Assignment

On

Review Questions (Chapter 09-12)

Course Name: Conflict Management and Negotiation

Course Code: HRM-504

Submitted To
Fahmida Sultana
Lecturer,
Department of Human Resource Management,
Jatiya Kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam University,
Trishal, Mymensingh.

Submitted By
Md. Abu Obida Rifat
Id: 201327539
Session: 2019-20 (MBA)

Date of Submission: 30th November, 2021

 Chapter-9
1. Distinguish between ‘Hidden Self’ and ‘Blind Self’? In your opinion, what causes the
expansion of unknown areas in Johari Window? Suggest ways to develop one’s
interpersonal skills with the help of Johari Window.
Answer:
Distinguish between “Hidden Self” and “Blind Self”
The Hidden Area , contains information that one knows about him/herself but others do not
know. This is the private side and only the individual concerned knows about it but does not
wish to share it with others. It may be due to the fear that if others get to know about his feelings,
perceptions and opinions about the issue or group or other individuals in the group, they might
reject, attack or hurt him.
On the other hand, The second pane, the Blind Spot, contains information that other people
perceive in me but that I do not see in myself. There are things about ourselves, which we do not
know, but others know about us and can see more clearly. The behaviours that we imagine to be
true of ourselves for a variety of reasons but others do not see in us. For instance, others see that
Manju’s anxiety reduces her effectiveness but neither she is able to recognize it nor does she
admit that she is anxious while performing. A person who gets angry quickly might perceive
himself as a well-balanced person. Blind self includes some of the mannerisms or personality
characteristics. Avoiding direct eye contact while talking is a good example of blind
expressiveness. While others learn the information from our verbal cues, the person
himself/herself finds it difficult to recognize.
The hidden area could also include sensitivities, fears, hidden agendas, manipulative intentions,
secrets- anything that a person knows but does not reveal, for whatever reason. Blind area is the
extent to which an individual seeks feedback, and the issues on which feedback is sought, must
always be at the individual's own discretion.
The aim should be to disclose and expose relevant information and feelings - hence the Johari
Window terminology 'self-disclosure' and 'exposure process', thereby increasing the open area.
By telling others how we feel and other information about ourselves we reduce the hidden area
and increase the open area, which enables better understanding, cooperation, trust, team-working
effectiveness and productivity. A blind area could also include issues that others are deliberately
withholding from a person. This relates to the difficulty one experiences when being "kept in the
dark". Group members and managers can take some responsibility for helping an individual to
reduce their blind area - in turn increasing the open area - by giving sensitive feedback and
encouraging disclosure.
Cause of expansion of unknown areas in Johari Window model
 An ability that is under-estimated or un-tried through lack of opportunity,
encouragement, confidence or training.
 A natural ability or aptitude that a person does not realize they possess.
 A fear or aversion that a person does not know they have.
 An unknown illness.
 Repressed or subconscious feelings.
 Conditioned behavior or attitudes from childhood.
Suggestion about ways to develop one’s interpersonal skills with the help of Johari Window
Educate
If you decide to use the Johari Window technique to help bridge some of the gaps in
communication within your team, then education is the first step. You will need to lay out
exactly what you expect of team members during this exercise, the purpose of completing it and
what impact you want it to have. After this is done, you can proceed with the technique.
Open Up
After you have shared the details of the technique with your team, it is time to get everyone
thinking about how they see themselves, and how they see each other. This will help when it
comes to picking adjectives, and working on the Open room of the window One of the best ways
to do this is by starting really small. Sharing small, harmless details can help build a foundation
of trust that will help the process work smoothly, and help with opening communication
channels. As everyone starts to open up more, and more, you can share larger things like
feelings, ambitions and goals. While opening up is good for building trust, there is no need to
encourage people to share their deep, dark secrets.
Encouragement
Encouraging your team to provide personal feedback is a great way to make sure everyone is
getting what they need from this process. This not only helps make sure that things that fell into
the Blind Area can be addressed, but also helps make sure things in the Open Area stay open.
Reflection
After completing the exercise, it is important to allow people the time to reflect on the feedback
received and what this means. It is also important to come together as a team and reflect on what
they got out of the exercise and how it has helped communication/trust etc.
2. Briefly describe three psychological positions as mentioned by Berne. How do they affect
parent, adult and child ego state?
Answer-
The concept of Transactional analysis designed by Eric Berne focuses largely on Ego states,
Transactions, Life positions and strokes. From these three psychological positions are to be
described and how do they affect parent, adult, and child ego are to be described below-
Ego state
People interact with each other in terms of three psychological positions or behavioral patterns
known as ego states. They are termed as Parent, Adult and Child ego states (Figure 9.4). It
expresses a person’s way of thinking, feeling and behaving at any given time. These ego states
have nothing to do with the chronological age of the persons; rather they are related with the
behavioral aspects of age. A healthy person is able to move from one ego state to another. They
are based on real world behavior. Ego States are consistent patterns of feeling, thinking and
behavior that we all possess. Transactional Analysis identifies three Ego States, called Parent,
Adult, and Child.
Transactions
When two people communicate, each may probably exchange what is known as transaction. It is
the fundamental unit of social interactions. Many of our problems come from transactions which
are unsuccessful. Such transactions can be overt or covert, and can be classified as
complementary, crossed-up or ulterior.
Life Positions
The life position is an attitude about self and the world around self. It is largely based on specific
assumptions that are made early in life. It develops out of one’s identity, sense of worth, and
perceptions of other people. This tends to remain with the person for the lifetime unless major
experiences occur to change it. Such positions are called life positions. Although one life
position tends to dominate a person’s transactions, other positions may be exhibited from time to
time in specific transactions. That is to say that life position dominates, but it is not the only
position ever taken. Life positions stems from two viewpoints. They are—”How do people view
themselves?” and “how do they view other people in general?” There are four basic life
positions—attitudes which people adopt and act concerning their self-worth and the value of
others.
Parent ego state This is a set of feelings, thinking and behaviour that we have copied from our
parents and other significant people during our upbringing. For example, “Do as I do”. “Never
talk to strangers” or “Look both ways before you cross the street.” Thoughts, feelings, attitudes,
behavioural patterns based on messages or lessons learned from parents and other ‘parental’ or
authoritarian source form this set of feelings and thoughts. It basically focuses on “should and
should not”; “ought and ought not” and “always and never” It is sometimes based on prejudicial
views (not based on logic or facts), on things such as religion, tradition, work products, dress and
money, raising children or companies. The characteristics of a person acting with the parent ego
include being overprotective, distant, dogmatic, indispensable and upright.
Adult ego state This relates to egoistic-oriented, objective, autonomous data processing and
probability estimation. It is based on reasoning, seeking and providing information and is based
on rationality. For example, “I will be frank with you.” It tries to upgrade decisions by seeking
facts, processing data, estimating probabilities, and holding factual discussions.
Child ego state This is a set of behaviours, thoughts and feelings, which are replayed from our
own childhood. It can be characterized as creativity, conformity, depression, anxiety,
dependence, fear and hate. Examples of child-like behaviours are impulsive, self-centred, fearful,
angry, happy, pleasure-seeking, rebellious, curious, eager to please, etc.
Berne differentiated his Parent, Adult, and Child ego states from actual adults, parents, and
children and described them. Within each of these ego states are subdivisions. Thus Parental
figures are often either more nurturing (permission-giving, security-giving) or more criticising
(comparing to family traditions and ideals in generally negative ways); Childhood behaviours are
either more natural (free) or more adapted to others. These subdivisions categorize individuals'
patterns of behavior, feelings, and ways of thinking, which can be functional (beneficial or
positive) or dysfunctional/counterproductive (negative).
3. In which way do you think knowledge of transactional analysis helps in improving a
manager’s conflict handling skills? Discuss.
Answer-
There are several natural connections between TA and the approaches to resolving conflict.
Parent ego state may lead to the use of a forcing strategy, while the child state may smooth over
conflicts or try to avoid them. People having life position like “I’m OK—You’re OK” are more
likely to seek a win-win outcome, applying the adult ego state and a confrontational strategy.
Other probable connections are:
I’m not OK—You’re not OK—Avoidance—Non-assertive behavior.
I’m not OK—You’re OK—Smoothing—Non-assertive behavior.
I’m OK—You’re not OK—Forcing—Aggressive behavior.
I’m OK—You’re OK—Confronting/Collaboration—Assertive Behavior.
Transactional analysis is a theory about personality, personality development and
communication. It provides models to observe and understand communication in everyday
interactions. It is a useful framework for answering some of our questions. At an individual level,
transactional analysis is a valuable tool for understanding our own behavior and the ways we
interact with others. The theory can be applied to improve group and organizational relationships
developed. Training on TA can give employees fresh insights into their own personalities; it can
also help them understand why sometimes others respond in the way they do. A major benefit is
improved interpersonal communication. Employees can sense when crossed communication
occurs and then can take steps to restore complementary communication, preferably in the Adult-
to-Adult pattern. The result is a general improvement in interpersonal transactions. Assertiveness
training and transactional analysis in combination can be powerful tools for increasing one’s
interpersonal effectiveness. They both share the goal of helping employees feel “OK” about
themselves and others. Both focus on adult-based problem solving. They help improve
communication and interpersonal cooperation. It is a very handy tool to analyze interaction and
to select the right address to tackle the situation adequately.

