Transcript Chap17

Understanding Cross-cultural Management
CHAPTER 17
CONFLICTS AND CULTURAL
DIFFERENCES
• Concept 17.1: Understanding & dealing with conflicts
Slide 17.1
Browaeys and Price, Understanding Cross-cultural Management, 1st Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2009
The nature of conflict
Slide 17.2
• 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 intergroup conflict is struggle over (limited) structural
resources, not personal characteristics. Labor,
land, oil, food (social psychology theory)
• Social identity theory: conflict between groups is
seen to be the result of perceived identities.
Being different to another-in group vs out group
behaviour
Browaeys and Price, Understanding Cross-cultural Management, 1st Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2009
The nature of conflict (2)
Slide 17.3
• Ting-Toomey (cross-cultural) conflict
involves:
– (cultural) groups protecting their own
self-image. Hutterites
– intercultural perceptions coloured by
ethnocentrism and stereotypes. Own
culture centeredness “ Do as the
Romans!!
• Uses concept of ‘self-construal’- how
people perceive themselves
Browaeys and Price, Understanding Cross-cultural Management, 1st Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2009
The nature of conflict (3)
• 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
(Western)
– Those with an interdependent sense of self see conflict
as negative and unproductive: a conflict process is
only satisfactory if the ‘faces’ of both parties have been
saved in addition to a productive agreement (East
Asia)
• Independent self-concepts found more often in
individualistic cultures; interdependent selfconcepts more prevalent in collectivistic cultures
Slide 17.4
Browaeys and Price, Understanding Cross-cultural Management, 1st Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2009
Conflict styles: dual concern models
• Conflict style: ‘patterned responses or clusters of
behavior that people use in conflict’
• Dual concern model by Blake and Mouton based
on two dimensions: ‘concern for production’ and
concern for people’
• Thomas and Kilman model (1974): based on two
factors in a person’s conflict style:
– assertiveness: ‘the extent to which the individual
attempts to satisfy his or her own concerns’
– cooperativeness: ‘the extent to which the individual
attempts to satisfy the other person’s concerns’
Slide 17.5
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Conflict handling modes
H
I
G COMPETING
H
COLLABORATING
COMPROMISING
ASSERTIVE
NESS
concern for
self
AVOIDING
ACCOMMODATING
L
O
W
LOW
HIGH
concern for other
CO-OPERATIVENESS
Figure 17.1 Two-dimensional taxonomy of conflict handling modes
Source: Thomas & Kilman (1974), p. 11 (adapted)
Slide 17.6
Browaeys and Price, Understanding Cross-cultural Management, 1st Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2009
Criticism of such dual concern models
Can such a dual concern model handle the
increasing complexity of modern-day disputes?
• 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.
Slide 17.7
Browaeys and Price, Understanding Cross-cultural Management, 1st Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2009
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
• NB: conflict avoidance can cause equal
harm in a more subtle manner: replacing
genuine problem- solving with superficial
harmony
Slide 17.8
Browaeys and Price, Understanding Cross-cultural Management, 1st Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2009
Culture, emotions and conflict
Kumar distinguishes between:
• ‘Ego-focused’ emotions such as anger, pride and
guilt, linked to the (non-)fulfilment of individual goals
• ‘Other-focused’ emotions such as shame, anxiety
and fear, related to the (in-) ability to show oneself as
belonging to the social context
• 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
Slide 17.9
Browaeys and Price, Understanding Cross-cultural Management, 1st Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2009
Culture, emotions and conflict (2)
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 and
will:
– find it difficult to suggest a way round an obstacle
– may not openly make emotional individual responses
– may attempt to restore personal composure and thus
harmony.
Slide 17.10
Browaeys and Price, Understanding Cross-cultural Management, 1st Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2009
Culture, emotions and conflict (3)
What if conflict occurs between people from
individualistic and collectivistic cultures?
• Emotions could drive them even further apart,
with one side attempting to force a resolution
and the other withdrawing from any interaction.
• Ting-Toomey et al. (2000) advocate the
inclusion of emotional expression in ThomasKilman’s model to account for the many
subtleties in conflict management.
Slide 17.11
Browaeys and Price, Understanding Cross-cultural Management, 1st Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2009
Intercultural approach to conflict
Dominating
S
E
L
F
F
A
C
E
C
O
N
C
E
R
N
Integrating
Neglect
(Passive Aggressive)
H
I
G
H
Emotional
Expression
Third-Party
Help
L
O
W
Compromisin
g
Avoiding
Obliging
LOW
HIGH
OTHER FACE CONCERN
Figure 17.2
An Eight-Style Conflict Grid: An Intercultural Approach
Source: Ting-Toomey & Oetzel (2002), p.160
Slide 17.12
Browaeys and Price, Understanding Cross-cultural Management, 1st Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2009
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 he intervenes
Slide 17.13
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Mindfulness
Ting-Toomey (1999) suggests that skills to do with
mindfulness can enhance conflict management:
• mindful reframing
– ‘translate’ (non-) verbal messages from the context of
the other’s cultural viewpoint
– re-set priorities after mindfully observing and listening
to the viewpoints and expectations of their opponents
• collaborative dialogue
– grasp the cultural and personal elements involved
– get the others to talk about expectations, face issues
Slide 17.14
Browaeys and Price, Understanding Cross-cultural Management, 1st Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2009
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, rather
they will be unco-operative and eventually resign
themselves to the way their boss behaves.
Slide 17.15
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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
Slide 17.16
Browaeys and Price, Understanding Cross-cultural Management, 1st Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2009
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 nondominating) 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
Slide 17.17
Browaeys and Price, Understanding Cross-cultural Management, 1st Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2009
Mediation and conflict transformation
• In Asia Pacific: the mediator deals with
concerns of group as a whole; legitimacy rests
on
– their social status within the group
– their knowledge of traditions, personal characteristics.
• In West: the mediator’s task is tightly focused:
authority defined more in terms of their
expertise and experience
• The mediator can:
– reframe the content and process issues of both parties
– transform the whole conflict in terms of the attitudes and
behaviour of those involved
Slide 17.18
Browaeys and Price, Understanding Cross-cultural Management, 1st Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2009
Conflict transformation (1)
• This idea of conflict transformation involves:
– first transforming attitudes, then transforming
behaviour
– then transforming the actual conflict in question by
pinpointing incompatibilities and removing them
– transformations at personal, social and structural level
– a radical process which changes the whole nature of
the relationship between warring parties
Slide 17.19
Browaeys and Price, Understanding Cross-cultural Management, 1st Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2009
Conflict transformation (2)
• 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
Slide 17.20
Browaeys and Price, Understanding Cross-cultural Management, 1st Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2009
Conclusion
• Conflict style related to
– Concern for self
– Concern for others
• Mediation and/or collaborative dialogue can
promote conflict resolution
• Cultural transformation of personal, social and
structural factors can promote conflict
resolution further
Slide 17.21
Browaeys and Price, Understanding Cross-cultural Management, 1st Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2009