ASSESSING THE IMPEDIMENTS TO RESOLVING THE CONFLICT II:Disempowered Disputant, Unpleasant Disputant

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Conflict Management HRM624

Lesson 21

ASSESSING THE IMPEDIMENTS TO RESOLVING THE CONFLICT II

Quotation

"If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it away from him. An investment in knowledge

always pays the best interest."

Benjamin Franklin

Summary impediments to cooperative settlement of interpersonal conflict

Impediment

Explanation

Example

Motivation to seek

A disputant wants

Knowing she will lose in court, a plaintiff

vengeance

retribution against

pursues a lawsuit because of the

another participant more

inconvenience she knows it will cause the

than he or she wants a

defendant.

settlement.

Meta-disputes

Conflicts and disputes

During a labor dispute, one side accuses the

that relate to how the

other of unfair practices.

main conflict is or has

been handled.

Mistrust

A disputant believes that

During the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the

the other disputant is

Israeli government is unwilling to take the

like to use a settlement

world of Palestinian leadership that they will

process as an

take care of anti-Semitic terrorists; as a result,

opportunity for

Israel takes violent action against Palestinian

exploitation.

militants.

Vastly differing

Each side believes a

An employee files a grievance, claiming

perceptions of

completely different

discrimination on the basis of gender against

reality

version of the situation.

her supervisor, who believes that no gender

discrimination has take place.

Over commitment

A disputant's team

After committing $50,000 to preparing for

and entrapment

commits so much time,

trial, a plaintiff refuses an eleventh-hour offer

resource, or

to settle for an amount the plaintiff originally

psychological energy to a

felt would be in his best interests.

competitive position that

they feel that to settle

would be a waste of

would create intolerable

loss of face.

Conflict Management HRM624

Lack of ripeness

One or both teams have

An auto accident plaintiff has filed suit, the

not yet come to believe

case is schedules for trial in fifteen months,

that there is an urgent

and the plaintiff's legal team sees no harm in

need to settle.

letting the case sit. They use the requests for

settlement discussions by the other side for

strategic advantage, hoping that playing hard

to get will sweeten the eventual outcome.

Jackpot syndrome

One of the parties is

A plaintiff sues for $10 million and refuses to

willing to take a huge

settle, despite her attorney's warning that

risk that he or she will

she's unlikely to beat the defendant's latest

lost for the opportunity

offer.

to obtain a huge

recovery.

Loss aversion

A disputant would rather

A defendant, faced with an offer of

gamble on a likely huge

settlement if he pays $2,5000, prefers to try

loss than pay out a

the case although his lawyer warns that he's

smaller loss now.

very likely to lose more than that.

Linkages

Settling this case will

A prosecutor refuses to accept a plea-bargain

affect other situations in

offer from a defendant accused of accounting

unpredictable or

fraud even though the evidence in the case

damaging ways.

is weak because of the slap-on-the-wrist

message that might be sent to others with

similar cases pending.

Conflicts of

A settlement that

A mother refuses to settle a pending child

interest among

addresses the interest of

custody case with her child's father because

team members

one team member well

civility with this man enrages her present

does a bad job of

husband.

addressing the interests

of another team

member.

Excluded

One of the important

During negotiations over custodial

stakeholders

stakeholders in the

arrangements for a teenager, parental efforts

conflict is left out of the

to institute visitation arrangements fall apart

negotiations and

when the teenager refuses to go to the

therefore sabotages

mother's house as specified in the agreement.

efforts to complete a

settlement.

Conflict Management HRM624

Disempowered

A disputant feels

A major corporation can't convince a

disputant

overmatched during a

frightened consumer to settle a warranty

conflict and is fearful

claim despite the honest beliefs of corporate

that agreeing to a

counsel that they have bent over backward to

settlement well harm

accommodate the consumer.

him.

Unpleasant

A disputant, or a

A defendant can't bring herself to settle with

disputant

member of the

the plaintiff: the latter has made the

disputant's team, is so

defendant's life so miserable that the

unpleasant that settling

defendant finds giving her any sort of

with her leaves a bad

satisfaction to be intolerable.

taste.

Competitive

A disputant or

In a dispute over baseball salaries, both

culture or

negotiator comes from a

owners and players believe that it is

subculture

culture or subculture in

inappropriate to cooperate with the

which competition is the

opposition.

primary blueprint for

conflict management.

In the previous lecture we discussed the first three impediments in resolving the conflict. The remaining

points will be discussed in this lecture.

Over-commitment and entrapment

A disputant over-commits when he or she pours so much time, money, and energy into preparing for a

battle that it is seemingly wasteful to back out of the project. The result is that the disputants feel trapped.

Over-commitment is a toxic combination of inattention and fear of losing face. It is insidious; it happens

inch by inch, creating entrapment by degrees. The best ways to combat entrapment are to make disputants

attentive to the process of commitment and to avoid the loss of face issue that comes with it. It creates

entrapment. Avoid over-commitment by avoiding loss of face situation.

Rubin, Pruitt, and Kim (1994, 114-16) recommended four tactics designed to avoid over commitment and

entrapment.

First, before entering into a negotiation, it helps to set some boundaries on how much the disputant will lay

on the line.

Second, during the negotiation, one can schedule "points of decision", at which the decision to stay

involved is periodically reevaluated.

Third, attention should be paid, during analysis of whether to continue committing resources to a conflict,

on the costs, non-monetary and monetary, of continuing the conflict.

