1. Conflict arises when one party feels another has negatively affected something they care about, such as incompatible goals or different interpretations of facts. 2. Views of conflict have transitioned from seeing it as purely harmful, to recognizing it as natural and sometimes necessary for group performance. 3. Negotiation is an exchange between parties to agree on terms, and can be distributive, seeking to divide a fixed amount, or integrative, creating a win-win solution. 4. Managing conflict effectively requires creating a win-win situation, defusing tensions immediately, and finding opportunities in disputes.

1. Conflict and negotiation
• Everybody negotiates. Some people like
it, others hate it but all agree that the ability
to negotiate well is a valuable business skill
and therefore it’s something worth doing well.
• As the Al Capone character in The
Untouchables said “You get more with a kind
word…and a gun, than you do with just a kind
word.

2. Conflict and negotiation
• Conflict is 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. Eg – incompatibility of
goals, differences over interpretations of
facts, disagreements based on behavioral
expectations.

3. Transitions in conflict thought
• Traditional view – the belief that all conflict is
harmful and must be avoided.
• Human relations view of conflict – The belief
that conflict is a natural and inevitable
outcome in any group.
• Interactionist view – The belief that conflict is
not only a positive force in a group but that it
is also an absolute necessity for a group to
perform effectively.

4. Task Interdependence
• Pooled interdependence
• Sequential interdependence
• Reciprocal interdependence

5. Types of conflict
• Functional conflict – conflict that supports the goals of
the group and improves its performance.
• Dysfunctional conflict – conflict that hinders group
performance.
• Task conflict – conflicts over content and goals of the
work (3 types – pooled interdependence, sequential
interdependence, reciprocal interdependence)
• Relationship conflict – conflict based on interpersonal
relationships.
• Process conflict – conflict over how work gets done.

6. Conflicts happen because of -
• Personality clash
• Gender clash
• Customer needs
• Biased treatment
• Changed / new hierarchy
• Superiors
• Cross cultural difference

7. Conflict process
• Stage 1 – potential opposition or
incompatibility
• Conditions – communication, structure and
personal variables
• Stage 2 – cognition and personalization
• Experience perceived conflict (awareness of
conditions that create conflicts) and felt
conflict (emotional involvement which creates
anxiety, tenseness, frustration and hostility)

8. • Stage 3 – intentions – decisions to act in a
given way.
• Primary conflict handling intentions are –
Competing
Collaborating
Avoiding
Accommodating
compromising

9. • Stage 4 – Behavior
• Party’s behavior / others reaction
• Stage 5 – outcomes
• Increased group performance / decreased
group performance.

10. Conflict mgmt techniques
• Problem solving
• Super ordinate goals
• Expansion of resources
• Avoidance
• Smoothing
• Compromise
• Authoritative command
• Altering the human variable
• Altering the structural variables

11. • Conflict Manager must –
• Create a win – win situation
• Find opportunity in adversity
• Defuse the situation immediately

12. Conflicts happen because of -
• Personality clash
• Gender clash
• Customer needs
• Biased treatment
• Changed hierarchy
• Superiors
• Cross cultural differences

13. Avoidance styles
• Resignation
• Withdrawal
• Defusion – buy time for dealing with a conflict
• Appeasement – the main objective is to buy
temporary peace.

14. • A conflict manager has to –
• Create win-win situation
• Find opportunity in adversity
• Defuse situation immediately

15. To solve conflicts
• Game theory – use mathematical models to
predict the outcome of negotiation situations.
• Win – win approach – PRAM model of
negotiations ie Plans – Relationships -
Agreement - Maintenance

16. Negotiation
• A process in which two or more parties exchange
goods or services and attempt to agree on the
exchange rate for them.
• Distributive bargaining – negotiation that seeks to
divide up a fixed amount of resources; a win – lose
situation.
• The essence of distributive bargaining is negotiating
over who gets what share of a fixed pie. Fixed pie is the
belief that there is only a set amount of goods or
services to be divided up between the parties.
• Less obvious eg of distributive bargaining is good cop –
bad cop routine.

17. • Integrative bargaining – negotiation that seeks
one or more settlements that can create a win
– win solution.
• Compromising may be your worst enemy in
negotiating a win – win agreement. This is
because compromising reduces the pressure
to bargain integratively.

18. Negotiation process
• Preparation & Planning – BATNA – the best
alternative to a negotiated agreement, the
lowest acceptable value to an individual for a
negotiated agreement.
• Definition of ground rules
• Clarification and justification
• Bargaining and problem solving
• Closure and implementation

19. Issues in negotiation
• Role of mood
• Role of personality
• Gender differences
• Cultural differences

20. III party negotiations
• Mediator – a neutral third party who facilitates a
negotiated solution by using
reasoning, persuasion, and suggestions for
alternatives.
• Arbitrator – a third party who has the authority
to dictate an agreement
• ( mediation & arbitration are two popular forms
of alternative dispute resolution)
• Conciliator – a trusted III party who provides an
informal communication link between the two
parties.

21. • Consultant – an impartial III party skilled in
conflict mgmt who attempts to facilitate
creative problem solving through
communication and analysis.