BRITISH COLUMBIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

BUSA 7250

MANAGEMENT SKILLS AND APPLICATIONS

MODULE 10

Leadership Skills: Conflict Resolution and Discipline

PREPARED BY: Toula Spencer-Johnson

DATE: May, 1999

REVISED BY: Leila Rahemtulla

DATE: June, 2007

REVISED BY : Christopher J Gadsby

DATE: May 2015

BUSA 7250 MODULE 10.DOC 02/19

  2019 by

British Columbia Institute of Technology

Burnaby, British Columbia

All rights reserved. No part of this module may be reproduced

in any form, without permission in writing from BCIT.

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 Leadership Skills: Conflict Resolution and Discipline

Table of Contents
Learning Outcome.......................................................10-1

Learning Tasks............................................................10-1

Conflict Resolution Skills.............................................10-1

Introduction and Definitions..................................10-1
Three Views on Conflict........................................10-2
The Conflict Process.............................................10-2
Common Causes of Organizational Conflict........10-3
Functional and Dysfunctional Conflict..................10-3
Outcomes and Disadvantages of Dysfunctional
Conflict..................................................................10-4
How to Prevent Dysfunctional Conflict.................10-4
Outcomes and Benefits of Functional Conflict.......10-
5
How to Encourage and Stimulate Functional
Conflict..................................................................10-5
Conflict-Handling Approaches..............................10-6

Contemporary Issues in Conflict.................................10-7

Cultural Competence and Conflict........................10-7
Cultural Competence in the Workplace................10-7

Enlightened Discipline Skills.......................................10-8

Traditional Discipline............................................10-8
Enlightened Discipline..........................................10-9

Contemporary Issues in Discipline...........................10-12

Conclusions...............................................................10-13

References................................................................10-14

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 MODULE 10
Leadership Skills: Conflict
Resolution and Discipline

T his module continues the discussion of the select leadership

skills that relate to human interaction and form part of the
leading function of management. The module contains an
in-depth discussion of how the conflict resolution and discipline
process work, and provides the tools and techniques for effective
application of these skills.

Learning
Outcome
Use selected leadership skills in working with others.

Learning
Tasks
 Facilitate conflict resolution in a proactive manner.

 Apply enlightened discipline methods.

Conflict
Resolution
Skills
Introduction and Definitions
Conflict describes a situation when A perceives that B is trying, or
may try, to prevent A from achieving important goals, or when A
believes that B is trying to negatively affect a desirable existing
situation for A.

Examples: A rival company is making a lucrative offer to your

shareholders, in order to take control of your company.
You send a letter to your shareholders urging them to
reject the offer. You secretly fear that the takeover will
mean the end of your nice executive job.
During the staff meeting, Chris was highly critical of
your budget proposals and you have spent the entire
afternoon devising ways to fight back.

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 Three Views on Conflict
 The Traditional view proposes that all conflict is bad and must
be avoided.
 The Human Relations view sees conflict as inevitable and
natural.
 The Interactionist view sees conflict as positive and necessary
for high performance.

Most current research on organizational performance agrees with the

interactionist view of conflict.

The Conflict Process

Conflict begins with a situation that presents the potential for conflict.
This may result in A’s perception, which may or may not be true.
Next, A decides on a course of action against B. Then, A engages in
action to fend off B and B responds against A (see Figure 10.1) which
may bring about further action on the part of A. Eventually conflict
brings about certain outcomes. In the previous example about the
rival company’s move to take control, a possible outcome is that you
lose your job.

Figure 10.1
The Conflict Process

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 Leadership Skills: Conflict Resolution and Discipline

Common Causes of
Organizational Conflict
Conflict generally fits into two categories:

 Content conflict — over objects, events and persons external to

the people involved; and

 Relational conflict — between the two individuals involved.

Common causes of organizational conflict are the following:

 Differing perceptions
 Different goals and objectives
 Limited resources
 Different needs and motivators
 Personal dislikes and stereotypes
 Poor or no communication
 Ambiguity or lack of clear direction
 Task interdependence (e.g., when one party’s work outputs
become the inputs of another party)

Functional and Dysfunctional

Conflict
The definition of conflict as functional (good) or dysfunctional (bad)
depends on whether or not the outcomes are good or bad from the
organizational perspective.

Functional conflict leads to the achievement of organizational goals,

while dysfunctional conflict impedes their achievement. The definition
of conflict can become difficult if it arises from attempts to define
what these organizational goals are, or to form a hierarchy of their
importance.

Example: The conflict between the two senior managers centers on

the fact that one wants the company to focus on a
single-product line, while the other wants the company
to diversify.

The definitions of conflict apply at the team level as well. If the

outcome of conflict is the achievement of the group’s goals (provided
that the group’s goals reflect those of the organization), conflict is
functional and therefore desirable.

