Chapter 10

● 10-1 The Nature of Conflict

○ Conflict
- A disagreement occurs when two or more parties perceive a threat
to their interests, needs, or concerns.
○ Dysfunctional Conflict
- Destructive conflict focuses on emotions and differences between
the two parties.
○ Constructive Conflict
- Adaptive, positive conflict (also called functional conflict)
- Balances the interests of both parties to maximize mutual gains and
the attainment of mutual goals.
- It contains elements of creativity and adaptation
- This can lead to the identification of new alternatives and ideas.

● Different Sources or Types of Conflict in Firms

○ Task Conflict
- Disagreement about the task or goals.
○ Process Conflict
- Conflict about accomplishing a task, who is responsible for
what, and how things should be delegated.
○ Relationship Conflict
- Conflict due to incompatibility or differences between
individuals or groups
○ Conflict of Interest
- Conflict due to incompatible needs or competition over
perceived or actual resource constraints.
○ Values Conflict
- Conflict arising from perceived or actual incompatibilities in
belief systems.
○ Information Conflict
- Conflict occurs when people lack necessary information, are
misinformed, interpret information differently, or disagree
about which information is relevant.
○ Structural Conflict
- Results from structural or process features of the
organization
○ Vertical Conflict
- Occurs across different hierarchical levels of the
organization.
 ○ Conflict Escalation
- Begins when one party uses aggressive tactics against the
other
- The more conflict escalates, the harder it is to back down.
- Results in dysfunctional conflict.

● Glasl’s Nine-Stage Model of Conflict Escalation

Stage Main Conflict Issues Behaviors Trigger to Move to

Next Level

1. Hardening Objective Issues Discussion Argument tactics

2. Debate Objective Issues Verbal- Action without

Superiority/Inferiority Confrontation consultation
Argumentation
Emotional pressure
Debates

3. Action Objective issues One side gets Covert attacks

over Self-Image frustrated and takes aimed directly at
words Proving one’s mastery action without the opponent’s
consulting the identity
opponent
Blocking
opponent’s goals
and forcing others
to yield
Decreased verbal
and increased
nonverbal
communication

4. Images Shift from focus on Coalition formation Loss of Face

and issues to Attacks on the
Coalitions personalization of the opponent’s core
conflict identity
“Win or lose” Exploitation of gaps
Mentatility in norms
Save own reputation

5. Loss of Fundamental Values Attacking Strategic threats

Face Restore own dignity opponent’s public ultimatums
Expose opponent face
Distrust of opponent Restoring own
 prestige

6. Threat as Control Opponents Extending conflicts Execute ultimatums

Strategy Presenting threats or threats
and ultimatums that
restrict future
alternatives

7. Limited Hurt opponent more Limited attempts to Effort to shatter

attempts than self overthrow opponent opponent by
to Survival The opponent is not attacking core
overthrow seen as a person

8. Fragmenta Winning is no longer Acts intended to Abandon

tion of the possible shatter an self-preservation
Enemy Survival, outlasting opponent Total War
opponent Annihilate opponent
Malice by destroying
power base
No real
communication

9. Together Annihilation at any Unlimited war with

into the cost, including limitless violence
Abyss personal destruction Accept your
destruction if the
opponent is also
destroyed

● De-escalating Conflict
- React equivalently to the other party, don’t overreact
- Underreaction can de-escalate conflict
- Set personal behavior limits at the start
- Managers can model de-escalation and set/enforce limits on escalating
behaviors.

● Co-worker Violence Risk Factors

- Supervising others
- Working in a high-stress environment
- Personality Conflicts
- Understaffed workplaces
- Economic Downturns
● De-escalating Conflict

Do Avoid

Be an empathetic listener Communicating hostility verbally or

through body language

Focus your attention on the other Rejecting all requests from the start
person

Use delay tactics to create time to Challenging, threatening, or daring

diffuse emotions

Control your body language, relax, Raising your voice

uncross your legs and arms, and
make eye contact

Remind both parties that a win-win Blaming either party or saying

solution can be found anything that would cause parties to
lose face

Stay focused on issues, not emotions Minimizing the situation or the conflict

● Interpersonal Conflict Management Strategies

○ Collaborating
- Conflict management style reflects a desire to give both
parties what they want.
○ Compromising
- Management style in which each side sacrifices something
to end the conflict
○ Competing
- Pursuing one’s interest at the expense of the other party
○ Accommodating
- A cooperative conflict management style
○ Avoiding
- Ignoring the conflict or denying that it exists

