This document discusses conflict and negotiation in the workplace. It identifies sources of conflict like differing goals, values, and scarce resources. It examines five approaches to handling conflict and when each is appropriate. It also discusses seven organizational approaches to reducing dysfunctional conflict, such as emphasizing shared goals, improving communication, and clarifying rules. The document covers negotiating fundamentals, managing information and the negotiation process, and resolving conflict through third parties like mediation or arbitration.

1. 1
Conflict and negotiation in the
workplace: Learning Objectives
After studying this chapter, you should be able
to;
1) Identify the sources and consequences of
conflict in organisations,
2) Examine the five strategic approaches to
conflict handling and discuss the circumstances
in which each would be most appropriate,
3) Apply the seven approaches that
organisations can take to reduce dysfunctional
conflicts.

2. 2
Conflict Defined
The process in
which one party
perceives that its
interests are
being opposed
or negatively
affected by
another party

3. 3
The Conflict Process

4. 4
Differentiation
Interdependence
• Different values/beliefs
• Explains cross-cultural and generational
conflict
• Conflict increases with interdependence
• Parties more likely to interfere with each
other
Incompatible
goals
• One party’s goals perceived to interfere with
other’s goals
Structural Sources of Conflict

5. 5
Ambiguous rules
Communication
problems
• Create uncertainty, threaten goals
• Without rules, people rely on politics
• Increase stereotyping
• Reduce motivation to communicate
• Escalate conflict when arrogant
Scarce resources• Motivates competition for the resource
Structural Sources of Conflict
continued

6. 6
Five Conflict Handling Styles

7. 7
Resolving Conflict Through
Negotiation
• Negotiation: conflicting
parties attempt to
resolve their divergent
goals by redefining the
terms of their
interdependence
• Need to consider
desired outcomes,
tactics, deal design
and the scope of the
negotiation

8. 8
Negotiating Fundamentals
• Setting Limits
– Target point
– Resistance point
• Assessing Power
– Consider alternatives
– Skills

9. 9
Creating and Claiming Value

10. 10
Managing the Deal
• Information
• Skills
• Concessions
• Strategies
– Multi-issue proposals
– Conceding on low-value items while getting
concessions on high-value items

11. 11
Managing Information
• Small number of strong arguments
• Understand the other negotiator’s needs
• Investigative approach to negotiations

12. 12
Managing the Process
• Tactics:
– Delaying or stalling the negotiation
– Setting deadlines
• Risk: negotiation turning into an escalating
cycle of attack and counterattack
• Ignore personal attacks and refocus on the
substantive problem

13. 13
Beyond the Deal
• Considering other aspects in addition to best
possible deal:
– Implementation
– Social capital
– Relationship building
– Reputation
– Ethical negotiation

14. 14
Negotiating Ethically
Avoid:
• Misrepresentation
• False promises
• Attacking an opponent’s network
• Inappropriate information gathering
• Strategic misrepresentation of positive or
negative emotions

15. 15
Resolving Conflict through 3rd-
party Intervention

16. 16
Choosing the Best Third-Party
Strategy
• Managers prefer inquisitional strategy, but this
is not usually the best approach
• Mediation potentially offers the highest
satisfaction with process and outcomes
• Use arbitration when mediation fails

17. 17
Organisational Approaches to Conflict
Resolution
• Emphasising superordinate goals
– Emphasise common objective rather than
conflicting sub-goals
– Reduce goal incompatibility and differentiation
• Reducing values differences
– Remove sources of different values and beliefs
▪ e.g. move employees around to different jobs

18. 18
Organisational Approaches to Conflict
Resolution continued
• Improving communication/understanding
– Employees understand and appreciate each
other’s views through communication
– Relates to contact hypothesis
– Warning: apply communication/understanding after
reducing differentiation
• Reducing interdependence
– Divide shared resources
– Combine tasks
– Use buffers

19. 19
Organisational Approaches to Conflict
Resolution continued
• Increasing resources
– Duplicate resources
• Clarifying rules and procedures
– Clarify resource distribution
– Change interdependence
• Establishing a positive climate
– Norms that encourage openness
– Norms that discourage negative emotions and
encourage positive diffusion tactics (e.g. humour)
• Alternative dispute resolution

20. 20
Summary
• Moderate conflict can be effective
• The conflict process model begins with the five
structural sources of conflict
• The current perspective on conflict involves
distinguishing task from relationship conflict
• There are several conflict-handling styles: problem
solving, forcing, avoiding, yielding and compromising.
People who use problem solving have a win–win
orientation
• Effective negotiators need to engage in both
collaboration and competition in order to obtain
outcomes