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Outcomes and Disadvantages of

Dysfunctional Conflict
 Retarding communication
 A climate of distrust and suspicion develops
 Reduction of group cohesiveness
 Group goal achievement is replaced by in-fighting goal
achievement
 Dissolution of the group

How to Prevent Dysfunctional

Conflict
At the group and interpersonal level:

 Ensure that the team shares important common goals.

 Redirect energies from the personal .level to goal achievement.

 Redirect attention from the persons to their behavior.

 Understand different perspectives, limitations, needs and

motivations.

 Train group members in how to express opposite points of view

without being personal (e.g., not “You believe this because you
don’t have the background to understand this issue,” but “I think
this idea will not work because …”).

 Name your emotions in a calm manner, without resorting to

histrionics (e.g., “When you behave like this I feel very angry.”).

 Air your concerns, instead of feeling slighted (e.g., “I want you

to stop asking others for direction. I am your manager and I
expect you to ask me when you need help.”).

 Make people aware of the effect that their poor interpersonal

skills have on the morale and productivity of others.

 Remove incurable cases from the scene, wherever possible, or

separate viciously warring parties and limit the interaction
between them.

At the organizational level:

 Emphasize overall organizational goals over departmental goals.

 Rotate personnel into different departments.

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 Leadership Skills: Conflict Resolution and Discipline

 Improve overall formal communication and understanding

through interaction.

 Reduce task interdependence.

 Clarify roles and rules.

 Increase resources.

Outcomes and Benefits of

Functional Conflict
 Better ideas are produced.
 New approaches are found.
 Long-standing problems surface and are dealt with.
 People are forced to clarify their views.
 Tension may stimulate interest and creativity.
 Staleness is prevented.
 Performance improves.
 Quality of decision improves (antidote for Groupthink).
 The status quo is challenged.
 Functional conflict provides a medium for airing problems and
releasing tension.

How to Encourage and Stimulate

Functional Conflict
In the discussion of Groupthink in Module 2, you learned what
happens to groups that avoid conflict, and you also learned about
techniques for overcoming Groupthink. These techniques also apply to
stimulating functional group conflict. Other helpful suggestions are
the following:

 As team leader, you must set an example by encouraging,

accepting and giving constructive criticism.

 Reward those who constructively question ideas.

 Do not reward the yes persons.

Some methods of encouraging functional conflict at the organizational

level are the following:

 Free people from the organizational structure constraints so that

they can question everything (e.g., create a team that operates
outside the bureaucracy and develops its own rules).

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 Limit organizational resources when new methods must be found

for cost cutting (e.g., cut the budget allocations and force people
to come up with new ideas on how to save money).

 Reward those who constructively question ideas.

 Build a formal system for debating management decisions.

 Build a system of swapping employee positions for a month and

then preparing a report on suggestions for improving
effectiveness.

Conflict-Handling Approaches
People react differently when there is conflict, but each person has a
favorite or a blend of two favorites that this person uses most of the
time. Common conflict-handling approaches are the following:

 Withdrawal or avoidance. Individuals withdraw from conflict

or suppress it. The disadvantage of withdrawal when the conflict
is functional is the loss of its benefits. The serious risk of
suppression is that the conflict may fester and erupt later in a
much more dysfunctional way.

 Forcing or competition. A win-lose situation, in which one party

dominates regardless of the impact on the loser. This is winning
at any cost.

 Smoothing or accommodation. Self-sacrifice, when one party

places the interest of the opposition above his/her own. A
lose-win approach. It is not seen very often.

 Compromise. Each party gives up something so that the conflict

can be resolved. Canada is often called the great compromiser.

 Confrontation or collaboration. Seeking a mutually beneficial

outcome by clarifying differences and jointly attempting to solve
problems. A win-win approach.

It should be clear from the above that collaboration is the preferred

method of resolving conflicts. Forcing and suppression usually result
in dysfunctional conflict and escalation of the existing conflict.

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 Leadership Skills: Conflict Resolution and Discipline

Contemporary
Issues in
Conflict
Cultural Competence and Conflict
Cultural conflict adds a third dimension of conflicting values, to the
two dimensions that every conflict has (content and relational). As
values are closely linked to personal identity, cultural conflict usually
has complicated dynamics and conflict often reoccurs or arises strong
emotions even though the issue of disagreement may be insignificant.

Definition of Cultural Competence

Cultural competence consists of developing the skills, beliefs,
attitudes and the openness to interact effectively and respectfully with
diverse individuals or groups. Cultural competence facilitates
interactions between individuals and groups which encourage respect
and valuing of the other, even if we disagree with them.

