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INTEREST ANALYSIS I:Analyzing your interests, Analyzing the other disputant’s interests

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Conflict Management ­HRM624
VU
Lesson 13
INTEREST ANALYSIS I
Quotations
The shortest and best way to make your fortune is to let people see clearly that is in their best interests to
promote yours. La Bruyere
Interests:
Interest may be defined as a sense of concern with and curiosity about someone or something.
The motivations that individuals have during a conflict, including positions (demands), aspirations,
underlying interests, principles, values, and basic needs may be described as interests.
Interests analysis:
Interest analysis is perhaps the most critical step in the conflict diagnosis process. A systematic exploration
of a conflict participant's interests is called interest analysis.
Briefly stated, interests analysis is the development of an accurate and complete understanding of each
conflict participant's positions, aspirations, interests, needs and values in relation to the interpersonal
conflict. Interest analysis includes an explanation of all the underlying interests, needs, and values of each
conflict, participant, as well as an exploration of how all link together and are organized.
An effective interest analysis can mean the difference between grudging settlement and real satisfaction.
Interests motivate people; they are the silent movers behind the positions people take. Your position is
something you have decided upon your interests. So, interest is something what caused someone to decide
something.
What people normally say they want out of a conflict are positions, whereas the why of people shows what
people want are interests.
Analyzing your interests
When you are involved in an interpersonal conflict, your thought processes are often clouded or diverted by
strong emotions and stress. People caught up in a conflict often focus on the lines they have drawn in the
sand-there positions-and on beating the other disputant-rather than on getting what is best for them.
Analyzing your interests also allows you to develop flexibility in your bargaining position, so that you can
find better ways of attaining an agreement.
In most negotiated agreements, "the devil is in the details"; failing to make effective arrangements for
delivery, payment, and so forth can make the difference between a good sale and a very bad one.
Finally, using interest analysis allows you to avoid the negative consequences of drawing lines in the sand,
known in the conflict resolution field as positional bargaining.
Positional bargaining
A process of negotiation that involves each disputant taking successively more moderate positions in hopes
that eventually a compromise will result is described as positional bargaining.
Negative consequences of positional bargaining
There are three negative consequences of positional bargaining.
1. becoming locked into position psychologically- regardless of whether a better option is available
2. becoming blinded to issues unrelated to your position
3. seeing the other disputant as the enemy leading to an unnecessary impasse and additional "spinoff"
conflicts
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Conflict Management ­HRM624
VU
Advantages of knowing your team's interests
Following are the advantages of knowing the team's interests
1. Gain a clearer understanding of your goals
2. Clarify what interests would be best met in resolving this conflict and what interests would be
better met elsewhere
3. Develop flexibility in bargaining, so that a good settlement is more attainable
4. Avoid the problems of positional bargaining
5. Finally, positional bargaining makes enemies.
Purpose of Interest Analysis
Here are some of the purposes of the interest analysis.
1. It promotes clear thinking and prevents inappropriate decision making resulting from emotional arousal
and stress
2. It helps clarify what one wants and needs, and helps the user rank interests in relation to one another
3. It helps user visualize and recognize alternate ways to meet goals
4. It creates greater flexibility in coming to settlement
5. It ensures user isn't diverted by details, hot emotion, heat of the moment, and so on
6. It ensures user doesn't miss an optimal resolution
7. It enables user to evaluate whether some interests could be met outside the conflict
Analyzing the other disputant's interests
Analyzing one's own interests and those of one's principal, it is also important to analyze the interests of the
other disputant. Here are some of the important points regarding analysis of other disputant's interests
1. Greater likelihood of settlement on optimal terms: ability to appeal to other disputant's desires while
meeting your own goals.
2. Avoid settling for less than you could get.
3. Minimizing the likelihood of settlement sabotage by appealing to the other disputant's interests.
4. Avoid positional bargaining.
5. If coercion becomes necessary, allows one to design more effective pressure.
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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