● The Conflict Process

- The process includes several elements that define the direction and
magnitude of the conflict.
- Disagreements, emotions, and escalation all play important roles and
suggest optimal conflict management strategies.
● Conflict management skills
○ Best Conflict resolution behaviors
- Listening actively
- Questioning
- Communicating nonverbally
- Mediating

● Best Conflict Resolution Behaviors

○ Perspective Taking
- Put yourself in the other person’s position and understand that
person’s point of view.
○ Focusing on interests rather than positions
- Interests could include better-serving clients or increasing the
clarity of work expectations. By focusing on the outcome, the root
cause of the conflict is more likely to be addressed.
○ Creating Solutions
- Brainstorm with the other person or group, ask questions, and try to
create solutions to the problem.
○ Expressing Emotions
- Talk honestly with the other person and express your thoughts and
feelings.
○ Reaching Out
- Reach out to the other party, make the first move, and try to make
amends.
○ Documenting
- Document areas of agreement and disagreement to ensure
common understanding and clear communication.
○ Smoothing
- Playing down the differences between the two sides while
emphasizing common interests.
○ Asking the parties involved in a conflict to identify three or four specific
actions that they would like the other party to take

● Worst Conflict Resolution Behaviors

○ Avoiding the conflict
- Avoiding or ignoring the conflict, hoping it will pass, is rarely
successful.
○ Winning at all costs
- Trying to win regardless of the interpersonal costs is an approach
that does not make for speedy or satisfying conflict resolution.
 ○ Displaying anger
- Expressing anger will make the other person defensive and will
slow down or prevent any resolution of the conflict.
○ Demeaning the other party
- Laughing and ridiculing other people’s ideas, and using sarcasm
are disrespectful and not conducive to resolving conflict.
○ Retaliating
- Obstructing the other person, retaliating against the other person,
and trying to get revenge are unprofessional and disrespectful
behaviors and will not promote conflict resolution.
○ Meeting separately with the people in conflict
- The goal of each employee involved in a conflict is to convince you
of the merits of their case, the parties are likely to become more
committed to their positions rather than committed to resolving if
you talk to each party in private.

● Negotiating Skills
○ Negotiation
- Process in which two or more parties make offers counteroffers,
and concessions to reach an agreement.
■ Distributive Negotiation
- Any gain to one party is offset by an equivalent loss to the other
party
■ Integrative Negotiation
- A win-win negotiation in which the agreement involves no loss to
either party
1. Separate relationship issues (or “people problems”) from
substantive issues.
2. Focus on interests, not positions - negotiate about the things
people need, not the things they say they want.
3. Look for new solutions to the problem that will allow both
sides to win.
4. Insist on outside, objective fairness criteria.

● Effective Negotiation
- Evaluate all sides and consider their goals
- Avoid seeing the situation as an either/or proposition
- Make sure each side knows the other interests and perception of the
issues
- Identify what you can and cannot part with
 - Identify and use sources of leverage
- Show the other side that you understand their position
- Suppress your emotions
- Know your BATNA: “Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement”
- Know when to walk away.

● Cultural Issues in Negotiations

- Different national cultures have different preferred negotiation styles
- Being treated disrespectfully because of differing cultural norms can
jeopardize negotiations
○ Intercultural negotiation requires preparation and paying attention to:
- Issues beyond what is being negotiated
- The appropriateness of different negotiation tactics
- The emphasis on developing relationships
- How to respond to deadlines
- Where the negotiation should be held

● Alternative Dispute Resolution

- Involving a third party in a negotiation to overcome a stalemate
○ Conciliation
- Third-party builds a positive relationship between the parties and directs
them toward a satisfactory settlement
○ Mediation
- An impartial third party (the mediator) facilitates a discussion using
persuasion and logic, suggesting alternatives, and establishing each
side’s priorities.
○ Arbitration
- A third party who has the authority to impose a settlement on the parties
○ Ombudsman
- Someone who investigates complaints and mediates fair settlements
between aggrieved parties

Chapter 11: Nature of Leadership

● Meaning of Leadership
- Leadership is both a process and a property
○ Leadership as a process
- The use of noncoercive influence to direct and coordinate the
activities of group members to meet a goal.
○ Leadership as a property
 - The set of characteristics attributed to those perceived to use
influence successfully
○ Influence
- The ability to affect the perceptions, beliefs, attitudes, motivation,
and/or behavior of others.

