ASSESSING THE CHARACTER OF THE CONFLICT II:Techniques to transform competitive conflict into cooperative

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Conflict Management HRM624

Lesson 17

ASSESSING THE CHARACTER OF THE CONFLICT II

Quotations:

If thou are a master, be some time blind; if a servant, sometimes deaf. Thomas Fuller

(Turning competition into cooperation)

"Problems are only opportunities in work clothes" .Unknown

You are educated when you have the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or self-

confidence. Robert Frost

Features of Cooperation and Competition while in conflict

Features of Cooperation while being in

Features of Competition while in conflict

conflict

The conflict is seen as a joint

The conflict is seen as a contest,

problem to be solved.

with a winner and a loser.

This is characterized by open, honest

It is characterized by avoidance of

communication of relevant

communication, miscommunication,

information.

and misleading communication.

Disputants pool efforts to gather

Disputants duplicate efforts to gather

information because they mistrust one

information (efficient in time, money).

another's effort (inefficient in time,

money).

Disputants try to obstruct one

Disputants try to help one another.

another.

It generates feelings of friendliness;

It generates feelings of enmity,

disputants tend to see one another's

hostility; disputants tend to ignore

one another's similarities and focus

similarities and not see differences.

on differences.

Features of Cooperation and Competition while in conflict

Features of Cooperation while being in

Features of Competition while in conflict

conflict

The dispute tends to be contained in

Meta-conflicts and beliefs about the

hostile intentions of the other

size and tends not to spread.

disputant cause original conflict to

spread and escalate.

One disputant's suggestions for

resolving dispute are welcomed and

resolving dispute are mistrusted by

the other and are seen as a devious

respected be other disputant.

effort to gain the upper hand

(reactive devaluation).

Cooperating with the other gives an

Cooperating with the other feels like

losing face and is psychologically

ego boost.

intolerable.

"Defeating the enemy" becomes more

Disputants tend to be task-oriented.

important than staying on task.

Total productivity is maximized.

Total productivity is impaired.

Conflict Management HRM624

Cooperation constructive, competition destructive

Deutsch's second major premise is that cooperation tends to be constructive, whereas competition tends to

be destructive. The many benefits of using cooperation, rather than competition, to resolve conflict follow

directly from the ten major features of cooperation and competition.

Premise 3:

Deutsch's Crude Axioms

Cooperation begets cooperation and competition begets competition. A disputant's perception regarding

whether the conflict is cooperative or competitive will produce conduct that tends to reinforce this

perception. In the other words, cooperation and competition tends to be self fulfilling prophecies. This

premise is referred to as "Deutsch's crude axiom". You will recall that one recurring theme in conflict

diagnosis is that conflict participants who are unable to read the minds of other participants, tend to use the

conflict itself as a source of information about their motivations. It is worth noting that, the more objective

information about the conflict is possessed by each disputant, the less the disputant is likely to be swayed by

the other's behavior in the conflict.

Basic idea: If a disputant thinks of a conflict as cooperative, it will tend to become more cooperative, and

if a disputant thinks of a conflict as competitive, it will become more competitive.

Reason: a disputant who thinks his or her interdependence with the other disputant is promotive will tend

to try to help the other in an act of self-aggrandizement, actually creating more promotive interdependence.

But a disputant who thinks the interdependence is contrient will avoid promoting the interests of the other

disputant out of a desire to protect him or herself, thus increasing the contrience of the interdependence.

Competition Cycle

Competition

cycle shows the

internal

dynamism.

The

understanding of

this dynamism

can be used to

transform

competitive

conflict into

cooperative

conflict.

Conflict Management HRM624

Coooperation Cycle

The understanding

of internal

dynamics of

cooperative conflict

can lead to reap

promotive benefits

of conflict. The

peaceful nature of

conflict assures

good quality of life

to the participants

of the conflict.

However, some

individuals enjoy

competition and

conflict.

Premise 4: It is easier to move from cooperation to competition than vice versa

Deutsch final premise about cooperation and competition is that cooperation is relatively fragile. People

never have perfect knowledge about one another, and, in their fear and suspicion, they tend to set in motion

protective actions that promote competition.

Techniques to transform competitive conflict into cooperative

Here are some of the methods and techniques to transform competitive conflict into cooperative conflict.

1. Choose Language with Care

2. Assign Joint Tasks

3. Expand the Pipe

4. Establish ground rules for civility in communication.

5. Create or focus on a common enemy

6. Point out areas of agreement

7. Focus blame away from the disputant and towards process

8. Prepare "the case"

9. Use trust building exercises

10. Set up structure to create sharing of information

Conflict Management HRM624

Transforming Competitive Conflict into cooperative conflict

TECHNIQUE

STEPS IN COMPETITIVE

EXAMPLE

CYCLE AFFECTED

Choose

Perception of Contrient

Instead of calling the disputants "opponents"

Language with

call them "Saleem" and "Naila". Instead of

Interdependence

referring to the conflict as "dispute", refer to

Care

it as " the problem we need to solve". Instead

of asking disputants to " state their positions"

ask them to " talk about their goals for the

process"

Business partner disputing over appropriate

Perception of Contrient

Assign Joint

assignment of the venture's profits are

Interdependence and

Tasks

assigned to interview jointly a CPA to learn

perception of

some steps they can take to increase overall

inefficiency into conflict

profitability.

resolution

Perception of Contrient

Spouses disputing over a property settlement

Expand the Pipe

are encouraged to characterize a payment

Interdependence

as alimony- the wealthier spouse receives a

tax deduction bigger than the tax the other

spouse will have to pay on the amount

received. The overall benefit is allocated

between the spouses, so both are better off.

Transforming Competitive Conflict into cooperative conflict

TECHNIQUE

STEPS IN COMPETITIVE

EXAMPLE

CYCLE AFFECTED

An ADR neutral requires each disputants

Perception of enmity between

Establish ground rules

to refrain form "bad- mouthing" the

disputants.

for civility in

other and take the time to guide each

communication.

Perception of enmity;

disputant in using the complimentary,

Create or focus on a

hostility; perception of

polite discourse.

common enemy

contrient interdependence

In a custody dispute, the parent's advocate

reframe the issue into problem of how

the parents can convince a mother-in-

law who has created friction in the past of

the merits of a proposed parenting plan.

Point out areas of

Perception of difference in

The disputant's advocate make sure to

agreement

values and principles

comment, "so, you agree about that",

each time the disputant mention

something that already has been resolved.

In response to disputant's complaint about

Perception that other

Focus blame away

the other disputant's not complying with a

disputant is at fault for failure

from the disputant and

prior agreement, counsel says, "so those

to progress in a conflict

towards process

arrangement didn't work for you. Let's

work on making some new, more

effective and workable arrangements"

Conflict Management HRM624

Transforming Competitive Conflict into cooperative conflict

STEPS IN COMPETITIVE CYCLE

TECHNIQUE

EXAMPLE

AFFECTED

Minimization of the impact The disputants is encouraged to get all

Prepare "the

of Deutsch's Crude Axiom the information he or she can about the

case"

factual and legal aspects of the dispute

and to perform in-depth conflict

diagnosis

Disputants are encouraged to

Use trust

Lack of trust between

confirm the accuracy of one

building exercises disputants

another's statement. The ADR

professional gently guides the

suspicious disputant into realizing that

the other disputant has, in fact, been

behaving as the disputant would have

believed in the same thing

The mediator requires the sharing of

Set up structure to Tendency to mislead

information to both the disputants. The

create sharing of

mediator ask each disputant to back up

information

claims about expenditures with receipts

and other documentation.

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