LO5 - Structural Approaches to Conflict Management

• superordinate goals


  Goals that the conflicting parties value and whose attainment requires the joint resources and effort of those parties.
• Cultural differences.


  • Conflict handling preferences vary across cultures.​
  • Example: more avoidance style in collectivist cultures. 
• Gender differences.​


  • Men use more (women less) forcing style.​
  • Female managers use more avoiding style.​
  • Women use slightly more problem solving, compromising, yielding.​
  • Reasons: motivation or expectations to protect relationships.
• Structural Approaches to Conflict Management

  1. Emphasize superordinate goals.
  2. Reduce differentiation.
  3. Improve communication and understanding.
  4. Reduce interdependence.
  5. Increase resources.
  6. Clarify rules/procedures.
• third-party conflict resolution


  Any attempt by a relatively neutral person to help conflicting parties resolve their differences.
• Emphasize superordinate goals.​


  • Focus on common goals.​
  • Reduces goal incompatibility and may reduce differentiation.​
• Reduce differentiation.

  • Create common experiences.​
  • Methods: meaningful interaction, rotating staff through departments/regions, build a strong culture.
• Improve communication and understanding.​

  • Clearer awareness of and respect for one another’s situation.​
  • Methods: daily interaction, Johari Window, intergroup mirroring.​
  • Warning: Need to first reduce differentiation.
• Reduce interdependence.​


  • Create buffers.​
  • Use integrators.​
  • Combine jobs into one.
• buffer 


  is any mechanism that loosens the coupling between two or more people or work units.
• Integrators are employees who coordinate the activities of multiple work units toward the completion of a shared task or project.
• Combining jobs 


  is both a form of job enrichment and a way to reduce task interdependence.
• Increase resources.​


  • Weigh costs versus conflict.
• 1. Clarify rules/procedures.​

  • Establish rules.​
  • Clarify roles, responsibilities, schedules, etc.
• Types of Third-Party Intervention​

  • Arbitration
  • Inquisition

  Mediation
• Arbitrators 


  have high control over the final decision, but low control over the process.
• Inquisitors 


  control all discussion about the

  conflict.
• Mediators 


  have high control over the intervention

  process.
• Managers prefer inquisitional strategy.

  • Problems: Least effective. Poor ​procedural justice.