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Role Negotiation
The idea
The expectations of others largely decide a person's role. When these are clear, role conflict and role
ambiguity can reduce. Everyone knows what everyone else expects. Role negotiation is a process for
clarifying these expectations. You negotiate with an individual not a group.
The method
In order for me to achieve my objective (For example to contribute effectively to the work), I
would like you to: -
Do these three
things....................................................................................................................
2. Each person then shares their information with their partner. At this stage just listen and seek
clarification, don't argue or get defensive! It helps to have equal time to talk.
3. The parties now negotiate their expectations. A party can: -
Say "Of course I will accede to your request". This would be sensible if the request is easy and gives
you an immediate benefit.
Say "I can't do that because......" The request might violate your values, by being (say) unethical, or it
might be politically impossible..
Say "I would be prepared to meet your request if you would help me with this one of mine". The
request might not give you an immediate benefit and demand work. Acceding would help your
colleague and the team. You would also get something back directly.
4 The parties record and preferably display their agreements. This helps people to follow through with
their decisions.
Hints
Sikkim Manipal University - MBA - MU0011– Management and Organizational Development
• Play the negotiation straight. If you use tactics or manipulation, then people will not use the
technique again. They will also become suspicious of all the management techniques you use.
• Make your requests small, clear and doable. People can agree to use the right form for
something and deliver this. It is not sensible to ask people to be more efficient and expect them
to deliver that.
• Aim for equity in the negotiations. If people "give in" to every demand they will feel exploited
later. People who want something for themselves for everything they give will lose co-operation.
People will think they are mean.
• People have found an external facilitator helpful. This person can help to build a supportive and
equitable climate and manage the process. Both can be difficult for a manager who is involved in
the negotiations personally.
• Give the process enough time. The expectations take time to clarify. This is often the first time
people have talked directly about how they work together.
Johari Window
Known to Not Known to
Self Self
Known to Others
The Johari Window, named after the first names of its inventors, Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham, is one
of the most useful models describing the process of human interaction. A four paned "window," as
illustrated above, divides personal awareness into four different types, as represented by its four
quadrants: open, hidden, blind, and unknown. The lines dividing the four panes are like window
shades, which can move as an interaction progresses.
In this model, each person is represented by their own window. Let's describe mine:
1. The "open" quadrant represents things that both I know about myself, and that you know about me.
For example, I know my name, and so do you, and if you have explored some of my website, you know
some of my interests. The knowledge that the window represents, can include not only factual
information, but my feelings, motives, behaviors, wants, needs and desires... indeed, any information
describing who I am. When I first meet a new person, the size of the opening of this first quadrant is
not very large, since there has been little time to exchange information. As the process of getting to
know one another continues, the window shades move down or to the right, placing more information
into the open window, as described below.
2. The "blind" quadrant represents things that you know about me, but that I am unaware of. So, for
Sikkim Manipal University - MBA - MU0011– Management and Organizational Development
example, we could be eating at a restaurant, and I may have unknowingly gotten some food on my
face. This information is in my blind quadrant because you can see it, but I cannot. If you now tell me
that I have something on my face, then the window shade moves to the right, enlarging the open
quadrant's area. Now, I may also have blindspots with respect to many other much more complex
things. For example, perhaps in our ongoing conversation, you may notice that eye contact seems to
be lacking. You may not say anything, since you may not want to embarrass me, or you may draw your
own inferences that perhaps I am being insincere. Then the problem is, how can I get this information
out in the open, since it may be affecting the level of trust that is developing between us? How can I
learn more about myself? Unfortunately, there is no readily available answer. I may notice a slight
hesitation on your part, and perhaps this may lead to a question. But who knows if I will pick this up, or
if your answer will be on the mark.
