Managing Conflict in Negotiations

Bargaining, Conflict and Negotiations in Organizational Settings

Conflict Defined

its pervasive, its inevitable, and its 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 intragroup 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

Tannens 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)

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)

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.)

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 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