● Kotter’s Distinctions between Management and Leadership

Activity Management Leadership

Creating an Planning and Budgeting. Establishing direction.

Agenda Allocating the resources Developing a vision of the
necessary to make those future, often the distant future,
needed results happen and strategies for producing
the changes needed to
achieve that vision

Developing a Organizing and Staffing. Aligning People.

Human Network for Establishing some structure Communicating the direction
Achieving the for accomplishing plan by words and deeds to all
Agenda requirements, staffing that those whose cooperation may
structure with individuals, be needed to influence the
delegating responsibility and creation of teams and
authority for carrying out the coalitions that understand the
plan. vision and strategies and
accept their validity.

Executing Plans Controlling and Problem Motivating and inspiring.

Solving. Monitoring results vs. Energizing people to overcome
planning in some detail, major political, bureaucratic,
identifying deviations, and and resource barriers to
then planning and organizing change by satisfying very
to solve these problems basic, but often unfulfilled,
human needs.

Outcomes Produce a degree of Produces change, often to a

predictability and order and dramatic degree, and has the
have the potential to potential to produce extremely
consistently produce major useful change.
results expected by various
stakeholders.

● Trait Approaches to Leadership

- Attempted to identify stable and enduring character traits that differentiate
effective leaders from non-leaders
 - Identifying leadership traits
- Developing methods for measuring leadership traits
- Using methods to identify and select leaders
○ Currently accepted limited set of leadership traits
- Emotional intelligence
- Drive
- Motivation
- Honesty and integrity
- Self-confidence
- Cognitive ability
- Knowledge of the business
- Charisma

● Behavioral Approaches to Leadership

- Identify behaviors that differentiate effective leaders from non-leaders
○ Michigan Leadership Studies
- Defined job-centered and employee-centered leadership as
opposite ends of a single leadership dimension
■ Job-Centered leader behavior
- Paying close attention to the work of subordinates,
explaining work procedures, and demonstrating a strong
interest in performance.
■ Employee-Centered leader behavior
- Involves attempting to build effective work groups with
high-performance goals.
○ Ohio State Leadership Studies
- Defined leader consideration and initiating structure behaviors as
independent dimensions of leadership
■ Consideration Behavior
- Being Concerned with subordinates feelings and respecting
subordinates ideas.
■ Initiating Structure Behavior
- Involves clearly defining leader-subordinate roles so that
subordinates know what is expected of them

● The Leadership Grid

- Identifies five leadership styles reflecting different combinations of
concerns for people and concern for production.
- Provides a means for evaluating leadership styles and then training
managers to move toward an ideal style of behavior
 ○ Horizontal Axis is the concern for production
○ Vertical Axis is the concern for people

● Situational Leadership Models

○ Situational Models
- Differ from trait models and behavior models
- Assume that appropriate leader behavior varies from one situation
to another situation.
- Seek to identify how key situational factors interact to determine
appropriate leader behavior.
○ The leadership continuum model
- Proposed by Tannenbaum and Schmidt
- Laid the foundation for research in this field

● Task versus Relationship Motivation

○ LPC (Least-Preferred Coworker) Theory of Leadership
- Suggests that a leader’s effectiveness depends on the situation
- Tries to reconcile and explain leader personality and situation
complexity
- Assumes a task or relationship focus for the leader
- Uses Least-preferred coworker (LPC) scale presumed to
measure a leader’s motivation
■ High LPC leaders are more concerned with interpersonal
relationships
■ Low LPC leaders are more concerned with task-relevant problems

