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CONFLICT DIAGNOSIS:Who Needs to Know About Conflict Diagnosis?, Steps in Conflict Diagnosis

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Conflict Management ­HRM624
VU
Lesson 6
CONFLICT DIAGNOSIS
Quotation
If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow.
(A Chinese proverb)
Do not find fault, find a remedy. (Henry Ford)
In this lecture will we will try to understand the various perspectives of conflict in order to diagnose the
conflict. We will also familiarize with the concept of ADR which might be new for you people.
Introduction
Conflict
Conflict is everywhere. It is part of everyday life. Some periods of conflict provoke periods of great
creativity. Competition is a form of conflict and it helps individuals, groups, communities, societies, and
countries to outpace others; and excellence comes out, as a result. Conflict may be constructive as well as
destructive. We already have discussed a lot about the conflict in previous lectures.
Conflict Diagnosis
Conflict diagnosis is a structured process for understanding and responding to interpersonal conflicts,
disputes, and transactions. Conflict diagnosis provides a rigorous and clear framework for understanding
and appreciating the multiple facets of any conflict. It also serves as a clear guide for the development of
strategies for addressing conflict, including the selection of dispute resolution processes and providers. In a
sense, conflict diagnosis provides the basis for designing methods of producing maximally good conflict in
any conflict situation. Conflict resolution poses the most pain and the least gain when the parties are able to
cooperate rather than having adversarial approach.
Perspectives on the Handling of Interpersonal Conflict
An evaluation of interpersonal conflict depends on how it is handled. Conflict diagnosis allows the user to
choose the best blueprint and the best tools to handle a conflict well.
Conflict can have positive and negative consequences. Perspective is critical in discussing positive and
negative consequences of interpersonal conflict.
a. Time perspective
. Short-term
. Intermediate-term
. Long-term
b. Person perspective
. Individual-disputant
. Joint-disputant
. Systemic
. Institution or society-wide
c. Issues perspective
. Process versus outcome
. Narrow versus broad focus
. Monetary or economic versus non monetary, tangible or intangible
. Prospective versus retrospective
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Conflict Management ­HRM624
VU
Who Needs to Know About Conflict Diagnosis?
Everyone can benefit from understanding conflict diagnosis. Legal and dispute professionals, such as
lawyers, paralegals, professional negotiators, and others involved in dispute resolution, need to know the
principles of conflict diagnosis, so that they can do their job intelligently.
I. Conflict gamers and conflict phobics
Conflict gamers love interpersonal conflict and feel the most alive when up to their necks in it. They don't
seem to meet to prepare for a negotiation- their innate personality and temperament alone seem to be
preparation enough. They jump at the chance for a rumble. In a negotiation, they seem utterly fearless. They
are always ready to inflict punishment on their adversaries. After litigation is over, win or loose, over drinks
or lunch conflict gamers express what a profound pleasure it all was, what a rush, and how it resembled the
happy days, they once spent in high school.
On the other hand for a conflict phobic, the conflict diagnosis has many important advantages to offer. It
will give a clear guidance when conflict arises. It will help the conflict phobic to understand what to do
when he/she feels unprepared and don't know how to prepare.
II. Conflict professionals
Conflict diagnosis is also for conflict professionals and professionals-in-training seeking to enrich their
understanding of their field. For example for a lawyer, a judge, a paralegal etc. the course will help a lot in
diagnosing conflict and applying ADR techniques for conflict management. Applying theses techniques to
conflicts enable conflict professionals to find the magic keys to unlocking their clients' potential power to
settle their differences.
Why Conduct Conflict Diagnosis?
Conflict diagnosis empowers and calms "conflict phobics". It provides additional options for "conflict
gamers". It allows better choice of dispute resolution processes.
Steps in Conflict Diagnosis
1. Describe/map the conflict
2. Identify sources
3. Analyze interests
4. Characterize the conflict
5. Consider trust
6. Identify impediments to settlement
7. Address negotiation styles and preferences
8. Consider power
9. Identify/maximize the Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA)
10. Consider diversity issues
1. Describe/map the conflict
Map out the conflict, identifying the roles of the participants.
2. Identify sources
Identify the sources and the causes of the conflict
3. Analyze interests
Identify each participant's aspirations, positions, interests, principles and values and basic needs and
consider how they interrelate logically. Identify any linked conflicts and consider how the conflicts affect
one another.
