Fundamentals of Organizational Communication Organizational Conflict: Communicating for Effectiveness Chapter Nine

Fundamentals of Organizational Communication

Organizational Conflict: Communicating for Effectiveness

Chapter Nine

Defining and Describing Conflict Processes

• Conflict - process that occurs when individuals, small groups, or organizations perceive or experience frustration in attaining goals and concerns.

• Regardless of the reasons, for all conflict participants the process includes perceptions, emotions, behaviors, and outcomes.


• Conflict context–Any organizational setting where

there are two or more competing responses to a single event or circumstance.

–The conflict context influences the conflict symptoms, behaviors, and outcomes.


• Conflict contexts• Intrapersonal• Interpersonal• Small group• Inter-group•Organization-wide•Between organization and

environment


• Conflict causes– include scarce resources,

deception, change, incivility, aggression, stress, burnout, emotional labor, relationships of all types, preferences, past experiences, and a host of other factors.


• Conflict causes–Workplace civility has generally

been conceptualized as courteous treatment of coworkers and other contacts. It includes treating others with dignity, regarding others’ feelings, and using social norms of mutual respect.


• Conflict causes– Incivility is characterized by intents

to harm either specific individuals or the organization. Incivility manifests itself in behaviors that demean the dignity of others and violate broad social norms of mutual respect.


• Conflict causes–Deception• Information distortion

• Strategic ambiguity

•Complete distortion or lying


• Conflict causes–Emotional labor•Work of those involved in a high

degree of personal contact and who are expected to produce an emotional state, such as pleasure, gratitude, or self-esteem in the people with whom they deal.


• Conflict causes–Emotional labor• An increasing percentage of the work

force will engage in some degree of emotional labor.• These jobs require a separation of

“true self” feelings from those that are expected to be expressed when in contact with the public.


• Conflict causes• Conflict episodes–Descriptions of the complex

interactions of both individual and group perceptions, emotions, behaviors, and outcomes during conflict.


• Conflict causes• Conflict episodes-5 Stages–Latent conflict

–Perceived conflict

–Felt conflict

–Manifest conflict

–Conflict aftermath


• Conflict episodes-5 Stages–Latent conflict• underlying conditions in

organizations and individual relationships that have the potential for conflict


• Conflict episodes-5 Stages–Perceived conflict

•Awareness of individuals or groups that differences exist.

• It is important to recognize that overt conflict has not occurred, only the perception of significant frustrating differences.


• Conflict episodes-5 Stages–Felt conflict• Emotional impact the perception of

conflict has on potential conflict participants• The emotional impact of the problem

is linked to the value we place on the specific relationship.


• Conflict episodes-5 Stages–Manifest conflict•Actual conflict behaviors –

manifest conflict – are influential in determining the productivity of the conflict and the way conflict participants will interact in the future.


• Conflict episodes-5 Stages–Conflict aftermath (outcomes)• result of the complex interactions of

latent conditions, perceived conflict, felt conflict, and manifest conflict.• It is the stage in which we evaluate

the conflict as productive or counterproductive.


• Conflict permits individuals and organizations to develop new ideas and approaches and to become actively involved in necessary change.


• When applied to organizations, conflict is an essential process for continued operation. Without conflict, organizations stagnate and die.

The Individual in Organizational Conflict

• The various predispositions, skills, and abilities of individuals in organizations influence how organizational conflict occurs.

• Sensitivity to these differences is central to becoming a competent communicator within a complex environment.


• Sensitivity to our own preferences and behaviors helps us develop sensitivity to differences among people.

• Figure 9.1 “Personal Profile”–Pp. 320-321 - Questionnaire–Pp. 348-349 – Scoring &

Interpretation


• Orientations/Predispositions/Styles–Behavioral preferences for

handling conflict; frequently described as avoidance, competition, compromise, accommodation, and collaboration.