4. Assertive training involves teaching people to develop effective ways of dealing with a
variety of anxiety-producing situation, do you agree with this statement? Explain with
supportive evidences.
Answer-
Yes, I am agree with the statement that, Assertive training involves teaching people to develop
effective ways of dealing with a variety of anxiety-producing situation. This statement explained
below with supportive evidence.
Assertiveness is the process of expressing feelings, asking for legitimate changes, and giving
and receiving honest feedback. An assertive individual is not afraid to request that another
person change an offensive behavior and is not uncomfortable refusing unreasonable requests
from someone else. Assertiveness training involves teaching people to develop effective ways of
dealing with a variety of anxiety-producing situations. It uses behavioral techniques to teach one
how to manage interpersonal situations better. Assertiveness requires a change in attitude as well
as in behavior. The goal of assertiveness training is to increase the number and variety of
situations in which assertive behavior is possible, and decrease occasions of passive collapse or
hostile blow-up.
Assertion Training helps you learn how to think and act more assertively. It's made a major
difference in the lives of many people. People have become less afraid of speaking up, friendlier
and more outgoing, more confident and competent handling difficult interpersonal situations,
more successful in their careers, and generally happier. By thinking more assertively and
learning key assertion skills you can improve your interpersonal competence and be more
confident in almost any type of interpersonal situation with almost anyone.
5. Discuss how perceptual biases lead to conflict. Provide appropriate illustrations to
support your view.
Answer-
Misperception occurs due to errors and distortions in perception. It gives rise to conflict. For
instance, consider two managers with completely different impressions of an employee’s
performance. One manager wants to promote the employee while the other recommends firing. It
is primarily the individual differences in perception. It is necessary that managers should sharpen
their perceptual skills so that their perceptions of people, events and objects are as close to reality
as possible. By honing their perceptual skills and understanding the perceptual processes,
managers can enhance their effectiveness by becoming aware of the fact that some of their
actions are likely to be misperceived by others in the system. There are several types of biases
that lead to misperception. They are stereotyping, halo effect, selective perception, central
tendency, contrast effect, attribution and cultural variations in making attributions, projection and
self-fulfilling prophecy. Stereotyping is the tendency to perceive an individual as belonging to a
single class or category, and as a consequence attributing favorable or unfavorable characteristics
to the person based on the widely held generalization about the group to which the individual
belongs. Stereotype can be related to age, gender, nationality or disability.
It adversely affects decisions regarding recruitment, promotion, etc. In an interview, the
interviewer might stereotype applicants and allow personal biases to influence evaluations. Halo
effect refers to the general impression formed about an individual based on his single
characteristic. For instance, if an employee is intelligent, he may be seen as sincere,
hardworking, able, efficient, etc. Selective perception is the tendency to single out those aspects
of a person or situation that conform to our beliefs, needs and values. In that respect, we can
vividly say that production manager might fail to perceive the needs of the sales department for
more sales personnel and concentrate only on how his own division could benefit from more
staff in case of tight organizational budget constraints. Central tendency is a perceptual distortion
that occurs when a person avoids extreme judgments and rates everything as average. Managers,
while rating the performance of subordinates, may rate all employees in the range of 3-4 on a
five point scale, in spite of the fact that some employees really deserve a 5 or a 1. Contrast effect
is present when our evaluations are affected by comparisons with other people we have recently
had encounter with, who are either better or worse in terms of this characteristic. For example, in
an interview, allowing the quality of the applicants who preceded the present applicant to
influence the ratings of the present applicant may not be justified. Projection refers to reflecting
or assigning one’s own personal attributes to others.
 Chapter-10
1. Critically analyze the significance of increasing conflict in an organizational set-up.
Answer-
When the conflict level is low, it has been observed that the behavior of the employees is
apathetic, stagnant, and non-responsive. All these characteristics can result in complacency and
poor performance due to lack of innovation and low motivation.
At the group level, there is a tendency to conform to group norms. However, a preoccupation of
group members’ conformity stifles creativity and encourages groupthink. When group members
are overly concerned about following rules, innovation becomes difficult to achieve. It
encourages member not to differ, as a result new ideas are unlikely to come up. Extremely low
level of conflict is dysfunctional by nature. Conflict management is a proactive process that takes
place even if a group or organization is not currently experiencing any conflicts. Increasing
conflict should be done skillfully and cautiously so that conflict levels do not become harmful
for the employees. If the individual/group is at low motivational zone, it is necessary to stimulate
conflict in order to help the individual/group move towards the effective zone, and at the same
time reduce conflict when it is extremely high. Both too much and too little conflict can be
detrimental to the organizational performance. Too much conflict leads to chaos and disorder,
while too little can result in complacency and lack of innovation
Increasing conflict to make it functional will happen only when the conflict supports the goals of
a work group, department, organization or community. It can have a very positive impact on
work quality, decision making, productivity and on the overall group performance. That is
because it involves people who are genuinely interested in solving the problem, who are willing
to listen to one another, and who attempt to seek mutually advantageous solutions. Because the
conflicting parties are willing to work together to deal with the issue at hand, functional conflict
can bring out diverse ideas and styles and lead to the consideration of more options, develop
creativity in the problem-solving process, get people interested in addressing the issue at hand,
and ultimately lead to more effective decisions.
2. Discuss idea generation techniques to develop a pool of ideas.
Answer-
Successful groups incorporate both innovation and routine in their interactions. The reason being
that too much creativity can lead to chaos, at the same time, too much stability can lead to
inflexibility, an inability to adapt and a tendency to follow rules without questioning them. On
