BUAD 340 1st Edition Exam 3 Study Guide Conflict a process that begins when one party perceives that another party has negatively affected or is about to negatively affect something that the first party cares about Traditional view conflict must be avoided it indicates a malfunctioning within the group The belief that all conflict is harmful and must be avoided This was a poor outcome resulting from poor communication a lack of openness and trust between people and the failure of managers to be responsive to the needs and aspirations of their employees Interactionist View of Conflict The belief that conflict is not only a positive force in a group but also an absolute necessity for a group to perform effectively There is a minimal level of conflict that can keep a group viable self critical and creative Functional conflict is the conflict that supports the goals of the group and improves its performance Dysfunctional conflict is the conflict that hinders group performance Task conflict refers to conflict over content and goals of the work Relationship conflict is conflict based on interpersonal relationships Process conflict is conflict over how work gets done Relationship conflicts are almost always dysfunctional Low levels of process conflict and low to moderate levels of task conflict can be functional but only in very specific cases It can increase creativity but in the long run reduce task productivity Task conflict is also related to these positive outcomes only when all members share the same goals and have high levels of trust Resolution Focused View of Conflict there are problems with encouraging conflict Workplace conflicts are not productive task conflicts can sometimes escalate into relationship conflicts Researchers have started to focus more on managing the whole context in which conflicts occur both before and after the behavioral stage of conflict occurs The traditional view was shortsighted in assuming all conflict should be eliminated The interactionist view that conflict can stimulate active discussion without spilling over into negative disruptive emotions is incomplete There are constructive methods for resolving conflicts productively so their disruptive influence can be minimized Conflict Process a process that has five stages potential opposition or incompatibility cognition and personalization intentions behavior and outcome Stage 1 the appearance of conditions that create opportunities for conflict to arise one of them is necessary for conflict to occur Communication the opposing forces that arise from semantic difficulties misunderstandings and noise in the communication channels These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute Structure variables such as size of the group degree of specialization in the tasks assigned to group members jurisdictional clarity member goal compatibility leadership styles reward systems and the degree of dependence between groups The larger the group and the more specialized its activities the greater the likelihood of conflict The greater the ambiguity about where responsibility for actions lies the greater the potential for conflict to emerge Personal variables personality emotions and values personality does appear to play a role in the conflict process People high in the personality traits of disagreeableness neuroticism or self monitoring are prone to tangle with others more often and react poorly when conflicts occur Stage 2 if the conditions cited in Stage I negatively affect something one party cares about then the potential for opposition or incompatibility becomes actualized in the second stage Because a conflict is a perceived conflict does not mean it is personalized A perceived conflict is the awareness by one or more parties of the existence of conditions that create opportunities for conflict to arise It is a felt conflict level when individuals become emotionally involved that they experience anxiety tension frustration and hostility Stage II is important because it s where conflict issues tend to be defined where the parties decide what the conflict is about Emotions play a major role in shaping perceptions Negative emotions allow us to oversimplify issues lose trust and put negative interpretations on the other party Positive feelings increase our tendency to see potential relationships among the elements of a problem to take a broader view of the situation and to develop more innovative solutions Stage 3 Intentions are decisions to act in a given way and intervene between people s perceptions and emotions and their overt behavior Many conflicts escalate simply because one party attributes the wrong intentions to the other Cooperativeness the degree to which one party attempts to satisfy the other party s concerns and assertiveness the degree to which one party attempts to satisfy his or her own concerns can be used to identify five conflict handling intentions Competing a desire to satisfy one s interests regardless of the impact on the other party to the conflict Collaborating a situation in which the parties to a conflict each desire to satisfy fully the concerns of all parties The parties tend to solve a problem by clarifying the differences rather than by accommodating various points of view Avoiding the desire to withdraw from or suppress a conflict trying to ignore a conflict and avoiding others with who you disagree Accommodating the willingness of one party in a conflict to place the opponent s interests above his or her own supporting someone else s opinion despite your reservations about it Compromising a situation in which each party to a conflict is willing to give up something there is no clear winner Stage 4 this is where conflicts become visible conflict management is the use of resolution and stimulation techniques to achieve the desire level of conflict under the ideal conditions a person s intentions should translate into comparable behaviors Conflict resolution techniques problem solving superordinate goals creating a shared goal that cannot be attained without the cooperation of each of the conflicting parties expansion of resources avoidance smoothing compromise authoritative command altering the human variable and altering the structural variables Conflict stimulation techniques communication bringing in outsiders restricting the organization and appointing a devil s advocate