1. Conflict

2. What is Conflict? Conflict is a disagreement over issues of that are important or have an emotional irritant. Substantive conflicts involve disagreements over goals, resources, reqrds, policies, procedures, and job assignments. Emotional conflicts result from feelings of anger, distrust, dislike, fear, and resentment as well as personality clashes.

3. Functional and Dysfunctional Conflict Functional conflict is constructive. It helps performance by encouraging cooperation, creativity, and effort. Dysfunctional conflict is destructive and hurts task performance

4. An Example of Positive Conflict

5. Causes of Conflict Almost anything can start a conflict. Different things are important to different people. Here are some common general causes. Role ambiguities – Unclear job expectations and task uncertainties. Resource scarcities – Sharing resources OR competing for allocations creates a conflict-rich environment. Task interdependencies – If individuals or groups have to rely on what others do, conflicts can happen.

6. Causes of Conflict Competing objectives – If objectives are badly set, or reward systems are badly designed, there could be conflict by working to one another’s disadvantage. Structural differentiation – Maybe an organization is not structured in a way that everyone feels good working in. Unresolved prior conflicts – If it is not dealt with properly, conflict can linger in people for a long time.

7. How to Deal with Conflict This is a very important management skill. We have to decide whether to resolve the conflict or suppress the conflict. Think of the possible types of conflict…here are some ways we can address them. Appealing to subordinate goals Making more resources available Changing the people Altering the physical environment Changing reward systems Changing policies and procedures Training in interpersonal skills

8. Conflict Management Styles How we respond to conflict as managers will be different based on our own experiences. In general, we can either believe in: Cooperativeness – the desire to satisfy another party’s needs and concerns. or Assertiveness – the desire to satisfy one’s OWN needs and concerns.

9. Conflict Management Styles Avoidance – Also called withdrawal. Managers try to pretend there is no conflict. They try to stay neutral all the time. They are uncooperative and unassertive. Accommodation – Also called smoothing. Letting the wishes of others rule. We smooth over or overlook differences to keep harmony. They are cooperative, but unassertive. Competition – Also called authoritative command. We are uncooperative but assertive. We work against the wishes of the other party. Uses authority.

10. Conflict Management Styles Compromise – Sort of cooperative and assertive. Looking for solutions that are acceptable to both parties. Collaboration – This one is “problem solving.” The manager is cooperative and assertive. Looking for solutions that everyone gains. Everyone’s concerns are taken care of. These have to be chosen properly. Not every situation allows for the same fix.

11. Accommodating or Smoothing ------------------------------------------------- Playing down the conflict and seeking harmony among parties Collaboration or Problem Solving ------------------------------------------------- Searching for a solution that meets each other’s needs. Avoidance or Withdrawal ------------------------------------------------- Denying the existence of conflict and hiding one’s true feelings. Competition or Authoritative Command ------------------------------------------------ Forcing a solution to impose one’s will on the other party. Compromise ------------------------------------------------- Bargaining for gains and losses to each party Degree of Assertiveness High Low High Degree of Cooperativeness

12. Conflict Management Styles Avoiding or Accommodating leads to lose-lose conflict. Nobody wins. Reasons for the conflict are unchanged. Appears solved, but conflict will likely return.

13. Conflict Management Styles Competing and compromising create win-lose conflict. Each party in the conflict aims to gain. Conflicts are likely to occur again. Competition means one party wins. Authoritative command happens because the supervisor chooses the winning party’s desires. Compromise happens when both parties gain something of value, but they also lose something of value.

14. Conflict Management Styles Collaborating tries to work together with everyone involved to solve the causes of the problem. It creates a win-win conflict. Everyone works together to deal with the problem, and everyone gets what they want. Not every situation can be turned into a win-win situation..