the other hand, constant change leads to lack of direction, confusion, frustration and reduced
productivity. Approaching creativity in a systematic way encourages group members to identify
the purpose of their creative endeavors and provides discussion time dedicated to creativity.
Some of the techniques used for generation of ideas are as follows.
Idea Generation Techniques Involving Groups
Brainstorming
This is a problem-solving technique developed in the 1930s by Osborn. It is an organized
approach for producing ideas by letting the mind think without interruption. The basic purpose of
this exercise is to generate a pool of ideas that will lead to a unique and improved concept. It is
based on the maxim that quantity breeds quality. The greater the number of ideas generated, the
greater are the chances of producing a radical and effective solution. The key to brainstorming is
not to interrupt the thought process. As ideas come to the mind, they are captured. At a later
phase these ideas stimulate the development of better ideas. Brainstorming can be done either
individually or in a group. Brainstorming process helps in developing communication in the
group; generates a list of potential new products or technologies; suggests approaches to improve
marketing/research/operational prowess; improves the professional environment of the
department; identifies policies, procedures and operations that should be reviewed and improved;
and improves productivity. When done individually, brain-storming can be an effective measure
of change through time. An individual may revisit a brainstorm done alone and approach it with
a slightly new perspective. This process can be repeated without limit. The result is collaboration
with your past, present and future selves.
Group passing technique
Each person in a circular group writes down one idea, and then passes the piece of paper to the
next person in a clockwise direction, who adds some thoughts to what is already written down.
This is repeated until everybody gets his or her original piece on the paperback. By that time, it is
likely that the group will have created some quite powerful ideas. A popular alternative to this
technique is to create an “Idea Book” and post a distribution list or routing slip to the front of the
book. On the inside cover is the problem definition statement. This technique does take longer,
but allows individual thought whenever the person has a spare minute to think deeply about the
problem. The circular approach to problem solving uses five steps: define, gather facts,
determine alternatives, decide and take action. With the circular approach one can start at any
point, stop at any place and continue around several times. This allows things to be examined
and re-examined and the problems and alternative to be restated. Value analysis is another
method to find a way to perform a job that focuses on the necessary functions at a minimum cost.
Group communication
This needs to be improved. When the nature of group communication includes evaluation,
control, strategizing, certainty and superiority, group members interact defensively. Such
defensive communication leaves little room for new ideas. It requires members to interact,
become interdependent, share norms, values and roles, and share collective identity. To get the
most from groups, fostering of interpersonal contact is essential. Groups must also devote energy
to create a positive social atmosphere.
Group participation
Group participation can be developed by free association and social facilitation. Free
association is a process of producing ideas in rapid succession with a minimum of inhibiting or
restraining action. The supervisor presents the original stimulus word or idea to the group. All
ideas that come up are recorded. Social facilitation is a process in which the productivity of each
individual is increased by the stimulation provided by other group members. Increasingly,
organizations are recognizing collaborative relationships - those defined by mutual learning
and shared creation- as being at the core of innovation. Ideas are not just exchanged; they are
jointly discussed, debated and created. The supervisor should choose the technique that best fits
the situation and the group membership. By assigning members to act as devil’s advocates and
by holding second chance meetings more information/ideas can be gathered.
Nominal group
This is a group of people working independently rather than interacting with each other.
Nominal Group Technique (NGT) limits discussion among present, independently operating
members who gather and are presented with a problem. They individually write down their ideas.
Then each member presents one idea to the group. Once all ideas are presented and recorded, a
brief discussion clarifies the issues. Then each member independently ranks the ideas and the
idea with the highest ranking is chosen as the solution.
Electronic meeting
An electronic meeting system (EMS) is a type of computer software that facilitates group
decision-making within an organization. An electronic meeting system comprises of highly
configurable collaborative software tools that can be used to create predictable, repeatable
patterns of collaboration among people working towards a goal. With an electronic meeting
system, each user typically has own computer, and each user can contribute to the same-shared
object at the same time. Thus, nobody needs to wait for a turn to speak and people don’t forget
what they want to say while they are waiting for the floor. When a group or a group leader deems
it appropriate, people can contribute anonymously to most electronic meeting systems tool, so
the group can focus on the content and meaning of ideas, rather than on their sources.
Anonymous contributions are particularly useful when a team is generating or evaluating ideas.
It is less useful when a team is establishing the agreed meaning of ideas or building consensus.
NGT can be used in an electronic meeting, which is faster than a face-to-face meeting. The
electronic meeting spurs creativity and increases productivity by allowing the participants to
contribute equally and anonymously. Up to fifty people can participate by sitting in a horseshoe
formation outfitted with computer terminals. Issues are presented and responses are typed.
Individual comments and aggregate responses are posted on a projection screen. The supervisor
troubleshoots problems, provides assistance when requested, and asks probing questions to get
the team to talk through problems.
Delphi technique
The purpose of the Delphi technique is to elicit information and judgments from participants to
facilitate problem solving, planning, and decision-making. It does so without physically
assembling the contributors. This technique is designed to take advantage of participants’
creativity as well as the facilitating effects of group involvement and interaction. It is structured
to capitalize on the merits of group problem solving and minimize the liabilities of group
problem solving. A problem is identified and members are asked to anonymously provide their
solutions through a carefully structured questionnaire. Each member receives a copy of the
results and is again asked for solutions. This process continues until consensus is reached.

