Page 30 - DMGT519_Conflict Management and Negotiation Skills

Conflict Management and Negotiation Skills

Notes 2.3 Common Manifestation of Conflict

Conflict get reflected in our working life or behaviour patterns and they impact us in different
ways. They can be summarized as:

1. Fight
Behaviour - aggressive
- win-lose situation - unkind to the people

- effective with problem
2. Flight
Behaviour - passive
- lose-win/lose-lose situation - kind to the people
- ineffective with the problem

3. Flow
Behaviour - assertive
- win-win situation

- fluidity/flexibility, elegant, graceful, sure-footed
- stays calm, explore alternatives and go for fair ones -kind with people
- effective with problem
There are two basic assumptions underlying our approach to this problem. Let us examine them
before going any further:
1. Differences among people should not be regarded as inherently “good” or “bad”. Sometimes
differences result in important benefits to the organization; and sometimes they are
disruptive, reducing the overall effectiveness of individual and organizations.
2. There is no one “right” way to deal with differences. Under varying circumstances, it may
be most beneficial to avoid differences, to repress them, to sharpen them into clearly
defined conflict, or to utilized them for enriched problem solving. The manager who
consistently “pours oil on troubled waters” may not be the most effective manager. Nor
is the manager necessarily successful who emphasis individuality and differences so
strongly that cooperation and teamwork are simply afterthoughts. We feel, rather, that
the effective manager is one who is able to use a variety of approaches to differences and
wo chooses any specific approach on the basis of an insightful diagnosis and understanding
of the factors with which he is faced at that time.

Task Elucidate the following statements:
1. Conflict between two individuals implies that they have conflicting perceptions,
values and goals.
2. Conflicts are considered bad and required to be avoided.

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