Conflict+Management


 * __Conflict Management __** 

//“We need to reconcile differences, be ourselves but yet see and understand how the other’s perspectives can help our own//” (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner, 1998, pg. 204).

Most organizations spend enormous time, energy and money dealing with conflict. In fact, Thomas and Schmidt (1976) found that between 20% and 25% of managers’ time is spent directly dealing with conflict. Johnson and Johnson (2006) argue that while conflicts are pervasive within most organizations and are frequently mismanaged, they can prove very constructive if deliberately structured. Yet a few organizations seem to want to stimulate controversy in their environments. Nonetheless, conflict in the workplace is a fact of life and when resolved effectively it can lead to personal and professional growth.

Geographically dispersed inter-cultural teams are certainly not immune to facing conflict. Not only do they undergo the normal challenges facing home-based teams, but their challenges are compounded as they struggle the virtual nature of conflict as well as it intricacies resulting from the rich and diverse cultures surrounding them in their ‘strange lands’.

We, however, should not assume that culture will be an obstacle in reaching an agreement when negotiators come from different cultures. On the contrary, cultural differences present opportunities for learning that can enrich and enable the negotiation process (Wanis-St.John, 2005). Intercultural dynamics are an important way to understand the implications of culture on conflict management as people hold dramatically different views of themselves and their relationships. Culture defines the values and interests at the core of each conflict, which in turn shapes people’s perception of themselves and others, as well as the style by which one handles conflict (Rabie, 1994).

Literature revealed a number of theories (eg. Hofstede, 1980) that help us identify intercultural traits and allow us to better identify the differences of how cultures handle conflict. We have found Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner (1998) to take these theories to the next level as they remind us of the importance of ‘managing’ and seeking to “integrate and reconcile” values of the seemingly opposite cultures. They prompt us to recognize that diversity exists as much //within// as //between// cultures. Nonetheless, their five cultural dimensions (referred to in the Decision Making section of this handbook) provide another opportunity to examine ways different cultures handle conflict. The table below details how various cultural dimensions affect the perception and behavior of individuals and group as they handle conflict. **Individualists ** || **Collectivists ** ||  Individual interests override group interests in the negotiation process; they value autonomy and authority.

Conflict is an inevitable reality that is confronted willingly and with no hard feelings.

Welcome impartial external mediators and accept their impartial evaluation of the situation. ||  Value their groups’ homogeneity and will go at length to maintain its unified standpoint in negotiations.

Conflict is perceived as sign of failure, and hence they will do their utmost to avoid it.

Will not appreciate external mediators – they are perceived as intruders. They will appreciate any fellow group member and expect him/her to provide advice and counsel and restore team harmony. || **Achievement-oriented ** || **Ascription -oriented ** ||  Respected negotiators could be anyone with high level of expertise and track record.

Will negotiate as a group

Will more likely reject or at least question superior’s views (Crookes and Thomas, 1998, p.585)

Will assert that one’s opinion and thoughts are of equal value to others. ||  Status of negotiating team is important. Older, male negotiators are respected more.

Will designate an authoritative representative to negotiate on their behalf

Will show absolute respect to superior.

Behavior could be oriented towards deference, giving and maintaining face. || **Neutral **<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> || **<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Affective **<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> || <span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> Will not reveal their thinking and will remain calm, collected and restrained. || <span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> Will show greater emotions, gestures and true feeling and opinions; their communication style will highlight eye contact and maybe touch. || //<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">While these don’t necessary pose direct problems, issues may arise as a result of how one judges the behavior of the other. Raising one’s voice, for example, can be very offensive to someone from an Affective culture. //<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> || **<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Specificity **<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> || **<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Diffuse **<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> || <span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> Will want to ‘cut the chase’ and get down to the core issues. They prefer direct face-to-face communications and avoid diplomatic jargon.

They possess low tolerance to ambiguity and expect the negotiation process to spell out issues and expectations first hand

They will demonstrate high levels of assertiveness. || <span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> Will show relative evasiveness of the issue at hand; their aim is often related to restoring harmony prior to engaging in substance. They value diplomacy.