3. Can motivating employees stimulate conflict? Give reasons for your answer.
Answer-
A technique that motivates individual employees is one of the best methods to get better ideas
from them. Few of the methods are suggested below:
1. Challenging tasks: Provide challenge by pitching assignments, and projects just above
individual’s known capabilities. It requires delegating challenging jobs. Most bosses keep
for themselves the challenging, rewarding tasks while giving simple task to the
subordinates where they cannot exercise any creativity.
2. Set high but reasonable standards, knowing that even the loftiest ideas must eventually be
subject to the realistic technical and financial constraints of the organization. By setting
high goals initially, you increase the chances of some people coming with breakthrough
ideas.
3. The desired goals and milestones can be established. But freedom should be given to
people to approach them in their own way and as per their own schedule. Employees
should be allowed to make intelligent mistakes and also be accountable for the results of
their work, not for their actions or the time spent.
4. Rewards. Upgrade and revamp both the tangible and intangible rewards and inducements
for creative contributions. The time honored incentives of increased power status, and
salaries encourage secretiveness, playing of politics, jockeying for positions, conformity,
and the desire to please superiors. Encourage group members who offer unique ideas and
alternative viewpoints. Be cautious of employees who promote themselves rather than
address the group’s goals.
 5. Networking. Recommend and encourage more informal contact between top management
and the individual contributors of ideas.
6. Be receptive. “More and better suggestions occur if you offer encouragement. Convince
your subordinates of your sincere interest by promptly recognizing deserving employees.
If you are impatient, too busy or indifferent, it creates a hindrance between you and your
employees”. At the same time, recognizing subordinates for their contribution motivates
them and makes them more loyal which, in turn, encourage them to come up with more
ideas. It makes other employees to follow them.
7. Supportive and constructive feedback. Some individuals lack the necessary technical,
mechanical or writing skills to put an idea on paper. Offering help in expressing the idea.
A worker’s idea may not be practical, but it can reveal another idea, which helps solve a
problem. If so, give the employee credit for an alternative solution. Continued support
and help will spur employees to think constructively and develop better ways to do their
jobs. Build enthusiasm and team work by sharing improved work methods

