Foundations of Group Behavior

Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition.

Chapter 6

Communication,Conflict andNegotiation

Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition.

Communication

1. How does communication occur?

2. Are there barriers to communication?

3. How can communication be encouraged?

4. What are the current issues in communication?

5. What is conflict?

6. What are the sources of conflict?

7. How does a situation turn into a conflict?

8. What is negotiation and how does it help?

Questions for Consideration

Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition.

Communication Problems

•People spend nearly 70 percent of their waking hourscommunicating—writing, reading, speaking, listening

•WorkCanada survey of 2039 Canadians in six industrialand service categories found

–61 percent of senior executives believed that they did a good jobof communicating with employees.

–only 33 percent of the managers and department heads believedthat senior executives were effective communicators.

–Only 22 percent of hourly workers, 27 percent of clericalemployees, and 22 percent of professional staff reported thatsenior executives did a good job of communicating with them.

•Canadians reported less favourable perceptions abouttheir company’s communications than did Americans

Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition.

Communication Terms

•Communication

•Sender

•Receiver

Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition.

Communication Terms

•Message

•Encoding

•Channel

•Decoding

Exhibit 6-1 The CommunicationProcess Model

Encodes the

message

Chooses the

channel

Chooses

a message

Provides

feedback

Decodes the

message

Sender

Receiver

Considers the receiver

Considers the sender

Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition.

Choosing Channels

•Channels differ in their capacity to conveyinformation.

Exhibit 6-2 – Information Richnessof Communication Channels

Source: Based on R. H. Lengel and R. L. Daft, “The Selection of Communication Media as an Executive Skill,” Academy of Management Executive, August 1988, pp. 225-232; and R. L.Daft and R. H. Lengel, “Organizational Information Requirements, Media Richness, and Structural Design,” Managerial Science, May 1996, pp. 554-572. Reproduced from R. L. Daftand R. A. Noe, Organizational Behavior (Forth Worth, TX: Harcourt, 2001), p. 311.

Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition.

Barriers to EffectiveCommunication

•Filtering

•Selective Perception

Barriers to Effective Communication

•Defensiveness

•Information Overload

•Language

Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition.

Nonverbal Communication

•Messages conveyed through bodymovements, facial expressions, and thephysical distance between the sender andthe receiver

–Kinesics

–Proxemics

Silence as Communication

•Defined as an absence of speech or noise

•Not necessarily inaction

•Individuals should be aware of what silence mightmean in any communication.

Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition.

Communication BarriersBetween Men and Women

•Men use talk to emphasize status, womenuse it to create connection

•Women and men tend to approach pointsof conflict differently

Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition.

Communication BarriersBetween Men and Women

•Men and women view directness andindirectness differently

•Men criticize women for apologizing, butwomen say “I’m sorry” to expressempathy

Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition.

Cross-CulturalCommunication Difficulties

•Sources of barriers

–Semantics

–Word connotations

–Tonal differences

Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition.

Cross-CulturalCommunications: HelpfulRules

•Assume differences until similarity isproven.

•Emphasize description rather thaninterpretation or evaluation.

•Practise empathy.

•Treat your interpretations as a workinghypothesis.

Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition.

Effective Listening

•If you want to improve your listening skills, look to thesebehaviours as guides

–Make eye contact

–Exhibit affirmative head nods and appropriate facialexpressions.

–Avoid distracting actions or gestures.

–Ask questions.

–Paraphrase.

–Avoid interrupting the speaker.

–Don’t over talk.

–Make smooth transitions between the roles of speaker andlistener.

Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition.

Conflict

•A process that begins when one partyperceives that another party hasnegatively affected, or is about tonegatively affect something that the firstparty cares about.

–Functional

–Dysfunctional

Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition.

Types of Conflict

•Cognitive

–Conflict related to differences in perspectivesand judgments

•Affective

–Emotional conflict aimed at a person ratherthan an issue

Exhibit 6-5Conflict Intensity Continuum

Annihilatory

conflict

Overt efforts to destroy

the other party

Aggressive physical attacks

Threats and ultimatums

Assertive verbal attacks

Overt questioning or

challenging of others

Minor disagreements or

misunderstandings

Sources: Based on S. P. Robbins, Managing Organizational Conflict: A Nontraditional Approach (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1974),pp. 93-97; and F. Glasl, “The Process of Conflict Escalation and the Roles of Third Parties,” in Conflict Management and Industrial Relations,ed. G. B. J. Bomers and R. Peterson (Boston: Kluwer-Nijhoff, 1982), pp. 119-140).

Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition.

Exhibit 6-4 How ConflictBuilds

•

Functional:

increased

performance

•

Dysfunctional:

decreased group

performance

Behaviour

Outcomes

•

Competing

•

Collaborating

•

Compromising

•

Avoiding

•

Accommodating

Conflict-handling

Intentions

Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition.

Conflict handling intentions

•Two Dimensions

–Cooperativeness

–Assertiveness

Five Conflict-Handling Strategies

•Forcing.

