BUSI 455 Week 2 Discussion Board Forum Replies and ExpertNegotiator Analysis Example

Discussion Board Forum Replies and ExpertNegotiator Analysis

BUSI 455 Conflict Resolution and Negotiation, Discussion Board Forum Replies and ExpertNegotiator Analysis

Thread by [Student Name]

The classmates' threads are composites; the textbook, the research and the Scripture cited are real.

Reply to Megan

Megan, I appreciated your honesty in describing yourself as conflict-avoidant and in tracing how your silence with a roommate let a small issue grow. Sande and Johnson (2015) would place that silence on the escape side of the slippery slope, but I think the research offers some encouragement: avoiding is not always wrong.

Rahim (1983) developed a widely used measure of five styles of handling interpersonal conflict, defined by two dimensions, concern for self and concern for others: integrating, obliging, dominating, avoiding and compromising. Thomas (1992) reflected on this two-dimensional model and argued that each style fits some situations; avoiding can be appropriate when an issue is trivial, when emotions need time to cool or when the costs of confronting outweigh the benefits. The problem arises when avoiding is the only style a person uses, regardless of the issue. Rahim's measure also shows that people tend to lean toward one or two styles, which makes the habit easy to miss in oneself; knowing your default is the first step to choosing a different style when the situation calls for it.

That fits Sande and Johnson's (2015) distinction between overlooking an offense, which is a deliberate peacemaking choice, and escaping, which leaves a problem unresolved while resentment grows. The test is whether you can truly let it go. With your roommate, the issue kept bothering you, which suggests it needed an integrating conversation rather than more silence. Could you try naming one small issue early next time, before it grows, to practice a different style?

Reply to Jordan

Jordan, your story about apologizing to a coworker after missing a deadline, only to find that the relationship stayed cold, shows how hard repair can be. I wonder whether the apology itself, rather than your coworker's stubbornness, might explain part of it.

Lewicki et al. (2016) asked people to evaluate apologies built from six possible components, such as expressing regret, explaining what went wrong, acknowledging responsibility, declaring repentance, offering repair and requesting forgiveness. Acknowledging responsibility was rated the most important component, followed by an offer of repair, while requesting forgiveness mattered least. Your thread said you explained that another project had run late; that may have sounded like an excuse rather than an acknowledgment.

McCullough et al. (1997) found that apology influenced forgiveness largely by increasing the offended person's empathy for the offender. An apology that clearly owns the harm helps the other person see the offender as someone who regrets it. Sande and Johnson (2015) make the same point in their guidance on confession: avoid words that shift blame, admit specifically, and accept the consequences. A second conversation acknowledging the impact on your coworker's work, and offering to take part of the next deliverable, might do what the first could not. It would also show your coworker that the apology was more than a way to end an awkward moment, since an offer of repair costs the offender something and is harder to fake than words. Proverbs 28:13 promises mercy to the one who confesses and forsakes wrongdoing (English Standard Version Bible, 2001/2016).

ExpertNegotiator Self-Analysis

In this course I want to become a negotiator who prepares rather than improvises. My three goals are to set a target and a walk-away point for every issue before each negotiation, to open with my own number whenever my information is solid rather than wait for theirs, and to ask questions that uncover the other side's interests. I will use ExpertNegotiator's planning posts to write my targets and walk-away points with my partner, use the negotiation threads to practice opening offers and questions, and use the results and reflection posts to compare each outcome with my plan and learn from the gap.

References

English Standard Version Bible. (2016). Crossway. (Original work published 2001)

Lewicki, R. J., Polin, B., & Lount, R. B., Jr. (2016). An exploration of the structure of effective apologies. Negotiation and Conflict Management Research, 9(2), 177-196. https://doi.org/10.1111/ncmr.12073

McCullough, M. E., Worthington, E. L., Jr., & Rachal, K. C. (1997). Interpersonal forgiving in close relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73(2), 321-336. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.73.2.321

Rahim, M. A. (1983). A measure of styles of handling interpersonal conflict. Academy of Management Journal, 26(2), 368-376. https://doi.org/10.5465/255985

Sande, K., & Johnson, K. (2015). Resolving everyday conflict (Rev. ed.). Baker Books.

Thomas, K. W. (1992). Conflict and conflict management: Reflections and update. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 13(3), 265-274. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.4030130307