Conflict Journals

Ink & Image Magazine

Words by: Kelly Macleod 13128555 Dedicated to: Sasha Goodwin Bond University Corporate Conflict Resoltion

Table of Contents The First Love Saga 1 Mother-Daughter Tug of War 5 Struggle of the Siblings 9 Work Versus Balance 13 Nurse Versus Grandchild 17 Sweet and Sour 21 Battle of the Bridesmaids 25 Consumer Versus Company 29 Conflict of the Unknown

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Reflection and Wrap Up

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Negotiations Planning Sheet 39

The First Love Saga Way, way back in the day, aged eighteen years old and on my first trip back to South Africa on my own, I met a boy. His Colgate smile, hazel brown eyes and passion for life led me into his arms. Three months later after our first encounter, he was scouted for professional soccer at Lynn University in Miami, Florida. Our connection was strong after first meeting and both made the effort to stay in touch. From daily conversations, to Skype chats and flirtatious banter, we connected on a deeper level. Our connection was like no other and bonded over living away from our families, studying and our South African culture in a foreign country. Throughout the years, we held onto meeting again and “finally” being together. After much convincing from Robby, I found myself working hard and saving every penny to fly to Miami and look at possibly moving and studying over there. Once in Miami, I found myself heart-broken by the boy I gave my heart to and fell hopelessly for. Time and time again he said all the right things in leading me across the world, only to have him avoid commitment and backtrack his words once standing in front of me. Once the curtains opened to our show, it played out very differently. What I wanted and what he wanted was a double edged sword.

Robby wanted me when it suited him and have me move countries for him, but did not take into account that I too had my life in Australia and did not want to experiment the idea of a long-distance relationship. I was willing to bend over backwards for Prince Charming, yet when it came to crunch time, Robby turned out to be the big bad wolf.

Robby’s BATNA was to reveal very little as possible during our conflict in Miami, when we were able to face each other. He revealed he liked me but also wanted to wait until our degrees were complete before taking the next step. He later negotiated with me that he would come and visit me in the summer break, if he could afford it. As Robby put this offer on the table, I knew that a better offer could have been made, but he did not want to reveal too much for his own pride or fear of rejection.

My BATNA was weak, as I did not want to move to America after seeing how he treated me, so I negotiated that we should see how the coming few months turn out and then take it from there. As I knew what I wanted and wanted to avoid a negotiation, I stated that we should remain friends and see how things are between us in a few months before the summer break. As Robby tried to negotiate with me, my best alternative to the conflict was to wait three months, complete our degrees and re-look at our relationship in September and evaluate whether we should visit each other or not.

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Whether star signs are accurate or not, my Pisces personality is often aligned with caring, compassionate and kind, especially putting everyone else’s needs above mine. For the purpose of conflicts, I tend to agree with the general overview of my star sign and character traits. I often find myself apologising to keep the peace, giving in so that the other person wins the conflict or sacrificing what I want for what they want. What I see as a gift can often be a curse in certain situations and conflicts. My softer ways often present my accommodating conflict style, in particular by giving into others and to rather preserve a good relationship than fight over an issue. The variation of accommodating style I often use is yielding; where I show no concern for my own needs and accommodate others entirely. By saying I would pack up my whole life for him and transfer universities, I never expressed my own needs for being with my family in Australia and rather tried to fit in with his life plans, needs and wants.

Robby on the other hand is a Leo, who demonstrates many fierce attributes as a typical lion in the jungle. Robby’s conflict style in this particular conflict is avoiding, as he shows low level of concern for both our concerns. As this style is known to prevent concerns being aired and addressed, Robby used a withdrawing variation by being apologetic and address issues about the long-distance relationship and avoided other issues about future plans and the truth of his feelings. Often Robby would find ways of changing the subject by trying to laugh off serious concerns of mine about leading me on and promising me things he could not deliver.

Conflict tactics are the specific moves and countermoves used to enact conflict styles (Folger, Poole & Stutman, 2001). As I steer clear of conflict at all costs, the tactic I used after realising Robby and I both wanted to live our dreams and not change our particular paths just yet, I used the ingratiation style of opinion conformity. This style expresses agreement with other’s opinions and values to create impression of similarity and increase other’s liking (Pruitt & Rubin, 1986).As I used the accommodation style of conflict, I found myself using the tactic of agreeing with Robby’s opinion about first completing our degrees and I tried to agree with him on his honest decisions to show more similarity to increase his liking of me.

