Please look at case study 8.1 and answer the first three questions only.

244 Chapter 8 Managing Conflict Chapter 8 Managing Conflict 245 The superordinate goal tactic is one of the most reliable integrative tactics, but it does not work under all circumstances. If the parties fail to attain the superordinate goal, they may dis- brief history of Max's problems and summarized his attempts to talk to him. In partic- count the goal and competition may ensue (Hunger & Stern, 1976; Worchel, Anderoli, & Folger, ular, Jerry asked Max what a proper attendance rate should be. Max ventured a "10% 1977). Given their previous conflict, the parties are likely to blame each other for the failure. absentee" rate as an adequate figure. Jerry introduced this figure as a standard and The tactic will also fail if each party does not have a clear and distinct role in attaining the then asked the others, "what do you think?" The psychologist and one social worker, superordinate goal (Deschamps & Brown, 1983). They must have a clear idea of how their Megan, asked what Max's excuse was, and Jerry responded with a lengthy answer efforts fit together, or they may lose their sense of identity. If this happens, parties are less likely detailing the excuses and offering commentary on them. to be attracted to cooperating with each other. It is also worth noting that parties may have Laura then spoke, arguing that an absence rate of one day every two months is more trouble discovering or recognizing superordinate goals when hostilities run high. A "cooling off" period is often necessary before the superordinate goal can be used to promote coopera- followed: than enough. Megan, one of the two social workers, jumped in, and this exchange tion (see Case 8.1). Megan: You shouldn't even give him that (once every two months) . .. I mean, if an emergency comes up that's one thing. If you say you're gonna get off . . . Jerry: (interrupting) This is not . . . This is not time that we expect him to take. CASE STUDY 8.1 THE PSYCHOLOGICAL EVALUATION UNIT This is how often we expect emergencies to occur. Imagine yourself as Laura, one of the psychiatrists. How might the climate of this group Megan: But he's going to interpret it as if we're gonna give him a day or two every affect the way you engage in conflict? two months if we say it. The Psychological Evaluation Unit at a large hospital was composed of three psychi- Jerry: (shaking his head as Megan speaks and speaking immediately on her atrists, a psychologist, and two social workers. The unit was purposely designed as a last word) It depends on how we want to say it, but what we had in mind multidisciplinary cross section, with competent professionals from all "helping" areas: was, if you look at how often he's here or not here-it's sort of a gross psychiatry, psychology, and social work. Each profession had to exert its influence if way to do an evaluation, but it's one possibility. And one could say, the unit was to function properly. The unit emphasized a high level of professionalism "If emergencies come up with more frequency, you need more time to for its members, and because of this, presentation of oneself as a professional was attend to your emergencies, and we could make an exception." How you very important. The unit was charged with diagnosing disturbed patients and with run- word it might vary, but I think what we need is some kind of sense for ning a training program for newly graduated doctors interning at the hospital. what's tolerable. The unit was created at a time when the hospital was running budget surpluses. Liu : (the other social worker) What about the things he has done when he The services it provided were originally provided by staff psychiatrists, but the unit was shows up-expectations as far as staying or leaving early? Which is .. . created to consolidate diagnostic techniques and leave the staff psychiatrists free for I think, one of many things. After his last patients, five or ten minutes later therapy. However, a "budget crunch" had just occurred, and the hospital board was he's gone. And yesterday that happened and five minutes later we had a looking for services and units to cut. Because the evaluation unit was new, it was high walk-in who really needed medical help, and I was the only one there and on the list of departments to be scrutinized. Members were worried about the unit's I could have used (help) . . . that was, you know, it was like 11:15 and he survival, and most decisions were made with an eye toward making the unit look good didn't show up. Don't we expect the interns to check to see if there are or, at least, not look questionable) to outside observers. any walk-ins before they leave? The psychiatrist who headed the committee, Jerry, chaired most meetings and rep- Jerry: (interrupting) We can talk about that as another issue. resented the unit in the hospital bureaucracy. He was a "take-charge" person, and the Liu: (interrupting) Well, it's another expectation that needs to be addressed. psychologist and social workers were intimidated by his forceful style. He tried to be open, but, partly due to his strength and partly due to uncertainty about their status in At this point Laura clarified her position on Max's attendance, and the issue raised by the unit, the other three had relatively little input in group discussions. The other two Liu was dropped. Laura and Jerry then pursued a long exchange in which they tried psychiatrists, Alberto and Laura, sometimes provided a balance, but they were not as to define an acceptable level of participation for interns. Here is an excerpt from that aggressive as Jerry and therefore tended to be overshadowed. Alberto and Laura were aware of Jerry's take-charge tendencies and had tried to encourage the psychologist, exchange to give you an idea of its tone. Paul, and the social workers, Megan and Liu, to speak up. However, all tended to hang Laura: (after a long speech) . . .to vanish from sight (when patients need him), back in the face of Jerry's initiatives. Jerry introduced the issue at hand: The unit was evaluating a psychiatric intern, Jerry : I just don't find that acceptable. (pause) Max, who had repeatedly missed his turns of duty at evaluation clinics. Jerry gave a Laura: On the other hand, if it's 11:15, and you don't have any patients . . . 