Individual and group cultural competence includes a number of

behaviors including self-assessment of one’s own heritage, identity,
values and biases; gaining knowledge of concepts of power and
privilege and prejudice, forming respectful relationships across
differences; developing an openness to listening to new perspectives,
and identifying differences in communication styles, motivational and
decision-making strategies.

Cultural Competence in the

Workplace
Workplace cultural competence requires that all levels within the
organization support and participate in the development of workplace
practices which reflect cultural competence including recruitment and
retention of a diverse workforce at all levels in the organization and
taking steps to involving all employees in decision making and change
initiatives.

Conflict, as noted above, can be a positive or negative experience for

an organization. Cultural differences have become an important issue
in the current diverse workplace, and the development of cultural
competence is an important tool for individuals and leaders in
organizations in order to establish healthy relationships in our
workplaces and to facilitate the evolution of our workplaces with the
learning and richness that healthy conflict and diverse perspectives
can provide (Williams, 1994).

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Enlightened
Discipline
Skills
Traditional Discipline
Traditional discipline aims to stop undesirable behavior by imposing
punishment. In this respect, it closely resembles our judicial system
where those who break the law are punished for their actions.

Examples: The coach is fired because the team failed to win the
cup.
An underperforming worker is placed on probation.
After a particularly nasty exchange, the two parties
involved are given a one-day suspension without pay.

Punishment is based on the assumption that it acts as a deterrent and

the offender will not re-offend. However, since so many criminals re-
offend, punishment does not seem to be a very effective method of
dealing with the problem.

In the workplace, people who are punished are not criminals. They are
ordinary people who happen to underperform, make mistakes, fail to
meet expectations, are mismatched to their jobs, do not get along with
others or are unmotivated. Since punishment focuses on behavior, not
on its causes; every time we punish we avoid solving a problem, and
instead we deal with its symptoms.

Punishment may cause several negative side effects:

 Loss of self-confidence and self-esteem. It can be a humiliating

experience for the person being punished.

 Destruction of a relationship of mutual trust and respect between

worker and manager.

 Frustration of the person being punished, especially if that

person perceives the punishment as unfair and so becomes hostile
and uncooperative.

 Avoidance of being caught. Especially when the punishment is

severe, people may try to cover up their acts in order to avoid the
consequences. There is the greater risk here of minor problems
turning into major problems because they have been swept under
the rug and allowed to fester.

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 Leadership Skills: Conflict Resolution and Discipline

 Highlighting negative behavior instead of focusing on positive

behavior. The objective is destructive (how to stop the
undesirable behavior) instead of constructive (how to promote
the desirable behavior).

 Formation of negative attitudes that are associated with anything

that surrounds the punishment, such as the job, the manager and
the organization.

 Creation of fear and stress by the threat of punishment. This

reduces the acceptance of ideas and causes further deterioration
in performance.

Since punishment can cause so many negative side effects, and since it
offers no guarantee that certain behavior will cease or a certain act
will not be repeated, why is it used in the workplace? The answers are
that punishment offers the satisfaction that the score is even and the
person has been made to pay for his/her misdemeanor, and that fear of
repeat punishment, or of progressively more severe consequences, will
act as a deterrent in the future. Punishment is also used because, if it
is severe enough, it can stop undesirable behavior very quickly
(although the results do not necessarily last long).

You may at this point form the impression that punishment must not
be used in any circumstance. This is not the case. Punishment has its
place in the workplace, but it must be used as a last resort when all
else has failed. Typical cases are when an unproductive employee is
terminated after he/she has been given every chance to improve and
has failed, or when the employee’s conduct is totally unacceptable
such as being physically or mentally abusive or violent towards
others, or committing serious theft or fraud against the company.

The appropriate use of punishment is described in greater detail in the

next section under negative discipline.

Enlightened Discipline
Enlightened discipline begins with the roots of the word discipline,
which means teaching, learning and educating. There are two kinds of
discipline:

 Positive discipline, which concentrates on education and

prevention.

Examples: There are strict rules and policies about patient

confidentiality in health care institutions. The staff
are made aware of those rules and policies and of
the penalties for violation.
The anti-drinking and driving advertising campaign
focuses on the tragic consequences of drinking and
driving and on the penalties for violation.

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The team leader offers regular feedback, direction

and assistance to an underperforming staff member
in order to fend off his termination.

 Negative discipline, which focuses on detection and punishment.

Examples: The traffic officer lurks behind the overpass with his
radar camera to catch speeding motorists.
A worker is dismissed for stealing company
equipment.

Organizations that use positive discipline effectively — that is, those

that communicate clearly what the rules, regulations and expectations
are, and try to prevent negative situations from occurring — have
fewer problems than those that neglect positive discipline and
concentrate on the negative instead.