They have an ability to tolerate deviance from agreed upon terms

They will show modesty and expect it to be reciprocated. Lack of such reciprocation could be problematic and misinterpreted as detachment from the outcome (Wanis-St John, 2005)  || **<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Universalists **<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> || **<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Particularists **<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> || <span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> will want to ‘go by the book’ to resolve a dispute. A deal is a deal and they tend to exercise little flexibility. || <span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> will demonstrate more flexibility as they emphasize the relationships staying intact. To them the negotiation process is a process rather than having a beginning and an end. || **<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Sequential **<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> || **<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Synchronic **<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> || <span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> Time is essential to them. They do not want to waste it on small talk. If a meeting is set to resolve a conflict or negotiate a deal, they want to stick to the schedule. || <span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> They are lax about time and would want to invest in ‘getting to know’ the other side prior to engaging in heavy duty negotiations. They are happy postponing the meeting if time was not sufficient. || <span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> Team Teal did not encounter any noticeable conflict throughout the OMD course. This may be due to the fact that we started early with clear communications about expectations, roles, and timelines. We recognized our shared goal was to complete this handbook and we had no defectors throughout the process. Phone conversations helped bring life and personality into our group and build further trust and respect for one another. Authority was distributed by designating weekly facilitators and ideas were shared and openly debated and compromise seemed to be preferred over conflict.


 * Strategies and Skills for Conflict Management**

For geographically disbursed teams, managing conflict is exasperated by distance and lack of face-to-face communications, and hence requires special attention and intricate management skills. While we know that conflict can never be totally prevented, we also know that we can do a few things to alleviate it. Earley and Gibson (2002) suggest that “ successful resolution [of conflict] is linked to satisfaction with the cross-cultural interaction process ” (p. 43). Such satisfaction is only achieved through constructive conflict practices. Here are some reminders that may help. <span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> **//<span style="font-family: 'Arial', 'sans-serif';">Strategies and Skills //** ·  **<span style="font-family: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Know where you stand in terms of your own culture **<span style="font-family: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">. Starting with yourself is key to understanding the differences emerging from others around you. So, think of your individual culture and ‘what makes you tick’. Are you an individualist or diffuse-oriented and why? ·  **<span style="font-family: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Place good relationships as your first priority and separate people from the problems **<span style="font-family: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">. Recognize that in many cases the other person is not just "being difficult" – real and valid cultural differences exists behind conflictive positions. ·  **<span style="font-family: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Recognize and spend time understanding the other culture **<span style="font-family: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">. This will take time and should not be underestimated. Engaging in general conversation about the differences in norms, behaviors and expectations, early on, will highlight that differences do exist and will make dealing with a particular dispute more manageable. ·  **<span style="font-family: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Before stereotyping behaviors, always check your assumptions **<span style="font-family: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">. Earley and Gibson (2002) reference previous research and ascertain that members of multicultural teams make distinctions between others’ belief systems resulting in judgments of similarity or difference which in turn result in a perceived status hierarchy of members. So, you may think a particular behavior (eg raising one’s voice) came about because someone was angry only to discover that the cause was due to another interpretation. ·  **<span style="font-family: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Share your thoughts and ask questions when confused. **<span style="font-family: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> This is particularly true for a new employee entering into a new organizational culture. Their ways for resolving disputes may be very different from what he/she are accustomed to. ·  **<span style="font-family: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Understand each other’s preferred communication style and try to reach a compromise **<span style="font-family: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">. Much of the issues surrounding conflict emerge because of miscommunication and inappropriate forms of interactions. (for example some cultures have not yet adjusted to email messages and may think of them as being too formal - they may even feel offended). Also, **consider issues of language** and translation; set ground rules that all will adhere to. ·  **<span style="font-family: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Listen carefully and be empathetic to the other side and pay attention to the interests being presented **<span style="font-family: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">. Maintain an open-mind knowing that you also could be wrong. Be ready to compromise. ·  **<span style="font-family: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Respect and Trust the other side **<span style="font-family: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">. While trust does not happen overnight, it is an objective that you need to work towards. ·  **<span style="font-family: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Brainstorm possible solutions and be open to third-party mediation **<span style="font-family: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">. Explore options together and welcome the idea of finding a solution jointly. || <span style="font-family: 'Calibri', 'sans-serif'; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">