•Problem solving

•Avoiding

•Yielding

•Compromising

Exhibit 6-6 Conflict-Handling Strategiesand Accompanying Behaviours

Uncooperative

Cooperative

COOPERATIVENESS

Trying to satisfy the other person’s concerns

Forcing

Satisfying one’s own interests

without concern for the other’s

interests

• Make threats and bluffs

• Make persuasive arguments

• Make positional commitments

Problem solving

Clarifying differences to find

mutually beneficial outcomes

• Exchange information about

priorities and preferences

• Show insights

• Make trade-offs between

important and unimportant issues

Compromising

Giving up something to reach an

outcome (done by both parties)

• Match other’s concessions

• Make conditional promises

and threats

• Search for a middle ground

voiding

Withdrawing from or ignoring

conflict

• Don’t think about the issues

Yielding

Placing the other’s interests above

one’s own

• Make unilateral concessions

• Make unconditional promises

• Offer help

ASSERTIVENESS

Trying to satisfy one’s own concerns

’

Unassertive

Assertive

Sources: Based on K. W. Thomas,“Conflict and Negotiation Processes inOrganizations,” in Handbook ofIndustrial and OrganizationalPsychology, vol. 3, 2nd ed., ed. M. D.Dunnette and L. M. Hough (Palo Alto,CA: Consulting Psychologists Press,1992), p. 668; C. K. W. De Dreu, A.Evers, B. Beersma, E. S. Kluwer, andA. Nauta, “A Theory-Based Measure ofConflict Management Strategies in theWorkplace,” Journal of OrganizationalBehavior 22, no. 6 (September 2001),pp. 645-668; and D. G. Pruitt and J.Rubin, Social Conflict: Escalation,Stalemate and Settlement (New York:Random House, 1986).

Factors That Lead toPersonality Conflicts

•Misunderstandings

•Intolerance

•Perceived inequalities

•Falsehoods

•Blaming

Tips for Employees Having a PersonalityConflict

•Communicate directly with the other personto resolve the perceived conflict.

•Avoid dragging co-workers into the conflict.

•If necessary, seek help from directsupervisors or human resource specialists.

Source: R. Kreitner and A. Kinicki, Organizational Behavior, 6th ed. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2004), p. 492, Table 14-1. Reprinted by permission of McGraw-Hill Education.

Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition.

Conflict Outcomes

•Functional (supports the goals of thegroup and improves performance)

•Dysfunctional (hinders groupperformance)

Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition.

Negotiation

•A process in which two or more partiesexchange goods or services and attempt toagree upon the exchange rate for them

Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition.

Issues, Positions andInterests

•Individuals have issues, positions, and interests

–Issues are items that are specifically placed on thebargaining table for discussion

–Positions are the individual’s stand on the issue

–Interests are the underlying concerns that areaffected by the negotiation resolution

Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition.

Types of Bargaining

•Distributive bargaining

•Integrative bargaining

Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition.

Bargaining Distributive Integrative

Characteristic Bargaining Bargaining

Available resources

Primary motivations

Primary interests

Focus of relationships

Fixed amount ofresources to be divided

I win, you lose

Opposed to each other

Short term

Variable amount of resources tobe divided

I win, you win

Convergent or congruent witheach other

Long term

Exhibit 6-9 DistributiveversusIntegrative Bargaining

How to Negotiate

•Five steps to negotiation:

–Developing a strategy.

–Definition of ground rules.

–Clarification and justification.

–Bargaining and problem solving.

–Closure and implementation.

•Identify BATNA:

–Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement.

Exhibit 6-8 The Negotiation Process

Developing a strategy

Defining ground rules

Clarification and

justification

Bargaining and

problem solving

Closure and

implementation

Source: This model is based on R. J. Lewicki, “Bargainingand Negotiation,” Exchange: The OrganizationalBehaviorTeaching Journal 6, no. 2 (1981), pp. 39-40.

Exhibit 6-9 Staking Out theBargaining Zone

Buyer’s aspiration range

Seller’s aspiration range

Bargaining

Zone

Buyer’s

target

point

Seller’s

resistance

point

Buyer’s

resistance

point

Seller’s

target

point

$400

$475

$525

$600

Getting to Yes

•Separate the people from the problem.

•Focus on interests, not positions.

•Look for ways to achieve mutual gains.

•Use objective criteria to achieve a fair solution.

Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition.

Summary and Implications:Communication

•A common theme regarding the relationship betweencommunication and employee satisfaction

•Less distortion in communication equals:

•Ambiguity between verbal and nonverbal communiquésincrease uncertainty and reduce satisfaction

•The goal of perfect communication is unattainable

•The issue of communication is critical to motivation

Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition.

Summary and Implications

•Conflict can be either constructive or destructiveto the functioning of a group.

•An optimal level of conflict:

•Inadequate or excessive levels of conflict canhinder group effectiveness.

Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition.

Summary and Implications

•Don’t assume there's one conflict-handling intention that is always best.

•Negotiation is an ongoing activity ingroups

•Intergroup conflicts can also affect anorganization’s performance.