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.