# Conflict and Negotiations

## Introduction


### Learning Outcomes

After reading this chapter, you should be able to answer these questions:
1. How do you recognize and resolve short- and long-term conflicts among group members and among groups?
2. How does conflict arise in organizations?
3. When and how do you negotiate, and how do you achieve a mutually advantageous agreement?
4. How do you recognize and respond to cultural differences in negotiation and bargaining strategies?
In all organizations, including Google, some conflict is inevitable. Simply making a decision to do A instead of B often alienates the supporters of B, despite the soundness of the reasons behind the decision. Moreover, the consequences of conflict (and failed negotiations) can be costly to an organization, whether the conflict is between labor and management, groups, individuals, or nations. In an era of increasing business competition both from abroad and at home, reducing conflict is important. For these reasons, contemporary managers need a firm grasp of the dynamics of intergroup and interorganizational conflict and of negotiation processes.
We begin with a discussion of the conflict process, followed by a look at negotiations both within and between organizations.