CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

Riechell P. Enad

Conflict-negative group- conflicts are suppressed and avoided. - believes that conflict is inherently destructive- Sees no value to conflict- Individuals go for a “win”

Conflict-positive Group-conflicts are encouraged and managed constructively to

maximize their potential in enhancing the quality of decision making and problem solving and group life in general.

- sees conflict as part of the resolution- believes that conflict is potentially constructive- individuals try to “Solve the problem”

Nature of Conflicts of Interest

Conflict – is a fight, struggle, battle, disagreement or quarrel.

WANTS NEEDS

GOAL – is an ideal state of affairs that we value and are working to achieve.

Interests – are the potential benefits to be gained by achieving our goals.

Conflict of interest – exists when actions of one person attempting to maximize his or her benefits prevent, block, interfere with, or in some way make less effective the actions of another person attempting to maximize his or her benefits.

Conflicts of Interest can be based on :

-differences in wants, needs, goals and values

- scarcities of certain resources such as power, influence, money, time, space, popularity and position

-rivalry

Destructive- conflicts create anger, hostility, lasting animosity, and even

violence. - are highly costly to a group, destroying the group’s , ripping

apart relationships, sabotaging work, delaying and decreasing teaching and learning efforts, and devastating individual’s commitment to the group’s goals, sense of security and personal feelings.

Constructive- result in an agreement that allows all participants to achieve

their goals.- strengthen the relationship among participants- increase participants’ ability to resolve future conflicts with one

another constructively.

Your Conflict Management StrategiesHow You Act In Conflicts The following proverbs can be thought of as descriptions of some of the different strategies for resolving conflicts. Proverbs state traditional wisdom; these reflect traditional wisdom for resolving conflicts. Read each carefully, and using the following scale, indicate how typical each proverb is of your actions in a conflict.  5 = very typical of the way I act in a conflict4 = frequently typical of the way I act in a conflict3 = sometimes typical of the way I act in a conflict2 = seldom typical of the way I act in a conflict1 = never typical of the way I act in a conflict

_____1.It is easier to refrain than to retreat from a quarrel. _____2. If you cannot make a person think as you do, make him or her do as you think._____3. Soft words win hard hearts._____4. You scratch my back I’ll scratch yours._____5. Come now and let us reason together._____6.When two quarrel, the person who keeps silent first id the most praiseworthy._____7. Might overcomes right._____8. Smooth words make smooth ways._____9. Better half a loaf than no bread at all. _____10. Truth lies in knowledge, not in majority opinion.

_____11. He who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day. _____12. He hath conquered well that hath made his enemies flee. _____13. Kill your enemies with kindness._____14. A fair exchange brings no quarrel._____15.No person has the final answer but every person has a piece to contribute._____16. Stay away from people who disagree with you. _____17. Fields are won by those who believe in winning. _____18. Kind words are worth much and cost little. _____19. Tit for tat is fair play. _____20. Only the person who is willing to give up is or her monopoly on truth can ever profit from the truths that others hold. _____21. Avoid quarrelsome people, as they will only make your life miserable. _____22. A person who will not flee will make others flee. _____23. Soft words ensure harmony._____24. One gift for another makes good friends._____25. Bring you conflicts into the open and face them directly; only then will the best solution be discovered.

_____26. The best way of handling conflicts is to avoid them._____27. Put your foot down where you mean to stand. _____28. Gentleness will triumph over anger. _____29. Getting part of what you want is better than not getting anything at all. _____30. Frankness, honesty, and trust will move mountains._____31. There is nothing so important you have to fight for it. _____32. There are two kinds of people in the world, the winners and the losers._____33. When one hits you with a stone, hit him or her with a piece of cotton._____34. When both give in halfway, a fair settlement is achieved. _____35. By digging and digging, the truth is discovered.

CONFLICT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES: WHAT ARE YOU LIKE?

Major Concerns when we become engaged into conflict 1. Reaching an agreement that satisfies our wants and meets our goals.

2. Maintaining an appropriate relationship with the other person.

Strategies that are used to manage conflicts:

1. The Owl (Problem-solving negotiations)- Owls highly value the goal and the relationship. This strategy requires risky moves, such as revealing your underlying interests while expecting the other to do the same.

