Conflict and Negotiation

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Conflict and Negotiation

• OS 386
• Nov 7, 2002
• Fisher

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Agenda

• Discuss conflict and conflict resolution
• Review some negotiation examples

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Outcomes of Conflict

• Not always negative
• Functional vs. dysfunctional
• What are some positive outcomes of conflict?
• Negative outcomes include
• Stress
• Process loss
• Turnover (team or organization)

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Stimulating Functional Conflict

• Communication
• Ambiguous or threatening messages
• Bringing in outsiders
• Executives, CEOs
• Consultants
• Restructuring the organization
• Appointing a devils advocate

Source Robbins, S.P. (2003). Organizational
Behavior. Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ.
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Sources of Conflict

• Task-based
• Interdependence
• Incompatible goals
• Interpersonal
• Values and beliefs
• Personality
• Source of conflict can drive resolution strategy

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Resolving Conflict

• Emphasize superordinate goals
• Reduce differentiation
• Improve communication and understanding
• Reduce task interdependence
• Increase resources
• Clarify rules and procedures

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Conflict Example

• Charlotte is a salesperson at a furniture store.
  Her job is to maximize sales.
• Teri is the credit manager at the store. Her job
  is to minimize credit losses.
• What is one potential source of conflict?
• How could this conflict be resolved?

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Not just between people

• Roles can be incompatible
• Work-family conflict
• Creates stress, reduces career satisfaction
• How is the resolution process different?

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Approaches to resolving conflict

• Win-win
• Win-lose
• Relationship between conflict and communication
  styles
• What are long term outcomes of using the win-lose
  approach?

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Organizational Justice

• Fairness in organizational decision making
• Distributive
• Procedural
• Interactional
• Perceived fairness is related to acceptance of
  outcomes, withdrawal

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Negotiation

• One way of resolving conflict
• Ideally minimizing losses and maximizing gains
  for both parties
• Establish trust
• Cautiously collaborative
• Individual differences affect negotiation
• Negotiation skill
• Cultural differences can lead to problematic
  behavioral patterns

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Third-Party Intervention

• Mom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• Mediation
• Arbitration
• Baseball salaries
• Process typically starts with mediation, moving
  to arbitration

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Arbitration first?

• Conlon, Moon, Ng (2002) studied impact of
  conducting arbitration before mediation
• Arbitrator made decision, but did not implement
• Parties then had opportunity to produce a
  voluntary agreement
• In lab study, found this model increased number
  of voluntary agreements
• However, the process took longer, and people were
  more competitive

Source Conlon, D.E., Moon, H., Ng, K.Y.
(2002). Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(5),
978-984.
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High Profile Dispute Resolution

• Union negotiations
• Many product lawsuits
• Agent Orange
• Asbestos
• Sept. 11 Victim Compensation Fund
• Compensation determined by algorithm created by
  government, Special Master
• Can appeal decisions
• Is there a neutral third party for ADR?

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NYPD Hostage Negotiation

• Series of small agreements
• Can still get a win-win
• Active listening is key
• Use of negotiation teams
• Team members include Lead Negotiator, Commander,
  Scribe, and Gopher
• Roles are clearly specified
• Face-to-face communication unnecessary

Source Coutu, D.L. (October, 2002).
Negotiating without a net a conversation with
the NYPDs Dominick J. Misino. Harvard Business
Review, 49-54.
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Key learning points

• Conflict is not always negative
• Procedural justice is important in how people
  react to conflict resolution
• Communication skills are a key part of
  negotiation
• Third-party involvement may be necessary, but
  voluntary agreement is best

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For next class

• Topic Leadership
• Read Chapter 14
• Who is responsible for providing leadership in
  organizations?
• What is the difference between management and
  leadership?
• Keep in mind next exam is Tuesday, Nov. 19
• Same format