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CONFLICT RESOLUTION:WHY SO MUCH CONFLICT EXISTS, TECHNIQUES FOR RESOLVING CONFLICTS

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Human Relations­ MGMT611
VU
Lesson 11
CONFLICT RESOLUTION
Conflict resolution
ˇ  Conflict is a condition that exists when two sets of demands, goals, or motives are incompatible or
unmatchable.
ˇ  Negotiation is treated as an important way of resolving conflict.
WHY SO MUCH CONFLICT EXISTS
A. Competition for Limited Resources
ˇ  People squabble because not everybody can get all the resources he or she wants.
B. The Generation Gap and Personality Clashes
ˇ  Differences in age, or the generation gap, can lead to conflict because members of one generation
may not accept the values of another.
ˇ  Disagreements on the job also stem from personality clashes, or antagonistic relationships between
two people based on differences in personal attributes, preferences, interests, values, and styles.
ˇ  Clashes sometimes surface after people have been working together harmoniously.
Aggression
C. Aggressive Personalities
ˇ  Some workers convert disagreement into an attack.
ˇ  Aggressive personalities are people who verbally, and sometimes physically, attack others
frequently.
ˇ  Verbal aggression takes the form of insults, teasing, ridicule, and profanity.
ˇ  Aggressiveness can also lead to violence.
Culturally Diverse Teams
D. Culturally Diverse Teams
ˇ  Conflict often surfaces as people work in teams whose members vary in many ways. Ethnicity,
religion, and gender differences are three of the m factors that lead to clashes in viewpoints.
ˇ  Differing educational background and work specialties can also lead to conflict. Yet, with direction,
most groups can overcome these conflicts.
Competing work and family demands
E. Competing Work and Family Demands:
ˇ  Balancing the demands of work and family life is a major challenge facing workers at all levels.
ˇ  The challenge of achieving balance is particularly intense for employees who are part of a two-wage
earner family.
ˇ  Work-family conflict occurs when the individual has to perform multiple roles: worker, spouse or
partner, and often parent.
ˇ  Work-family conflict is related to depression and other stress-related health problems.
ˇ  Work/family programs are aimed directly at reducing conflict stemming from competing work and
family demands.
ˇ  These programs include.
1. Flexible work schedules,
2. dependent-care programs, and
3. Compassionate attitudes toward individual needs.
Harassment
F. Gender-based Harassment:
A Special Type of Conflict
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Human Relations­ MGMT611
VU
Gender-based harassment is generally defined as unwanted behaviors between males and females at
workplaces. Such behaviors result in discomfort and/or interference with the job.
ˇ  Gender-based harassment creates conflict because the harassed person has to make a choice
between the job or harassment.
ˇ  Surveys and opinions suggest that somewhere between 50 percent and 60 percent of women are
harassed by male least once in their career in the West.
ˇ  Aside from being an illegal and immoral act, gender-based harassment has negative effects on the
well-being of its victims.
ˇ  The harassed person may experience-job stress, lowered morale, severe conflict, and lowered
productivity.
Merits and Demerits of Conflict
II. THE GOOD AND BAD SIDE OF CONFLICT
ˇ  Conflict has both positive and negative consequences, much like work stress. On the positive side,
the right amount of conflict enhances mental and emotional functioning and may lead to improved
relationships.
ˇ  Conflict also helps prevent groupthink (over agreement to achieve cohesion). On the negative side,
intense conflict may lead to physical and mental illness, wasted resources, sabota9e, excessive
fatigue, and workplace violence including homicide. Disgruntled employees may seek
III. TECHNIQUES FOR RESOLVING CONFLICTS
ˇ  Presented here are some field-tested approaches to conflict resolution. Most of them emphasize a
collaborative or win-win philosophy.
A. Confrontation and Problem Solving Leading to Win-Win
ˇ  The most highly recommended way of resolving conflict is confrontation and problem-solving. The
person identifies the true source of conflict and then resolves it systematically using a problem-
solving approach.
ˇ  Tactfulness is recommended.
ˇ  The approach to confrontation and problem solving is for each side to list what the other side
should do. The two parties then exchange lists, and select a compromise both sides are willing to
accept.
ˇ  The intent of confrontation and problem solving is to arrive at a collaborative solution to conflict.
ˇ  The collaborative style is based on an underlying philosophy of win-win, the belief that after
conflict has been resolved, both sides should gain something of value.
B. Disarm the opposition
ˇ  Disarm the opposition is a method of conflict resolution in which you disarm the criticizer by
agreeing with his or her criticism of you. The act of agreeing is disarming if you agree with the
criticism, the criticizer no longer has reason to use his or her armament Disarming generally works
more effectively than counterattacking a person with whom you are in conflict.
C. Cognitive Restructuring
ˇ  According to the technique of cognitive restructuring, you mentally convert negative aspects into
positive ones by looking for positive elements in a situation. If your search for the beneficial
elements in a situation, there will be less area for dispute.
D. Appeal top Third Party
ˇ  If you cannot resolve the problem yourself, make a formal appeal to a higher-level official or
authority. Virtually all employers have some sort of appeal process. A labor union represents
another method of appealing to a third party.