4. Explain how conflict can be introduced in the work environment.

Answer-
Work environment can be creative when managers support openness about debates and opinions.
The manager’s role is to structure situations and not express opinions or take positions on issues.
It encourages the subordinates to express their views. This, in turn, fosters healthy work climate
and fosters creativity. Conflict can be increased in work environment by bringing in outsiders,
restructuring the organization, appointing a devil’s advocate, using tools like dialoguing, ladder
of inference for generating more opinions, focusing on supportive communication, etc.
Work climates that can help in generating ideas are as follows:
1. Foster collaboration: In times of conflict, group members find it easier to avoid,
accommodate or compromise when their goals seem to be at odds. Fostering
collaboration involves a dyadic confrontation: two actors, initiator and a responder, are
faced with the challenge of turning a complaint into a problem-solving dialogue. If the
two actors cannot succeed, a third actor may be required. Groups that are committed to
collaboration are dedicated to discovering conflict solutions that everyone can agree on.
Collaboration can be time consuming but can produce innovative solutions to complex
problems.
2. Facilitate a supportive communication climate: It can be characterized as problem
orientation, spontaneity, empathy and equality. Focusing on increasing the interpersonal
contact can develop such a climate. It should be coupled with freedom to make certain
decisions alone. A creative person needs a sympathetic ear —a sounding board for his
ideas. Wright practices “management by walking around”, a Hewlett-Packard technique
popularized in the book “In Search of Excellence”. “My style had always been one of
 spending most of my day walking around the halls talking to people and being aware of
what is happening in the group,” says Wright. “I do spend most of my work hour in the
hallways.”
3. Provide continuous feedback: It gives sense of achievement and motivates employee as
well as give him the opportunity to modify his idea at every step. Talk informally with
your people and demonstrate your interest. Indicate your understanding of their goals,
and let them know the importance of their results and the positive reactions of other
managers as soon as possible.
4. Embrace diversity: Diverse perspectives (cultural norms, values and beliefs) provide
unique opportunity to listen to different views and approaches to problems. Bringing
together people with diverse backgrounds enhances the cross-fertilization process that is
helpful in generating ideas. People from outside your field, for example, don’t know that
“something can’t be done.” They sometimes offer an entirely new and workable
perspective. It is better to get the best advantage of diversity
5. Maintain an entrepreneurial climate: It can be understood as creating an entrepreneurial
organization within a large bureaucracy. Since large companies are good at coming up
with sound ideas, they are generally poor in carrying them out because of a morass of
analysis, approvals and politics. Instead of risking losing creative scientists and engineers
who have caught the entrepreneurial fever, encourage them to become “entrepreneurs”.
The entrepreneurs act within the confines of an existing organization. They are
advised/supported/helped to be courageous, moderate risk takers, flexible and creative
about their pathway. Their task is to put together a team of enthusiastic volunteers, build
a network of sponsors, and ask for advice before asking for resources.
6. Avoid defensive communication: When the group communication can be characterized
as evaluative, control oriented, involves hidden agendas, reflects certainty, and an air of
superiority by the leader is observed, group members interact defensively. Such defensive
communication leaves little room for new ideas to come up. Encourage active
communication. Don’t worry if subordinates spend a lot of time talking with each other,
Manager can use that time to ponder, interpret and contemplate what others have said,
before formulating their own response. The reason being that one can process what others
say much faster than they can speak.

5. Disagreement if handled properly can be transformed into creativity. Discuss.

Answer-
In an organization there are two types of conflict—affective conflict and task or substantive or
cognitive conflict. Affective conflict occurs due to breaking of relationship rules. It has a
negative impact and decreases the effectiveness of the group by allowing personal feelings or
someone’s own agenda to deter the members from the team’s objective. Research has
demonstrated that personal attacks decrease team performance. Team members may choose not
to interact at a later time due to the personalized nature of the conflict. It is wise to identify it and
focus effort on reducing it. Cognitive or task related conflict focuses on substantive, issue-
related differences of opinion. The presence of cognitive conflicts is inevitable during strategic
decision-making because people at different positions see different perspectives of the
environment. However, studies have demonstrated that it is precisely these diverse opinions
which improve the quality of complex and ambiguous decisions. Cognitive conflicts may play an
important role in knowledge creation by satisfying both the need for social collaboration and
individual cognition. If handled properly, it can contribute to the team’s effectiveness by
enhancing decision quality. It fosters creativity, open and honest communication and utilizes
members’ skills and abilities.
Group should be careful while encouraging conflict. It should not encourage any wrong type of
conflict or create a flow-on effect where cognitive conflict is not managed and affective conflict
results. Work teams within organizations do themselves harm by being unprepared to deal with
cognitive conflict which can then lead to an increase in affective conflict. Focused activity,
encouraging creative thinking and open communications, and valuing individual diversity are
strategies for encouraging the right conflict. Therefore, a tolerance or acceptance of the
inevitability of conflict, the ability to recognize and encourage cognitive conflict and a
willingness to manage it become prerequisites for converting dysfunctional conflict in to
functional conflict.
It can be done by two types of behavior, namely, agreement seeking and encouraging informal
communication. Agreement seeking behaviors can be understood as establishing consensus
among members. They can be utilized in decision making to channel the wealth of team diversity
in a way that capitalizes on the advantages of cognitive conflict and avoids the drawbacks of
affective conflict. Some of the techniques are— dialectical questioning and the devil’s advocate.
Other group processes, which can be used to search for consensus, are debate and understanding
of the decision by the group. It helps the team in getting more information through different
visions of reality, creates multiple options and synthesizes them into common objectives and
plans of action, which include sufficient consensus. Secondly, communication makes team
members to interact frequently and increases integration and cohesion within the group. Informal
communication allows disagreement and typical conflict in a heterogeneous group to be geared
towards an exploitation of its wealth of information and outlooks. If team can channel its
diversity and is cohesive, it can achieve agreement over the necessity to initiate strategic decision
for organizational development such as innovation.
Controversial issues have always staled a meeting, and so managers need to be cautious in
framing the agenda. Issues of controversial nature should be dealt with only at the end of the
meeting even though they may appear to be very useful as far as organization is concerned. This
is necessary in a way to reduce emotionally charged atmosphere. Manager as well as his
employees knows that the utmost aim of any meeting is to achieve the best result; hence we
advocate that the best beginning ends with best result. Common views and expression as well as
respecting employees should be used as tactic while dealing with team members.
In arranging such a meeting, where you have antagonist among the team, the manager should
quickly decide in what form the seating arrangement would be. The aim of this seating
arrangement is to bring the group together and strengthen the relationships of the organization.
Researches have shown that rectangular arranged seating tables help the leader/coordinator to see
him as the head and thus hold greater control. Sometime we find that different strategies always
lead to suspicion by the members or team or group. Some may interpret the seating arrangement
as biased and others may view it as one-sided. Whatever may be the negative thinking, it all
leads to conflicts when in actual sense there is none. Frankness and openness plays a very vital
part in encouraging the team’s corrective and cooperative attitude. We have to understand that
not only are we strengthening our position as team leaders, but we put the team to see that
personal insecurity has no room within the organizational set-up.
Of course personalized utterance should be minimized and that is where the control of manager
is very crucial. While there are efforts to work towards openness, one must not forget that it
needs absolute cooperation of all the team members. Any negative feeling against team member
should be closely monitored including discussion inside the forum. This is because a leader who
has been found to be suppressing effective conflict often runs the risk of clash with the members.
Sincerely speaking, a leader need not only listen to team discussion from the point of view of its
impact on team members but also on team productivity.
The one last thing that a leader will try to avoid is disintegration. As a unit, it is necessary that a
leader works towards fulfilling the common goal and desire of both the company and its team.
This is often hard to achieve but we have to see it succeed. In a small organization, this can be
accomplished without much problem but in a very large organization, it may prove to be a
daunting task. The sense of making an organization look like a ‘family’ is perhaps not a task that
can be accomplished in a few days or a week. It takes a sense of maturity, great potentials and
managerial acumen. Team leaders as well as their team-mates are expected to serve the interest
of the organization, and forge ahead. It requires employee empowerment so as to maintain a total
quality management approach. Experts are of the view that individual employee is the key to
making the organization succeed through proper decision-making and that will unlock the
individuals’ creativity while building commitment to improving the organization pace. Views of
the group are paramount to bring them into framework of decision-making process and that will
ensure their views are being heard.
In this modern world, diversity needs to be celebrated. Focusing on performance-centred culture
can do it. Organization needs to secure its future with creative and innovative thinking. Constant
change leads to lack of direction and too much stability leads to inflexibility. Every team leader
must strike a balance between motivation, innovation and creativity. Any conflict arising in three
distinctive processes will reduce productivity and finally lead to frustration to individual team
members and the organization as a whole.
 Chapter-11
1. Analyze the elements that need to be included while calculating the cost of meetings.
Answer-
The elements that need to be included while calculating the cost of meetings are to be analyzed
below:
The amount paid to professionals: The cost that paid to specialist professionals such as,
Lawyers, therapists, accountants, other experts.
Lost Management time: Average annual salary of managers (including bonuses), Average
annual cost of benefits per manager, Total number of managers in organization, Average
percentage of managers’ time spent unproductively on conflict.
Reduced Decision quality: Organizational leaders can be asked to reflect on decisions they have
made. They should be asked to focus on poor decisions and to determine which of those were
significantly affected by conflicts. When they identify these decisions, they can then be asked
how much the decision cost the company. While the answer may not be a precise figure, they
will usually be capable of giving a general estimate.
Opportunity cost: Conflict can also affect more fundamental elements of organizational
success. In particular, it can degrade decision quality and impact the attainment of strategic
goals.
Cost of turnover: Unresolved or poorly resolved conflict can cause people to leave their job.
With turnover, replacements need to be hired and trained. During this time, the new employee is
typically less productive than the person who left.
Absenteeism and health costs: Employees often stay away from work to avoid dealing with
conflict or to delay a confrontation. Others may take time off to address the physical and
emotional stress of conflict. Health care costs, in connection to stress-related illnesses, are part of
the price of conflict incompetence.

