Chapter 7

Stewart L. Tubbs

McGraw-Hill © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

7C H A P T E RC H A P T E R

Conflict Management

McGraw-Hill © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 2

Conflict Management

• Sources of Conflict

• Desirability of Conflict

• Types of Conflict

• Undesirability of Conflict

• Game Theory

• Toward Conflict Management

McGraw-Hill © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 3

Sources of Conflict

• Conflict is “an --expressed struggle --between at least two interdependent parties--who perceive incompatible goals, scare

resources, and --interference from others in achieving their

goals” (Wilmot and Hocker, 1998)• Conflicts exist whenever incompatible

activities occur.

McGraw-Hill © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 4

Sources of Conflict

• Conflicts may originate from a number of different sources, including:

• Differences in information, beliefs, values, interests, or desires.

• A scarcity of some resource.• Rivalries in which one person or group

competes with another.

McGraw-Hill © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 5

Desirability of Conflict

• Conflict can be desirable.

• Conflict helps eliminate or reduce the likelihood of groupthink.

• A moderate level of conflict across tasks within a group resulted in increased group performance while conflict among personalities resulted in lower group performance (Peterson and Behfar, 2003)

McGraw-Hill © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 6

Types of Conflict

• Conflict of ideas– Dooley and Fryxell (1999) found that conflict of

ideas at the early stage of decision making (idea formulation) was desirable.

– However, it can cause problems at a later stage when the ideas have to be implemented.

• Conflict of feelings are often called personality conflict

McGraw-Hill © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 7

Types of Conflict

• Opposition and Support

McGraw-Hill © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 8

Undesirability of Conflict

• Conflicts can be hard to control once they have begun.– The trend is toward escalation and polarization.– When conflict escalates to the point of being out

of control, it almost always yields negative results.

McGraw-Hill © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 9

Game Theory

• Game theory puts people into the mixed-motive situation.– Covey (1990) in The Seven Habits of Highly

Successful People refers to the scarcity mentality versus the abundance mentality.

• The scarcity mentality leads us to resent the success of others.

• The abundance mentality allows us to think of situations in which everybody can win.

McGraw-Hill © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 10

Toward Conflict Management

• Conflict management is defined as “the opportunity to improve situations and strengthen relationships” (BCS, 2004).

–proactive conflict management

–collaborative conflict management

McGraw-Hill © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 11

Toward Conflict Management

• Blake and Mouton’s Conflict Grid

Source: Reproduced by permission from Robert R. Blake and Jane Syngley Mouton. “The Fifth Achievement.” Journal of Applied Behavioral Science 6(4), 1970..

McGraw-Hill © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 12

Toward Conflict Management

• Blake and Mouton (1970) proposed a grid that shows various conflict approaches.– The 1,1 style is the hands-off approach, also

called avoidance.– The 1,9 position, also called accommodation, is

excessively person-oriented.

McGraw-Hill © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 13

Toward Conflict Management

– The 5,5 position represents a willingness to compromise.

– The 9,1 is the bullheaded approach, also called competing.

– The optimum style for reducing conflict is the 9,9 approach, also called collaboration.

McGraw-Hill © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 14

Toward Conflict Management

• Borisoff and Victor (1998) argue that the best strategy for conflict management (negotiation) depends on the desired outcome.

McGraw-Hill © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 15

Toward Conflict Management

Unilateral negotiation strategies include:

• The trusting collaboration strategy.• The open subordination strategy.• The firm competition strategy.• The active avoidance strategy.

McGraw-Hill © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 16

Toward Conflict Management

Interactive negotiation strategies• Trusting collaboration

• Principled negotiation

• Firm competition

• Soft competition

• Open subordination

• Focused subordination

• Active avoidance

• Passive avoidance

• Responsive avoidance

McGraw-Hill © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 17

Toward Conflict Management

• Fisher, Ury, and Patton (1991) outline four principles that compose principled negotiation.– Separate the people from the problem.– Focus on interests, not positions.– Invent options for mutual gain.– Seek objective criteria.

McGraw-Hill © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 18

Toward Conflict Management

• The Continuum of Decision-Making Behavior has been described as including four styles of decision making:

• Tells• Sells• Consults• Joins

McGraw-Hill © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 19

Toward Conflict Management

• Diane Yale (1988) outlines three metaphorical approaches to conflict:

• The competitive, adversarial metaphor– Often results in a winner and loser in the resolution

process.

• The problem-solving metaphor– If [conflict] is focused on problem-solving, everything

that comes at you is seen as a problem or a solution.

• The creative orientation metaphorBrings an innovative quality to group conflict resolution.

McGraw-Hill © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 20

Toward Conflict Management—Practical Tips

Walker and Harris (1995) offer the following practical tips for implementing the 9,9 style. Encouraging behavior occurs when a team member:

1. Avoids feelings or perceptions that imply the other person is wrong or needs to change.

2. Communicates a desire to work together to explore a problem or seek a solution.

3. Exhibits behavior that is spontaneous and destruction-free.

McGraw-Hill © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 21

Toward Conflict Management—Practical Tips

4. Identifies with another team member’s problems, shares feelings, and accepts the team member’s reaction.

5. Treats other team members with respect and trust.

6. Investigates issues rather than taking sides on them.

– The same principles can be applied to negotiating with others outside your team, or with a supplier or customer.

McGraw-Hill © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 22

Toward Conflict Management

• A Continuum of Decision-Making Behavior

Source: From Stewart L. Tubbs. Empowerment (Ann Arbor, Mich.: U-Train, Inc., 1993), pp 5-9. Adapted from R. Tannenbaum and H.W. Schmidt. “How to Choose a Leadership Pattern,” Harvard

Business Review March-April, 1958.

McGraw-Hill © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 23

Review of the Systems Approach

• Individuals should understand their own personal triggers to better deal with conflict situations in the workplace (Robin, 2004)

• Group members should think about other group members early on to identify privately those individuals and behaviors that may push their buttons.

McGraw-Hill © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 24

Review of the Systems Approach

• Conflict may have some desirable consequences.

• Out of control conflict may be destructive.• Conflict-producing behaviors are more

likely from those high in aggression, dominance, and the need for autonomy.

• An important factor related to conflict is the style of leadership and the resulting group norms regarding conflict.