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The First Love Saga For Robby and I to reach a mutual decision, a collaborative conflict style was used. The benefits of this style find the root of the problem and attends to the situation in the least confrontational manner (Folger, Poole & Stutman, 2013). In saying that, this style can take a lot more time as we can go back and forth in trying to reach a mutual decision (Huebsch, n.d.). But for the most part of our conflict, a collaborate conflict style would suit our situation, as this style develops a solution that meets all important needs of both parties (Folger, Poole & Stutman, 2013). This style also suggests that in an effective collaboration, parties help each other preserve face, so that a change in position or viewpoint does not suggest weakness or capitulation. I believe this style is suited for our conflict, as feelings are involved, history has been developed and the need to choose the right words in order to avoid face loss is very important.

The theory that best applies to our conflict of love and lust would be Politeness Theory.

Formulated by Penelope Brown and Stephen Levinson, this theory circulates face, positive face and negative face in the situation of a face threat. I presented a positive face; in the way I desired to be liked and admired by Robby and his friends, whereas Robby presented a negative face, in desiring the need to be autonomous and unconstrained. During our conflict and trying to avoid a face threatening act, my positive face moved to a negative face after his negative face merged into a positive face. For example, after I desired the approval of Robby of being liked and wanted, and he reacted with a negative face of telling me he didn’t think we would work out and still had two years of our degree, my face slowly changed. I then reacted with a negative face of having my freedom to act upset and disappointed, where Robby then used positive face to try and make himself admired and liked by saying it’s for the best and he will always like me and wait for me. I experienced face-loss as I felt embarrassed for flying to him to be turned away and felt less powerful after always telling myself not to fly over to him.

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Mother-Daughter Tug of War All that I am or hope to be, I owe to my mother. My mother is my best friend, unlike the evil stepmother of Cinderella. For the most part of our relationship, we get along like a house on fire. However, there are times when I am the fuel and my mother is the lighter, causing a three-day inferno. My mother is a strong lady, seeing only black and white and very headstrong. I on the other hand am a huge lover of shades of grey, flexible in my ideas and next move. A free spirit if you will. From friends to strangers, we often get told we look alike, but our personalities can often bump heads at the best of times. One major conflict we have over the years is that I feel inadequate and she’s not proud of me. My sister is the second born, and yet I always feel like I am chasing the eighth ball in mum’s approval.

My mother’s BATNA is to see the lighter shades of grey, but will still hold firm beliefs in situations where she is protective over me. This results in negotiating with each other, in the hopes for mum to verbalise her positive thoughts and appreciation for all the things I have done well. This includes going with the flow if my decisions are altered to what she thinks is best or right for me.

My BATNA is to agree to pick my battles and reveal my BATNA only once the conflict is underway and not going anywhere. My BATNA is to work on my self-esteem and have my mother help me in accepting compliments without her having to always give them to me. Before mum and I started arguing, I chose my BATNA early on to avoid a fruitless conversation. I never revealed it to her, as she is a competitive person and it would result in a win-lose outcome favouring mum.

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Diane, a strong name for a strong lady, owns a legal recruitment company for the past twenty-five years and born an Aries. Her strong will and legal background often dominate our conflict as she is almost impossible to argue with. The argument will often lead me to tears and walking away, as anything I say, mum will have a rebuttal for. The background information for mum portrays a competing conflict style, in particular a forcing variation. This style is used as mum exhibits very low flexibility and disclosiveness by trying to get me to go along with her by virtue of superior power. As my mother does not mind a good conflict, a competing style is best explained as the glass slipper fitting on Cinderella’s foot. In this particular conflict about making mum proud in all that I do and not being as good as my sister, I often use an avoiding conflict style. In saying that, my conflict style usually starts as a competing style to match my mothers, but ends in avoiding as she dominates the argument by pushing her opinion on “all is fair” and she is just as proud of me as she is my sister. The variation of avoiding that I use tends to usually be protecting. This style emerges when parties are determined to avoid conflicts at all costs (Folger, Poole & Stutman, 2013). As noted in the textbook, this style is used when a person is concerned that the conflict with surface, that they build a shell around themselves (Folger, Poole & Stutman, 2013). I often build a wall around myself once in a conflict and try and stop the argument, by walking away and saying “ just drop it, it’s fine”.

