CONFLICT

OUTLIN
E
What is Conflict?
Types of Conflict
The Conflict Process
Approaches to Conflict Handling
Conflict Management Techniques
Bargaining Strategies
The Negotiation Process
A fundamental disagreement over
ends or goals to be pursued and
the means for their
accomplishment.
Substantive
Interpersonal difficulties that arise
over feelings of anger, mistrust,
fear, and resentment.
Emotional
Conflict is a disagreement through which the
involved parties perceive a threat to their
needs, interests or concerns.
CONFLIC
T
FUNCTIONAL &
DYSFUNCTIONAL
Functional
Constructive
Helps identify issues
and underlying
problems
Acts as a safety valve,
releasing tension and
anger
Encourages interaction
and involvement
Promotes creativity
Facilitates problem
solving
Promotes sharing of
information
Dysfunctional
Destructive
Results in negative
outcomes
Decreases work
productivity and job
satisfaction
Increases in
absenteeism and
turnover
Reduces Trust
Reduces Information
Within - Choices
Between Personality/Status
Individual
Within Way/Means
Between Resources/Authority
Group
Within Hierarchy/Functional
Between Same Market
Organization
Level and Types of
Conflict
Veridical, Contingent, Displaced, Misattributed, Latent, False

CONFLICT
PROCESS
Approaches to Conflict
Handling
Confrontation
Compromise
Arbitration
Negotiation

Confrontation
The winlose orientation

Positional Contrast

Attack and Counter attack

Perception of Personality

Intellectual distortions

Minimizing of commonalities
Compromise
Out group is peace loving

Sharing the gain attitude

Doesn't resolve the
conflict

Faster approach to
solution

Baazigar
Arbitration
Out-group is belligerent

Both not interested in
peace

Third Party

Acceptable to both group

Conflict get postponed


Negotiation
Best Approach for handling

Most satisfactory solution

Parties jointly confront

Explore alternate solution

Win-Win situation for both
Approaches to Conflict
Handling
Conflict Management
Techniques
Collaborating ( Win-Win)

Compromising

Withdrawing (Avoiding)

Soothing (Accommodating)

Competing
Collaborating
I win, you Win
Teamwork and cooperation helps everyone achieve their goal while also maintaining relationships. The process of
working through differences will lead to creative solutions and that will satisfy both parties concern.

When to use :
When there is high level of trust
When you dont want to have high level of responsibility
When long term relationship is important.
When working through animosity.

Advantages of collaborating:
Leads to solving the actual problem
Leads to a win-win outcome
Reinforces mutual trust and respect
Builds a foundation for effective collaboration in the future
Shared responsibility of the outcome
You earn the reputation of a good negotiator

Compromising
Compromising looks for an expedient and mutually acceptable solution which partially satisfies
both parties.

When to use:
When the goals are moderately important and not worth the use of more assertive or more involving
approaches, such as forcing or collaborating
To reach temporary settlement on complex issues
To reach expedient solutions on important issues
As a first step when the involved parties do not know each other well or havent yet developed a
high level of mutual trust
When collaboration or forcing do not work

Advantages of compromise:
Faster issue resolution. Compromising may be more practical when time is a factor
Can provide a temporary solution while still looking for a win-win solution
Lowers the levels of tension and stress resulting from the conflict


Withdrawing
Also known as avoiding. He/she does not address the conflict, sidesteps, postpones or simply
withdraws.
When to use:
When the issue is trivial and not worth the effort
When more important issues are pressing, and you don't have time to deal with it
In situations where postponing the response is beneficial to you
When you see no chance of getting your concerns met or you would have to put forth unreasonable
efforts
When you would have to deal with hostility
When you are unable to handle the conflict (e.g. if you are too emotionally involved or others can
handle it better)
Advantages of withdrawing:
When the opponent is forcing / attempts aggression, you may choose to withdraw and postpone
your response until you are in a more favourable circumstance for you to push back
Withdrawing is a low stress approach when the conflict is short
Gives the ability/time to focus on more important or more urgent issues instead
Gives you time to better prepare and collect information before you act

Soothing
Also known as accommodating. Smoothing is accommodating the concerns of
other people first of all, rather than one's own concerns.

When to use:
When it is important to provide a temporary relief from the conflict or buy time
until you are in a better position to respond/push back
When the issue is not as important to you as it is to the other person
When you accept that you are wrong
When you have no choice or when continued competition would be detrimental

Advantages of smoothing:
In some cases smoothing will help to protect more important interests while giving
up on some less important ones
Gives an opportunity to reassess the situation from a different angle

Forcing
Also known as competing. An individual firmly pursues his or her own concerns
despite the resistance of the other person. This may involve pushing one viewpoint
at the expense of another or maintaining firm resistance to another persons
actions.

When to use:
In certain situations when all other, less forceful methods, dont work or are
ineffective
When you need to stand up for your own rights, resist aggression and pressure
When a quick resolution is required and using force is justified (e.g. in a life-
threatening situation, to stop an aggression)
As a last resort to resolve a long-lasting conflict
Advantages of forcing:
May provide a quick resolution to a conflict
Increases self-esteem and draws respect when firm resistance or actions were a
response to an aggression or hostility


Negotiation
Negotiation (Bargaining)
Process of making joint decisions when
the parties involved have different
preferences

Two General Approaches:
Distributive Bargaining
The parties see the conflict as win-
or-lose because they believe the
resource base of the conflict is
fixed.
Integrative Bargaining
Parties can increase total
resources by coming up with a new
solution that is a win-win for both.

