Conflict and

Negotiation
AFTER STUDYING THIS
CHAPTER,
YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO:

1. Define conflict.
2. Differentiate between the traditional, human relations,
and interactionist views of conflict.
3. Contrast task, relationship, and process conflict.
4. Outline the conflict process.
5. Describe the five conflict-handling intentions.
6. Contrast distributive and integrative bargaining.

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AFTER STUDYING THIS CHAPTER,
YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO:

7. Identify the five steps in the negotiating process.

8. Describe cultural differences in negotiations.

3
 Conflict

Conflict is an integral part of every day life of an

individual or of an organization. We often hear people
saying
“There is conflict in his mind”
“They have conflicting views”
“They are in conflict”
So whenever there is interaction there is conflict.

Conflict has considerable influence on the behavior,

performance, and satisfaction of employees.
 Purpose and Overview

• Overview
• The Importance of Conflict Management
• The Causes of Conflict
• Levels of Conflict
• Managing Conflict
• Negotiation
• Managing Conflict Through Third-Party Intervention
 The Importance of Conflict
Management
• Changing Environmental Trends
• Global competition
• Increased diversity
• Corporate restructuring
• Mobile workforce
 The Causes of Conflict
• Resource Scarcity
• Power, money, information, advice, praise
• Beneficial versus Detrimental Effects
 The Causes of Conflict
• Jehn’s Typology of Conflict
• Task content conflict
• Emotional conflict
• Administrative conflict
 Levels of Conflict
• Individual Level (intrapersonal)
• Approach-approach
• Avoidance-avoidance
• Approach-avoidance
 Levels of Conflict
• Group Level
• Interpersonal conflict: between two or more individuals
• Intragroup conflict
• Intergroup conflict
Managing Conflict
 Conflict occurs whenever disagreement exist in a
social situation over issues. Conflict is a that begins
when one party perceives that another has negatively
affected, or is about to negatively affect, something
that the first party cares about.

It can be :
• Constructive
• Destructive
 Constructive conflict:

1) It can introduce different solution to problems

2) Power relationships can be defines more clearly
3) It may encourage creativity and the testing of ideas.
4) It focuses attention on individual contribution.
5) It brings emotion out into the open
6) It can release hostile feelings
 Destructive conflict

1) It may distract attention from the task

it can polarise views and affect judgment
2) objectives may be subverted in favour of secondary
goals.
3) It encourages defensive or spoiling behaviour,
damaging co-ordination and co operation
4) it may result in disintegration of the group
5) looser may go into denial, look for scapegoats or
withdraw from further participation.
Important Views about Conflict

• Traditional View
• Human Relation View
• Inter-actionist View
• Functional Vs. Dysfunctional Conflict
Traditional View:

They considered it totally bad and advocated

that conflicts must be avoided. Conflict is
resulting from poor communication, a lack of
openness and trust between people, and the
failure of managers to be responsive to their
employees.
 The Human Relations View

• They argued that conflict was a

natural occurrence in all groups and
organizations. Management should
be concerned with avoiding conflict
if possible and resolving it as soon
as possible. It can be avoided by
creating an environment of
goodwill and trust.
 Inter-actionist View/Modern
View Point

• The group leader must allow some conflicts to

happen in the group, so that the group may
remain viable, self critical and creative. This
approach encourages conflict otherwise the
group will become static and non responsive to
the needs for change and innovation.
Transitions in Conflict Thought

Causes:
Causes:
• • Poor
Poor
communication
communication
• • Lack of openness
Lack of openness
• • Failure to respond
Failure to respond
to
toemployee
employee
needs
needs

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Transitions in Conflict Thought (cont’d)

22
Functional versus Dysfunctional
Conflict

23
Types of Conflict

24
The Conflict Process

25
 Stage I: Potential Opposition or
Incompatibility
• Communication
• Semantic difficulties, misunderstandings, and “noise”
• Structure
• Size and specialization of jobs
• Jurisdictional clarity/ambiguity
• Member/goal incompatibility
• Leadership styles (close or participative)
• Reward systems (win-lose)
• Dependence/interdependence of groups
• Personal Variables
• Differing individual value systems
• Personality types

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Stage II: Cognition and
Personalization

Conflict
Conflict Definition
Definition

Negative
Negative Emotions
Emotions Positive
Positive Feelings
Feelings

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Stage III: Intentions

Cooperativeness:
Cooperativeness:
• • Attempting
Attemptingto to
satisfy the other
satisfy the other
party’s
party’sconcerns.
concerns.
Assertiveness:
Assertiveness:
• • Attempting
Attemptingto to
satisfy
satisfyone’s
one’sown
own
concerns.
concerns.

