Managing Organizational Conflict, Politics, and Negotiation

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Managing Organizational Conflict, Politics, and
Negotiation
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Overview

• Why conflict arises and the types and sources of
  conflict in organizations
• Effective conflict-resolution strategies
• The nature of negotiation and why integrative
  bargaining is more effective than distributive
  negotiation.

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Overview

• How managers can promote integrative bargaining
  in organizations
• Why you need to be attuned to organizational
  politics and how to become politically skilled

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Organizational Conflict

• Organizational Conflict
• Discord caused by conflicting goals, interests or
  values of different individuals or groups who
  block each others efforts to achieve objectives
• Given the wide range of goals pursued by
  different stakeholders, conflict is inevitable.
• Because it forces exploration of alternative
  strategies, no organization can be successful
  without conflict.

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Types of Conflict

• Interpersonal Conflict
• Conflict between individuals due to differences
  in their goals or values.
• Intragroup Conflict
• Conflict within a group or team.

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Types of Conflict

• Intergroup Conflict
• Conflict between two or more teams or groups
• Interorganizational Conflict
• Conflict between organizations
• Sometime during your business career, you will
  play a key role in resolving one or all of these
  types of conflict.

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Sources of Conflict

• Different Goals and Time Horizons
• Different groups have differing goals and
  timetables for achieving them
• Overlapping Authority
• Two or more managers claim authority for the same
  activity, leading to conflict between them and
  their teams (two dogs, one fire hydrant)

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Sources of Conflict

• Task Interdependencies
• One member or a group fails to finish a task
  that another member or group depends on, causing
  work to fall behind schedule
• Different Evaluation/Reward System
• Rewarding the achievements of two different
  groups with conflicting goals

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Sources of Conflict

• Scarce Resources
• Managers can come into conflict over the
  allocation of scarce resources (example budgets
  and people).
• Status Inconsistencies
• Some individuals and groups have a higher
  organizational status than others for example,
  sales versus staff -- leading to envy and
  conflict.

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Conflict Management Strategies

• Functional Conflict Resolution
• Handling conflict by compromise or collaboration
  between parties.
• Compromise each party is concerned about their
  goal accomplishment and is willing to engage in
  give-and-take exchange to reach a reasonable
  solution.
• EQUAL PAIN
• Collaboration parties try to handle the conflict
  without making concessions by coming up with a
  new way to resolve their differences that leaves
  them both better off.
• EQUAL GAIN

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Conflict Management Strategies

• Accommodation one party simply gives in to the
  other party
• Avoidance two parties try to ignore the problem
  and do nothing to resolve the disagreement can
  lead to a festering problem not a fruitful
  approach

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Conflict Management Strategies

• Competition each party tries to maximize its
  own gain and has little interest in understanding
  the others position stupid!

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Strategies Focused on Individuals

• Increasing awareness of the sources of conflict
• Increasing diversity awareness and skills
• Practicing job rotation (forcing them to walk in
  each others shoes)
• Using permanent transfers or dismissals when
  necessary (move or fire the problem)

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Strategies Focused on the Whole Organization

• Changing an organizations structure or culture
• (make conflict unpopular or unacceptable)
• Altering the source of conflict

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Negotiation

• Negotiation
• A method of conflict resolution in which two
  parties of equal power try to find an acceptable
  solution by considering various alternatives to
  allocate resources to each other.

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Negotiation

• Third-party negotiator an impartial expert who
  helps parties in conflict reach an acceptable
  solution

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Third-party Negotiators

• Mediator facilitates negotiations but has no
  authority to impose a solution
• Arbitrator facilitates discussion, but can then
  impose a fair solution that both parties are
  obligated to abide by

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Negotiation Strategies for Integrative Bargaining

• Distributive negotiation
• The parties see the conflict as win-or-lose
  because they believe the resource base of the
  conflict is fixed. Zero-sum mentality If you
  win, I lose.

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Negotiation Strategies for Integrative Bargaining

• Integrative negotiation
• Parties can increase total resources by coming up
  with a creative, new solution that is a win-win
  for both.

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Negotiating Tips

• Focus on the problem, not the people
• Focus on needs, not demands
• Find the middle ground all share

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Organizational Politics

• Organizational Politics
• Activities managers engage in to accumulate power
  which they then use to overcome opposition and
  achieve their goals
• Political strategies
• Specific tactics used to increase power and use
  it effectively to overcome resistance and gain
  support

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The Importance of Organizational Politics

• Politics
• Can be negative when managers act in
  self-interested ways for their own benefit.
• Can be positive when used by managers to gain
  support for changes that will improve the
  organization or advance its goals, benefiting
  everyone
• Leaders learn to persuade!

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Political Strategies for Gaining and Maintaining
Power
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Strategies for Exercising Power