GroupsGroup 1
Shannon Perras
Josh Crawford
Mu Mu
Matt Hillen
Jessie Wester
Omar Megahed
Group 2
Adam Baker
Ryan Vadnais Hui Yang
Amanda Tumbach Ceceilia Thang
Simon Geng
Group3
Jared Toth
Candace Johnson
Eddie Esler
Raynard Enriquez
Cathy Aspen
Matt Rosenthal Group4Don Sun Reese Jenkins Jordan Cicoria Isles Cartwright Ashley Longair Sanghwa Kim
Group 5
Jacky Xing
Derrick Burden
Michelle Roccamatisi
Cindy Janewski
Amanda Velcic
Chapter 8 Conflict and Negotiation
Jennifer Byrne
Robin Harvey
Leigh Murphy
Zheng Wang
• 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.
• Sources of Conflict– Structure– Communication
• Noise, misunderstanding.• Size & specialization, ambiguity, younger groups,
higher turnover, reward systems, etc.
– Personal variables• Individual Value system, personality characteristics.
Functional Vs Dysfunctional Conflict
• Functional – Conflict leads to an
improvement in the group’s performance.
– Can improve the quality of decisions.
– Constructive – Stimulates creativity and
innovation. – Encourages interest and
curiosity. – Tensions can be released. – Conflict challenges the
status quo
• Dysfunctional – Conflict hinders the group’s
performance. – There are reductions in the
group cohesiveness. – Subordination of group
goals. – At an extreme, it can bring
group functioning to a halt.
Conflict-handling Intentions
Behaviors : Statement, actions, and reactions by an individual.
• Conflict and Productivity– Performance improves when conflict is more
frequent.– When members with different interests exist, higher-quality solutions are more likely.
• Conflict and Group Diversity– Heterogeneity also increases productivity.– Studies have shown that when groups are less
compatible, they are more productive, therefore conflict produces strengths rather than weaknesses.
• Encouraging Conflict– Creating functional conflict is a tough job.– How do you create functional Conflict??? – Reward dissent and punish conflict avoiders.
• Cognitive Conflict: Occurs because of different perspectives and judgments. Regarded as functional conflict.
• Affective Conflict: Emotional, normally aimed at a person rather than an issue. Regarded as dysfunctional conflict
From potential to actual conflict
• Intentions : Decisions to act in a given way in a situation
From potential to actual conflict
• Behaviors : Statement, actions, and reactions by an individual.
Conflict Management and Teams
• The six tactics that helped reduce conflict were as follows– Team members worked with more, rather than less,
information, and debated on the basis of facts.– Team members developed multiple alternatives to
enrich the level of debate.– Team members shared commonly agreed-upon goals.– Team members injected humor into the decision
process– Team members maintained a balanced power structure– Team members resolved issues without forcing
consensus.
Negotiation/Bargaining • Definition: a process in which two or more
parties who offer goods and services try to agree upon the exchange rate for them.
Within a negotiation are:Within a negotiation are:
IssuesIssues – – Items placed on the table for Items placed on the table for discussion discussion
Positions – an individual’s stand on the Positions – an individual’s stand on the issueissue
Interests – the underlying motivations for Interests – the underlying motivations for an an individual’s position individual’s position
How to negotiate
BATNA: Best alternative to a negotiated agreement
Bargaining Strategies• Distributive Bargaining
– Seeks to divide up a fixed amount of resources; win-lose situation– Zero-sum conditions (Any gain I make is at your expense, vice versa)– A party focuses on trying to get the opponent to agree to a target point or get as close as possible
• Integrative Bargaining – Seeks one or more settlements that can create a win-win situation – All things being equal, integrative bargaining preferable to
distributive bargaining – Build long-term relationships and makes working together in
future easier – Allows both sides to feel they have achieved victory
2 general approaches to bargaining
Distributive vs. Integrative Bargaining
Bargaining Characteristic
Distributive Bargaining
Integrative Bargaining
Available resources
Fixed amount of resources to be divided
Variable amount of resources to be divided
Primary motivations
I win, you lose I win, you win
Primary interests Opposed to each other
Convergent or congruent with each other
Focus of relationship
Short-term Long-term
Gender DifferencesMen♂Perform better when negotiating over male stereotypical tasks
♂View bargaining as a separate event ( no relationship ties)
♂Method of bargaining relies on dialogue
♂Top of the corporate pool
♂Use power as a negotiating tool
Women♀Perform better when negotiating over female stereotypical tasks
♀More inclined to considered feelings and perceptions (long term relationship)
♀Not as concerned about top/bottom of corporate pool. ( position utilizes their skills and offers some degree of challenge)
♀Assume they will be paid less
♀Want all members of negotiation to feel empowered
♀Use understanding as a means of negotiating
♀Tend to demonstrate less confidence and are less satisfied with their performance
So which approach to negotiating is best?????…. That depends on the situation
A common misconception• Women are nicer than men
• This may be attributed to the power and position held by women in corporations. Not a gender difference
Outcome of a typical negotiation
• Situation: Man and woman both go to buy a car from a dealership
• Outcome: The opening dollar figure offer by the salesperson tends to be higher for women.
• In the corporate world Pay and promotion???
Cross Cultural Differences• French
– Typically enjoy conflict– Gain recognition by thinking and acting against others – Negotiations take a long time – Not concerned with people liking them
• Chinese – Take a long time to negotiate – Don’t believe negotiation really ends – Similar to the Japanese (building relationship and
commitment to work together)
• Americans – Known for impatience – Desire to be liked
How do Canadians fit into this.......?
• Chris Brough, president of Vancouver-based Sextant Entertainment Group– “There is a wonderful softness and self-deprecation about
Canadians that I have come to enjoy. When you do a deal in Canada, very often you can extend a handshake and there is a firm belief the deal is solid. In Los Angeles, on the other hand, you can have a signed contract and it is still based on the idea of ‘Okay, you’re not happy, sue me’”
Robbins.S.P. Langton.N. Organizational Behavior. Concepts, Controversies, Applications. Third Canadian Edition.
Pearson Education Canada Inc. Toronto, ONT. 2003.
Alcohol Consumption and Negotiations
• Lab study involving MBA’s• Group divided into 2 categories: Those given drinks and those not.• Note: Those given drinks were only given enough to reach blood alcohol
level of 0.05 percent (lower than legal driving limit in Canada)
• Results– Negotiators that had been drinking were more aggressive and likely to
insult, mislead and threaten opponent
– When both parties were sober, more likely to look for win-win situations
– Sober negotiators were not as successful bargaining against someone who had been drinking
– Drinking negotiators were more likely to make mistakes
– Drinking negotiators more likely to focus on irrelevant information/misunderstand the problem
– Drinkers were not aware that alcohol had in fact affected their performance during the negotiations.
1. Conciliator • Provides an informal communication link
between parties• Conciliators help to find facts, interpret
messages, and persuade parties to reach agreements
• Lowest powered third party
What happens if you can’t resolve a workplace conflict?
Types of Third Party Negotiations:
2. Mediator• Neutral third party who aims for a
negotiated solution• Uses reasoning and persuasion, suggests
alternatives• Much more aggressive than conciliators in
proposing solutions• Settlement rate of 60% with negotiator
satisfaction of 75%
What happens if you can’t resolve a workplace conflict?
Types of Third Party Negotiations:
What happens if you can’t resolve a workplace conflict?
Types of Third Party Negotiations:
3. Arbitrator• Third party with authority to dictate
agreement• Most powerful of the three groups• Always results in a solution, though
negotiator and opponent may not necessarily be happy with the outcome
Thank You!