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Stage III: Intentions (cont’d)

29
Stage III: Intentions (cont’d)

30
Dimensions of Conflict-Handling
Intentions

31
Stage IV: Behavior

32
Stage IV: Conflict Resolution
Techniques

• • Problem solving
Problem solving
• • Super ordinate goals
Super ordinate goals
• • Expansion of resources
Expansion of resources
• • Avoidance
Avoidance
• • Smoothing
Smoothing
• • Compromise
Compromise
• • Authoritative command
Authoritative command
• • Altering the human variable
Altering the human variable
• • Altering the structural variables
Altering the structural variables

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Stage IV: Conflict Stimulation
Techniques
•• Communication
Communication
•• Bringing
Bringingin
inoutsiders
outsiders
•• Restructuring
Restructuringthe
the
organization
organization
•• Appointing
Appointingaadevil’s
devil’s
advocate
advocate

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Conflict-Intensity Continuum

35
 Stage V: Outcomes

• Functional Outcomes from Conflict

• Increased group performance
• Improved quality of decisions
• Stimulation of creativity and innovation
• Encouragement of interest and curiosity
• Provision of a medium for problem-solving
• Creation of an environment for self-evaluation and change
• Creating Functional Conflict
• Reward dissent and punish conflict avoiders

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 Stage V: Outcomes (cont’d)

• Dysfunctional Outcomes from Conflict

• Development of discontent
• Reduced group effectiveness
• Retarded communication
• Reduced group cohesiveness
• Infighting among group members overcomes group goals

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Negotiation

38
Bargaining Strategies

39
Distributive versus Integrative
Bargaining

40
Staking Out the Bargaining Zone

41
The Negotiation Process

42
 Issues in Negotiation

• The Role of Personality Traits in Negotiation

• Traits do not appear to have a significantly direct effect on
the outcomes of either bargaining or negotiating
processes.
• Gender Differences in Negotiations
• Women negotiate no differently from men, although men
apparently negotiate slightly better outcomes.
• Men and women with similar power bases use the same
negotiating styles.
• Women’s attitudes toward negotiation and their success
as negotiators are less favorable than men’s.
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Third-Party Negotiations

44
Third-Party Negotiations (cont’d)

45
Why U.S. Managers Might Have Trouble in
Cross-Cultural Negotiations

46
Conflict and Unit Performance

47
Conflict and Unit Performance

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CONFLICT RESOLUTION

 UNFREEZE
 BEING OPEN
 LEARNING EMPATHY
 SEARCH FOR COMMON THEMES
 GENERATE ALTERNATIVES
 RESPOND TO ALTERNATIVES.
 SEARCH FOR SOLUTION.
 BREAKING DEAD LOCK.
 COMMITTING TO SOLUTION WITH GROUP.
 COMMITTING TO WHOLE GROUP.
 COURSE OBJECTIVE

This subject will contribute to the outcomes by enabling students to

apply concepts in the area of negotiation and conflict management, and
by improving their interpersonal skills. The student will able to :

• Understand the different types of conflict.

• Understand the causes of conflict.
• Understand the consequences of conflict.
• Understand how to manage conflict effectively.
• Understand the stages of the negotiation process.
• Understand how to avoid common negotiation mistakes.
• Engage in conflict management and negotiation ethically.
• Understand cross-cultural differences in conflict and negotiation.
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 Learning Outcomes

• Upon completion of the subject, students will be able to:

• understand the nature of negotiation and conflict and apply key
conceptual frameworks to analyze actual situation;
• use negotiation process as a means to achieve business targets,
resolve conflict, and create value for organizations;
• evaluate the costs and benefits of alternative courses of actions
in negotiations;
• assess one’s own strengths and weaknesses as a negotiator.

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 REFERENCES

Recommended Books

Thompson, L. (2012). The mind and heart of the negotiator (5th ed). Upper Saddle River,
NJ: Prentice Hall.

Malhotra, D. & Bazerman, M. 2008. Negotiation Genius: How to Overcome Obstacles

and Achieve Brilliant Results at the Bargaining Table and Beyond. New York, NY:
Bantam Dell.

Brett, J. M. (2001). Negotiating globally: How to negotiate deals, resolve disputes, and
make decisions across cultural boundaries. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Lewicki, R. J., Saunders, D. M., & Barry, B. (2008). Negotiation (5th ed.). Boston, MA:
McGraw-Hill Irwin.

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 JOURNALS

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes

Journal of Experimental Social Psychology

Negotiation and Conflict Management Journal

Journal of Conflict Resolution

Negotiation Journal

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 FAQ’S

1. Can conflicts be functional or useful? Give an example.

2. What are the sources of conflict and how do these operate under the conflict-
escalation and conflict- resolution modes?

3. What is the concept of organisational conflict ? Are organisational conflicts always

dysfunctional ? Explain fully.

4. Analyse the pros and cons of alternative approaches to the management of conflict in
the organisation.

5. What are the negotiation phases and what goes on during each of them?

6. When negotiating, is establishing a BATNA important? Why or why not?

7. What can you do to improve your negotiating effectiveness?

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