● Situational Favorableness
- Three factors measure situational favorableness to help determine proper
leadership focus:
○ Leader-member relations (high importance)
- Reflect the quality of personal relationship, level of trust
○ Task Structure (moderate importance)
- Favors more structured tasks
○ Leader position power (low importance)
- The power inherent in the leader’s role itself

● Basic Premises and Leader Behaviors

○ The path-goal theory of leadership
- Suggests that effective leaders clarify the paths (behaviors) that will
lead to desired rewards (goals)
 - Argues that subordinates are motivated by their leader to the extent
that the leader’s behaviors influence their expectancies
- Identifies types of leader behaviors;
■ Directive
■ Supportive
■ Participative
■ Achievement-oriented

● Situational Factors
○ Personal characteristics of subordinates
- Locus of control
- Perceived ability
○ Environmental characteristics that cause uncertainty
- Task structure
- The formal authority system
- The primary work group
○ Leader behavior will motivate subordinates if it helps them cope with
environmental uncertainty.

● The path-goal theory of leadership

- The theory specifies four kinds of leadership behavior
1. Directive
2. Supportive
3. Participative
4. Achievement-oriented

● Vroom’s Decision Tree Approach

- Attempts to prescribe how much participation subordinates should be
allowed in making decisions
○ Basic Premises:
- Situational Characteristics determine the degree to which
subordinates should be encouraged to participate in
decision-making

● Levels of Subordinate Participation

○ Decide
- The Manager makes the decision alone and then announces or
“sells” it to the group.
○ Delegate
 - The manager allows the group to define for itself the exact nature
and parameters of the problem and then develop a solution.
○ Consult (Individually)
- The manager presents the program to group members individually,
obtains their suggestions, and then makes the decision.
○ Consult (Group)
- The manager presents the problem to group members at a
meeting, gets their suggestions, and makes the decision.
○ Facilitate
- The managers present the problem to the group at a meeting,
define the problem and its boundaries, and facilitate group member
discussion as members make the decision.

Chapter 14: Organizational Design and Structure

○ Organizational Design
- The process of selecting and managing aspects of organizational structure
and culture to enable the organization to achieve its goals
○ Organizational Structure
- The formal system of task, power, and reporting relationships
- Influences employee behavior by enabling or restricting communication,
teamwork, and cooperation as well as intergroup relationships
○ Organizational Chart
- Diagram of the chain of command and reporting relationships in a
company

● Organizational Chart - Narrow span of control

- An organizational chart illustrates the chain of command and reporting
relationships in a company.
- If the span of control in an organization is relatively narrow, the
organization tends to have more levels.
- That is, it is relatively “tall”
● Characteristics of Organizational Structure
○ Division of Labor
- The extent to which employees specialize or generalize
○ Span of Control
- The number of people reporting directly to an individual
○ Hierarchy
- The degree to which some employees have formal authority
over others
○ Formalization
 - The extent to which organizational rules, procedures, and
communications are written down and closely followed
○ Centralization
- The degree to which power and decision-making authority
are concentrated at higher levels of the organization rather
than distributed

● Organizational Chart - Wide Span of Control

- When an organization uses a relatively wider span of control, its structure
has fewer levels, and it tends to be somewhat “flat”

● Organizational Structures
○ Centralized Organization
- Power and decision-making authority concentrated at higher
levels
- Clear lines of communication and responsibility
- Decision implementation tends to be straightforward
○ Decentralized Organization
- Lower levels have more autonomy and authority for making
decisions
- Flatter structures, less need for middle management
- Promotes product innovation and faster decision-making
- Best for nonroutine tasks in a complex environment

● Mechanistic and Organic Designs

○ Mechanistic Organization
- Rigid, traditional bureaucracy
- Hierarchal communication
- Uniform job descriptions
- May minimize costs
- Slow to capitalize on new opportunities
○ Organic Organization
- Flexible, decentralized
- Open communication channels
- Focus on adaptability
- Faster response to market and competitive changes
- May increase job satisfaction and commitment
● Nordstrom’s Employee Handbook
- The gist of it is to “Use good judgment in all situations. There will be no
additional Rules.”