2. Discuss one conflict situation in your group and find out the factors that should be taken
into account while making conflict cost analysis.
Answer-
Wasted Time
Although a number of studies have found that managers say that they spend between 20-40% of
their time dealing with conflict not all time spent on conflict is unproductive. Clarifying issues,
exploring options, and developing solutions are essential and productive responses to
organizational conflicts. Unfortunately, conflicts often escalate when destructive fight or flight
behaviors are used. A downside of these destructive responses is that they lead to unproductive
time. The time is unproductive because it doesn’t lead to resolution of the conflict, and it detracts
from other important work. The unproductive or wasted time includes elements that are
described by both presenteeism and absenteeism. Specific examples include:
• Worrying about the conflict
• Complaining to other people about the conflict
• Time spent avoiding others involved in the conflict
• Time away from work to avoid having to deal with the conflict or because of illness brought
on by the stress of the conflict.
Calculating the Cost of Time Spent Unproductively
The cost to the organization of time spent unproductively on conflict is essentially lost
productivity. One approach for measuring lost productivity is looking at single instances of
conflict. This approach is used in the Dana Measure of the Financial Cost of Conflict, an online
tool that looks at a number of types of conflict costs.

3. Differentiate between direct cost and indirect cost of conflict. Critically analyze indirect
cost factors.
Answer-
Difference between direct cost and indirect cost
Direct cost of conflict Indirect Cost of conflict
It is the cost, which is directly/easily referable It is the cost that is not easily referable to a
to the product/services. particular service/product.
It is easily calculated. It is not easily calculated.
It is attributable, has variable cost and can be It is not attributable, has fixed cost and is
easily identified. difficult to identify.
It is expended on specific cost object. It is expended on multiple cost objects.
All direct costs are known as prime cost. All indirect costs are known as overhead cost.
Examples: Legal fee paid for the conflict. Examples: Lost management time cost,
wasted time, absenteeism.

