- Be empathetic.Before sending a message, put yourself in the recipient’s shoes.
What are his or her values, experiences, and frames of reference? What do you
know about his or her education, upbringing, and background that can give
you added insight? Try to see the other person as he or she really is. - Treat your interpretations as a working hypothesis.Once you have developed an
explanation for a new situation or think you empathize with someone from a
foreign culture, treat your interpretation as a hypothesis that needs further
testing rather than as a certainty. Carefully assess the feedback provided by
recipients to see if it confirms your hypothesis. For important decisions or
communiqués, you can also check with other foreign and home-country col-
leagues to ensure that your interpretations are on target.
HOW COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN
LEADS TO CONFLICT
In response to massive layoffs in the 1990s, Dofasco’s mill employees became unhappy and
sought ways to press grievances against the company and protect their jobs. Employees were
kept out of the loop, felt they were not respected, and looked to alternative arrangements to
get their voices heard by management. The communication breakdown led to a major conflict
between the employees and the company’s CEO. What can be done about conflict to make sure
it does not get out of control?Conflict can be a serious problem in anyorganization. It might not lead to co-CEOs
going after each other in court, as happened when brothers Wallace and Harrison
McCain battled over command of McCain Foods, the New Brunswick-based french-fry
empire they had built together. Still, it can certainly hurt an organization’s perform-
ance and lead to the loss of good employees.Conflict Defined
Several common themes underlie most definitions of conflict.^43 Conflict must be per-
ceivedby the parties to it; if no one is aware of a conflict, it is generally agreed that no
conflict exists. Conflict also involves opposition or incompatibility, and some form of
interaction between the parties.^44 These factors set the conditions that determine the
beginning point of the conflict process. We can define conflict, then, as a process that
begins when one party perceives that another party has negatively affected, or is about
to negatively affect, something that the first party cares about.^45
This definition is deliberately broad. It describes that point in any ongoing activity
when an interaction “crosses over” to become conflict. It includes the wide range of
conflicts that people experience in groups and organizations—incompatibility of goals,
differences over interpretations of facts, disagreements based on behavioural expectations,
and the like. Finally, our definition is flexible enough to cover the full range of conflict
levels—from subtle forms of disagreement to overt and violent acts.
Conflict has positive sides and negative sides, which we will discuss further when
we cover functional and dysfunctional conflict. For more on this debate, refer to the
Point/Counterpointdiscussion on page 212.Functional vs. Dysfunctional Conflict
Not all conflict is bad. Some conflicts support the goals of the group and improve its per-
formance; these are functional, or constructive, forms of conflict. But there are conflicts that
hinder group performance; these are dysfunctional, or destructive, forms of conflict. The
criterion that differentiates functional from dysfunctional conflict is group performance. If
a group is unable to achieve its goals because of conflict, then the conflict is dysfunctional.200 Part 3Interacting Effectively
4 What is conflict?conflict A process that begins
when one party perceives that
another party has negatively
affected, or is about to negatively
affect, something that the first party
cares about.
functional conflict Conflict that
supports the goals of the group and
improves its performance.
dysfunctional conflict Conflict
that hinders group performance.