Organizational Behavior by Mcshane, S. (8th edition) a summary
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Organizational Behavior
Chapter 11
Conflict and negotiation in the workplace
Conflict: the process in which one party perceives that its interests are being opposed or negatively affected by another party.
Conflict is ultimately based on perceptions. It exists whenever one party believes that another might obstruct its efforts, regardless of whether the other party actually intends to do so.
Is conflict good or bad?
Conflict can have negative consequences under some circumstances:
Benefits of conflict
Optimal conflict perspective: organizations are most effective when employees experience some level of conflict, but becomes less effective with high levels of conflict.
There are various types of conflicts with different consequences.
The two dominant types are:
Separating task form relationship conflict
Separating task form relationship conflict is not easy.
Three conditions potentially minimize the level of relationship conflict during task conflict episodes:
Sources of conflict.
At some point, the sources of conflict lead one or both parties to perceive that conflict exists. These perceptions usually interact with emotions experienced about the conflict.
Conflict perceptions and emotions produce manifest conflict, the decisions and behaviors of one party toward the other.
Conflict episodes may range from subtle nonverbal behaviors to warlike aggression.
Conflict is behaviorally revealed by the style each side uses to resolve the conflict.
Sources of conflict → conflict perceptions and emotions → manifest conflict → (sometimes back to perceptions and emotions and so on) → conflict outcomes
Six main conditions:
Incompatible goals
When the goals of one person or department seem to interfere with another person’s or department’s goals.
Differentiation
Differences among people and work units regarding their training, values, beliefs, and experiences.
Interdependence
Conflict is inherently about relationships because people and work units are affected by others only when they have some level of interdependence.
The risk of conflict increases with the level of interdependence.
Scare resources
Each person or unit requiring the same resource necessarily undermines others who also need that resource to fulfill their goals.
Ambiguous rules
Uncertainty increases the risk that one party intends to interfere with the other party’s goals.
Encourages political tactics and, in some cases, employees enter a free-for-all battle to win decisions in their favor.
Communication problems
The lack of opportunity, ability, or motivation to communicate effectively.
The six sources of conflict lead to conflict perceptions and emotions that, in turn, motivate people to respond in some way to the conflict.
How people respond behaviorally to a conflict situation depends on the relative importance they place in maximizing outcomes for themselves and for the other party.
Choosing the best conflict-handling style
People usually gravitate toward on or two conflict-handling styles that match their personality, personal and cultural values, and past experience.
The best style depends on the situation.
Conflict-handling style | Preferred style when… | Problems with this style |
Problem solving | Interests are not perfectly opposing Parties have trust, openness, and time to share information Issues are complex | Sharing information that the other party might user to his or her advantage |
Forcing | You have a deep conviction about your position Dispute requires a quick solution Other party would take advantage of more cooperative strategies | Highest risk of relationship conflict May damage long-term relations, reducing future problem solving |
Avoiding | Conflict has become too emotionally charged Cost of trying to resolve the conflict outweighs the benefits | Doesn’t usually resolve the conflict May increase the other party’s frustration |
Yielding | Other party has substantially more power Issue is much less important to you than to the other party The value and logic of your position isn't as clear | Increases other party’s expectations in future conflict episodes |
Compromising | Parties have equal power Time pressure to resolve the conflict Parties lack trust/ openness for problem solving | Sub-optimal solution where mutual gains are possible |
Cultural and gender differences in conflict-handling styles
Cultural differences are more than just a source of conflict. They influence the preferred conflict-handling style.
Men and women also rely on different conflict-handling styles to some degree.
Compared to men, women pay more attention to the relationship between the parties.
Conflict management also involves altering the underlying structural causes of potential conflict.
Empathizing superordinate goals
Superordinate goals: goals that the conflicting parties value and whose attainment requires the joint resources and effort of those parties.
Reducing differentiation
As people develop common experiences and beliefs, they become more motivated to coordinate activities and resolve their disputes through constructive discussion.
Improving communication and mutual understanding
To give the conflicting parties more opportunities to communicate and understand each other.
But
Reducing distance
Minimize the level of interdependence between the parties.
Three ways to reduce interdependence among employees:
Increasing resources
Clarifying rules and procedures
Third-party conflict resolution: any attempt by a relatively neutral person to help conflicting parties resolve their differences.
Three main third-party dispute resolution activities
Choosing the best third-party intervention strategy.
Research suggests that managers and other people in positions of authority usually adopt an inquisitional approach whereby they dominate the intervention process as well as make a binding decision.
It is consistent with the decision-oriented nature of managerial jobs.
Inquisition is usually the least effective third-party conflict resolution method in organizational settings.
Which third-party approach is most appropriate in organizations?
Generally speaking, for everyday disagreements between two employees, the mediation approach is usually the best because it gives employees more responsibility for resolving their won disputes.
Negotiation: the process whereby two or more conflicting parties attempt to resolve their divergent goals by redefining the terms of their interdependence.
People negotiate when they think that discussion can produce a more satisfactory arrangement in their exchange of goods or services.
Distributive versus integrative approaches to negotiation
Distributive
In negotiations, those involved in the conflict must distribute portions from a fixed pie.
Integrative or mutual gains
Then negotiators believe the resources at stake are expandable rather than fixed if the parties work creatively together to find a solution.
When do negotiators adopt a distributive or integrative approach to negotiations?
Preparing to negotiate
Preparation is essential for successful negotiations.
Develop goals and understand needs
Successful negotiators develop goals about what they want to achieve from the exchange.
They reflect on what needs they are trying to fulfill from those goals.
Also anticipating the other party’s goals and their underlying needs, based on available information before negotiation sessions begin.
Negotiators engage in a form of goals setting that identifies three key positions:
These tree are shown for each party in the bargaining zone model.
The initial offer point, each party’s offer to the other side, requires careful consideration because it can influence the negotiation outcome.
Target point: your realistic goal or expectation for a final agreement.
This position must consider alternative strategies to achieve those objectives, and test underlying assumptions about the situation.
Know your BATNA and power
Best alternative to a negotiated agreement (BATNA): the best outcome you might achieve through some other course of action if you abandon the current negotiation.
Having more than one BATNA to a negotiation increases your power.
A common problem is that people tend to overestimate their BATNA.
The negotiation process
Gather information
Information is the cornerstone of effective negotiations.
Some types of information reveal the other party’s resistance point.
Mutual gains may be possible with more information.
Successful negotiations require both parties to volunteer information.
The most important practices for gathering information in negotiations are to listen and ask questions.
Skilled negotiator communicate their inner thoughts and feelings about what the other party has said.
Manage concessions
Successful negotiators make fewer concessions and each concession is smaller than those of average negotiators.
Concessions are a form of communication because they signal to the other party the relative importance of each issue being negotiated.
Concessions also symbolize each party’s motivation to bargain in good faith.
Concessions are necessary for the parties to move toward the area to agreement.
Concessions need to be clearly labeled as such and should be accompanied by an expectation that the other party will reciprocate.
Some type of offers and concessions are better than others.
Manage time
Negotiators tend to make more concessions as the deadline gets closer.
Build the relationship
Building and maintaining trust is important in all negotiations.
The negotiation setting
The effectiveness of negotiating depends to some extent on the environment in which the negotiations occur.
Gender and negotiation
When it comes to negotiation, women tend to have poorer economic outcomes than do men.
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This is a summary of the book Organizational Behavior by Mcshane, S (8th edition). This book is about psychology at the workplace. It contains for instance ways to increase employee satisfaction and workplace dynamics. The book is used in the course 'Labor and and
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