Conflict & Negotiation

Md. Nasir Uddin

Lecturer – Department of Public Administration
Bangladesh University of Professionals
A Definition of Conflict
Conflict: a process
that begins when
one party perceives
that another party
has negatively
affected, or is about
to negatively affect,
something that the
first party cares
about.
Interactionist View of Conflict
 Interactionist View
of Conflict: the
belief that conflict is
not only a positive
force in a group but
also an absolute
necessity for a
group to perform
effectively.
Types of Conflict
 Functional Conflict: conflict that supports the
goals of the group & improves its
performance.

 Dysfunctional Conflict: conflict that hinders

group performance.

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Types of Conflict

 Task Conflict: conflict over content & goals of

the work.

 Relationship Conflict: conflict based on

interpersonal relationships.

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Types of Conflict

 Process Conflict: conflict over how work gets

done.

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Types of Conflict
 Relationship conflict are almost always
dysfunctional.

 Because it increases personality clashes &

decrease mutual understanding, which
hinders the completion of organizational
tasks.

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Resolution – Focused View of Conflict
 Researchers who have supported the
interactionist view of conflict, have begun to
recognize some problems with encouraging
conflict.
Resolution – Focused View of Conflict

 Workplace conflict is not productive as they

waste time, hurt feelings, etc.

 A study found that when conflict is high, task

conflict is also high & affects team
performance & team member satisfaction.
Resolution – Focused View of Conflict

 Conflicts reduce trust, respect within groups

which reduces their long-term viability.
Resolution – Focused View of Conflict
 Researchers focus on the context in which
conflicts occur, both before & after the
behavioral stage of conflict process.

 The negative effects of conflict can be

minimized by focusing on preparing people
for conflicts, developing resolution strategies
& facilitating open discussion.
The Conflict Process
 Conflict Process: a process that has five
stages: potential opposition or
incompatibility, cognition & personalization,
intentions, behavior & outcomes.
Stage 1: Potential Opposition or
Incompatibility
 The first stage shows conditions that trigger
conflict.

 The conditions are as follows:

◦ Communication
◦ Structure
◦ Personal Variables
Stage 1: Potential Opposition or
Incompatibility

• Communication: a research suggested that

different jargons, insufficient exchange of
information, etc. are barriers to
communication & potential conditions for
conflict.
Stage 1: Potential Opposition or
Incompatibility
• Research also says that conflict
increases when too little or too much
communication takes place.
Stage 1: Potential Opposition or
Incompatibility
• Structure: the term
includes size of
the group, degree
of specialization in
the tasks assigned
to group members,
leadership styles,
reward systems,
etc.
Stage 1: Potential Opposition or
Incompatibility

• Size & specialization stimulate

conflict. The larger the group and the
more specialized activity is, the
greater the conflict.
Stage 1: Potential Opposition or
Incompatibility
• Tenure & conflict
is inversely
related. Conflict
is greatest when
group members
are younger &
turnover is high.
Stage 1: Potential Opposition or
Incompatibility

• Diversity of goals among groups also

rise conflict. When groups seek
diverse ends, opportunities for
conflict increase.
Stage 1: Potential Opposition or
Incompatibility

• Reward systems also create conflict

when a member’s gain comes at
another’s expense.
Stage 1: Potential Opposition or
Incompatibility

• Personal Variables: this include

personality, emotions & values.

• People high in disagreeableness,

neuroticism, are likely to get into
conflict & react poorly to conflicts.
Stage II: Cognition & Personalization

 A conflict is not personalized in case of

perceived conflict.
Stage II: Cognition & Personalization
 Perceived Conflict: Awareness by one or more
parties of the existence of conditions that
create opportunities for conflict to arise.

 A conflict is personalized in case of felt

conflict.
Stage II: Cognition & Personalization
Felt Conflict:
Emotional
involvement in a
conflict that creates
anxiety, tenseness,
frustration or
hostility.
Stage II: Cognition & Personalization
 There are 2 points to be kept in mind. First,
Stage ii defines the conflict.

 If A gets an increase in pay, there will be just

that amount less for B & this will make B less
willing to compromise.
 Second point is that emotions shape

perception.
Stage II: Cognition & Personalization

 Negative emotions make us lose trust, put

negative interpretations on the other party’s
behavior, etc.

 Positive emotions allow us to see the positive

sides of the problem, develop innovative
ideas, etc.
Stage III: Intentions
 Intentions: decisions to act in a given way.

