skills topped the list, followed by sensitivity to others and cooperativeness rather than competitiveness.
Interestingly, US managers are culturally characterized as just the opposite: poor listeners, blunt to the point of insensitivity, an
Programmed Conflict
conflict that raises different opinions regardless of the personal feelings of the managers
The trick is to get contributors to either defend or criticize ideas based on relevant facts rather than on the basis of personal preference or political interests
Techniques for Stimulating Functional Conflict: Devil's Advocacy and the Dialectic Method
Devil's advocacy
assigning someone the role of critic.
Dialectic method
calls for managers to foster a structured debate of opposing viewpoints prior to making a decision. A major drawback of the dialectic method is that "winning the debate" may overshado
Five Conflict Handling Styles
Integrating
interested parties confront the issue and cooperatively identify the problem, generate and weigh alternative solutions, and select a solution.
appropriate for complex issues plagued by misunderstanding.
inappropriate for resolving conflicts ro
Third-Party Intervention Options for Handling Conflict Triangles
Conflict triangle
occurs when two people are having a problem and, instead of addressing the problem directly with each other, one of them gets a third person involved
Alternative Dispute Resolution
avoiding costly lawsuits by resolving conflicts informal
In handling conflict, Jorge believes that interested parties must confront the issue and cooperatively identify the problem, generate and weigh alternative solutions, and select a solution. Jorge can be described as advocating which conflict handling styl
B - Integrating
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Facilitation. A third party, usually a manager, informally urges disputing parties to deal directly with each other in a positive and constructive manner. This can be a form of detriangling, as discussed earlier.
Conciliation. A neutral third party inform
Practical Lessons from Conflict Research
-People with a high need for affiliation tended to rely on a smoothing (obliging) style while avoiding a forcing (dominating) style.
-Disagreement expressed in an arrogant and demeaning manner produced significantly more negative effects than the same sor
Fredhandbag Photography has created a panel of trustworthy employees to decide on disputes at the company. This is called _________.
A - Mediation
B - Facilitation
C - Conciliation
D - Peer review
D - Peer review
Negotiating
Negotiation
give-and-take decision-making process involving interdependent parties with different preferences
Two types:
Distributive
Integrative
Distributive negotiation involves traditional win-lose thinking. Integrative negotiation calls for a progress
Added-Value Negotiation
Ethical Pitfalls in Negotiation
Practical Lessons from Negotiation Research
-Negotiators with fixed-pie expectations produced poor joint outcomes because they restricted and mismanaged information.
-a slight tendency for women to negotiate more cooperatively than men. But when faced with an "apples-for-apples" bargaining strategy
core emotional elements of negotiation
Appreciation: acknowledge that each other's thoughts, feelings, and actions have merit.
Affiliation: treat each other as colleagues rather than as adversaries to be kept at a distance.
Autonomy: respect each other's freedom to make important decisions.
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