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Conflict Management ­HRM624
VU
4. Characterize the conflict
Characterize the conflict as cooperative, competitive or in between. If a cooperative conflict identify
attributes of the situation that could cause it to become competitive.
5. Consider trust
Analyze the kinds and level of trust present in the relationship between the disputant and other participants
in the conflict.
6. Identify impediments to settlement
Identify any impediments to cooperative settlement.
7. Address negotiation styles and preferences
Access the negotiation styles of the participant in the conflict, consider how these styles have an impact on
the conflict, and if possible develop plans for encouraging cooperation and collaboration among the
participants.
8. Consider power
Analyze each participant's power. Analyze the sources of power, the ways in which each participant could
exercise each source of power, the likely impact of its exercise, and ways that this source of power could be
increased.
9. Identify/maximize the Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA)
Develop a list of alternative to a negotiated agreement, including the best alternative to a negotiated
agreement, or BATNA. If you are a disputant, agent or an advocate, develop plans for clarifying these
alternatives and improving them.
10. Consider diversity issues
Choose a dispute resolution processes, or a series of processes, appropriate to the conflict diagnosis. Select
practitioners best able to meet your goals in the processes. If necessary, negotiate the dispute resolution
selection processes with other conflict participants.
Using Conflict Diagnosis Ideas to Understand the ADR Movement
ADR as Movement (in USA and in India)
Some forms of ADR, such as religion-based or community-based mediation and commercial arbitration,
have been around for centuries. In USA, mediation and other forms of ADR have been used for legal
disputes since about 1970 and became mainstream in the late 1980s and 1990s.
Efficiency and radical perspectives on ADR
Efficiency perspective
In this root of the ADR tree, ADR is seen primarily through the prism of efficiency.
ADR is useful for cutting costs, speeding settlements, and avoiding overburdening the courts. From this
perspective, the type of ADR used is less important than the availability and use of ADR in any form.
Radical perspective
Radical wing of ADR takes a very different perspective. ADR is useful for improving the resolution of
conflicts, allocating resources among disputants, improving disputant relationships and reforming overall
cultural attitudes about conflict resolution.
Prevalence of efficiency perspective
Economic forces tend to support ADR to save time, money, and court resources. The efficiency wing has
been more influential, and because this wing cares less about the form of ADR used, certain looseness with
ADR terminology is rampant.
Traditional culture has influenced the development of language about ADR.
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Conflict Management ­HRM624
VU
Efficiency of ADR is important. ADR is controlled by the invisible veil, structure, or wisdom. Conclusions
about ADR tend to be colored by the invisible veil or wisdom.
Radical-wing Concerns
Differences (even small ones) among ADR processes matter greatly in terms of quality of the process (so
understanding these differences matters greatly). A lack of rigor in defining, identifying, and understanding
distinctions in ADR processes has led to marketplace confusion. Individual users of dispute resolution
processes and providers can become better-informed consumers using conflict diagnosis.
Society as a whole is not benefiting from the full panoply of options for dispute resolution.
Use of non-adversarial ADR can lead to positive macro-system changes and should be encouraged.
Quality of ADR
Though saving time and money are important goals, if the process is flawed, long-term efficiency is lost, and
so the quality of dispute resolution process and outcome must be considered.
There is little evidence that this longer-term assessment of long-term efficiency and effectiveness is taking
place.
Assessments of the quality of ADR are confounded by the lack of empirical research to adequately
discriminate among forms of ADR.
Conflict diagnosis ideas will also help researchers and policy makers to design better studies and to interpret
studies more effectively.
The ADR Revolution
"Efficiency wing" adopts ADR to save time and money, divert cases out of litigation
"Radical wing" adopts ADR to attain better conflict resolution.