Indirect cost of conflict

Lost Management Time cost: A more current study of practicing managers showed that 42 per
cent of their time is spent reaching agreements with others when conflicts occur. To estimate the
amount of time wasted by each person, financial cost can be calculated by knowing exactly the
fraction of monthly or annual salary or wage, including the value of insurance and other fringe
benefits. Conflict wastes the time of anyone who is involved in it. Various surveys show that
managers spend 30 per cent to 45 per cent of their time dealing with conflict.
Productivity cost: Productivity cost includes value of lost time and the opportunity cost of those
involved who would otherwise be producing. Opportunity cost is the value you might have
produced if your productive capacity was not otherwise engaged. If your organization tracks
billable vs. non-billable hours, then quantifying productivity increase is possible. It requires an
analysis of non-billable hours using metrics that can highlight the time spent on conflict
resolution. Another way is to track the productivity increase associated with learning how to
manage conflict.
Lost Personnel: When employees leave because of unresolved conflict, replacement and training
costs can equal a full year’s salary. Conflict-related illnesses bring absenteeism, medical claims,
and increased benefit administration costs.
Turnover: Turnover is another cost of unresolved conflict. The business costs and the impact of
employees turnover can be grouped into four major categories: Severance costs—Voluntary or
involuntary Benefits costs—Compensation, fringe benefits Recruitment and staffing cycle time
costs Training and development costs
Continuity cost: Loss of ongoing relationships. It is the lost value of a productive relationship,
both emotional and direct.
Emotional labor cost: Managers expend physical and mental labor when they put their bodies
and cognitive capabilities into their job. At the same time they have to show organizationally
desired emotions during interpersonal transactions while handling conflict. Sometimes they have
to be courteous and not hostile in interactions with co-workers. This creates emotional
dissonance which can take a heavy toll on them. Unmanaged or poorly handled
conflict/controversy generates significant costs in terms of frustration, lost hours of management
and employee time, hampering of productivity, destruction of relationships and high employee
turnover. This factor can be taken as a cost the employee/manager has to pay.
 Chapter 12
1. Describe the personality types based on Myer-Briggs Type Indicator. Critically analyze
the type of work situations and nature of work that will have potential of conflict for each
type of personality. As s manager, suggest ways to overcome the problem.
Answer-
Personality is the characteristic patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that make a person
unique. It is believed that personality arises from within the individual and remains fairly
consistent throughout life.
Types of personality based on Myer-Briggs indicator is written below-
1. ESTJ (Extrovert, Sensing, Thinking and Judging)
The ESTJ is an organized, take-charge person who brings others into line by assigning tasks and
roles, giving clear-cut instructions, following up regularly to check progress and giving formal
recognition to those who do as they’ve been told. The ESTJ will be good at enforcing existing
policies, rather than at innovating. ESTJ’s find it difficult to work with people who cannot
present ideas intelligently.
2. ESTP (Extrovert, Sensing, Thinking and Perceiving)
ESTPs can be described as outgoing practical thinkers, who observe in detail, deal with a large
amount of information and analyze cause-effect relationships that are free from the biasing
influence of theory, tradition or emotion. They are resourceful trouble-shooters, dynamic
entrepreneurs and engaging negotiators.
3. ESFJ (Extrovert, Sensing, Feeling and Judging)
They verbalize thoughts (E), look for practicality (S), do human analysis (F), and decide on time
deadlines (J). This caring type ESFJ has little tolerance for those whose actions or omissions hurt
others’ feelings, and they may let the offender know. They loathe conflict.
4. ESFP (Extrovert, Sensing, Feeling and Perceiving)
They verbalize thought (E), look for practicality (S), do human analysis (F), and decide on event
deadline (J). The ESFP is warm, outgoing, optimistic and caring—a cheerful person who is
always ready for a good time and avoids the company of people who take himself/herself too
seriously. They are naturally gifted at observing human behaviour and figuring out what others
want.
5. ENTJ (Extrovert, Intuitive, Thinking and Judging)
ENTJs handle work by providing conceptual structure and setting goal rather than by detailing
and enforcing procedures, codes and regulations. They can handle situations very well where
there is disorganization, confusion and inefficiency.
6. ENTP (Extrovert, Intuitive, Thinking and Perceiving)
They verbalize their thoughts, look for possibilities (N), do logical analysis (T) and decide on
event deadlines. They can be described as enthusiastic, outgoing, analytic idea people. They may
face problems in dealing with long-range planning, coping with structured working situations
and authority figures and maintaining good interpersonal relationships. Entrepreneurship may
meet this type’s needs when more conventional business situations are unattractive. They are
good visionary, promoter, marketer and instigator.
7. ENFJ (Extrovert, Intuitive, Feeling and Judging)
They verbalize their thoughts, look for possibilities (N), do human analysis (F) and decide on
time deadlines (J). They can be described as outgoing, imaginative, caring others feeling and
decisive. They easily make friends, adapt to a new group, easily break unwanted relations and
compare their own opinion with the opinion of others. They see possibilities, rely on inspiration,
dislike routine and jump to solutions.
8. ENFP (Extrovert, Intuitive, Feeling and Perceiving)
They verbalize their thoughts, look for possibilities (N), do human analysis (F), and decide on
event deadlines (P). ENFPs are openminded, imaginative, caring and outgoing. They are
oversensitive and they do not like if people feelings are not taken into account.
9. ISTJ (Introvert, Sensing, Thinking and Judging)
They mull decisions privately, look for practicality, do logical analysis and decide on time
deadlines [4]. ISTJs can be described as quiet, serious, responsible, sensible, patient,
conservative and loyal. They are sometimes averse to new ideas because of their traditional
mind-set. ISTJs function well in jobs requiring accurate record keeping of facts and figures.
10. ISTP (Introvert, Sensing, Thinking and Perceiving)
They mull decisions privately, look for practicality, do logical analysis and decide on event
deadline [4]. ISTPs are factual, sensible, logical and reflective. ISTPs are good at analyzing
complex systems and introducing change to improve productivity and efficiency.
There are different types work situations and nature of work that will have potential of conflict
for each type of personality are describing below-
1. Conventional

The conventional work environment is formal, conservative and inflexible. Traditional office
hours (9 to 5) are in place from Monday to Friday. They tend to have a strict smart dress code
and clear guidelines on achieving targets.
2. Flexible

This work environment sits at the opposite end of the spectrum than 9 to 5 roles. It allows
workers to adapt their hours, work schedules or workspace to suit their preferences. In exchange,
they must complete work to a high standard, within agreed timescales.
Employers adopting this approach believe they will get more from staff by allowing them to
work in ways that suit them. Self-motivated, driven employees tend to perform well in a flexible
environment. People who lack self-discipline would not work as well in this environment.
3. Competitive

The competitive work environment is popular with sales teams, retail and start-ups. It is driven
by competition, with employees working towards targets. Often, monetary-based rewards or
benefits are available to staff and teams that meet their goals.
To flourish in this work environment, employees must be assertive and driven to succeed.
4. Creative

Many career paths in the arts offer a creative work environment.