Through the duration of our conflict, with competing and avoiding styles used, the Queen and Princess have entered a war of thrones. As my mother tries to explain to me that the issue is deeper than me feeling not appreciated or good enough, my mother used the tactic of fractionation. This tactic demonstrates that a person will break the conflict down into individual issues that can then be handled separately. This is seen as my mother tries to dig further in explaining that I am suffering from low confidence levels within low self-esteem and myself in my aim to be perfect, interpersonal conflict rather. However, as right as she may be, I then use the tactic of manipulation, such as guilt. By attempting to make others feel guilt so he or she will comply, I often retaliate by saying mum has always put my sister in the limelight and me “behind-the-scenes”.

A way of guilt tripping mum is a common tactic used during conflict to try and resolve it as quickly as possible.

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Mother-Daughter Tug of War A compromising conflict style would be the best alternative to dealing with a conflict of mother-daughter tug of war. This conflict style has moderate levels of assertiveness and cooperativeness, because it requires both mum and I to give up some of our needs. This style tries to find an intermediate position or trade-off through which we can both achieve some important goals in exchange for others. A great deal of energy and involvement is required when using this style to arrive at an acceptable compromise. If mum and I used this style together, we could have a healthy conflict in discussing ways in which I can be more confident and mum can be more vocal in giving me credit for my achievements in work, university and goals.

During the conflict with mum, a theory that best describes the ongoing conflict is Relational Dialectics. This theory maintains that relational life is characterised by ongoing tensions between contradictory impulses (West & Turner, 2010). This theory relates to the constant push and pull people have in relationships, as their desires in life constantly change.

Relational dialectics is focused on people in a relationship wanting opposing goals, such as openness and protectiveness, predictability and novelty and autonomy and connection.

As I am often a closed book and only reveal things when I need to, I find this theory is best explained in our conflict. This is because during our relationship and conflict, I want to be close to mum and reveal my feelings and what I want to change. However, I also like to keep things to myself and be independent. Another application to our conflict is emotional contagion. As my mother’s mood can vary from a stressful day in the office dealing with lawyers, her mood can easily attach to mine and make me anxious or adapt to her current mood, whether positive or negative.

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Struggle of the Siblings Thirteen months apart and growing up practically as twins, my sister and I were attached to the hip. This has not changed, only a deeper love has grown, however our personality and character traits have planted different seeds amongst the family garden. From an early age, I discovered I obsessed over things; not as in people or fashion, but in the crazy kind.

Washing my hands whenever I could, never leaving an inch of dirt around the house and locking my car door more times than I’m ashamed to mention. Kirsty on the other hand is a demanding character and very stubborn in what she does and when she feels like doing it. As sisters, we learnt our morals, ethics and ways of handling situations from our parents in the family home. Since moving out together to complete our university degrees on the Gold Coast, we have become even closer. On the contrary, we have our solid disagreements on how we live. Our main conflict is about Kirsty wanting to clean the house at a day and time that suits her, leave her clothes and shoes floating around the house and me constantly asking her to clean up or cleaning up after her. I clearly can’t handle dirt and mess, where she has no issue with it at all.

Kirsty’s BATNA is to pick a day and time that suits both of us and clean the house together.

Kirsty revealed she would prefer it if we both did half the house each and took care of our own personal spaces. She revealed later in the conflict that she is not willing to clean the house everyday to keep it clean, as she verbalised her degree and work were more important than being a domestic goddess, seven days a week.

My BATNA was to clean the house on a Saturday morning, provided that Kirsty does not leave her things lying around the house all week. If I found her belongings, I had permission to put it in her room and she will organise it in her own time, as long as it was out of the common area.

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My sister Kirsty, born on mum’s birthday is your typical go-getter, shoot from the hip and say how you feel type character. As Kirsty is a stubborn and demanding type personality, her conflict style often exudes a competing style. Competers avoid sacrificing any goals and instead use whatever effective means to compel others to satisfy their concerns (Folger, Poole & Stutman, 2013). Opening the conflict with a raised voice and voicing how she is “right” presents a competing style, as competers are known to exude activeness and high involvement in a conflict. As I am an avoider in most conflicts, I often stress over the relationship more than the issue itself. As certain styles can worsen relationships with others in the long-term, I avoided the conflict to protect our relationship by smoothing down our differences and emphasizing on common ground. Avoiders use smoothing to avoid causing hurt feelings and accentuate the positive in maintaining good relationships.

