9.1: Resolving Conflict

Conflict is a part of life.

That’s a sad truth. In itself, that shouldn’t surprise us. We all have our own wants, needs, and desires. Sometimes, what you want goes against what someone else wants. Consider a debate in your family about where to go for a family vacation. Dad might want to go fishing. Mom might want to the beach. Your sibling might want to go to Walt Disney World. And you might want to climb Mount Everest. (Before you decide that’s a great idea, watch Lessons from the Edge. (Optional, but well worth watching.))

Politics is all about conflict. As this book was going to press, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) had torpedoed President Biden’s domestic agenda. He wanted some changes to a bill, and when he couldn’t get them, he told Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) he would not support the measure. And then he changed his mind. More on that later.

And there’s conflict in business, too. How could there not be? Even if we all agree that the objective for our company is to maximize our profits, how to maximize profits can lead to serious disagreements with real consequences. Here are two real life examples:

· The first from the early days of the World Wide Web: Newspaper publishers could see that the internet was going to have a major impact on their business model. The question was, should they give away their content for free, and count on advertising to pay the bills, or should they charge for access to their content?

Most newspapers had built their business on being supported by advertising, with subscriptions paying just enough to cover the cost of delivering the paper to the customer’s home. Everything else was paid for by advertising. The Wall Street Journal, however, had always charged a premium price for its news, and had been delivering its content by wire for over 100 years. Unlike nearly every daily newspaper, The Journal refused to put its content on the web for free.

There was intense debate within the Journal at the time, but it quickly became apparent advertisers did not need a local newspaper to reach their potential customers. The advertisers moved to the web, depriving newspapers of advertising revenue. That happened to the Journal, too. But the Journal’s subscribers continued to pay the cost of producing the Journal’s content, so the Journal remained profitable even though its advertising shrunk dramatically.

· The second: As Japan began to recover from World War II, its government adopted a series of 10-year plans to guide its economy. The first objective was to rebuild its steel industry. It chose to adopt the most modern steelmaking technology, the basic oxygen furnace. U.S. steelmakers at the time dominated the world, but their plants used the open hearth blast furnace technique first developed in 1865 in England.

Baltimore was a major steel producing center, with the Sparrows Point steel mill the largest in the world by 1958, having built ships used in the World Wars, part of the Empire State Building, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, employing 31,000 workers.

U.S. steelmakers debated whether to convert to the newer, more efficient basic oxygen technique but decided not to because of short-term tax and accounting considerations. As a result, the U.S. essentially ceased to be a major player in the world steel market, and in 2001, Sparrows Point went bankrupt, and by 2015 it was a pile of demolished rubble. (UMBC, 2022; BMI, (2022)

Failure to peacefully resolve conflict can lead to tragic results. We see it all the time as this list of news reports from Google News demonstrates:

Argument leads to non-fatal shooting overnight in Milwaukee

Argument leads to deadly shooting in north St. Louis County, woman charged

Argument between 2 men leads to shooting at Outback Steakhouse in Shenandoah, police say

Video: argument leads to shooting inside busy gas station

Dice game on Harlem street leads to fatal shooting of man, 35

We even see disagreements in politics erupt in violence:

Exclusive video obtained by Jan. 6 committee shows attack on Capitol unfolding 

 

Plainly, we need to know how to deescalate difficult situations.

Dialectical Tensions

The first step is to understand that dialectical tensions are always at play in all relationships -- couples, family members, friends, and business associates. We may also use different strategies in managing these tensions to try to meet the needs of the other person. Recognizing the needs of the other person and attempting to meet his/her needs is one of the hallmarks of a competent communicator.

It is also important to understand that relationships are always changing. Think about your relationship with your parents. When you were seven and your Mother or Father said to do something, you probably accepted it without too much thought. When you became a teenager, however, you were seeking to become your own person. So, when asked to do something, you might have resisted, especially if you had other plans – or if you just weren’t in the mood.

Conflict Affected by Culture

The second thing to remember is that relationships are affected by culture. Conflicts between teenagers and parents are shaped by generational culture and conflicts between spouses or partners are shaped by gender culture.

Edward T. Hall classified cultures as either high-context or low-context. In high-context cultures, a message is conveyed as much by the setting as by what is said. People who have been in the Oval Office often say they went in prepared “to deliver a message” but were overwhelmed by the atmosphere and did not come off nearly as strong as they intended. People who tour the U.S. Capitol or the Supreme Court building often feel that same sense of awe. High context communication may help save face because it is less direct than low context communication. But it may also increase the possibility of being misunderstood.

What do we mean when we talk about saving face? Saving face is a Chinese term that refers to the idea of not completely humiliating your adversary. It was important during the 13 days of the Cuban missile crisis of 1962 when the U.S. came the closest it ever has to nuclear war. In his memoirs, Kennedy wrote about the seven lessons he learned during the crisis, No. 6 being, “Don’t humiliate your opponent.”

