Scenario
What is one conflict handling style used in this scenario? (Accommodating/avoiding/competing)
Competing
One conflict handling style used in this scenario is the competing style. Competing is defined as a power-oriented style that is forceful and uncooperative. When competing, a person pursues his or her own interests at the expense of the other person, using whatever force or method they deem suitable to gain an advantage. Competing may indicate a person is trying to protect their rights, defend a stance they feel to be correct, or just simply striving to win.
In this scenario, Robert tried to use the competing method to get his way. He was very forceful in demanding a monetary increase for his team members and he used his position as a union member and threatened to report Kay to the union if she did not fulfill his request. He was also uncooperative, not willing sit down with Kay to talk about the probable future benefits of the new project, only adamant about the monetary increase instead.
How did i determine that?
I came to the conclusion by using the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI) that assesses an individual’s behaviour in conflict situations. According to TKI, a person’s behaviour can be described to follow two basic dimensions; assertiveness, meaning how far a person goes to satisfy their own personal interests or wants and cooperativeness, meaning how far a person goes to satisfy the other person’s interests or wants. From there, the behaviour can be further used to define five conflict management methods; competing, collaborating, compromising, avoiding and accommodating.
Choose one of the characters and determine which bargaining approach (distributive or integrative) is used
Integrative approach
Based on the given scenario, Kay employed an integrative approach. She acknowledged the value of Robert’s team and their contributions to the company. However, due to the company’s budgetary constraints that was out of her control, she could not afford to allocate a monetary increase for Robert’s team. The integrative approach was used when Kay was willing to sit down and negotiate with Robert alternative solutions for a win-win outcome like getting his team involved in the company’s future expansion projects, where there could be new job opportunities, overseas assignments, and possible promotions to various leadership positions, to which Robert, who employed a distributive approach, rejected.
How did I determine that?
Negotiation (bargaining) is an essential strategy for settling a problem. The result of any negotiation is strongly dependent on the negotiating techniques of the parties involved, the flow of information, and their personalities during the negotiation process. There are two approaches to negotiation. The distributive approach and the integrative approach. According to the Malaysian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities (MJSSH), in terms of the distributive approach, negotiators are more concerned with maximizing personal successes than they are with collective or shared success with their partners. It is solely for a competitive approach, whereas on the other hand, for the integrative approach, cooperation among the negotiators is a vital prerequisite for joint maximization in order to achieve a collective win-win outcome for both parties.
What aspect of interpersonal communication is contributing to the poor working environment? How is this demonstrated in the case?
Lack of empathy
Empathy is being able to identify and recognize the feelings of others, picturing yourself in someone else’s shoes. Understanding how others feel allows you to convey your thoughts and opinions in a manner that others can accept and comprehend, as well as understand others’ point of view. In the scenario given, there was lack of empathy from both Robert and also the organization. There was lack of empathy from Robert as he did not try to understand where Kay was coming from and the dilemma that Kay was in. She was stuck in this position where she empathized with Robert’s situation but could not do anything about it as she had to prioritize the organization’s interests first. There was also a lack of empathy from the company. They should have been empathetic towards Robert and his team and should have compensated them handsomely for the hard work and long hours they have put in over the last few years, given the fact that they had contributed to a 15 percent profit increase for the organization.
Lack of Effective Listening
Understanding the message being expressed requires listening beyond the words being said. During conversations, the “listener” will usually be frequently preoccupied with how they will reply rather than focusing on what the speaker is saying. By truly listening, you can offer a more weighed response that considers the speaker’s views and opinions. In the scenario given, there was lack of effective listening from Robert’s part. He was too preoccupied by his own interests and ego that he did not even try to consider Kay’s proposals.
Using Hall’s context model (high and low context culture), describe one of the characters’ behaviour
Hall’s Context Model
As can be seen from the comparison above, communicators from low-context cultures are not heavily reliant on the context of a situation to communicate their meaning. They think that listeners know very little and that they must be told almost everything. For communicators from high-context cultures, the listener is already “contextualized,” therefore they do not require much background. Communicators in high-context cultures put in attention to relationships with others, nonverbal expressions, physical surroundings, and social circumstances in addition to the message that was conveyed.
Based on the scenario, Kay is a high-context communicator. She was empathetic towards Robert’s situation. She acknowledged the value of Robert’s team, their contributions towards the organization and their achievements within the organization without Robert explicitly telling her that, while also being aware of the financial constraints of the organization. This shows that she pays attention to the circumstances and situation that she was in. She also took the initiative to provide win-win solutions, to which Robert rejected. This shows that she pays attention to her relationships with others and tried to amend her relationship with Robert by providing him with probable solutions.