3. The "hidden" quadrant represents things that I know about myself, that you do not know. So for
example, I have not told you, nor mentioned anywhere on my website, what one of my favorite ice
cream flavors is. This information is in my "hidden" quadrant. As soon as I tell you that I love "Ben and
Jerry's Cherry Garcia" flavored ice cream, I am effectively pulling the window shade down, moving the
information in my hidden quadrant and enlarging the open quadrant's area. Again, there are vast
amounts of information, virtually my whole life's story, that has yet to be revealed to you. As we get to
know and trust each other, I will then feel more comfortable disclosing more intimate details about
myself. This process is called: "Self-disclosure."
4. The "unknown" quadrant represents things that neither I know about myself, nor you know about
me. For example, I may disclose a dream that I had, and as we both attempt to understand its
significance, a new awareness may emerge, known to neither of us before the conversation took place.
Being placed in new situations often reveal new information not previously known to self or others. For
example, I learned of the Johari window at a workshop conducted by a Japanese American psychiatrist
in the early 1980's. During this workshop, he created a safe atmosphere of care and trust between the
various participants. Usually, I am terrified of speaking in public, but I was surprised to learn that in
such an atmosphere, the task need not be so daunting. Prior to this event, I had viewed myself and
others had also viewed me as being extremely shy. (The above now reminds me of a funny joke, which
I cannot refrain from telling you. It is said that the number one fear that people have is speaking in
public. Their number two fear is dying. And the number three fear that people have, is dying while
speaking in public.) Thus, a novel situation can trigger new awareness and personal growth. The
process of moving previously unknown information into the open quadrant, thus enlarging its area, has
been likened to Maslow's concept of self-actualization. The process can also be viewed as a game,
where the open quadrant is synonymous with the win-win situation.
Much, much more has been written on the Johari window model of human interaction. The process of
enlarging the open quadrant is called self-disclosure, a give and take process between me and the
people I interact with. Typically, as I share something about myself (moving information from my
hidden quadrant into the open) and if the other party is interested in getting to know me, they will
reciprocate, by similarly disclosing information in their hidden quadrant. Thus, an interaction between
two parties can be modeled dynamically as two active Johari windows. For example, you may respond
to my disclosure that I like "Cherry Garcia" by letting me know what your favorite ice cream is, or
where a new ice cream shop is being built, kinds of information in your hidden quadrant. Incidentally, it
is fattening, so be careful on how much you eat!
We believe disclosure to be healthy, at least that's the impression one gets after reading Freud.
However, Anita Kelly recently wrote that self-disclosure of personal secrets has its dangers. We are
often better off not telling secrets regarding our sexual behavior, mental health problems or large-scale
failures. "If you give people information about yourself, you give them power over you," she says.
Sikkim Manipal University - MBA - MU0011– Management and Organizational Development
Monica Lewinsky's disclosure to Linda Tripp and the ensuing scandal that enveloped President Clinton is
a case in point. Be forewarned that most secrets get passed along to at least two more parties. People
also misjudge how others respond to secrets. Sometimes you get negative feedback. For example, a
women who reveals that she was raped may be seen in the future as a victim, or by men as damaged
goods. Now, if you must tell your secret to someone, chose that person very carefully. Chose someone
whose response will give you some insight into your problem. Unfortunately, such a person is often
hard to find. So if you cannot find anyone appropriate, consider this: that keeping secrets is healthy
and tasteful, because it is a way of managing your identity, and indicates you are secure and have self-
control. But it takes energy, because you have to be on constant guard not to accidentally reveal
something that is potentially damaging.
As ones level of confidence and self esteem develops, one may actively invite others to comment on
one's blind spots. A teacher may seek feedback from students on the quality of a particular lecture,
with the desire of improving the presentation. Active listening skills are helpful in this endeavor. On the
other hand, we all have defenses, protecting the parts of ourselves that we feel vulnerable. Remember,
the blind quadrant contains behavior, feelings and motivations not accessible to the person, but which
others can see. Feelings of inadequacy, incompetence, impotence, unworthiness, rejection, guilt,
dependency, ambivalence for loved ones, needs to control and manipulate, are all difficult to face, and
yet can be seen by others. To forcibly reveal what another wishes not to see, is "psychological rape,"
and can be traumatic. Fortunately, nature has provided us with a variety of defense mechanisms to
cope with such events, such as denial, ignoring, rationalizing, etc.