(Folger, Poole & Stutman, 2013). This was done by pointing out that we are both good at washing our dishes and packing away most things, the house is usually quite clean and we just need to work on personal items left in the living room area.

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Struggle of the Siblings As Kirsty is a competer in conflicts, her tactic used in this particular conflict is labeling.

This tactic is known as attaching an unfavourable name indirectly to the other parties behaviour in the conflict. During the conflict, Kirsty said, “You don’t have to be so controlling and be so obsessive over things”. Competers like to be in control of the conflict, as they are highly involved and active during the argument. Kirsty’s tactic was to stay in control, by labeling me an unfavourable name to keep the power. My reaction to the comment and overall conflict lead me to use the quid pro quo tactic. This tactic is known as giving “something for something”. Each party gives the other something in exchange for granting something. During the end of the conflict, Kirsty agreed not to shout at me, If I will listen better to what she has to say.

During the struggle of the sibling’s conflict, a flexible compromising style would have been more practical. This style suggests that parties search for trade-offs and flexible compromisers may be less actively involved in the conflict, following others’ initiatives (Folger, Poole & Stutman, 2013). For Kirsty and I to resolve our conflict, this style would be best as we would be less involved in the conflict and more concerned on our relationship and ways of being flexible on house work and chores.

The theory that can best describe our conflict would be Rummel’s five stage model. In the beginning, we started the conflict with the latent conflict as we both held opposing views on house work and ways of living together. We then moved towards the initiation stage where I complained to mum on the phone that I am always cleaning up after Kirsty and am beginning to get highly annoyed. As mum rang Kirsty to discuss the issue as a third party intervenor, this started the triggering event. As this caused quite a stir, we began the third stage of conflict, open conflict. Kirsty and I had a chat before dinner, where we both voiced our opinions, thoughts and ideas of what we expected, which began the conflict of avoiding and competing. As we agreed with each other’s BATNA to clean the house on a Saturday and to try to keep the common area clear of belongings, we moved to the fourth stage; balance of power. We were both happy with the outcome and consequences of the resolution. As Kirsty tried her very best to keep the house clean amongst her busy schedule, we quickly fell into stage five of Rummel’s communication model; disruption stage. This is because I once again found her shoes and jackets lying around the lounge later that week. This fifth stage of conflict is known as the emergence of potential conflict and confrontation, if a new triggered event occurs (Folger, Poole & Stutman, 2013).

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Work Versus Balance

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Working full time, completing a full time university degree and balancing life without family has been a real test. Working in the communications office at Village Roadshow Theme Parks is an abundance of pressure and demands. Working full time to fulfill my personal dream of an internship in New York at an advertising agency, often leads to a conflict between my boss and I. The constant struggle of wanting to work fewer hours to focus on high grades at Bond University has led to multiple negative conversations.

After many emails, sit-down chats and phone calls of asking for time off or less hours in the weeks leading to end of semester, the answer is constantly no, with the reasoning of “ it’s business and you are needed.” As Jacki has been managing the communications office for over ten years, her main goal is to keep the office running at a smooth pace, despite the life balance employees suffer to maintain the effectiveness of the business.

Jacki’s BATNA was to have me work my three days a week and every second weekend, finish two hours earlier than my normal 8am to 5pm. Jacki revealed her BATNA early in the conflict as she has a competitive nature and conflict style, her BATNA depended on her strength and attractiveness through her power over me.

My BATNA was to continue working my three full days a week to keep up income, work satisfaction and a strong work ethic. However, I negotiated for fewer hours during my three days, to instead work 9am to 3pm. I revealed my BATNA after constant negotiating with her, as I did not want to find myself in a shaky situation if I failed to negotiate and accept Jacki’s first offer. I also did not want to negotiate with myself to accept anything Jacki offered, as the outcome would be a win-lose, favouring Jacki.

During the conflict between Jacki and myself, I found her to use an avoiding conflict style. This is due to the fact that anytime I asked for a meeting about my roster, I would get a response related to how busy she is and her schedule is full for the rest of the week.

