Business 107: Chapter 14

Conflict Process

A conflict process deals with five steps that help alleviate friction, disagreement, problems or fighting. The five steps are potential opposition or incompatibility cognition and personalization intentions behavior outcomes

Bargaining

Bargaining is a joint process of finding a mutually acceptable solution to a complex conflict.

Distributive Bargaining

In distributive bargaining, the conflict is due to the fact that the goals of one party are against the goals of the other party, known as a win-lose situation. Each party in the conflict wants to win and end up with the best result.

Integrative Bargaining

Integrative bargaining is an approach which concentrates on finding a win-win situation for both parties involved in the conflict.

Mediation & Arbitration

Mediation: is an informal and nonaggressive forum for conflict resolution in which a third-party representative, known as a mediator, listens to both sides of the disagreement in a casual setting. Arbitration: When a mediator is unable to persuade the disputants to reach a solution on their own, arbitration may become necessary. Arbitration is a more aggressive third-party intervention wherein an arbitrator or panel of arbitrators listens to all sides of the issue and makes a firm decision on how to end the conflict. consultant by helping the disputing parties analyze and understand the reasons for the conflict so that they can plan a resolution strategy facilitator to help organize and arrange meetings between the disputing parties, set agendas, guide productive discussions, and keep a recording of what is being discussed.

Negotiation

Negotiation is an open process for two parties to find an acceptable solution to a complicated conflict. 1. Preparation and planning 2. Definition of ground rules 3. Clarification and justification 4. Bargaining and problem solving 5. Closure and implementation

Organizational Conflict

Organizational conflict is disagreement between groups or employees regarding work-related issues. Task Conflict: Task conflict involves differences based on work details and goals. This is the easiest type of conflict to solve, and usually excellent communication and employee debate find the remedy for the problem. Relationship Conflict: This type of personal conflict develops over disagreements and differences between individuals or groups. The biggest difference is that this type of conflict is over personal issues and not work-related. Process Conflict: Process conflict deals with disagreements on the procedure of a specific work assignment. This kind of conflict is different in that the problems are in regards to how a job should be completed, who is in charge and how the process will happen within the organization.

Conflict Resolution

The avoidance conflict management style attempts to ignore the disagreement altogether but is useful when people need time to cool off and think about the issue. The accommodation conflict management style is used when one party tries to end the conflict by giving in to the wishes of others. Accommodation is typically used by people who seek the approval of others or when the conflict is of little importance to the person accommodating. The competition conflict management style occurs when the objective is to win and to make the other lose, no matter the expense. Competition is mostly about power or the ability to influence the other party to accept their point of view as the best position. The compromise conflict management style attempts to resolve a conflict by finding a middle ground. The compromise is considered a lose-lose strategy because for each party to get something that they want, they have to sacrifice something that they would prefer not to give up. The collaborative conflict management style is the win-win conflict management style that works to find a solution that both parties are satisfied with without feeling a sense of sacrifice.

Workplace Conflict

Workplace conflict occurs due to disagreements in goals, facts or expectations. Traditional Conflict: A traditional view is when conflict is seen as a negative and disruptive type of organizational behavior. Individuals view conflict as destructive and will avoid it at all costs. Interactionalist Conflict: This is dysfunctional conflict because the fighting results in a win-lose situation with only one manager benefiting. A functional version of this same situation would be if all of the managers discussed how to share the corner office to create a win-win positive outcome. Managed Conflict: This perspective is called managed conflict, or human relations view. Cindy Salsa believes that conflict is a natural and inevitable process in organizations. This perspective also accepts that conflict can be both negative and positive in nature