• Orientations/Predispositions/Styles

–Avoidance• Style of individuals who, as a result

of their preferences, are unlikely to pursue their own goals and needs or to support relationships and the goals and needs of others during conflict.



–Competition• Preference for emphasizing personal

goals and needs without considering the opinions or needs of others in the conflict.



–Compromise• Preferences during conflict for

balancing people concerns with task issues and exhibiting give-and-take or negotiation behaviors.



–Accommodation• Preference for conflict associated

with the sacrifice of personal goals in order to maintain relationships.



–Collaboration• Preference for ideally balancing

people and task concerns during conflict.


• Strategic Objectives–These are determined by matching

general preferences for particular conflict styles with assessments of the risks involved in a particular situation.


• Strategic Objectives–A strategic choice is a “planned

method of conducting operations” so as to structure the conflict in one of four strategic directions:• Escalation• Reduction• Maintenance• Avoidance


• Communication Tactics in Conflict

–Conflict tactics can be described as communication behaviors that attempt to move the conflict toward escalation, reduction, maintenance at the present level, or avoidance.


• Communication Tactics in Conflict–Cautions:•We are likely to view our efforts

more positively than those with whom we are in conflict.•Most of the research has been with

majority groups in the US and Great Britain.


• Communication Tactics in Conflict

–Cautions:•We know much less about

preferences and orientations in cultures that are more group oriented than individualistic.


• Emotion During Conflict–Conflict is emotionally defined, that is,

events that cause conflict are by definition events that elicit emotion.• Anger• Emotional Labor


• Emotion During Conflict–Bounded emotionality encourages the

expression of a wider range of emotions than is usually condoned in traditional organizations while stressing the importance of maintaining interpersonally sensitive, variable boundaries between what is felt and what is expressed.

Groups in Organizational Conflict

• Most of us have been in groups in which tensions and conflict made us uncomfortable or blocked problem solving. It is hoped that most of us also belonged to groups in which conflict contributed to new and better ways of doing things, actually strengthening the group’s ability to work together.


• Group Members in Conflict– It is easy to understand why self-centered

roles and inappropriate balances of task and maintenance roles are a possible source of group conflict.

– Although most organizations talk about the importance of teamwork, rewards usually recognize individual versus group efforts.


• Group Members in Conflict–Kuhn & Poole (2000)• Avoidance Styles – minimizes addressing

the conflict• Distributive Style- a confrontational

approach• Integrative Approach – cooperative and

collaborative behaviors


• Group Members in Conflict–Kuhn & Poole (2000)• They concluded that groups that

developed integrative conflict management styles made more effective decisions than groups that used confrontation and avoidance. Groups that did not develop a stable conflict style were also less effective.


• Procedural Conflict–Most organizational groups conflict

over procedures or ways of doing things.• Organization of group• Decision making process• Responsibility for doing or not doing

tasks


• Interpersonal Issues–One of the most common types of

group conflict emerges when all members do not fairly or equally perform their responsibilities or make contributions to the group.–The necessity to “carry” a member of

the team raises tension and disrupts group cohesiveness.


• Substantive Issues–The very reason for forming groups in

organizations can contribute to group conflict.

–Organizations should encourage conflicts of ideas that contribute to excellence.


• Groupthink– Tendency of groups to suspend critical

thinking and too quickly adopt proposed solutions.

– Surface harmony, or the absence of productive conflict, can block group effectiveness when critical thinking is absent, resulting in ill-conceived courses of action.


• Group Conflict Management Processes–Negotiation

–Bargaining

–Mediation

–Arbitration


• Group Conflict Management Processes

–Negotiation• Broad conflict management process

involving discussions between and among individuals who are interdependent and need to come together for a decision or course of action; frequently associated with the need to compromise effectively.



–Bargaining• structured form of negotiations usually

involving the presentation of fairly specific proposals for the purpose of achieving a working agreement on particular issues.



–Mediation• use of a designated individual for guiding

the negotiations or bargaining efforts of groups in conflict.



