net 7 Skill Assessment ■ Managing Interpersonal Conflict ■ Strategies for Handling Conflict Skill Learning ■ Interpersonal Conflict Management ■ Diagnosing the Type of Interpersonal Conflict ■ Selecting the Appropriate Conflict Management Approach ■ Resolving Interpersonal Confrontations Using the Collaborative Approach ■ Summary Managing ■ Behavioral Guidelines Skill Analysis Conflict ■ Educational Pension Investments Skill Practice ■ SSS Software Management Problems ■ Bradley’s Barn ■ Avocado Computers ■ Phelps, Inc. ■ Alisa Moffatt Learning Objectives ■ Can Larry Fit In? ■ Meeting at Hartford Manufacturing Company 1. DIAGNOSE THE FOCUS AND Skill Application SOURCE OF CONFLICTS 2. UTILIZE APPROPRIATE CONFLICT ■ Suggested Assignments MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES ■ Application Plan and Evaluation 3.
RESOLVE INTERPERSONAL CONFRONTATIONS THROUGH COLLABORATION Scoring Keys and Comparison Data MyManagementLabtm ✪ When you see this icon, visit www.com for self-assessments, video activities, and more.net Skill Assessment ✪ If your instructor is utilizing MyManagementLab, log onto mymanagementlab.com and select the Personal Inventory Assessment (PIA) section and complete the instru- P I A ments associated with this chapter. PERSONAL INVENTORY ASSESSMENT The assessment instruments in this chapter are briefly described below. The assess- ments appear either in your text or in PIA. The assessments marked with (blue star) are available only in PIA.
All assessments should be completed before reading the chapter material. After completing the first assessment save your response to your hard drive. When you have finished reading the chapter, re-take the assessment and compare your responses to see what you have learned. ✪ ❏ The Managing Interpersonal Conflict assessment measures the extent to which you exhibit competency in managing conflict in a work context.
✪ ❏ The Strategies for Handling Conflict assessment measures your preferences for five different conflict management strategies that will be discussed in the chapter. Skill Learning leading indicator of being out of touch with significant Interpersonal Conflict Management changes in the marketplace (Argenti, 1976). Conflict is an essential, ubiquitous part of or- A conflict over issues is not only likely within ganizational life. In fact, given the current business top-management teams, but also valuable.
Such trends toward workforce diversity, globalization, and conflict provides executives with a more in- joint ventures, how managers from different organiza- clusive range of information, a deeper under- tions and cultures deal with conflict is an increasingly standing of the issues, and a richer set of important predictor of organizational success (Seybolt, possible solutions. Conflict is the lifeblood of vibrant, progressive, not agreement but apathy and disengagement. It sparks creativity, stimu- In fast paced markets, successful strategic deci- lates innovation, and encourages personal improve- sions are most likely to be made by teams that ment (Blackard & Gibson, 2002; Farh, Lee & Farh, promote active and broad conflict over issues 2010; Pascale, 1990; Wanous & Youtz, 1986). without sacrificing speed.
The key to doing so is to mitigate interpersonal conflict. (Eisenhardt, Kahwajy, & Bourgeois, 1997, pp. 84–85) ✪ MyManagementLab: WATCH IT One of the leading causes of business failure among CH2MHill: Conflict and Negotiation major corporations is too much agreement among top Apply what you have learned about management. The lack of tension between competing If your instructor has assigned MyManagementLab, perspectives can foster a climate of complacency.
This go to mymanagementlab.com to watch a video problem is compounded when boards of directors case and answer questions. fail to play an aggressive oversight role. They avoid conflict with the internal management team who ap- pear unified on key issues and very confident of their Andrew Grove, former president of Intel, echoed positions. Although managers often view a lack of these themes: “Many managers seem to think it is im- conflict as a sign of good leadership, in reality it is a possible to tackle anything or anyone head-on, even 330 Chapter 7 Managing Conflict www.1 Relationship Between Level of Conflict and Organizational Outcomes Positive ORGANIZATIONAL OUTCOMES LEARNING Negative Low High LEVEL OF CONFLICT in business.
By contrast, we at Intel believe that it is conflict. On the one hand, managers intellectually ap- the essence of corporate health to bring a problem out preciate the value of conflict and competition. They into the open as soon as possible, even if this entails a agree it is a necessary ingredient of the free-enterprise confrontation. Dealing with conflicts lies at the heart of system.
On the other hand, their actions often dem- managing any business. As a result, confrontation—fac- onstrate conflict avoidance whenever possible. This ing issues about which there is disagreement—can be ambivalence about conflict is a recurring theme in avoided only at the manager’s peril. Workplace politick- Moneyball, a book, and subsequently a feature film, ing grows quietly in the dark, like mushrooms; neither about the Oakland A’s baseball team and their gen- can stand the light of day” (Grove, 1984).
eral manager Billy Beane, based on the book by However, we all have ample evidence that conflict Michael Lewis. often produces harmful results. Interpersonal conflict Beane believed that baseball scouts and manag- can sap people’s energy and demoralize their spirit. ers had become hidebound by tradition in relying on Also, some types of conflicts, regardless of frequency, faulty assumptions about which statistics mattered in generally produce dysfunctional outcomes.
These in- predicting a player’s future success. For instance, he clude personality conflicts and arguments over things believed that statistics like batting averages and sto- that can’t be changed. len bases were relics of a past century, and no longer As Figure 7.1 shows, scholars generally agree that good indicators of a player’s potential in the modern some conflict is both inevitable and beneficial in effec- game. As manager of the A’s, Beane advocated the tive organizations (Brown, 1983).