Fourth, it is very useful to build in ways to save face wherever possible. As entrapment builds, the

participants continue to persist in the dispute to avoid loss of face.

Lack of Ripeness

Resolving a conflict is perceived as costly, difficult, and unpleasant. Many times, disputants won't confront

the work needed to resolve a conflict until they find no alternative. This situation of conflict is called

ripeness.

Conflict Management HRM624

In legal disputing, ripeness is often created by the proximity of the trial. A trial usually has many unexpected

twists and turns; it is expensive, time consuming and emotionally disturbing.

Jackpot Syndrome

The Jackpot Syndrome, identified by prominent law professors Frank Sander and Stephen Goldberg

(Sander & Goldberg 1994), involves apparently irrational behavior by a disputant who is risk-tolerant.

Disputants afflicted with this syndrome believe that they have a chance of "winning big" if they hold out

and refuse to settle. The irrationality comes because their chances of actually getting the big payoff are

miniscule.

Apparently irrational behavior by a disputant who is risk-tolerant.

Believe in a chance of winning big.

Need to be educated: jackpot syndrome is unrealistic.

Differing views about reality and expecting a chance to become rich or famous.

Loss Aversion

Loss aversion is the propensity of many people to prefer to gamble on an uncertain outcome rather than to

take on a certain but manageable loss. Loss aversion is the complement of Jackpot Syndrome; it involves

people who would rather gamble, knowing they have a good chance of losing than give up a sure thing of

lesser value.

Linkage

A linkages problem (sander & Goldberg 1994) occurs when the conflict under consideration is interlinked

with other conflicts and other parties. The implications of settlement may be hard to clarify or may

overwhelm the stakes in the current conflict. It may seems safer just to avoid settlement altogether.

Linkages are a reality of many interpersonal conflicts and effective conflict diagnostician deals with linkages

by performing detailed interest analyses to determine the nature of each interdependent relationship

affecting the conflict.

Interest analysis is necessary to understand the linked conflicts or parties. Being unaware about underlying

interests of disputants, agents, and constituents will be harmful in conflict management.

Conflicts of interest among team members

Non disputant can put a variety of barriers in the way of conflict resolution. Constituent agents and other

influential parties can all impede the otherwise effective work of disputants. Conflicts of interest can

sometimes be treated as separate interpersonal conflicts, subject to creative resolution. When advocates and

agents have clear conflicts of interests with their disputants, sometimes they must withdraw from

representing the disputants to prevent the conflict of interest from doing harm to those they ostensibly

represent.

Excluded Stakeholder

Another group of people who frequently impede the smooth resolution of a conflict are those who are not

at the negotiation table but feel they should be. In a complex conflict, sometimes the disputants are difficult

to identify. There may be a number of advocacy groups, each of which claims to be an interested party. Or,

within a single group of disputants, there may be conflict over who should be physically performing the

negotiation of the conflict.

Any individual who feels a need to contribute to the resolution of a conflict, but who isn't invited to do so,

is likely to feel slighted about the lack of consideration. This psychological string typically prompts the

person who has been left out to dislike any settlement being considered (in a phenomenon closely related to

reactive devaluation), and this person will often seek to sabotage the settlement process.

Conflict Management HRM624

At times, unimaginable forces or interests could impede resolution of conflicts. They could duly become

part of negotiation. For example an adult ward (child) may like to sit on the negotiation table on property

dispute

Disempowered Disputant

A disempowered disputant is a disputant who feels he or she has insufficient power in the relationship with

the other disputant. For example one brother or partner is active while other is passive or sleeping partner.

A disempowered disputant fears coming to agreement, because he or she is afraid to be taken advantage of

and doesn't know how to protect him or herself. Often, the disempowered disputant cannot assess the

utility of a proposed settlement, because he or she lacks essential knowledge. A disempowered disputant is

very likely to dig his or her heels into the sand and become paralyzed.

A seeming paradox is that a very powerful disputant in negotiation with a much disempowered disputant

often benefits from conferring power on the latter. A conflict diagnostician who finds a disempowered

disputant impeding settlement should look at ways that the disputant can be empowered.

Unpleasant Disputant

Some disputants are so irritating that no one wants to please them. Their unpleasant personalities generate

intense hostility in those who have to deal with them. They push conflicts into a competitive cycle by

directly generating enmity between the participants. Helping the irritating person may feel psychologically

intolerable to the other participants (contrient interdependence results). Sometimes, the problem is

"goodness of fit" a disputant is only unpleasant to single other disputant but sometimes the unpleasant

disputant is directed almost universally as impossible to work with.

Bossy attitude, unpleasant face, body, or outlook may also be the impediments. The solution may be to

create distance between disputants.

Competitive culture or sub-culture

A competitive culture or subculture breeds competitive conflict escalation in numerous ways. Alternative

ways of behaving are misunderstood, decried, or ridiculed. Efforts to create a cooperation cycle are met

with efforts to exploit the opening thus created. It is difficult to deal with conflict in such an environment

without retreating to the self-protective illusion of competition. The most common competitive subculture

is the legal subculture. Lawyers are inculcated in the ways of competitive conflict resolution.

Obviously, trying to establish a cooperative relationship within a competitive culture or subculture involves

one of two approaches: either creating enough incentive for the other disputant to break cultural traditions

or moving the site of the conflict out of the competitive setting. Both of these approaches are used for legal

disputes.

Summary

The importance of fourteen impediments to resolve conflict may have been known to you by now. If you

can identify the active impediments by doing interest analysis, you will be able to resolve conflict easily.

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