The Johari window, essentially being a model for communication, can also reveal difficulties in this
area. In Johari terms, two people attempt to communicate via the open quadrants. On the simplest
level, difficulties may arise due to a lack of clarity in the interaction, such as poor grammar or choice of
words, unorganized thoughts, faulty logic etc. This induces the receiver to criticize you, the sender, by
revealing something that was in your blind quadrant. Then, if the feedback works, you correct it
immediately, or perhaps on a more long term approach take a course in reading and writing. On a
deeper level, you may be in a group meeting, and while you secretly sympathize with the minority
viewpoint, you voted with the majority. However, blind to you, you actually may be communicating this
information via body language, in conflict with your verbal message. On an even deeper level, you in
an interaction with others, may always put on a smiling, happy face, hiding all negative feelings. By
withholding negative feelings, you may be signaling to your friends to withhold also, and keep their
distance. Thus, your communication style may seem bland or distant.
And let's not forget the parable of the blind men and the elephant. Our society is constructed so that
many of us get very specialized, knowing only a small academic field very well, while being virtually
ignorant of all others. This specialization is blinding many of us to what is happening in the world today.
According to R. Buckminister Fuller, this system of education was done on purpose, to channel the most
intelligent people into specialties, enabling them to be more easily controlled. Noam Chomsky has
made similar comments with regards to the manufacturing enterprise, and how Adam Smith's writings
have been purposely misrepresented.
Quality Circles are (informal) groups of employees who voluntarily meet together on a regular basis to
identify, define, analyze and solve work related problems.
Sikkim Manipal University - MBA - MU0011– Management and Organizational Development
Usually the members of a particular team (quality circle) should be from the same work area or who do
similar work so that the problems they select will be familiar to all of them. In addition,
interdepartmental or cross functional quality circles may also be formed.
An ideal size of quality circle is seven to eight members. But the number of members in a quality circle
can vary.
• Small Groups
• Action Circles
• Excellence Circles
• Human Resources Circles
• Productivity Circles
Any of the several activities may occur during a meeting such as:
• Analyzing problem(s).
• Preparing recommendations for implementing solution(s).
• Follow up of implementation of suggestions.
• Prepare for a presentation to the management.
• Lack of faith in and support to Quality Circle activities among management personnel
• Lack of interest or incompetence of leaders/facilitator
• Apathy, fear and misunderstanding among middle level executives
• Delay or non-implementation of Circle recommendations
• Irregularity of Quality Circle activities
• Non-application of simple techniques for problem solving
• Lack of or non-participation by some members in the Circle activities
• Circles running out of problems
• Antagonism of non-members towards Quality Circle operations
• Inadequate visibility of management support
• Complexity of problems taken up
• Non-maintenance of Quality Circle records
• Too much facilitation or too little
• Language difficulty in communication
• Communication gap between Circles and departmental head
• Change of management
• Confusing Quality Circle for another technique
• Resistance from trade unions
Given below are the most commonly used tools and techniques. These are called the old QC tools:
• Brainstorming.
• Pareto analysis.
• Cause and effect diagram (or fish bone diagram or Ishikawa diagram).
• Histogram.
• Scatter diagram
• Stratification
• Check sheet
• Control charts and graphs
New QC Tools
Quality circles started using additional seven tools as they started maturing. These are:
Sikkim Manipal University - MBA - MU0011– Management and Organizational Development
1. Relations diagram.
2. Affinity diagram.
3. Systematic diagram or Tree diagram.
4. Matrix diagram.
5. Matrix data analysis diagram.
6. PDPC (Process Decision Program Chart).
7. Arrow diagram.
Benefits of QC
• Self development.
• Promotes leadership qualities among participants.
• Recognition.
• Achievement satisfaction.
• Promotes group/team working.
• Serves as cementing force between management/non-management groups.
