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!