Vigilance Project Case Why is this case about team conflict? What conflicts do you see developing? How is distance affecting team dynamics and performance? What do you think about the decision to appoint sub-team sponsors? What problems can it solve? What problems might it not solve?

Types of Interdependence Pooled interdependence Share some common resources but each has own job, often apart from others. For example: Sales teams. Sequential interdependence > People work independently and the result is the sum of the parts; build on what others have done and hand off the work. For example: Manufacturing teams. Reciprocal interdependence Output of A is input for B and output of B is input for A; a dynamic interaction. For example: Design teams.

Emotional Concerns in Conflict Five core concerns drive most emotions in conflicts and negotiation: Appreciation Affiliation Autonomy Status Role Levers and Lenses: Identify things you can do to that might address these concerns during a Conflict or Negotiation Appreciation involves recognizing value and/or expressing gratitude for what others say, do or contribute. When we express appreciation, it enhances others’ self-esteem and makes it more possible for parties to identify with each other--an outcome that is particularly important to team development. Expressing appreciation requires active listening, and a willingness to find merit in others’ points of view even if you disagree. Affiliation refers to the way in which we feel connected to other people or groups. It is analogous to the notions of team identity and cohesiveness. A strong sense of affiliation encourages us to care for others and look out for their interests as well as our own. In many ways, this case centers on a failure to address affiliation concerns. Encourage students to identify some key issues that made affiliation challenging. They should identify that the American group and French group were essentially from two different companies. The fact that one company in the merger was more dominant did not help. Autonomy concerns center around our need to feel that we are free to act. We get offended or frustrated when we feel as though others limit our capacity to act beyond what we think is appropriate. You’ll want to direct students to consider ways in which autonomy concerns appear in this case. Encourage them to consider the controlling ways in which Didier is described to have run meetings. The Americans consistently felt as though their input was disregarded, and that left them feeling powerless to act. Status is a fourth concern that can affect the way we approach conflicts. It refers to perceptions of our own standing in relation to others with whom we are interdependent. Role concerns relate to our feelings about whether what we are doing is purposeful, personally meaningful and consistent with other goals and values that matter to us. One way to understand the reactions of the American team members is by recognizing that they likely felt as if their roles were being marginalized. They were being excluded from certain core-team decisions, and felt as though their prior experience was being inappropriately ignored.

Appreciation Understand points of view: Listen for mood as well as words. Listen for meta-messages /themes (key words). Find merit in what others think, how they feel and what they do. Communicate understanding. To help others understand your point of view: Propose time to be listened to. Tailor your message to be heard. To help others find merit in your interests: Ask them to do so. Use metaphors. To help others hear your message: Have a few big points. Ask them to state what they heard you say.

Affiliation Look for connections. Treat each other as colleagues. Reduce personal distance: Meet in person. Discuss things you care about. Provide “space”. Make it easier to build personal connections: Private, unofficial meetings. Reshape public perceptions. Subcommittees for specific issues. Protect yourself from being manipulated by affiliation: With your head. With your gut.

Autonomy Expand our own: Don’t impinge on theirs: Make recommendations. Explore interests. Explore options before deciding. Don’t impinge on theirs: Consult and inform stakeholders. Establish guidelines for decision making.

Acknowledge Status Status can enhance esteem and influence. Courtesy and respect go a long way. Become aware of what people value about themselves. Look for each person’s particular status. Acknowledge their status, then yours. Take pleasure in your areas of status. Know the limits of status: Be ready to clarify your role. Avoid “status spillover” Seek second opinions. Ask others to help you explore pros and cons of other options. Acknowledge the status of others.

Role Make conventional roles more fulfilling: Potential role conflicts. Shape roles/redefine activities. What would you add? What would you take away? What would you modify? Appreciate the conventional roles others want to play. Manage temporary/informal roles: Adopt roles that foster collaboration: Listener. Devil’s advocate. Learner. Advisor. Don’t let roles impede problem-solving.

Hofstede’s Cultural Values Dimensions Power distance index. Uncertainty avoidance. Individualism versus collectivism. Masculinity versus femininity. (a) women's values differ less among societies than men's values; (b) extent to which male and female values more likely to stress modesty and caring Long-term orientation versus short-term orientation. Power Distance Index is the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions accept and expect that power is distributed unequally. This represents inequality (more versus less), but defined from below, not from above. Uncertainty Avoidance Index deals with a society's tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity. It indicates to what extent a culture programs its members to feel either uncomfortable or comfortable in unstructured situations. Unstructured situations are novel, unknown, surprising and different from the usual. Uncertainty-avoiding cultures try to minimize the possibility of such situations by strict laws and rules, safety and security measures. The opposite type, uncertainty-accepting cultures, are more tolerant of opinions different from what they are used to; they try to have as few rules as possible. Individualism on the one side versus its opposite, collectivism, refers to the degree to which individuals are integrated into groups. In societies that value individualism, everyone is expected to look after him/herself and his/her immediate family. On the collectivist side, we find societies in which people from birth on are integrated into strong, cohesive in-groups, often extended families (with uncles, aunts and grandparents) which continue protecting them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty. Masculinity versus its opposite, femininity. Hofstede’s studies revealed that (a) women's values differ less among societies than men's values; (b) men's values from one country to another contain a dimension from very assertive and competitive and maximally different from women's values on the one side (masculinity), to modest and caring and similar to women's values on the other (femininity). Long-Term Orientation versus short-term orientation was a fifth dimension later found in a study among students in 23 countries. Values associated with long-term orientation are thrift and perseverance; values associated with short-term orientation are respect for tradition, fulfilling social obligations, and protecting one's face.

Hofstede Values Profiles & Vigilance Project: Implications for Conflict

Understanding Virtual Distance® Structural/physical distance includes geographic proximity, channel of interaction and frequency of interaction. Socio-emotional distance includes demographic difference, organizational affiliation, cultural values and relationship history. Both have implications for trust, commitment, the capacity to innovate and collaborative behavior.