As illustrated in this use of a new statistical method to evaluate p layers. figure, a moderate level of the right kind of conflict Moneyball depicts the frequent, heated battles that appears to be healthy for most organizations. Beane had with his scouting staff and the team’s coach as he challenged their assumptions. Beane was a constant source of conflict, in part because of Mixed Feelings about his revolutionary ideas, and in part because of his Conflict dogged determination to force change upon the or- The well-known American psychologist, Abraham ganization.
At one point, he reportedly put his staff Maslow (1965), observed that people generally have members in their place by saying, “We’re going to run a high degree of ambivalence regarding the value of the organization from the top down. We’re controlling Managing Conflict Chapter 7 331 www.net player personnel. That’s our job. I don’t apologize for challenge is to encourage members of management that” (Lewis, 2014: 138).
Resistance to Beane’s ideas teams to argue without destroying their ability to work and his tendency toward conflict nearly prevented his together” (p. What makes this possible? These ideas from gaining a foothold. authors identify several key “rules of engagement” for Under Beane’s management, however, Oakland effective conflict management: went from a perennial weakling in Major League Baseball to four consecutive playoff appearances (2000– ❏ Work with more, rather than less, information. In 2002, the A’s were the first team in more than ❏ Focus on the facts.
a century to win 20 consecutive games. Other teams ❏ Develop multiple alternatives to enrich the level quickly adopted Beane’s statistical methods for evaluat- of debate. Despite all of this success, Beane remains a ❏ Share commonly agreed-upon goals. controversial figure among baseball administration.
❏ Inject humor into the decision process. The tension between our intellectual acceptance of the merits of conflict and our emotional rejection ❏ Maintain a balanced power structure. of it is illustrated in a classic study of decision making ❏ Resolve issues without forcing consensus. Several groups of managers were formed to solve a complex problem.
They were told Thus far, we have determined that: (1) interper- that their performance would be judged by a panel of sonal conflict in organizations is inevitable; (2) conflict experts in terms of the quantity and quality of solu- that focuses on issues or facts (rather than on personal- tions they generated. The groups were identical in ity differences) can actually enhance decision making; size and composition, with the exception that half (3) despite the intellectual acceptance of the value of of them included a “confederate.” Before the experi- conflict, there is a widespread tendency to avoid it; ment began, the researcher instructed this person to and (4) the key to increasing one’s comfort level with play the role of “devil’s advocate.” This person was to conflict is to become proficient in particular skills. challenge the group’s conclusions, forcing the others Consistent with this book’s skill-development ori- to examine critically their assumptions and the logic entation, the remainder of this chapter focuses on in- of their arguments. At the end of the problem-solving creasing your competence-based confidence.
We focus period, the recommendations made by both sets of on three essential conflict-related skills that a large body groups were compared. The groups with the devil’s of research identifies as essential for managers. First, advocates had performed significantly better on the they must be able to accurately diagnose the types of task. They had generated more alternatives, and their conflict, including their causes.
For example, managers proposals were judged as superior. After a short break, need to understand how cultural differences and other the groups were reassembled and told that they would forms of demographic diversity can spark conflicts in be performing a similar task during the next session. Second, having identified the sources of However, before they began discussing the next prob- conflict, managers must be able to select an appropriate lem, they were given permission to eliminate one conflict management strategy. Third, skillful managers member.
In every group containing a confederate, he must develop the skills to resolve interpersonal disputes or she was the one asked to leave. The fact that every effectively while maintaining working relationships be- high-performance group expelled their unique com- tween disputants. We now turn our attention to these petitive advantage because that member made others three broad management proficiencies. feel uncomfortable demonstrates a widely shared reac- tion to conflict: “I know it has positive outcomes for Diagnosing the Type of the performance of the organization, as a whole, but I Interpersonal Conflict don’t like how it makes me feel, personally.” We believe that much of the ambivalence toward Because interpersonal conflicts come in many variet- conflict stems from a lack of confidence in one’s ies, our first skill-building task involves the art of personal knowledge and skills about how to construc- diagnosis.
In any type of clinical setting, from medi- tively manage tense, emotionally charged confronta- cine to management, it is common knowledge that tions. A 10-year study conducted by Kathy Eisenhardt effective intervention is predicated upon accurate and her colleagues at Stanford University (Eisenhardt diagnosis.2 presents a categorizing device et al., 1997) provides important guidance. In their for diagnosing the type of conflict, based on two Harvard Business Review article, they report, “The critical identifying characteristics: focus and source. 332 Chapter 7 Managing Conflict www.2 Categorizing Different Types of Conflict FOCUS OF CONFLICT Issues People Personal differences LEARNING SOURCE OF CONFLICT Informational deficiencies Incompatible roles Environmental stress By understanding the focus of the conflict, we gain an Of course, all interpersonal conflicts involve appreciation for the substance of the dispute (what is people, but people-focused conflict refers to the fueling the conflict), and by learning more about the “in your face” kind of confrontations in which emo- origins, or source of the conflict, we better under- tions run high and people feel moral indignation.
stand how it got started (the igniting spark). Accusations of harm, demands for justice, and feelings of resentment are the common markers of personal disputes. Personal disputes are extremely difficult Conflict Focus to resolve, and the long-term effects of the dispute We can categorize conflicts as primarily focused on on interpersonal relations can be devastating. The either people or issues (Eisenhardt et al.