19 ) That's a different issue . (interrupting) That246 Chapter 8 Managing Conflict Chapter 8 Managing Conflict 247 Jerry: We don't have to provide any options. We can say that we recognize that hope you will assess it-on a monthly basis or something and that if we over a year and a half your participation has been mitigated because of need to- because there's some question of whether or not your participa- unusual circumstances, and that's the end. I mean, we don't have to make tion is complete- then we'll meet and we'll need to talk about it. a deal at all. Discussion Questions As the discussion progressed, the parties tried to settle on an acceptable number of absences for the intern. After some discussion, the group determined that setting an Ideal attendance rate was impossible. Rather, members decided to talk to Max in order Did this group go through the two stages of the normative model, differentiation and integration? to make him aware of the problem and then to reevaluate the situation in two months. Throughout this process Jerry moderated the discussion. The following are excerpts chapter? Did this group follow the principles for promoting collaboration discussed in this from the discussion: How might the group have done things differently if they had followed the conflict Laura: I guess I agree. I want to give him time off . . . but if he's gonna be there, management procedure outlined earlier? then he has to be there. Would Problem-Purpose Expansion be useful for this group? Why or why not? Jerry: But we have to come up with some kind of sense that if he exceeds we Compare this case to the Women's Hotline Case (Case I.la and b, pages 2 and 3). have to say, "Thank you, but no thank you." Which case exhibited more effective conflict management? Laura: I'd say more than once in two months, or maybe twice in two months more than an hour late. Nobody else does that . . . that I know of . . . in terms of missing times. Megan: (talking over Laura's last sentences) Rather than just specifically making 8.2.3 Cultivating a Collaborative Attitude a case for Max, maybe we should decide what's appropriate-what the expectations are for all the residents. How we approach differentiation also has a strong influence on how the conflict unfolds. Jerry: (interrupting) I think we are. I think you're right that the kind of sense we're A positive, constructive attitude toward disagreement and differences can build confidence that generating is not necessarily specific . . . It turns out that he's going to be he conflict does not have to get out of hand and can be faced constructively. the one for whom it's an issue . .. and we also have to acknowledge that Tjosvold (1995) advanced a model of constructive controversy, which posited that "open dis there will be individual circumstances that . . . change. We may need to cussion of opposing views is most critical for making cooperative situations productive." This face that. But I need to have some type of sense of what we expect of view argues that conflict is essential to effective cooperation-a view that is clearly consistent him and at what point we should acknowledge that he should or should with the differentiation/integration framework. Underlying it is a positive assumption that not participate. And one way-it's sort of simple and artificial-is to do from constructively managed conflict can come improved outcomes and better relationships. attendance, to say, "How many hours are you late? How many times are Based upon a range of concepts that indicate how best to create a collaborative climate, you late?" That avoids in part coming to grips with, you know, an overall we can suggest the following principles for parties to constructively engage each other during kind of evaluation, and maybe we don't want to use a numerical scale. differentiation: I'm open to lots of different suggestions. The one that I wasn't willing to accept was that if others in the subspecialties used their own internal sets Avoid arguing only for your own position. Present your position as clearly and logically as wasn't going to ask them to change (e.g., other departments could eval- possible, but consider seriously the reactions of the group in any subsequent presentation uate the intern according to their own criteria). of the same point. Alberto: I think there's a double-barreled threat (from Max's absences). Dr. Jacobs Avoid win-lose stalemates in the discussion of options. Discard the notion that someone (director of the hospital) is coming and in casual conversation says Max is must win and someone must lose; when impasses occur, look for the next most acceptable OK when he's here, but he's never here, then clearly that's another, that's alternative for both parties. a threat . . . Avoid changing your mind only to avoid the conflict and to reach agreement. Withstand Jerry: (summarizing the group's decision) I'm comfortable if what the group pressures to yield that have no objective or logically sound foundation. Strive for enlight- wants to do, then, is take it back to Max and say we have a set of expec- ened flexibility; avoid outright capitulation. tations that include your participation-your full participation-in this pro- Avoid suppressing conflicts by resorting to voting, averaging, coin flipping, and the like. gram. That we will reassess our impression of that participation-and we Treat differences of opinion as indicative of an incomplete sharing of information and viewpoints, and lack of creativity. Press for additional exploration and investigation