conflict mgmt

The Nature of Conflict

• Conflict arises from friction among individuals/groups due to differences in opinions, beliefs, values, needs, or objectives.
• The Oxford Dictionary defines conflict as a disagreement or argument, a clash of opposing feelings or needs, or serious incompatibility.

Defining Conflict

• Conflict is seen as a disagreement or argument, typically a protracted one Example, a prolonged armed struggle
• Conflict is the inner state of experiencing a clash of opposing emotions and needs within a person
• Conflict is a serious incompatibility concerning opinions, principles, or interests between two or more parties

Conflict Occurrence

• Conflict is inevitable and a normal part of life.
• Conflict occurs periodically in all relationships.
• Conflict presents learning, growth, and progress possibilities.

Conflict Contexts

• Examples of conflict contexts include marital disputes, inter-state conflicts, and sibling rivalries.
• Contexts can vary from human vs animal to political and religious conflicts.

Conflict Factors

• Factors include geographical, social, psychological/physical, political, economic, and philosophical/structural elements.

Dimensions of Conflict

• Conflict has cognitive, behavioral, and affective dimensions.

Cognitive Dimension

• Disagreements about ideas or approaches arise.
• Cognitive conflict is issue-focused and not personal.
• This dimension is characteristic of high-performing groups.

Affective Dimension

• Affective conflict involves personal antagonism due to differences.
• This dimension is destructive to group performance and cohesion.

Behavioral Dimension

• The behavioral dimension involves actions like legal action and protests.

Objective vs. Subjective Elements

• Objective elements in conflict means both parties know of the conflict
• Subjective elements mean only one person is aware.

Levels of Conflict

• Conflict can escalate through stages: problems to solve, disagreement, contest, fight, and intractable situations.

Example Conflicts and their Escalation

Example 1:

• Initial stage involves a shared property with undefined lines leading to Rachel's removal of a trellis
• Lack of direct communication from Mark and Miranda about Rachel's action led to a disagreement.
• The lack of communication also caused misunderstandings and email-only correspondence
• The parties only communicated via terse notes and utility bills.
• Litigation over selling the duplex results from unresolved disputes over the years despite attempts to resolve boundaries.
• The situation becomes protracted over multiple years
• The financial and emotional costs highlight consequences of unresolved and avoided conflict Example 2:
• Siblings' disagreement over family house renovation or sale leads to differing opinions among three brothers.
• Initial differing opinions turned into unilateral actions like Ramesh's renovation and Suresh's search for buyers
• Lack of the other siblings being unilateral in decisions causes frustration and resentment.
• Escalation involves confrontation, blame, and defensive behavior, where the brothers become openly hostile.

Summary of Conflict Analysis

• Key components in conflict analysis include understanding agency, contexts, dimensions, types, and levels.

Conflict Analysis Dimensions

• Conflicts possesses cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions.

Four Types of Conflict

• Intrapersonal (internal dilemmas).
• Interpersonal (conflicts with others).
• Intragroup (within a group).
• Intergroup (between groups).

Levels of Conflict by Speed Leas

• Problems to solve, disagreement, contest, fight, and intractable situations.

Why Analyze Conflict?

• Analyzing conflicts helps identify sources, create guides for understanding processes, and leads to better resolutions.

Bernard Mayer's Wheel of Conflict

• Key elements include:
  • Communication
  • Emotions
  • History
  • Human needs
  • Structure
  • Values

Needs vs. Interests

• Needs are fundamental and persistent, while interests are superficial and temporary.
• Need-focused resolutions are more meaningful.
• Perform a 'need analysis' to understand conflict origins.

Abraham Harold Maslow

• Abraham Maslow(1908-1970): an American psychologist, created the Maslow's hierarchy of needs which theorizes that psychological health is predicated by the fulfillment of basic human needs that leads to self-actualization

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

• Self-actualization, esteem, love/belonging, safety, and physiological needs.

Sample Conflict Scenarios

• Example, two brothers arguing over property.
• A person trying to buy a drug to save a family member clashes with a drug seller.
• Conflict between roommates. One dominates with an affect on her roomate's self esteem

Cases of Societal & Ethical Conflict

• Lal Bihari "Mritak" was declared dead. After an 18-year-old struggle he formed the 'Association of Dead People' to aid others similarly wronged.
• A social activist, Bhanwari Deni fought gender discrimination.

Communication Elements

• What is communication?
• Why is it important?
• What might cause a communication gap?

Contributors to a Communication Gap

• Factors can include attribution, culture, gender, age, class environment, emotions etc.

The Energy of Conflict

• Emotions have the energy to fuel conflict such as anger

Structuring Conflict

• The elements of the structure include resources, decision making process and power balance

Values

• Conflicts come with values which include economic development

The Values of an Argument

• An argument can be caused by either an environmental concern for the long turn and economy gains for the short term

Gurcharan Das

• Gurcharan Das (born in 1943) is know for his writing on ethical dilemmas.