Ways in which one can lose face include:

• a rebuffed overture
• exposure to personal insult
• exposure to a derogatory remark or disregard for one's status
• being forced to give up a cherished value
• making what may later be seen as an "unnecessary" concession
• failure to achieve goals
• revelation of personal inadequacy
• damage to a valued relationship

The key difference to remember here is that high-context cultures want to repair or build relationships while low-context cultures most often desire to simply problem-solve and move on. (Rosenberg, 2004) Low-context cultures, by contrast, emphasize directness rather than relying on the context to communicate. Generally speaking, the United States is a low-context culture, although, as noted, there are exceptions, including the Oval Office, police officers in their uniforms, etc.

In general, Western cultures tend to be low-context, while Southern and Eastern cultures tend to be high-context. But understand that during a dispute, people tend to move along a continuum.

What are the common causes of family conflict?

· Learning to live as a new couple

· Birth of a child

· A child going to school

· A child becoming a young person

· A young person becoming an adult

· Separation or divorce

· Moving

· Long-distance commuting

· Financial stresses

Case Study: A Senator Plays Hardball

How do we solve these problems? Let’s begin, not with a discussion of family difficulties but with a discussion of a major political problem Early in his presidency, President Joe Biden laid out an ambitious agenda that was whittled down and whittled down. Pundits were talking about its demise. And indeed, it appeared in late July that the proposal for all practical purposes was dead when Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) announced he could not support it. Because of unified Republican opposition, without Manchin’s vote, it simply could not pass.

Manchin’s fellow Democrats took to the Senate floor to denounce Manchin. Then, out of nowhere it seemed, Manchin, who was isolating himself after being diagnosed as having come down with Covid, announced a deal had been reached, and he would support a revised package. The announcement surprised everyone except Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer with whom Manchin had been secretly negotiating. “What happened?” Sen. Kristen Synema of Arizona, a fellow moderate Democrat, asked on the floor of the Senate. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) accused Manchin of betraying Republicans. (Cotton had apparently forgotten that Manchin was, in fact, a Democrat).

Exactly what happened behind closed doors wasn’t known as this book went to press, but you can take this to the bank: Manchin got a substantial concession to benefit West Virginia. You can also be assured of this: Schumer understood, as he had said often, that “West Virginia isn’t New York,” and Manchin was elected to represent the people of West Virginia, not the people of New York or the national Democratic Party.

Why were their talks successful? First, they had mutual respect. Schumer understood that West Virginia isn’t New York, and Manchin understood it was important to Schumer and other Democrats to be able to deliver a significant environmental package. As long as that package helped and didn’t hurt West Virginia, he could vote for it.

Second, Schumer went the extra mile. When Manchin announced the bill was dead, Schumer reopened the conversation. They kept their talks private. Even President Biden was kept out of the loop.

They knew each other. They had had lots of other opportunities to work together in the past, so they were able to approach the talks from a standpoint of mutual understanding and respect. Further, they understood the reality of politics: One has to be able to count. And all you need to get a bill passed, in most cases, is a simple majority.

The resulting deal left everyone, except, perhaps, Republicans satisfied. Was it perfect? No. Anyone who has been in a legislative body will tell you that almost every piece of legislation has something you wish could have been changed. But it was good enough. Satisfaction is important because if your counterparty is satisfied with the deal, he or she will negotiate with you again. A dissatisfied counterparty will try to “even the score.”

Having reached a deal, how did they deal with it? Did Manchin proclaim that he “forced” Schumer to agree? No. Did Schumer proclaim that he twisted Manchin’s arm and got him to agree? No.

• Read Manchin’s press release here. Keeping in mind that he represents West Virginia, can you identify what he obtained in private negotiations with Majority Leader Schumer? Can you find language honoring his Democratic and Republican colleagues?

Here are some additional resources

Statement from President Biden on Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (White House)

After spiking earlier talks, Manchin agrees to a new deal on climate and taxes (NPR)

In the NPR story, note that the deal was not announced until after Senate had voted on a bill to expand domestic production of critical semiconductor chips. You can be sure that the agreement between Schumer and Manchin included when Manchin would make his announcement. Why was this important?

• Be prepared to discuss in class or write a 250-word essay if an online class.

References

BMI (2022, July 28). Sparrows Point: An American steel story. Baltimore Museum of Industry. https://www.thebmi.org/portfolio/spa...an-steel-story

Rosenberg, S. (2004). Face. Beyond Intractability. https://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/face

UMBC (2022, July 28). Mill stories. University of Maryland Baltimore County. https://millstories.umbc.edu/sparrows-point