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Table of Contents:
  1. INTRODUCTION TO CONFLICT:Dispute, Legal Dispute, Call the police
  2. DISPUTE RESOLUTION 1:Positive affect in Negotiation, Alternative Dispute Resolution
  3. DISPUTE RESOLUTION II:Adjudication, Litigation, Mediation-Arbitration
  4. PRECONCEPTIONS ABOUT CONFLICT I:Pedagogical development, Pressures against Innovation
  5. PRECONCEPTIONS ABOUT CONFLICT II:Cultural beliefs about interpersonal conflict, Why strategies of change fail
  6. CONFLICT DIAGNOSIS:Who Needs to Know About Conflict Diagnosis?, Steps in Conflict Diagnosis
  7. RECURRENT THEMES IN CONFLICT DIAGNOSIS I:The Seven Steps of Social Behavior, Seven steps to diagnose conflict
  8. RECURRENT THEMES IN CONFLICT DIAGNOSIS II:Themes of Conflict Diagnosis
  9. DESCRIBING THE CONFLICT I:Description of Conflict, Identifying Interpersonal Conflict
  10. DESCRIBING THE CONFLICT II:Step 1 for Conflict Diagnosis, interpersonal or intrapersonal
  11. SOURCES AND CAUSES OF CONFLICT I:Main Sources of Conflict, Discussing major sources of conflict
  12. SOURCES AND CAUSES OF CONFLICT II
  13. INTEREST ANALYSIS I:Analyzing your interests, Analyzing the other disputant’s interests
  14. INTEREST ANALYSIS II:What are interests?, Tips for Interest Trees
  15. INTEREST ANALYSIS II:Principles and values, Basic Human Needs
  16. ASSESSING THE CHARACTER OF THE CONFLICT I, Premises of Deutsch’s Theory
  17. ASSESSING THE CHARACTER OF THE CONFLICT II:Techniques to transform competitive conflict into cooperative
  18. TRUST AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE I:What is Mistrust,Trust and business,Three levels of trust
  19. TRUST AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE II:Advantages of high trust level, Building of trust
  20. ASSESSING IMPEDIMENTS TO RESOLVE THE CONFLICT I:Motivation to seek vengeance, Mistrust
  21. ASSESSING THE IMPEDIMENTS TO RESOLVING THE CONFLICT II:Disempowered Disputant, Unpleasant Disputant
  22. ASSESSING THE NEGOTIATING STYLE I:Dual Concern Model, Dominating or competition style
  23. ASSESSING THE NEGOTIATING STYLE:Dual Concern Model, Tactics Used In Integrating
  24. ASSESSING POWER AMONG DISPUTANTS:Conflict and Power, Kinds of power in the Relationship Domain
  25. ASSESSING POWER AMONG DISPUTANTS II:Sources of Relationship Power, Context and Power
  26. POWER, CONFLICT, AND BATNA III:Role of Third Party in BATNA, Dealing with Power Imbalance
  27. STEREOTYPES, DIVERSITY, AND CONFLICT I:Stereotyping, Stereotyping in Interpersonal Conflict
  28. STEREOTYPES, DIVERSITY, AND CONFLICT:Categories of Diversity Issues, Seven Mental Processes to Prove Stereotypes
  29. STEREOTYPES, DIVERSITY AND CONFLICT III:Individual Difference and Social Category, Cultural differences in values
  30. MEDIATION I:When is mediation required, Processes Related to Mediation, Product of Mediation
  31. MEDIATION II:Important distinguishing factors, More Advantages and Disadvantages of Pure Mediation
  32. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF MEDIATION I:Efficiency Consideration, Conflict Management and Prevention
  33. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF MEDIATION II:Quality of Consent, Effects on the parties to mediation
  34. PROCESS OF MEDIATION:Stages of Mediation, Facilitative tactics in mediation
  35. LAW AND ETHICS OF MEDIATION I:Characteristics of mediation, Confidentiality
  36. LAW AND ETHICS OF MEDIATION II:Role of ethics in mediation, 8 Dimensions of Ethics in Mediation
  37. ARBITRATION I:Ways to Resolve Conflict, Advantages of Arbitration, Disadvantages of Arbitration
  38. ARBITRATION II:Varieties of Arbitration, Process of Arbitration, Contents of Arbitration Act
  39. NON BINDING EVALUATION:Disadvantage, Varieties of Non-binding Evaluation
  40. NON BINDING EVALUATION II:Varieties of Non-binding Evaluation, Advantages and disadvantages of Non-binding Evaluation
  41. MIXED AND MULTIMODAL DISPUTE RESOLUTION:Six System Design Principles, Extensions of Dispute Systems Design
  42. POWER TOOLS AND MAGIC KEYS I:Introduction, Necessity of conflict diagnosis, Using conflict diagnosis
  43. POWER TOOLS AND MAGIC KEYS II:Proposed Contents of a Clients’ Interview, Impediments to use facilitative mediation
  44. PANCHAYAT, LOCAL GOVERNMENT SYSTEM, AND ADR, Definitions of Panchayat, Definition of Jirga
  45. SUMMARY AND MESSAGE OF THE COURSE:Definitions of conflict, Negotiation, Meditation, Adjudication