• Promotes continuous improvement in products and services.
• Brings about a change in environment of more productivity, better quality, reduced costs, safety
and corresponding rewards.
Political climate of an organization is impacted by a leader through treatment and use of authority
under different settings which is clearly visible during the acts of decision making, setting agenda and
interaction with others to mobilize support, inspire teams and individuals and recognize people.
This interplay between leaders and their authority & influence over the followers set the tone for
political climate in an organization.
Once the understanding of organizational politics is gained leaders may use political leverage available
to them under different situations in order to promote the organizational interests. Leaders exploit
organizational politics even to graduate to leadership positions as potential leaders with proper political
orientation may:
Also political acumen of leaders is put to test when dealing with aspects such as change management
and crisis management. In such situations leaders need to quickly identify the group which is going to
support them and build a strong coalition with counter strategies backed by overwhelming facts and
reasons before the war begins thereby preempting a war. Also crucial at these times is the choice of
the persons made responsible to fight the war (change agents or crisis management team) and how
critical support is made available to them through subtle changes in organization structure and
resource allocation.
It is extremely important for leaders to understand, exploit and smother the political climate
in the company to maximize the organizational outcome and satisfaction levels of the
people.
Gaughan (1991) defines a merger as a combination of two corporations in which only one corporation
survives and the merged corporation goes out of existence.
“…as a combination of organizations of fairly similar size, which creates an organization where neither
party can clearly be seen as the acquirer.”
Conglomerate merger – In this type the two companies don’t have to be related in any way at all, in
fact the conglomerate may want unrelated companies in its portfolio because it allows spreading of
risks. Two other types are vertical and concentric mergers.
Vertical mergers – are practically the same as forward or backward integration, which allows a
company to control a bigger part of the whole product chain.
Sikkim Manipal University - MBA - MU0011– Management and Organizational Development
Concentric mergers – are mergers between two companies in different but somehow related industries,
which allows the companies to share marketing or technical resources, related mergers occur when
companies in the same industry merge their activities. These mergers allow a high level of synergy but
they may also require a higher degree of integration than the other types of mergers
In case of acquisition, one organization is acquired by the other organization. The acquiring
organization dominates the terms and conditions. The acquired organization has to follow the decisions
usually. The employees of the erstwhile organization tend to be unsure about how things will eventually
turn out. The days before and after the merger are of minimal clarity. Employees tend to wonder who
will be retained, who will be asked to go, in terms of leaders, colleagues and team members. Also the
culture of the new organization suddenly needs to be accepted by the employees who were prior to the
merger operating a certain manner or a different culture. These tend to create too many questions, and
the ability of the staff to focus on the job and remain productive tends to deteriorate.
A merger or acquisition can sufficiently transform the structures, cultures and employment prospects of
one or both the organizations that they cause organizational members to feel stressed, angry,
disoriented, frustrated, confused, and even frightened. These reactions fester under the surface of the
combination and reflect high levels of anxiety and stressful reactions, heightened self-interest and
preoccupation with the combination, cultural clashes, restricted communication and crisis management
orientations, creating problems at both the individual and organizational levels.
The clash between the two cultures in a merger or acquisition can be focused into three major areas:
1. Structure. These factors from the two cultures include the size, age, and history of two firms; the
industry in which the partners come from and now reside; the geographic location; and whether
products and/or services are involved.
2. Politics. Where does the power and managerial decision making really reside? Corporate cultures
range from autocratic extremes to total employee empowerment, and how this plays out among the
partners will be important to cultural compatibility.
3. Emotions. The personal feelings, the “culture contract” that individuals have bought into to guide
their day-to-day thoughts, habits, attitudes, commitment, and patterns of daily behavior. These
emotions will be a major input into the clash or compatibility of the two cultures.
An OD consultant can ensure all the right steps are taken to address concerns and also find ways for
the most valuable assets and human resources to be retained by the organization and to find ways to
leverage the rest based on their strengths and the opportunities in the organization. This is to ensure
assets or human resources are not lost to competition due to the uncertainties’.