Example: The company had a great deal of experience in policing

its employees. Supervisors constantly walked the plant
floor, and monitored video cameras scanning every
corner of the plant, including corridors and washrooms.
The workers knew that they were being watched and they
dared not slack off. Instead, they devised an ingenious
system for gaining free time and being paid for it:
inserting a small hairpin that could not be detected into
a sensitive piece of equipment usually incapacitated it
for a couple of hours and gave everyone working with
that piece of machinery some breathing time.

The work-maturity level of the employees is an important factor in the

success of positive discipline. Work-mature employees generally
accept and follow the guidelines given in positive discipline and they
may never have to face negative discipline. This parallels what
happens with the average citizen who is law abiding.

There are times, however, when even work-mature employees

disregard the rules, or fail to meet expectations, or make mistakes.
Remember that these employees are your valuable human resources
and should be salvaged. On the other hand, you cannot afford to
disregard the incident. How should such an employee be disciplined?
Below are helpful guidelines:

 The aim should be to try to correct the current situation and

prevent re-occurrence. The aim should not be to humiliate or to
destroy the self-esteem and confidence of the person being
punished.
 The circumstances should be carefully investigated to uncover
the causes, otherwise you are dealing with the symptoms.

 Facts should be gathered by hearing from all sides, if more than

one person is involved.

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 Leadership Skills: Conflict Resolution and Discipline

 Since the aim is to correct the current situation, involve the

person being disciplined in resolving the problem.

 Ensure the person disciplined has learned from this experience.

 Privacy is an essential aspect of the disciplinary interview.

 Since disciplining involves effective communication, never

discipline in anger. You may do or say things that you regret
later.

 Know the limits of your authority and the contract requirements,

if applicable.

 Beware of your biases, such as disliking the person or of having

strong feelings about the incident. Try to be fair.

 Be consistent, but also flexible. Two people committing the same

misdemeanor should receive equal treatment, but if one is a
repeat offender, that person should receive more severe
treatment.

 Use the sandwich technique + – +.

The sandwich technique (see Figure 10.2) describes the

sandwiching of the negative between two positives. The
disciplinary interview begins with a positive opening, such as the
worker’s past contributions or with some special skill or talent
he/she possesses. Then it proceeds to deal with the problem, and
ends on an optimistic note that indicates that the manager retains
confidence in the worker and believes that the worker can
overcome the problem.

Figure 10.2
Sandwich Technique
Enlightened discipline and the sandwich technique are designed
for the employees who exhibit a basic degree of work-maturity.
They are not designed for the small minority who may be totally
immature problem employees and repeat offenders, because these
employees will perceive them as lenient and so take advantage of
them.

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Example: Colin came out of the foreman’s office grinning and

winking at his buddies. He had another one of those
“sandwich” meetings with the foreman, when he
promised to be a good boy and never do it again,
and the foreman bought it!

Discipline Problems
 Harshness or leniency
 Biases
 Incomplete information
 Public humiliation
 Differing perceptions of the person being punished
 Avoidance or postponement

Contemporary
Issues in
Discipline
It is important to recognize the roots of many disciplinary problems
lie in one of two areas:

 in organizational or management problems including lack of

understanding of roles and expectations, inappropriate job
assignment, job design problems, and inadequate supervision.

 employee-centered causes include lack of interest, personality

and limited capabilities.

It is important that steps be taken to prevent disciplinary action,

including addressing the root of the problem. Two skills that are key
in preventing disciplinary problems and addressing them early are
feedback and coaching. Employees require timely and accurate
feedback and coaching on their performance in order to effectively do
their jobs, and learn from mistakes and errors.

Conclusion
Three very important leadership skills have been discussed in this
module: conflict resolution, cultural competence and applying
enlightened discipline. These human skills are part of the leading
function of the manager; thus the discussion of the four functions of
management is now complete. This course has given you the
opportunity to learn and apply the basics skills of management, and
this knowledge and experience can be transferred to your workplace.
Although you will from time to time encounter unique situations at
work, when the specific knowledge learned does not apply directly,
this course has provided you with sharpened judgment and enhanced

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 Leadership Skills: Conflict Resolution and Discipline

experience, which will enable you to deal with such unique situations
effectively.

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References
Hackman, D.R., & Oldham, G.R. (1976, August). Motivation through
the design of work: Test of a theory. . Organizational Behavior
and Human Performance, 250–279.

Hezberg, F. (1987, September/October). One more time: How do you

motivate employees? Harvard Business Review.

Plunkett, R.W. (1996). Supervision (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River,

NJ: Prentice Hall.

Robbins, S.P., & Langton, N. (2001). Organizational behavior

(2nd Canadian ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Williams, A. (1994, Summer). Resolving conflict in a multicultural

environment. MCS Conciliation Quarterly, 2–6.

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