● Business Strategy
- Business Strategy should be matched to organizational structure for best
performance
- Production technology:
■ Unit Production
- Producing small batches or making one-of-a-kind custom products
- Flat structure with a low managerial span of control
■ Mass Production
- Producing large volumes of identical products
- Tall, Bureaucratic structure with a large managerial span of control
■ Continuous Production
- Machines constantly make the product
- Employees monitor the machines and plan changes
- Tall and thin structure, or possibly an inverted pyramid

● What influences Organizational Structure?

Influence Example

Business Strategy Being a low-cost producer would require a more

hierarchal, rigid structure than would pursuing an
innovation strategy

External environment A rapidly changing environment requires a more

flexible structure than a more stable environment

Nature of the If workers have professional skills and need to work

organization’s talent together, then a flatter, team-based structure would
be more appropriate than a taller, bureaucratic
structure.

Organizational Size Larger organizations tend to have greater

specialization, greater hierarchy, and more rules than
smaller firms.

Expectations of how If employees are expected to follow explicit rules and

employees should procedures, a hierarchal, centralized structure would
behave be called for.

Organization’s If the firm uses unit production and makes custom

 production technology products, a flat structure with a low managerial span
of control is most appropriate

Organizational change As the environment and business strategies change,

organizational structures also change.

● Early Organizational Structures

○ Prebureaucratic structure
- Smaller organizations with low standardization, total
centralization, and mostly one-on-one communication.
○ Bureaucratic structure
- Organizational structure with formal division of labor,
hierarchy, and standardization of work procedures
○ Bases for grouping employees into subunits:
- Employee knowledge and skills
- Business function
- Work process
- Output
- Client
- Location

● Structure Based on Groupings

○ Functional Structure
- Groups people with the same skills or who use similar tools or work
processes into departments
- Works well in stable environments
- Potential for poor coordination and communication
○ Division
- A collection of functions organized around a particular geographic
area, product or service, or market
- Improves communication
- Enables Flexibility
- Reduces economies of scale
○ Matrix Structure
- Employees report to both a project or product team leader and to a
functional manager.
- Generates complex reporting relationships
- Enables quick responses and more effective decision-making
○ Team-based Structure
- Horizontal or vertical teams define part or all of the organization
 - Best when collaboration and inputs from several functional areas
are required
○ Lattice Structure
- Cross-functional and cross-level subteams are formed and
dissolved as necessary to complete specific projects and tasks.
- Typical in consulting organizations
- Minimal Hierarchy
○ Network Organization
- A collection of autonomous units or firms that act as a single larger
entity, using social mechanisms for coordination and control
- Requires much coordination and control

● Virtual Organizations
- An organization that contracts out almost all of its functions except for the
company name and managing the coordination among the contractors
- Often uses virtual teams linked by technology
- Tends to be complex
- Formal contracts and legal agreements can help manage relationships
- Reduced costs and increased flexibility create a competitive advantage

● Integrating Employees
- Segments employees into divisions, functional areas, or groups
○ Direct Contact
- Managers from different units informally work together to coordinate
or to identify and solve shared problems.
○ Liaison Role
- A manager or team member is held formally accountable for
communicating and coordinating with other groups.
○ Task Force
- A temporary committee is formed to address a specific project or
problem
○ Cross-functional Team
- A permanent task force created to address specific problems or
recurring needs

● Communities of Practice
- Groups of people whose shared expertise and interest in a joint enterprise
informally bind them together
- People involved share their knowledge and experiences in open, creative
ways.
 - Rarely shown on organizational charts
- Often span company boundaries
- Cultivated by identifying and bringing the right people together, building
trust, and providing an appropriate infrastructure.

● Enabling Knowledge Networks

- Start with a clear area of business need
- Start small
- Recruit management involvement
- Use technology that supports the community’s needs and that community
members can use and are comfortable using.
- Respect and build on informal employee initiatives already underway
- Celebrate contributions and build on small successes

● Effects of Restructuring on Performance

○ Can Improve a struggling firm’s performance
○ Not a cure-all
- Restructuring is stressful and can be demotivating if changes are
poorly communicated.
- Employees who survive downsizing suffer stress, decreased
commitment, and higher turnover intentions.
○ Needs to Focus on Positioning the organization for the future and address
the real cause of whatever the organization wants to change.