Abstract
Conflict is commonplace in strategic decision-making. When that conflict is focused on substantive issues, it is enormously effective in improving the range of information considered, the depth of understanding, and the quality of the choice. But, when it becomes interpersonal such that negative emotions (eg anger, frustration, anxiety) take over, it can strangle the choice process. So, skillful decision-makers temper interpersonal conflict, even in the context of high substantive conflict. This chapter describes how they do it by exploring the management of interpersonal conflict. Using case studies, we find several tactics that contain interpersonal conflict: Keep conflict focused on issues (not people) through (1) factual data, and (2) multiple alternatives; maintain a collaborative (not competitive) frame with (3) common goals and (4) humor; and create a sense of fairness (not inequity) through (5) balanced power structures and (6) consensus with qualification. Finally, these tactics not only limit interpersonal conflict, but also work together and, unexpectedly, build substantive conflict, speed the process, and are associated with high performance.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Amason, A 1996. Distinguishing the effects of functional and dysfunctional conflict on strategic decision making: Resolving a paradox for top management teams. Academy of Management Journal, 39: 123–148.
Amason, A 1997. Good and bad conflict in strategic decision making. In V Papadakis and P Barwise (eds), Strategic Decisions, 51–63. Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Cohen, M, J March, and J Olsen 1972. A garbage can model of organizational choice. Administrative Science Quarterly, 17: 1–25.
Eisenhardt, K 1989a. Making fast strategic decisions. Academy of Management Journal, 32: 543–576.
Eisenhardt, K 1989b. Building theories from case study research. Academy of Management Review, 14: 532–550.
Eisenhardt, K and LJ Bourgeois 1988. Politics of strategic decision making in high-velocity environments: Toward a midrange theory. Academy of Management Journal, 31: 737–770.
Eisenhardt, K and M Zbaracki 1992. Strategic decision making. Strategic Management Journal, 13: 17–37.
Eisenhardt, K, JL Kahwajy, and LI Bourgeois (forthcoming). Conflict and strategic choice: How top management teams disagree. In D Hambrick, M Tushman and D Nadler (eds), Senior leadership and corporate transformation Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
Fisher, R and W Ury 1981. Getting to yes: Negotiating agreement without giving in. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin.
Folger, R and M Konovsky 1989. Academy of Management Journal, 32: 115–130.
Fredrickson, J and A Iaquinto 1989. Inertia and creeping rationality in strategic decision processes. Academy of Management Journal, 32: 516–542.
George, J 1990. Personality, affect, and behavior in groups. Journal of Applied Psychology, 75: 107–116.
Guetzkow, H and J Gyr 1954. An analysis of conflict in decision-making groups. Human Relations, 7: 367–381.
Hackman, R and G Oldham 1980. Work redesign. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley.
Harlow, H, M Harlow, and D Meyer 1950. Learning motivated by a manipulation drive. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 40: 228–234.
Hickson, D, R Butler, D Cray, G Mallory, and D Wilson 1986. Top decisions: Strategic decision making in organizations. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Janis, I 1982. Groupthink: Psychological studies of policy decisions and fiascoes. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin.
Jehn, K 1995. A multimethod examination of the benefits and detriments of intragroup conflict. Administrative Science Quarterly, 40: 256–282.
Kahn, W 1988. Toward a sense of organizational humor: Implications for organizational diagnosis and change. Working paper, Boston University, Boston.
Kim, WC and R Mauborgne 1993. Procedural justice, attitudes, and subsidiary top management compliance with multinationals’ corporate strategic decisions. Academy of Management Journal, 36: 502–526.
Lind, EA, R Kanfer, and PC Earley 1990. Voice, control, and procedural justice: Instrumental and noninstrumental concerns in fairness judgments. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59: 952–959.
Lind, EA, C Kulik, M Ambrose, and M de Vera Park 1993. Individual and corporate dispute resolution: Using procedural justice as a decision heuristic. Administrative Science Quarterly, 38: 224–251.
March, J 1962. The business firm as a political coalition. Journal of Politics, 24: 662–678.
Pelled, L (forthcoming). Demographic diversity, conflict, and work group outcomes: An intervening process theory. Organization Science
Pettigrew, A 1973. The politics of organizational decision making. London: Tavistock.
Pfeffer, J and W Moore 1980. Power in university budgeting: A replication and extension. Administrative Science Quarterly, 25: 637–653.
Pinkley, R 1990. Dimensions of conflict frame: Disputant interpretations of conflict Journal of Applied Psychology, 75: 117–126.
Pinkley, R and G Northcraft 1994. Conflict frames of reference: Implications for dispute processes and outcomes. Academy of Management Journal, 37: 193–205.
Priem, R 1990. Top management team factors, consensus, and firm performance. Strategic Management Journal, 11: 469–478.
Sherif, M, O Harvey, B White, W Hood, and C Sherif 1961. Intergroup conflict and cooperation: The Robber’s Cave experiment. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Book Exchange.
Schweiger, D, W Sandberg, and J Ragan 1986. Group approaches for improving strategic decision making: A comparative analysis of dialectical inquiry, devil’s advocacy, and consensus approaches to strategic decision making. Academy of Management Journal, 29: 51–71.
Schweiger, D, W Sandberg, and P Rechner 1989. Experimental effects of dialectical inquiry, devil’s advocacy, and consensus approaches to strategic decision making. Academy of Management Journal, 32: 745–772.
Thompson, L and R Hastie 1988. Judgment tasks and biases in negotiations. In B Sheppard, M Bazerman, and R Lewicki (eds), Research in negotiations in organizations, 31–54. Greenwich, CT.: JAI Press.
Tjosvold, D 1991. The positive-conflict organization. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley.
Tjosvold, D and R Field 1983. Effects of social context on consensus and majority vote decision making. Academy of Management Journal, 26: 500–506.
White, R 1959. Motivation reconsidered: The concept of competence. Psychological Review, 66: 297–333.
White, R and R Lippitt 1968. Leader behavior and member reaction in three “social climates”. In D Cartwright and A Zander (eds), Group dynamics, 318–385. New York: Harper and Row.
Yin, R 1984. Case study research: Design and methods. Beverly Hills, California: Sage Publications.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1997 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Eisenhardt, K.M., Kahwajy, J.L., Bourgeois, L.J. (1997). Taming Interpersonal Conflict in Strategic Choice: How Top Management Teams Argue, but Still Get Along. In: Papadakis, V., Barwise, P. (eds) Strategic Decisions. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-6195-8_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-6195-8_5
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-7840-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-6195-8
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive