Sie sind auf Seite 1von 15

Slide 17.

Chapter 17: Conflicts and cultural


differences
Concept 17.1:
Understanding and dealing with conflicts
Five sub-concepts:
– The nature of conflict
– A model of conflict styles
– Culture, emotions and conflict
– Management of conflict
(Examples Asia-Pacific region)
– Mediation and cultural transformation

Browaeys & Price, Understanding Cross-Cultural Management, 2nd Edition © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 17.2

The nature of conflict

• Definition: A conflict appears when people with


differing needs or goals are prevented – or
perceive that they are being prevented – by
others in achieving these needs or goals
• Realistic group conflict theory: source of inter-
group conflict is struggle over (limited) structural
resources, not personal characteristics
• Social identity theory: conflict between groups is
seen to be the result of perceived identities

Browaeys & Price, Understanding Cross-Cultural Management, 2nd Edition © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 17.3

Conflict and (cultural) groups

• Ting-Toomey (1999):
(cross-cultural) conflict involves:
– (cultural) groups protecting their own self-image
– intercultural perceptions coloured by ethnocentrism
and stereotypes

Browaeys & Price, Understanding Cross-Cultural Management, 2nd Edition © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 17.4

Concept of ‘self-construal’

How people perceive themselves


Ting-Toomey distinguishes between
– Those with an independent sense of self welcome
communication in the conflict process, if both parties are
open: this may bring tangible, creative solutions
– Those with an interdependent sense of self see conflict
as negative and unproductive, particularly if the other
party is assertive/not properly address relational feelings
– Independent self-concepts found more often in
individualist cultures; interdependent self-concepts more
prevalent in collectivistic cultures

Browaeys & Price, Understanding Cross-Cultural Management, 2nd Edition © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 17.5

Conflict styles: Dual concern models

• A person’s conflict style: ‘patterned responses or


clusters of behavior that people use in conflict’
• Dual concern model by Blake and Mouton (1964)
based on two dimensions: ‘concern for production’
(for self) and ‘concern for people’ (for others)

Browaeys & Price, Understanding Cross-Cultural Management, 2nd Edition © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 17.6

Conflict handling modes

H Collaborating
I
G Competing
H

Compromising

Assertive- Avoiding Accommodating


ness L
concern for O
self W

LOW HIGH

Concern for other


Co-operativeness

Figure 17.1 Two-dimensional taxonomy of conflict handling modes


Source: Thomas and Kilman (1974), p. 11 (adapted)

Browaeys & Price, Understanding Cross-Cultural Management, 2nd Edition © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 17.7

Criticism of such dual concern models

Can such a dual concern model handle the


increasing complexity of modern-day disputes?
• Situations where organizations are in dispute: difficult
for a party to identify the other
• Room for manoeuvre is limited (legislation and
financial restrictions)
• Communication during conflict is not always direct, so
face-to-face resolution not possible
• Such a model is focused solely on outcome of the
conflict, either in terms of concern for self or concern
for the other

Browaeys & Price, Understanding Cross-Cultural Management, 2nd Edition © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 17.8

Relationship, not just goal?

Leung, K. et al. (2002) propose the introduction of


harmony into the model: concerns itself with the
relationship between the self and the other
• Harmony: focus on using a conflict-free relationship to
achieve a goal
• Conflict avoidance:
– a feature common in East Asia, and one associated with
collectivistic cultures
– can cause equal harm in a more subtle manner:
replacing genuine problem-solving with superficial
harmony

Browaeys & Price, Understanding Cross-Cultural Management, 2nd Edition © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 17.9

Intercultural negotiation conflict

• In negotiation conflict:
– those with negative ego-focused feelings will put
pressure on their opponents to make concessions
– those experiencing other-focused may adjust their
expectations to get an agreement
• The extra dynamics arising during an encounter
between disputants from different cultures:
– those from individualistic cultures more ready to
overcome an impasse
– negotiators from collectivist cultures more likely to share
the same perception of a given event. Obligation to
maintain group harmony

Browaeys & Price, Understanding Cross-Cultural Management, 2nd Edition © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 17.10

Management of conflict

• The way conflicts are addressed can vary


considerably from culture to culture. These
differences relate to:
– the degree to which disagreement is acceptable
and therefore the extent to which conflict is
tolerated
– the strategies to be adopted when dealing with
conflicts the moment
– when the manager needs to intervene and the
way s/he intervenes
• Negotiating in Western management literature is
often dealt with in terms of conflict management
Browaeys & Price, Understanding Cross-Cultural Management, 2nd Edition © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 17.11

Win–win/Win–lose

Covey (1989) sees each of these approaches as ‘a


philosophy of human interaction’, rather than being just
a technique
• He regards the ‘win–lose’ approach as an
authoritarian one whereby people use their position
• The ‘opposite’ approach – ‘lose–win’ – is seen as
total acquiescence to a situation
• When two competitive –‘win–lose’ – personalities
interact, the outcome may well be a ‘lose–lose’
outcome: this is adversarial conflict, during which
both sides can be annihilated
Browaeys & Price, Understanding Cross-Cultural Management, 2nd Edition © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 17.12

Managing conflict in Malaysia

Core values: durability of personal relations, even if


a strong divergence of opinion results in conflict
• concern for face : across all ethnic groups
• concern for others: generosity, respect, honesty
and sincerity, being upright and caring
• respect for seniority: in some conflicts a third
person, a ‘neutral senior’ clarifies key issues
• subordinates will never confront their superior, will
be uncooperative and eventually resign
themselves to the way their boss behaves

Browaeys & Price, Understanding Cross-Cultural Management, 2nd Edition © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 17.13

Managing conflict in Thailand

• The name Thailand – ‘The Land of Smiles’ – reflects


the social harmony in this country. A Thai smiles in
pleasant and stress-filled situations
• Smile hides feelings in public: self-discipline to
maintain status, prestige and face: concept of ‘jai yen’
(‘cool heart’) derived from Buddhism
• Individualism quite predominant, but Thais are more
‘relationship-oriented’ than ‘results-oriented’
• Conflict is rarely regarded as either positive or
negative: if a conflict arises, a third party (traditionally
a respected elder) is called upon to mediate

Browaeys & Price, Understanding Cross-Cultural Management, 2nd Edition © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 17.14

Managing conflict in (South) Korea

• Korea reflects in a way the differences and


similarities between western and eastern attitudes
to conflict
• Koreans prefer a non-competitive (or non-
dominating) strategy in face-to-face conflict
situation
• Prefer to use a superior or authoritarian
personality to resolve conflict
• Differentiate between in-group and out-group
situations: when dealing with out-groups, strategy
is comparable to Western competitive approach
Browaeys & Price, Understanding Cross-Cultural Management, 2nd Edition © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 17.15

Mediation

• Mediation can be an instrument of transformation


• But third-party intervention is not necessary if the
parties involved are:
– prepared to perceive the conflict process in terms
of their own assumptions,
AND
– perceive the process in terms of those with whom
they are in contention

Browaeys & Price, Understanding Cross-Cultural Management, 2nd Edition © Pearson Education Limited 2011

Das könnte Ihnen auch gefallen