–Arbitration• conflict management process involving

an outside negotiator who resolves differences based on formally established procedures.


• Power and Organizational Conflict– Perceptions of power and its uses

continually influence all aspects of organizational conflict. The organizational chart defines the formal power structure.

– Power plays can be described as tactics which make explicit how power should be viewed in particular circumstance in order to preserve the position of the person or persons making the “play.”


• Power and Organizational Conflict–Although power use during conflict

can be productive, power often is associated with behaviors that marginalize others and attempt to maintain the status and position of the person or persons exercising power.

Special Types of Organizational Conflict

• Sexual Harassment–situations in which one person

persists in behaving in a way that offends the sexual morals of another or creates employment conditions based on sexual relationships.


• Discrimination–Exclusion of individuals or groups

based on personal characteristics not associated with competence or performance.


• Ethical Abuses–External (Fisher 1993)

• Products• Advertising• Finance and accounting• Pricing• International operations• Ecology


• Ethical Abuses– Internal (Fisher 1993)

• Working conditions• Due process and fair treatment of

employees• Personnel policies and procedures• Design of work• Free speech


• Ethical Abuses– Internal (Fisher 1993)

Whistleblowing - reporting unethical behaviors with the agreement of those engaged in the unethical behaviors.


• Communication competency in its broadest sense will contribute to our ability to handle these special types of organizational conflict.

Productively Engaging in Conflict

• In general it can be said that a major value of conflict is its stimulus for creativity. Conflict with others forces us to evaluate and assess issues and problems. When productively managed, this evaluation can stimulate new and creative solutions that may not have emerged without competing perspectives.


• Supportive Climates–organizational environments in which

individuals feel secure and encouraged to seek good solutions. Characterized by problem description, problem orientation, spontaneity, empathy, equality and provisionalism.


• Supportive Climates–The outcomes from conflict often are

influenced not only by the skills and abilities of the individual conflict participants but also by the overall organizational climate, which contributes to either supportiveness or defensiveness.


• Supportive Climates–Jack Gibb (1982) – “increases in

defensive behavior were correlated positively with losses in efficiency in communication. Specifically, distortions became greater when defensive states existed in the groups.”


• Supportive Climates (Gibb 1982)

–Evaluation vs. Problem Description

–Control vs. Problem Orientation

–Strategy vs. Spontaneity

–Neutrality vs. Empathy

–Superiority vs. Equality

–Certainty vs. Provisionalism


• Supportive Climates–Ethical Communication Behaviors• When the individual stays with the issue

at hand without hidden agendas; constructs reasonable, logical arguments rather than arguments designed to discount and devalue others; and keeps an open mind to new ideas while avoiding a win-at-all-costs attitude.


• Supportive Climates–Principled Negotiation• A strategy for groups of individuals in

conflict to express their needs and search for alternatives that meet diverse needs.• The strategy supports ethical behavior by

separating people from the problem and focusing on interests, not positions.


• Supportive Climates–Principled Negotiation• Principled negotiation is based on the

assumption that we should express disagreements and react to them with a spirit of inquiry and supportiveness rather than defensiveness.

Guidelines for Productive Conflict

• Monitor your personal behavior and the behavior of others for signs of destructive conflict.

• Identify common goals and interests between people or in groups.

• Develop norms to work on problems

• Focus on mutual gain.

Guidelines for Productive Conflict

• A process for Productive Conflict–Productive conflicts are frequently

characterized as good problem-solving processes.

A Process for Productive Conflict

• Self-analysis of the Issues• Setting a Meeting to Work on the

Problem• Defining the Problem• Developing Solutions• Narrowing the Choices for Action• Committing to Solutions• Monitoring the Process

Fundamentals of Organizational Communication

Organizational Conflict: Communicating for Effectiveness

Chapter Nine

Documents

Fundamentals of Organizational Communication Organizational Conflict: Communicating for Effectiveness Chapter Nine