Managing Conflict in Negotiations Bargaining, Conflict and Negotiations in Organizational Settings

Conflict Defined it’s pervasive, it’s inevitable, and it’s a process, not a product Lulofs: “conflict occurs in situations in which (1) the people are interdependent, (2) they seek different outcomes or they favor different means to the same ends; and/or (3) the people perceive the other is interfering with their pursuit of scarce rewards or resources.”

Overview of Conflict in Organizations The cultural “naturalness” of conflict Legal system Labor negotiations Political system The pervasiveness of conflict--20% of a managers time Connection to management theories

Benefits of Organizational Conflict Defuse potentially larger conflicts Forces us to acquire new information Inter-group conflict promotes intra-group cohesiveness Provides a opportunity to measure power, strength, or ability

Disadvantages of Organizational Conflict Leads to avoidance behavior Leads to withholding of information Threatens individuals Causes cynicism and reduced communication

Tannen’s View of Organizational Conflict Ritual Fighting Ritual Fighting as a function of organizational culture Gender differences

Kilmann Thomas Conflict Model X=cooperativenss, Y=assertiveness Avoidance (low coop, low assertiveness) denial, underresponsiveness, shifting, semantic focus, postponement, Advantage--takes out the heat of the moment Disadvantage--conflict remains unresolved, may lead to larger outbreak

Kilmann-Thomas Model, cont. Competition (low coop, high assertiveness) presumptive attribution, prescription Advantages--increased creativity and enthusiasm Disadvantages--violence, driving opponent underground

Kilmann Thomas, cont. Compromise (moderate X and Y) Advantages--often actually resolves the conflict Disadvantage--may actually be bad policy or decision by not staying true to either set of goals

Kilmann Thomas cont. Accommodation (High coop, Low assert.) appeasement, smoothing over Advantage--often quickly leads to solution Disadvantage-- may, in the long run, be detrimental, denies the legitimacy of the claims of one of the participants

Kilmann Thomas, cont. Collaboration (High coop, High assert.) High levels of commitment and empathy are necessary use description, qualification, accept responsibility, initiating problem solving Advantage--truly worthy of humans Disadvantage--difficult and many are not trained to do it very well

A Four Phase Model of Conflict Resolution Introduction--brief statement reviewing procedures for conflict resolution Explanation--each party discusses the source of the difficulty Clarifying--develop a better understanding of all relevant issues (positions versus interests) Problem Solving--brainstorms solutions, eliminate solutions, settle on a final solution

A Glossary of Negotiation Terms Negotiation--Back and forth communication designed to reach an agreement when you and the other side have some interests that are shared and others that are opposed Bargaining---trading of assets among parties to solve problems Mediation-- a neutral 3rd party is introduced to work with two parties Arbitration--like mediation, except that the third party has the authority to impose a binding decision

Bargaining at a glance Distributive bargaining (Win-lose) Integrative bargaining (Win-win)

Bargaining Strategies Force the opposition to open the bidding Frequent concessions Reciprocity for good faith Look for win-win solutions expand the pie joint brainstorming try “bridging”