Every personality is unique; hence ways of dealing with a situation differs from person to person. How a manager deals with conflict situation defines his conflict management style. There are many conflict management styles, some of which are:
• Cooperative conflict management
• Avoidance strategies
• Competitive conflict management
Managers essentially choose the style which defines their personality and is more convenient for them to implement. However, they should be fully aware of the pros and cons of each style before adopting it. In this article we will talk about competitive behavior in conflict management.
A competitive behavior in conflicts essentially implies that the manager needs to be fully in charge of the situation, and puts his own or the organization’s interest as foremost, regardless of other parties’ concern. This kind of conflict management style is necessary where there are limited resources in the company, and the manager has no option but to think only about the organization’s well being. Also, if a conflict is such that the outcome will be either a win or a loss, managers should actually try to compete for a win.
This type of conflict management style has not attracted much appreciation from managers. However, there are situations where it becomes inevitable for the survival of the organization. A competitive behavior in conflicts demands the managers to be hostile and at times lie about their real motives. They can hide their goals and strategies from the other party, and can openly criticize their opponent.
They can avoid getting into negotiation by rejecting the other party’s arguments straight away and by passing any responsibility for their own actions. Hostility can be pretended for the course of conflict to intimidate the other party, and to stress the point that you want your own way only.
This type of conflict management style has its advantages too. Firstly, it is a quick way to solve a conflict. It helps save a lot of resources and time, especially if the company is already short of resources. For the person implementing this style, the win outcome feels a great accomplishment and helps to motivate him immensely. However it has its disadvantages as well. Firstly, and fore mostly, the ethical standing of this approach is questioned. Not many managers feel comfortable in lying and manipulating the situation for their own favor only.
Also, in a long-term relationship, competitive approach to conflict management might prove detrimental. Continual implementation of this approach will eventually widen the gaps between the parties, and might even sever their ties. Especially if the conflict is within the organization, this approach might de-motivate the employees and can cause more loss to productivity than the actual conflict. Employee turn- over rate has been seen to rise where this management style was being used.