I found this highly frustrating, which was demonstrated in my competing conflict style.

Competers focus on the issue and make their demands apparent. I mentioned my issues to Jacki weeks before and tried on multiple occasions to speak to her face to face, about changing my availability. Jacki avoided the issue as the answer always seemed to be well suited to her for business; even though she is well-aware I am still a student.

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As Jacki is foremost my Boss and I need to have respect for her and her decisions for the business, I found her conflict tactic to be an authority tactic. Jacki used invoke formal authority, as she used her managerial position to influence the rostering team on securing my shifts two weeks in advance. Once the shift is complete, no changes are to be made. As I first and foremost try and put my degree above all else, I decided to use self-promotion tactic in my reaction. This tactic presents self as deserving, virtuous, self-sacrificing to build liking (Folger, Poole & Stutman, 2011). I believed I deserved the time off and often stayed back to work extra hours to help out with early radio stations or late night studio work.

During the conflict with Jacki, a more constructive style to resolve the issue would have been a collaborating style. This style focuses on the issue and interests of both parties, instead of on the personalities. This style mentions that parties try to understand the other parties points of view as legitimate and recognise that meeting both their own and each other’s needs and interests is important (Folger, Poole & Stutman, 2013). For Jacki to distinguish that university is important to me and I need the time off and for me to realise that it is a business and my roster can be altered earlier would result in a more productive conflict.

The theory that best describes the conflict Work versus balance, would be Power Balance.

As Jacki is my manager, she immediately holds power over me, such as expert power and reward power. Expert power is based on skills, knowledge and experiences. As Jacki has been in the business for over ten years, holds the role of the manager and has the final say, she inevitably has the power over me and other employees. As she has the right to reward or punish myself and others for work related issues, she has been granted reward power.

During the conflict, Jacki held a direct application of power, as she intended to compel me to respond regardless that I requested fewer hours or less shifts during the semester.

Another theory that would explain the conflict between my manager and I would be Expectancy Violation Theory, in particular the communicator reward valence. This idea is the sum of the positive and negative characteristics of a person and the potential for him or her to carry out rewards or punishments (West & Turner, 2010). It is important to bring both positive and negative characteristics to an interaction, as people can reward or punish another during a conversation. As I expected Jacki to agree with my heavy work load and try to negotiate ways to satisfy us both, she instead reacted with a negative outcome of denying me less shifts. I also did not expect her to present negative non-verbal messages such as eye rolling and folding her arms, placing a barrier between open communication.

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Work Versus Balance

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Nurse Versus Grandchild A few weeks ago, my grandfather suffered a stroke at the age care home he has been in since January. The downward spiral started on Boxing Day when he was rushed into ICU with double pneumonia. I am incredibly close to my grandfather, being the first grandchild and only having one grandparent in Australia. I am extremely protective and caring of him, as family is everything to me. He has twenty-four hour care by wonderful nurses and doctors, but I often find myself being his nurse or carer. I understand the staff have many patients to look after, but since January I have had to make multiple calls to the ambulance to get him to the hospital after a fever, disorientation and dizziness. I am not a qualified nurse, but have learnt a lot in the past few months and only want the best for him. I have had multiple conflicts with the nurses about extra care for him and calling me if anything is wrong, as my family is still in Sydney. Yet, the nurses fail to do so and I have to constantly talk to them about checking his blood pressure and oxygen levels. The participants involved during the conflict are Nurse Cindy and I, with a third Party Sarah.

The nurse’s BATNA is to visit my grandfather every hour to make sure he is ok and if he needs anything. Their negotiation style was to talk less and listen more to what my family and I wanted and needed for the safety and care of my grandfather.

My BATNA was to visit three times a week at the aged care home and to trust their professional judgment if he needs to be taken to the hospital. I also negotiated to discuss anything in depth with the head nurses and not the carers, as too many people were being told different things about medication.

Usually I am an avoider or compromiser in conflicts, but certain situations bring out the warrior in me. My conflict style in this particular quarrel was very competitive, ashamed to say not the good kind. Seeing my grandfather on his own and not receiving the best care possible, I am like a lioness protecting her cubs. My conflict style used forcing, such as guilt tripping in showing the nurses that they need to keep a watchful eye on my grandfather.

