CON FLICT RESOLUTION

“Working together isn’t always

easy”

SHIBA SANKAR BEHERA

RAVENSHAW MANAGEMENT CENTRE, CUTTACK
 CONTENTS
1.Nature and scope of negotiation
2.Purpose of negotiations
3.Negotiation styles
4.Negotiation Strategies
5.Application of negotiation
strategies
 Why Negotiation?
Negotiation is needed to resolve inter-
person conflicts / disagreements / clash
of interests.
Negotiation is something that we do all
the time and is not only used for
business purposes. The aim of
negotiation is to explore the situation,
and to find a solution that is
acceptable to both the sides
 NATURE AND SCOPE OF
NEGOTIATION
Negotiation is a situation of joint
decision-making in which:
Two or more distinct parties are involved
Parties have differing interests with respect to one
or more issues
Parties share an interest in reaching agreement, and
often have other common interests as well.
Involves the voluntary sharing or exchange of one or
more specific resources for the resolution of an
issue or issues.
 BATNA

 The best alternative to a negotiated agreement;

the lowest acceptable value to an individual for
a negotiated agreement.
 PURPOSE OF NEGOTIATION
Ø The sole purpose of negotiation is to
eliminate the elements of dispute.
Ø To satisfy your interest and other side’s
interest too.
Ø To create a benefit to the negotiator that
would not otherwise have been obtained.
Ø Thus it helps to reach an agreement.

Ø
 Negotiation Styles

Hig
h

Concerned
with other
party’s
interests

Low

High
Concerned with satisfying own
interests
NEGOTIATION STRATEGIES
Win / Lose Win / Win (Collaborating)
Competition
Assertive

Compromise
Unassertive

Avoidance Accommodating

Uncooperative Cooperative
 Competition
The win-lose is the most common style
of distributive negotiation wherein a
person pursues his or her own wishes
at the expense of other party.
Under this style negotiation is viewed
as a game to be won. Losing may be
taken as failure, weakness, and a loss
of status.
When engaged in this style, the
parties may use different tactics to
win like: persuasion, argument, power,
or even threat.
 Application
A forceful position during negotiation may be
appropriate when the stakes are high and
costs of indecision and compromise are non-
affordable.
It is useful when issues of legality and
ethics are at hand.
Where you do not expect to deal with people
ever again, and you do not need their
goodwill.
When there is only one prize.
At management level, this style is helping
when unpopular but necessary decisions must
be made.
Win-lose is also a style to use when the
other party has a tendency to take advantage
of you.
 Avoiding
Avoiding the conflict in certain
situations – need of no negotiation at
all – is also a negotiation.
People may physically withdraw by simply
leaving the scene of conflict or they
can refuse to get involved by using
silence, or changing the topic of
conversation.
Psychologically, avoiders can also deny
the existence of conflict.
During formal negotiation, avoiding style
is exercised by paying deaf ear and / or
blind eye to the conflicting stimulus.
 Application
Useful when:


your involvement will only result in

negative outcomes for you;
issue is insignificant;
cost of challenge / cost is quite high;
there is little chance of success;
relationships are more important to be
maintained;
to buy time and / or get other party
cool down.
 Accommodating
Accommodating style of negotiation
entails giving in to the wishes of the
opponent party.
Like avoidance, accommodating the other
party almost in one-sided way, is also a
negotiation.
Unlike avoiders, the accommodators enter
into negotiation and give in a way that
strengthens the relationships.
During negotiation, giving in totally /
partially may be part of strategic
maneuvering.
 Application
When other issues are more important that
need satisfying others and maintaining
cooperation.
When social credit is to be built for some
latter issue.
To minimize loss when one is already losing.
When relationships are more important than
the interests.
Though frequent yielding is not a virtue, a
yielding to a fellow in ire, a balanced
yielding among spouses, or even the frequent
yielding obedience of a child to a parent or
teacher is a healthy move.
 Compromising
Compromising, the most common style of
conflict resolution, entails splitting
the differences and reaching an
acceptable middle ground solution
through give-and-take whereby each party
should gain something and may have to
lose something.
Parties under this style of negotiation,
generally use techniques like trading,
bargaining, smoothing over differences,
and voting etc.
Most of the negotiations though start
with lose-win style, do end up at the
compromising style.
 Application
It is useful:


when two parties have relatively equal

power and have mutually exclusive
goals;
when time is not available to solve
problems that are complex and require a
great deal of effort to sort out all
the issues;
to allow for a temporary solution until
more time could be devoted to unravel
and analyze the complexities; and
when competition or collaboration fails
to lead to a solution.
 Collaborating
Collaborating is based on a
willingness to accept other party’s
needs while asserting your own needs
as well.
It assumes that there is some
reasonable chance that a solution can
be found to satisfy both parties in
conflict without losing much.
Such solution, most of the time, is not
possible but a collaborator believes
that it is worth trying to find that.
 Application
You have the time and want to work
something out that satisfies all
sides.

You care about the other person(s) and

also feel strongly about the issue.

You want to get thoughts and feelings

out on the table and deal with them,
so they don’t cause problems later.