Distributive versus Integrative
Bargaining
Bargaining
Characteristic
Distributive
Bargaining
Integrative
Bargaining
Goal Get all the pie
you can
Expand the pie
Primary Motivation I Win- You Lose I Win-You Win
Primary Interests Opposed to each
other
Similar with each
other
Information Sharing Low High
Duration of
Relationships
Short-Term Long-Term
Mine Yours
Mine Yours
Distributive
Integrative
Transition from distributive to integrative conflict resolution
occurs when the need to accomplish a common goal is
recognized.

Party Bs aspiration
range
Party As aspiration
range
Settlement
range
Party As
target
point
Party Bs
target
point
Party Bs
resistance
point
Party As
resistance
point
Staking Out the Bargaining Zone
Issues in Negotiation
Personality Traits
Extroverts and agreeable people weaker at distributive
negotiation disagreeable introvert is best
Biases Hinderances
Assuming they will gain at the loss of others
Judgement based on irrelevant information like initial offer
Mood and Emotion
Ability to show anger helps in distributive bargaining
Positive moods and emotions help integrative bargaining
Gender
Men and women negotiate the same way, but may experience
different outcomes
Women and men take on gender stereotypes in negotiations:
tender and tough
Women are less likely to negotiate
Third-Party Negotiations
Four Basic Third-Party Roles
Mediator
A neutral third party who facilitates a negotiated solution by using
reasoning, persuasion, and suggestions for alternatives
Arbitrator
A third party to a negotiation who has the authority to dictate an
agreement.
Conciliator
A trusted third party who provides an informal communication link
between the negotiator and the opponent
Consultant
An impartial third party, skilled in conflict management, who
attempts to facilitate creative problem solving through
communication and analysis

Improving negotiation skills
Begin with a positive overture
Emphasize on win-win strategy
Address problems not personalities
Pay little attention to initial offers
Create an open and trusting climate

The Negotiation Process
Negotiation Process has five stages. In all steps of
negotiation process the involved parties bargain at a
systematic way to decide how to allocate scarce
resources and maintain each others interest.
The Negotiation Process
CASE: The Ninja Corporation has one of the largest factories on the East
Coast. Every five years, the company puts out a request for bids for
businesses to clean and paint the factory floor. Once a contractor is
selected, Ninja Corporation starts a negotiation process in order to
facilitate the best price and service on this massive undertaking.

Ninja Corporation has received numerous bids for the factory painting job.
The company has decided to enter negotiations with Wet Paint Biz.

Wet Paint Biz and Ninja Corporation are starting to get organized for the big
negotiation meeting that will be held at the local town office.


1. Preparation and Planning

Do your homework : Gather information, use it to develop a strategy
What is the nature of the conflict? What is the history leading up to this
negotiation?
Who is involved, and what are their perceptions of the conflict? What do you
want from the negotiation? What are your goals?

Determine your and the other sides Best Alternative To a Negotiated
Agreement
(BATNA) - lowest value acceptable to you for a negotiated agreement.

CASE:
Both companies should investigate each other's history and try and figure out
what the opening offer will be for the paint job. Wet Paint Biz needs to uncover the
highest amount Ninja Corporation is willing to pay for the factory paint job, while
Ninja Corporation needs to figure out the lowest Wet Paint Biz will take for the job.
The Negotiation Process
The Negotiation Process
2. Definition of Ground Rules

Who will do the negotiating? Where will it take place? What time constraints,
if any,
will apply?
To what issues will negotiation be limited? Will there be a specific procedure
to
follow if an impasse is reached?

During this phase, the parties will also exchange their initial proposals or
demands.

CASE:
Both parties will try and figure out what price should be the starting point for
the negotiation. Also, demands and expectations should be disclosed up
front. Lastly, the bottom line, which is the lowest price that Wet Paint Biz will
provide services to Ninja Corporation for, will need to be uncovered by Ninja
Corporation. Ninja will start the negotiations with an opening offer, or starting
price, suggesting a price of $25,000 for the job. Both parties also agreed that
the negotiations would last one day and if a price for the job was not agreed
upon, then Ninja Corporation would consider a different vendor.


3. Clarification and Justification

Both the parties will explain amplify, clarify, bolster and justify their original
demands. It is an opportunity for educating and informing each other on the
issues why they are important and how each arrived at their initial demands.
This is the point where one party might want to provide the other party with any
documentation that helps support its position

CASE :
Ninja Corporation feels that the factory job should only take $25,000 to
complete. They provide documentation to Wet Paint Biz to show them what the
previous vendor charged them and adjusted for inflation.

Wet Paint Biz understands the $25,000 request, but offers to complete the job
for $42,000. Wet Paint Biz provides documentation to support the price
increase. The company explains that the paint has increased in price, and new
laws require them to hire certified technicians to disassemble certain parts of
the factory for cleaning.

The Negotiation Process
4. Bargaining and Problem Solving

The essence of the negotiation process is the actual give and take in trying to
hash out an agreement. It is here where concessions will undoubtedly need to
be made by both parties.

CASE:
Both parties negotiate and finalizes on price, say $30,000 depending on some
terms and conditions.
The Negotiation Process
The Negotiation Process
5. Closure and Implementation

The final step in the negotiation process is formalization the agreement
that has been worked out and developing and procedures that are
necessary for implementation and monitoring. For major negotiations this
will require hammering out the specifics in a formal contract.

CASE:
Both parties sign a contract stating the final price, implementation process
and terms and conditions.
Questions and Discussion
1.
2.
3.
4.
5. What is BATNA ?