The nurses knew prior to the conflict that he needed extra eyes on him as he was spiraling down. During the conflict and me trying to tell them that they were wrong for not attending to him, they used an avoiding conflict style, with the variation of withdrawing.

Head nurse Cindy used withdrawing by keeping the issue off the table, by using fogging, where she turned the criticism and attack made by me and only acknowledged that she should of helped him further to avoid being rushed to the hospital.

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Nurse Versus Grandchild

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During the course of the conflict with Cindy, she reacted to my competing style with an avoidance tactic, postponement. This was seen as Cindy said she would prefer to deal with the issue at a later stage, as she needs to speak to the rest of the staff who were on shift the night my grandfather had a stroke. Being protective and upset about my grandfather’s unfortunate stroke, I reacted with a competitive tactic, verbal aggression. This tactic is an aggressive approach, aligned with competing, as it is used when a person shouts or blames the other party. I blamed the nurses for not being by his side and shouted in the midst of my anger and anxiety that I might lose my grandfather.

A collaborate conflict style would have been a more desired approach, as its goal is to meet the needs of both parties. As Cindy and myself only wanted the best for my grandfather, this style would have worked, because it is suggested that both parties are generally pleased and often enthusiastic about the resolution. Aside from Cindy avoiding the conflict at the time, the end result of taking care of my grandfather was the main goal to be reached.

The theory that best applies to the recent conflict with Nurse Cindy and Head Nurse Sarah would be third party intervention. As Cindy and I could not agree on terms for the care of my grandfather, a mediator assisted the conflict in a respectful manner. Nurse Sarah behaved as a mediator, as this roles requires the mediator to intervene by allowing the parties to clarify their choices, resources, and decision points, by recognizing each other’s perspectives (Folger, Poole & Stutman, 2013). Mediators have traditionally been used in environmental and labor disputes, today they are employed in a wide variety of conflict such as consumer conflicts and community and neighborhood disputes.The conflict between Nurse Cindy and I were mainly about the best care for my grandpa to avoid feeling dizzy and unwell and to have rude comments retaliated and medical jargon voiced to me. To avoid any more conflict and face-threatening acts, a mediator assisted the conflict between myself and Nurse Cindy.

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Sweet and Sour Earlier in the semester, I was offered the role of Stage Manager at Cake, Bake and Sweets Show held in Sydney. The show is dedicated to bringing together celebrity chefs from around the world to do presentations on stage, book signings and selling their stock for three full days at Sydney Showgrounds. As I had the role of Stage Manager, I had to coordinate book signings and all things related to the talent. This year we had Adriano Zumbo and Miguel Mastrae as our main talent and the crowds flocked in to see their favourite demonstrations. Part of the ticket packages sold were if you bought the celebrity chef ’s book, you got to line up and have it signed with a photo. It was my job to control this and unfortunately not everyone would be able to do so, as we had over eight thousand people in one day. Unfortunately, the sweetness turned sour as I had to cut the line after two hours of book signing and one lady in particular was not impressed with me. Screaming at me, threatening me and telling me to watch out was the icing on the cake. After twenty minutes of reasoning, I arranged for Miguel and Adriano to have a behind-the-scenes photo with her and sign her purchased book. I was more fearful of my life than anything at the abuse I received for a celebrity photo.

My BATNA during the conflict with the lady was to assist her privately to avoid embarrassment publicly and agree to have the photo taken. However, I negotiated upfront that this will need be done in private, as it is unfair to other guests who were in the same position as her. One photo with Miguel and Adriano and a book signing was to be done an hour after remaining guests had left the area.

The guest remained competitive and revealed her BATNA early in the negotiation stages.

The guest wanted her entire family to have a photo with the celebrity chefs and each have their booked signed. After thirty minutes of negotiating and trying to arrive at a common ground, we agreed to have one photo and one book signing for herself, as time was of the essence and it was at the end of the day.

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Feisty and aggressive behaviour used by the guest can only be related to one style, competing.