Kunal Kamra airline incident

• A comedian was barred from flying with Indigo/Air India as a result of a situation caught on video.
• The flight companies then followed by issuing follow up letters
• Kunal claimed "legal notice"

Factors of Public Conflict

• Some factors are beliefs, values, approach to engagement
• Indivduals Role:
• Roles may be fixed depending on context.

Thomas and Kilmann's approach to conflict is how people address concerns of others which includes dimensions such as assertiveness, cooperation, collaberation, competing, accomodation, avoidance of commitment

• Strategies are classified via underlying dimensions of:assertivness and cooperation
• Relationships vary between meeting people's interests in consideration of others

Strategies Include:

• Collaboration, competition, accomodation avoidance and comprimise

Avoidance of conflict

The text defines 6 main ways people avoid conflict including: aggressive avoidance, passive avoidance, passive aggressive avoidance, avoidance through hopelessness and Avoidance Through Denial.

People will try to solve a conflicts by either addressing premature ProblemSolving: solutions quickly dismissing a conflict or by quickly folding and conceding to an opposing perspective

• In either case, is some conflict necessary for us to develop a potential solution

Approaching Conflict

• There are many different ways to solve conflict including power engagement, interests
• Also, there are possible manipulation approaches to conflict resolution

Five Ways to Engage in Conflicts

1. Power approach
2. Rights approach
3. Interest based approach
4. Principle-based approach
5. Manipulation Approach
   • Developed by Ury Brett, and Goldberg (1988)

Right Based Approach

• Can potentially discourage power struggles but be hard on relationships/distracting those who need it, is time consuming

Interest Based is good for Involves asserting ones needs but also adressing them for those those with concerns

Levels of Decision Making in a Conflict

• Perception of Conflict
• Value to belief vs actual
• Resolution vs Avoidance

People like to solve things by - Styles

• Conflict, Values, Avoidance Engagement is a 4 factor
• All 4 components help solve a conflict
• The text looks at personal factors vs external frameworks to solve conflict
• Factors help contribute

Personal Factors

• People will solve problems by understanding what people’s ideas are
• If you can break down different variables and emotions then you can deal with more
• With a flexibility in the process it’s easier to resolve
• It helps if you have a emotional or physical advantage
• If you prefer to wait to face something then react
• If you are better then you have leverage
• If you can control the process or influence then you need more influence

Example Styles

• There is almost always a need for a third party to give an outside opinion to resolve a dispute
• But it depends of personality

There 8 primary approaches including : Analytical vs instuitive Linier vs holistic Integrative is Distibutive Process foucused vs outcome focused Enthusiastic vs reticent Volotile Vs um provable; Dirsry vs Indirct , Subbmissive vs dominant

The different sources of power in every day life is: defilitional power, nuisance power, legia pwer,

• The idea for each is that each individual has there personal and different needs before they engage.

ConflcitTree vs CPA is a different apparoaches to conflict

• Every aspect of a conflict helps make people feel different

CPA

• Steps
• Every party describes the conflict in order
• List all conflict
• parties
• Visualise the problems
• Helps show the real picture

There are almost always underlying emotions for a party before it's even heard.

• Latané and Darley help define responsibilities.
• Social influence can be a problem by setting individuals to do their own actions.

A brief analysis

• This includes things like the definition of roles, the people who may have different perspectives
• You need to be able to understand the complex process with the right analysis. That needs to be long term

There Are Three Conflict points in the CPA:

1. Structural

• This will show the root problem

2. Manifest issue

• The branch/or issue from the above problems 3- Dynamic is your level of action that help solve it.

Finally the conflict tree will require steps.

1. Visualise how each
2. Then be more detailed about how you would use You will often be required what method your using and you wilkl need to Each approach comes with different methods:

• Harvard comes with the focus method
• Humans will then cover the root problems
• Then Dynamic is you reaction or action you take

Also each approach depends on multiple sources of power which comes with

1. Power with sources 2-Types Every source often comes with a structural force 4_ the sources that that Often comes, the power comes from Also you are defining the power in each of conflict with ethics,

• you need to be aware, then you need you could have it if you need to engage it. It comes from the top In other case
• it might irritate people
• The Power from all of your value Also with The power from legal prerogative
• or power from association
• power from access / control
• but they also need to be more responsible

Different Types of Power

• Procedural Power: The power of the way that its structured.
• Also Power from with in, for a example
• Moral powers or ethical Or Habitual in nature
• With Personal characteristics
• Often one could has to look to other to solve a problem for you with what’s going on
• There is also power from other perspectives Or what kind action your taking

The two types of approaches

Normative

• Appeal to the values the people

Utilitarian:

• More focused on what self needs or self interest

Forcing someonelse to comply with the envrionment or change ones mind

• There are different choices

• and the having the choice creates an advantage or just a benefit to the person