Creative such as actors, dancers, designers and artists enjoy an unstructured approach to work.
This ensures they can experiment and express themselves.
The nature of their work means they prefer flexible working hours to allow time to reflect and be
inspired.
5. Punitive

In this work environment, motivation techniques are linked to fear of negative consequences if
targets are not met. This work environment is often observed in factories.
The employer seeks to increase productivity by scaring or punishing their staff. Poor quality of
work and behavior issues are punished, instead of working with the employee to address the root
cause.
6. Practical

The physical factors of this work environment are defined by the work tasks. Typical job roles
include skilled work, for example, plumbing, construction and engineering.
People who enjoy physical work or working with their hands prefer practical work environments.
7. Collaborative

Job roles in collaborative work environments center on people. They include regular social
interaction and attract people who are motivated by helping others. Typical job roles include
nursing, teaching, social work and business consultancy.

2. Discuss conflict-handling styles of different personality types as described by Harigopal.

Answer-
Conflict can be handled by different style based on personality. Those styles of conflict as
described by Harigopal are describing below-
Squealer This is a person with high emotionality, low self-concept, high fear of punishment,
high rigidity and low clarity of tasks/goals. The squealer is low on conflict management skills.
He tries to avoid conflicts and if necessitated to face them, exonerates himself by blaming or
finding faults in others. The conflict management styles generally adopted by them are
avoidance, verbal aggression and punitive behaviour.
Ostrich They are moderately emotional, have low concept of themselves, are aware of their
inabilities and have low self-confidence. Conflict tolerance level is found to be low in this type
of personality and he/she is found to have high fear of punishments. The conflict handling styles
generally adopted by them are withdrawal, avoidance, freeze-over or surrender.
Conformist The conformists are low on expressed emotionality, have low self-concept of
themselves, tend to be more relation-oriented and less outcome oriented. The conflict handling
styles generally used by them are appeasement and conformity.
Bravado They are high on emotionality and exhibit a high self-confidence due to an inflated self-
concept. While handling conflict situation, they generally give more emphasis on position,
power, confrontation and coercion.
Opportunists They are moderately or less than moderately emotional, above average in
competence and are self-confident. Their frequent used handling styles are manipulative and
opportunistic. If the situation is beyond their control, they prefer to compromise.
Accommodators Such individuals can be explained by the traits like receptive, social,
convincible, cordial, warm, accommodating, dependable & consistent. They handle conflict
situations by being altruistic, nurturing, accommodative and soft bargaining.
Strategist They are high on self-confidence and goal clarity. They have a realistic assessment of
their strengths and weaknesses. They handle conflict situations by using more of expert power,
charisma than position power, collaboration (win-win), problem solving approach and
compromising style.
Above are the style of conflict handling those are described by Harigopal in different personality.

3. “Poor social relationship causes more stress” Elaborate the statement on the basis of
impact of conflict on different personality traits.
Answer-
Personality can be captured by five big personality traits. They are extroversion, agreeableness,
conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness. Poor social relationship cause more stress. On the
basis of impact of conflict on different personality traits are shortly describing below-
Extroverted people tend to be energetic, enthusiastic, dominant, sociable and talkative.
Introverted people tend to be shy, retiring, submissive and quiet
Agreeable people are described as friendly, cooperative, trusting and warm. People low in this
dimension are cold, quarrelsome and unkind.
Conscientiousness people are generally cautious, dependable, organized, goal-oriented, mindful
of details and responsible. Impulsive people tend to be careless, disorderly, and undependable.
Neurotic people by nature are nervous, tense and worrying. They experience emotional
instability. Anxiety, moodiness and irritability are the common features found in them.
Emotionally stable people are calm and contented.
Openness to experience generally appear imaginative, witty, original and artistic. Those who are
low in this dimension are described as shallow, plain and simple.
From the above category we can stated that, Conflict is inherent to working in organizations. Its
impact on the person varies from trait to trait. Introverted people experience more stress than the
extroverted people. It causes more stress for poor social relation.

4. What are the indicators of problem behaviours? Discuss ways to handle it.
Answer-
Behavioral problems can affect job performance. The indicators of problem behavior is written
below-
Poor attendance Absenteeism and tardiness are included in the problem of poor attendance.
Some absences are caused by legitimate medical reasons. Another way employee may irritate the
manager can be through tardiness.
Poor performance When an employee’s behaviour or performance falls below the required
standard it can be termed as poor performance. Poor performance is an issue that worries
managers and employees alike.
Insubordination This refers to the unwillingness of employees to carry out their manager’s
directives that are essential to a business’s effective operations. When an employee refuses to
obey a direct order from a supervisor, it is a direct challenge to the management’s right to run the
company. Insubordination also occurs when an employee is verbally abusive to a supervisor.
Violence Problem behaviour can be exhibited through violence, or various forms of verbal or
physical aggression at work. Although the source of violence can include customers and
strangers, effect is the same —millions of workers are the victims of workplace violence today.
The ways of discussing those problems are given below-
One of the best ways to motivate employees is to make them believe that their effort will lead to
good performance, and the good performance will lead to preferred outcomes.
1. Sometimes managers assume that employees have the capacity to do the job that has been
assigned to them. Instead, they should take an active interest to build the capability of the new
hire. For the older employees, these areas can be compensated by being supportive, or putting
them through training programs.
2. The employee may be having the capability to do the work, but lack confidence to do the
work. This can be handled by expressing confidence in the subordinate
3. Managers should provide challenging work to the employees depending on the capability and
confidence of the person regarding the job.
4. Managers need to treat all employees the same way. The good performers should be treated
equally better, at the same time bad performers need to be treated equally negatively at the same
level.
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