This style, in particular the variation of forcing is advantageous when there is pressure to come to a resolution quickly, because competers can push their own agendas (Folger, Poole & Stutman, 2013). As the guest wanted her goal met and had no concern for the fact that Miguel and Adriano were only booked for two hours, she reacted with an intimidating conflict style to persuade me to change the outcome. As she was physically much bigger than me and I was on my own at the time, my conflict style embraced the accommodating style. As I envision the long-term effects for the company, particularly with how social media works today, I thought it would be best to give in to her than have any negativity on the show and overall comments made by the public. The only weakness of this style for this conflict is that accommodating can often be seen as a sign of weakness to the other party.

This encouraged the guest to take a more competitive approach, on the assumption that I as the accommodator fear confrontation. I found myself shifting from avoiding the conflict earlier on, to accommodating the guest as I was on my own and had to make an executive decision to please the guest, without causing public drama. I do anything to avoid conflict, but in this particular situation, I had to take the lead and protect the company and myself, which is why i used an accommodating style.

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Sweet and Sour

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As the guest was not happy at all and wanted me to know about it over and over again, she used an assertive and aggressive tactic of threats and verbal aggression. These tactics are a statement that if the other party does not meet party’s demand, negative consequences will result. As the guest told me to fear my life and will wait outside for me at the end of the day, I felt threatened with her conflict tactic. I reacted with an accommodation tactic, such as give concession. This tactic is used to accede to the other party’s demands. By allowing the guest to have a photo and book signing after initially cutting the line, I gave concession to the guest.

One may disagree with my thought process, but after the conflict was resolved I believe I could have still handled it better. If I had more authority or assistance from a superior, I could have used an avoiding style. As I shun away from conflict, particularly a conflict where I am being abused or threatened, I prefer to remove myself from the situation. As I unfortunately did not have that option, I had to accommodate to the guest’s wants and be verbally abused for a long period of time in front of many bystanders. I think I handled the conflict as professionally and as maturely as i could of, but it would have been good if a third party was involved to assist me in keeping the photo and booking signing fair for all.

The theory that best describes the conflict between the guest and myself would be FaceSaving. As the guest threatened me and used competitive conflict styles, I realised I lost face during the conflict, particularly as it was done in public. People are said to lose face when they are treated in such a way that their identity claims are challenged or ignored (Folger, Poole & Stutman, 2001). There are several face loss consequences, which I think I suffered. These face loses consequences are feeling momentarily incapacitated and confused, shame and embarrassment, as other guests were standing around watching the argument and finally the feeling of being less powerful and inferior, even if my role was powerful as stage manager. As my face was threatened, I immediately tried to save face. Brown and others have suggested in the text that when people feel they are being treated unfairly or pushed in a way that is justified, they are likely to make some attempt to resist this treatment. A defence mechanism used to save-face and one’s self-image can be verbal, by showing that you are not intimidated by another person.

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Battle of the Bridesmaids

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Something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue. Bridesmaid’s duties were called upon me earlier this year, for my best friend’s wedding in South Africa. As there were four bridesmaids involved in assisting the bride and very strong personalities, drama was on the horizon. As I live in Australia and the bridesmaids all live in South Africa, I tried my very best to accomplish my duties, voice my ideas and try to help with the bridal shower arrangements. However, as I am eight hours ahead of South Africa and could not attend meetings physically, I found it quite frustrating. As I have known the bride since we were seven years old, I felt like my sister was getting married.

Naturally I am protective over Natasha, the beautiful bride and her family and only want the best for her. One bridesmaid in particular felt the need to control everything related to bridesmaid duties. Once I arrived in South Africa and met Gina for the first time, I felt a sense of intimidation as she had already planned everything and only told me later the things I needed to pay for.

During a private conflict with Gina to avoid causing public drama and ruining any magical moments for the bride, Gina remained competitive in her negotiations. Gina’s BATNA was to keep the existing plans and have me arrange certain parts of the bachelorette that I had discussed with the Bride’s mother.

My BATNA was revealed after Gina revealed her negotiation upfront; as I knew I would have higher power in the say as the bride’s parents are my Godparents. After Gina proposed what she wanted, I revealed that I was happy with her plans, but would prefer to arrange the Kitchen Tea and a dinner with the bridal party as a way of feeling satisfied for doing my part as a bridesmaid. Gina agreed as we both only wanted the best for Natasha, but both hid our power of influence and chose to move forward on a lighter note.