 To know how to respond to a person’s

behavior, we have to infer his/her intent.
Stage III: Intentions

 Many conflicts escalate because one party

attributes the wrong intentions to the other.

 Behavior does not always reflect a person’s

intentions.
Stage III: Intentions

 The diagram below shows 5 conflict-handling

intuitions with respect to the degree of
cooperativeness & assertiveness.
Stage III: Intentions

 The 5 conflict-handling intuitions are:

◦ Competing
◦ Collaborating
◦ Avoiding
◦ Accommodating
◦ Compromising
Stage III: Intentions

 Competing: a desire to satisfy one’s

interests, regardless of the impact on
the other party to the conflict.
Stage III: Intentions
 Collaborating: a
situation in
which the
parties to a
conflict, each
desire to satisfy
fully the
concerns of all
parties.
Stage III: Intentions
 If you attempt to find a win – win
solution that allows both parties’
goals to be completely achieved.
Stage III: Intentions
 Avoiding: the
desire to
withdraw from
or suppress a
conflict.
Stage III: Intentions

 Accommodating: the willingness of

one party in a conflict to place the
opponent’s interests above his or her
own.
Stage III: Intentions

 Supporting someone else’s opinion

other than your own is called
accommodating.
Stage III: Intentions
 Compromising: a situation in which
each party to a conflict is willing to
give up something.

 Thus, the distinguishing

characteristic of comprising is that
each party is willing to give up
something.
Stage IV: Behavior

 On Stage IV conflicts become visible. It

becomes visible through statements, actions
& reactions made by the conflicting parties.
Stage IV: Behavior
 The stage is a dynamic process of interaction.
For example: A makes a demand on B, B
responds by arguing, A threatens B, B
threatens A back & so on.

 The following diagram shows all conflicts

along a continuum.
Stage IV: Behavior
Stage IV: Behavior
 At the lower part are conflicts like subtle,
indirect & highly controlled forms of tension.

 At the higher part are conflicts like strikes,

riots & wars.
Stage IV: Behavior

 The lower range

conflicts are
functional & higher
range conflicts are
dysfunctional.
Stage IV: Behavior

 If conflict is too low/high, conflict

management is used to de-escalate/escalate
it.

 Conflict Management: the use of resolution &

stimulation techniques to achieve the desired
level of conflict.
Stage V: Outcomes
 Functional Outcome:
◦ It does not allow the
group to make
decisions based on
weak assumptions,
inadequate
consideration of
relevant alternatives.
Stage V: Outcomes
◦ It facilitates the creation of new ideas, increases the
probability that the group will respond to change.

Dysfunctional Outcome:
some of the outcomes are poor
communication, reduction in group
cohesiveness, etc.
Negotiation
Negotiation: a process in which two or more
parties exchange goods or services & attempt
to agree on the exchange rate for them.

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Negotiation

 Maintaining social relationship & behaving

ethically is an important outcome of
negotiating.

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The Negotiation Process

1. Preparation & Planning:

◦ What’s the nature of the conflict? What is the
history leading up to this negotiation? Who’s
involved & what is his perception of the conflict?
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The Negotiation Process

◦ As a manager if your goal is to reduce the cost of

raw materials, make sure this goal stays
paramount in your discussion.

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The Negotiation Process
◦ What are they likely to ask? What hidden interests
may be important to them?

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The Negotiation Process

◦ You are prepared to show counter arguments with

facts & figures to support your position. Once
enough information is gathered, use it to develop
a strategy.

◦ As a strategy develop the Best Alternative To a

Negotiated Agreement (BATNA) of both sides.
Your BATNA is the lowest value acceptable to you
& any offer more than your BATNA is better.

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The Negotiation Process

◦ Similarly, don’t
expect success in
negotiation unless
your offer is better
than the BATNA of
the other side.

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The Negotiation Process
2. Definition of Ground Rules:
◦ In this stage, begin defining the ground rules &
procedures of the negotiation.

◦ For example, who will do the negotiating? Where

will it take place?

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The Negotiation Process

◦ In this phase, initial

proposals &
demands will be
exchanged.

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The Negotiation Process

3. Clarification & Justification:

◦ The initial proposals will be explained, clarified &
justified. It’s an opportunity for informing each
other on the issues & why initial demands are
important.

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The Negotiation Process
4. Negotiating & Problem Solving:
◦ This is where both parties need to make
compromises.

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The Negotiation Process

5. Closure & Implementation:

◦ Formalize the agreement & develop procedures
for implementing & monitoring it.

◦ Closure of the negotiation process is usually done

by a formal handshake.

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