E. The Grievance Procedure
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Human Relations­ MGMT611
VU
ˇ  The formal process of filing a complaint and resolving a dispute is the grievance procedure. It can
also be regarded as a third-party method of resolving conflict
The Steps in the grievance procedure may vary from one to six. Typical steps are as follows:
1. Initiation of the formal grievance.
2. Second-level of management.
3. A higher-level manager and the local union president
4. Arbitration. (Only about 1 percent of grievances go all the way to arbitration.)
ˇ  A grievance procedure used In many firms without a union Is the Jury of peers, whereby
unresolved grievances are submitted to a panel of coworkers.
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Table of Contents:
  1. HUMAN RELATIONS:Some Guidelines for Effective Human Relations, Communication has 3meanings
  2. CULTURE AND PERSONALITY:Definition of sub culture, Definition of Personality, Types of Persons
  3. PERSONALITY AND STRESS:Personality, PERSONAL TOOLS TO CONTROL STRESS
  4. PERCEPTION AND INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOUR:Three concepts of personality, Bias in Perception
  5. PERCEPTION AND GROUP BEHAVIOR:Characteristics of Groups, Individual and Group Behavior
  6. ATTITUDE AND BEHAVIOUR:Types of Attitudes, Steps to turn attitude into action
  7. PERSONAL MOTIVATION AND ACHIEVEMENT:Needs and Motivation, Self-discipline and motivation
  8. SOLVING PROBLEMS SKILLFULLY:Problem solving and cognition, Ways to solve problems
  9. CREATIVITY IN PROBLEM SOLVING:Barriers to creativity, Tips to solve problems creatively
  10. HANDLING PERSONAL ISSUES:Self-Defeating Behaviour, Positive attitude to tackle personal problems
  11. CONFLICT RESOLUTION:WHY SO MUCH CONFLICT EXISTS, TECHNIQUES FOR RESOLVING CONFLICTS
  12. COMMUNICATION AND HUMAN RELATIONS:Process of communication, Improving gender barriers to communication
  13. ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION:To improve listening skills, Types of organizational communication
  14. UNDERSTANDING COMMUNICATION STYLES:Modeling communication style, Sociability continuum
  15. SELF-ESTEEM:Building process of self-esteem, Self-esteem and public image
  16. BUILDING SELF-CONFIDENCE:The importance of self-confidence and self-efficacy, Balanced Self-Confidence:
  17. BECOMING A LEADER-1:Assessing leadership role, Traits and Characteristics of Effective Leaders
  18. BECOMING A LEADER-II:Theories of leadership, Developing leadership potential
  19. GLOBALIZATION AND CROSS-CULTURAL DIFFERENCES:Religious Values and Bicultural Identities
  20. IMPROVING CROSS-CULTURAL COMPETENCE:Strategies to improve cross-cultural relations, More steps to improve Cultural Relations
  21. BUILDING GOOD RELATIONS WITH MANAGERS:Impressing your manager, Coping with a problem manager
  22. BUILDING GOOD RELATIONS WITH CO-WORKERS:Make Co-workers feel important, Maintain Honest and Open Relationships
  23. BUILDING GOOD RELATIONS WITH CUSTOMERS:Salesperson Represents the Business, Approaching the Customer, Excuses vs. Objections
  24. CHOOSING A CAREER-1:Ten Myths about Choosing a Career, Attitude toward and Perceptions about Myself
  25. CHOOSING A CAREER-II:Choosing a career and developing a portfolio Career, Suggestions for career Preparation
  26. FINDING A JOB:Targeting your job search, The Internet and Résumé Database Services, Extreme Job Hunting
  27. SIGNIFICANCE OF RESUME:Major types of resumes, Electronic Submission of the Résumé
  28. IMPROVING INTERVIEW SKILLS:Successful interview, Knowing the employer or Organization
  29. IMPROVING WORK HABITS-1:Reasons of procrastination, Techniques for Reducing Procrastination
  30. IMPROVING WORK HABITS-2:Developing the proper attitudes and values, Time-management techniques
  31. NEW MODEL OF CAREER ADVANCEMENT:Career portability, HUMAN RELATIONS SELF-ASSESSMENT
  32. TAKING CONTROL OF YOURSELF:Develop Outstanding Interpersonal Skills, Business etiquettes
  33. EXERTING CONTROL ON OUTSIDE ENVIRONMENT:Important communication tip, Exerting control over the outside world
  34. MANAGING PERSONAL FINANCES-1:Your personal financial plan, Steps in budget making
  35. MANAGING PERSONAL FINANCES-2:Basic investment principles, Tolerance for Investment Risks, Types of investments
  36. ACHIEVING HAPPINESS-1:Finding happiness and enhancing your personal life, The key to happiness
  37. ACHIEVING HAPPINESS-2:The Five Principles of Psychological Functioning, Your mind and Happiness
  38. ACHIEVING HAPPINESS-3:Need for intimacy, Working out issues with relationships
  39. APATHY AND ITS REMEDIES:Let us try to understand the various definitions of apathy, Coping strategies for apathy
  40. ENHANCING PERSONAL ETHICS-1:Influence of Culture, Common ethical problems
  41. ENHANCING PERSONAL ETHICS-2:Common ethical problems, Guidelines for Behaving Ethically
  42. HELPING OTHERS GROW:Being a Nurturing, Positive Person, A list of mentoring behaviour, Coaching skills and techniques
  43. REVIEW-I:What is a Human Relation?, Meanings of Communication, Two types of stress, Some personal problem, Communication style
  44. REVIEW-II:Steps to build self-confidence, Globalization, Building Good Relations with Co-workers, Good work habits
  45. REVIEW-III:New model of career advancement, Choosing your investment, Tactics for Dealing with Difficult People