2. The teddy bear (smoothing) – To teddy bears, the relationship is of great importance, whereas the goal is of little importance. When you think the other person’s interests are much stronger or importance than yours, you smooth and assist the other person in achieving hi goal.

3. The shark (forcing or win-lose negotiations) – Sharks see the relationship as of no importance and try to overpower opponents by forcing them to give in so the shark can achieve his goal. Tactics used to win: making threats, physical and verbal aggression, imposing penalties.

4. The fox (compromising) – Foxes are moderately concerned with the goal and the relationship with the other member. When both the goal and the relationship are moderately important to you, and it appears that both of you can’t get what you want, you may need to give up part of your goals and sacrifice part of the relationship in order to reach an agreement.

5. The turtle (withdrawing) – Turtles withdraw into their shells to avoid conflicts, valuing neither the relationship nor the goal. Sometimes you may wish to withdraw from a conflict until you and the other person have calmed down and are in control of your feelings.

 The purpose of this exercise is to stimulate a discussion on how to negotiate constructive resolutions to conflicts of interest.

Situation The scene is the battlements of the castle of the King of Denmark, it is midnight, the witching hour. The ghost of Hamlet’s father appears and beckons Hamlet to follow the ghost for a private talk. They have a conflict that must be resolved. Read the description of the situation and write out the answers to the following questions: a. What do you want?b. How do you feel?c. What are your reasons for wanting what you want and feeling as you do?

HAMLET AND HIS FATHER’S GHOSTGHOSTI am your father’s spirit. Listen to me. If you ever loved me you must avenge my foul, strange and most unnatural murder. I was not bitten by a poisonous snake. The serpent that bit me now wears my crown. He is an incestuous beast. He seduced your mother, a seemingly virtuous queen. Then, when I was asleep in the garden, he poured poison into my ear. My own brother, you uncle, killed me to gain both my crown and my wife. This is horrible! Horrible! You must kill him! You are my son, and it is your duty to avenge my death. I cannot rest in my grave until my murder is avenged. You must fulfill your obligation and put me to rest. Denmark will not prosper with such a man on the throne; the king must be committed to the welfare of Denmark, not himself. And besides if he has a son, you will lose your birthright.  HAMLETI did not know you were murdered. This is surprising. I thought you died of snake bite. The fact that my uncle murdered you is even more a surprise. As he is very friendly and nice to me. I certainly want justice, but let us not be hasty. Asking me to kill him is a serious request. First, I may be too young and inexperienced to do it right. You would do better to ask one of your generals to do it. Second, killing my uncle could seriously damage my future career options and quality of life. Don’t be so blood-thirsty. Think of my future! Third, this is not the time for me to kill someone. I am a carefree youth! I am in love. I’m still in school. I have years of learning and maturing left before I may be ready to kill someone. Fourth, I might go to hell if I killed my uncle. Finally, killing mu uncle is a complex task, I have to catch him alone doing something wicked so his soul will go to hell. What use is it if I kill him when he is doing something virtuous and he goes to heaven? This is not one of the usual “walk into the room and stab him” killing, I’m not sure I want to do that much work.

CONTROLLING THE OCCURRENCE OF CONFLICTS

1. Barriers that prevent the conflict from being expressed can be internal or external.

INTERNAL BARRIERS- may include negative attitudes, fears, anxieties and habitual patterns of avoiding conflict

EXTERNAL BARRIERS-May include task requirement, group norms for avoiding conflict and pressure maintain a congenial public image

- Physical separation is a frequently used barrier to the expression of conflicts of interest.

• Triggering event

2. Entry state- is the person’s ability to deal constructively with the conflict.

The Two Types of Negotiating

Negotiation – is the process by which people with shared and opposed interest attempt to reach an agreement that specifies what specifies what each gives to and receives from one another.

* distributive issues *integrative issues

Six Steps of Integrative Negotiations

-Describing what you want

-Describing reasons underlying wants and feelings

-Come up with optional agreements

-Describing how you feel

-Reversing perspectives

-Reaching an agreement