E.g. The merger between Fluor Corporation and St Joe Minerals Corporation.
St Joe was decentralized, lean staff, frugal, informal, and run with a light hand. Fluor was highly
centralized, with large corporate staff, many reporting levels, and many controls on decision making. In
contrast to St Joe’s frugality Fluor had planes and helicopters for use by its large central staff. This
cultural conflict was so great that none of senior St Joe managers who went to Fluor stayed on, and of
the 22 senior officers in St Joe at the time of merger, only a few remained two years later. (Nguyen H.,
Brian H., 2003)
Sikkim Manipal University - MBA - MU0011– Management and Organizational Development
The Merger OD team consists of people who assemble, review, and analyze sensitive, competitive, and
other confidential data for the company’s top executives, who must examine the information to make a
final decision on the deal. An OD team may consist of active employees, former employees, third
parties, or a combination of these. They operate under certain protocols and rules that deal with the
highly sensitive issue that they are looking at information that could affect competition between the
two companies should the deal fall through.
What is noted first are differences in the ways the companies do business, e.g., a relative emphasis on
manufacturing versus marketing or a predominantly financial orientation versus a technical approach.
Next, differences in how the companies are organized, e.g., centralization versus decentralization or
variations in styles of management and control, are discerned.
Consultation skills can be taught and assessed , and there is a significant evidence base to inform the
context, content and methods of such teaching . Even taking a biomedical view of the consultation, in
which eliciting all relevant information and reaching a clear diagnosis is the paramount goal, there is
evidence that specific teaching of communication skills improves the performance of medical students
and that this improvement is sustained .
Prior to 1991, there seems to have been very little undergraduate teaching of communication skills in
UK medical schools , and there is evidence that implementation is still patchy and poorly integrated,
with departments of psychiatry and general practice being the prime movers . Therefore, it is to be
expected that many UK doctors currently undergoing specialist training will not have experienced any
communication skills training and would benefit from this, both for their own clinical practice and as
teachers and supervisors of their juniors.
In the UK, the specialist registrar has been established as a higher‐grade training post that leads to
accreditation for eligibility to become a consultant . Within the medical specialities, the post is started
after completion of the Royal College of Physicians membership examination. Specialist registrars in
rheumatology in West Midlands have monthly joint educational workshops, lasting a full day. Until the
Sikkim Manipal University - MBA - MU0011– Management and Organizational Development
advent of the workshop reported here, the emphasis had tended to be on specialist skills and
knowledge.
Objectives
As an introductory workshop, we set limited and rather general objectives:
1. to define the purpose of effective communication;
2. to examine the style, content and outcomes of real consultations;
3. to increase the understanding of the consultation process, using different schemes and models;
and
4. to use the techniques and material to improve our own consultations.
Structure and process
A key element in planning the workshop was to demonstrate cooperation between a consultant, with
subjectspecific knowledge and skills, and a general practitioner educationist, with generic skills in
consultation teaching and practice. The latter was responsible for the overall format of the workshop,
whilst the former constructed the case scenarios and led discussion on these.
The workshop took place in a postgraduate medical centre, away from everyone's usual place of work.
It was planned as a half day session for 14 registrars. Following a brief introduction, it consisted of the
following three main components.
(i) Small group discussion to address the following questions:
1. Is effective communication with patients important and why?
2. What do I try to achieve in a consultation?
3. What do patients want to get out of it?
4. What went wrong with a recent ‘bad’ consultation? Why did it go wrong and what could have
changed it?
(ii) Videotape of consultations. Consultations were selected from videotape recorded by the facilitators
and shown to the groups after a short introduction, emphasizing important ‘rules' for handling this
material.
1. Respect for the patient: consent and confidentiality issues.
2. Respect for the doctor: Pendleton's Rules
3. Clarity about the purpose for looking at the tape: avoiding clinical discussion; discovering what
the doctor bringing the video would like to achieve; deciding on any observational tools or
framework to use.