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As I have known Natasha since we were seven years old and have been best friends ever since, I am very protective and caring of her. We grew up more like family and are still a huge part of each other’s lives, despite living across the world from each other. As mentioned earlier, my conflict style is usually avoiding or accommodating, with certain conflicts I am not afraid to be the competitor. In this conflict with Gina, my conflict style resembled traits of a competitor, as I avoided sacrificing my opinions, thoughts or ideas for the bridal shower and used persuasive means for Gina to compel, in satisfying my own needs. However, Gina was not afraid to back down either from a conflict of “whose idea is better” she acted in a competitive manner by attempting to control the situation as the bridesmaids meeting and deny myself and the other girls any power or control. By stating she had spoken to the Bride’s mother or groom and knew exactly what Natasha wanted, she raised her voice and used a forcing competing style. This is because she tried to get us to go along with her ideas and showed no concern or understanding for my ideas or relationship with Natasha. Competing styles used by both parties often relates to the breeding of competing, setting up a symmetric competition between both parties.

The end result is usually a stalemate.

As the conflict was going around in circles, we adopted the invoke superordinate goals tactic. This tactic identifies a common goal or end for which parties can work together, the goal should be one that both parties value (Folger, Poole & Stutman, 2001). The main goal for all of us bridesmaids was to have the bride and groom have a smooth and wonderful day, which included the bridal shower and bachelorette. The tactic to move towards the goal and remove personalities, relationships and friendships from the conflict was successful in moving forward.

In order to move forward from an immature competing conflict style, a collobaroate style would have been successful in resolving the issue. This style is effective when parties help each other preserve face, so that a change in position or viewpoint does not suggest weakness or capitulation. As face-loss occured a few times during the conflict between Gina and I, a collaborative style would have avoided embarrassment and harsh words, having both of us feeling threatened.

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Battle of the Bridesmaids During the conflict and negotiation between Gina and myself, the theory and application that was used was the Union Management Negotiation. The Stage Models of Negotiation describe conflicts in terms of key events, specific types of episodes that occur during conflicts and how one episode leads to another. The first stage of Union Management Negotiation is distributive bargaining. This stage presents the parties testing the feasibility of possible demands, establish criteria for appropriate settlements, assess the power of each fulfilling their roles as a representative of a “side” in the negotiations (Folger, Poole & Stutman, 2013). During the conflict with Gina, we both comprehended each other’s power and demands in the strength of our cases. I had known the bride my entire life and wanted to put in the extra effort as I had missed a large part of the build up to the wedding.

Gina presented her case as a strength of playing the “Maid of honor” and completing most tasks on her own. However there was no Maid of honor in the bridal party. The second stage of negotiating is the problem solving stage, where parties explore a range of solutions that might satisfy the criteria established at the outset (Folger, Poole & Stutman, 2013). During the problem solving stage, Gina and I discussed what we could each do and the extra duties I could do to satisfy my needs as well as the bride and not interfere with any already made plans. The third stage of this model is decision-making, where parties come to an agreement on some terms and explore the implications of their decision.

This stage focuses on reality checking, by assessing that each party is satisfied with the implementations made (Folger, Poole & Stutman, 2013). During this stage, we discussed the ideas with the rest of the bridesmaids to make sure everyone was on the same page and agreed to the extra plans made. During this negotiation, a contrient interdepence was uncovered, as Gina and I both believed in the beginning of the conflict that one side’s gain will be the other side’s loss. This style resulted in a competitive negotiation throughout, until we formally sat down and completed the Union Management Negotiation to arrive at a positive and mutual understanding of each other.

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Consumer Verse Company Working at Village Roadshow Theme Parks and dealing with guests from Australia and abroad can bring along disagreements and escalated conflicts. As I work in the communications office and often help out with the reservations team, phone call discussions can be demanding and often tedious. As our company policy states we cannot under any circumstance give out refunds, calls can escalate with threats of personal complaints and Fair Trading reports. On this particular day, I assisted the reservations team and had a young man call asking for a refund for The Australian Outback Spectacular tickets.

Michael wanted a refund as he forgot the date of the show and did not show up on the night he was booked in for. I remained professional and told the guest our policy and that we unfortunately could not offer what he wanted. We were able to re-book the guest in for another night for a fee of $9.95, however Michael insisted on a refund as he had an overseas trip planned the very next day. Michael retaliated and started swearing at me after I apologised and said we cannot offer any refunds, as mentioned earlier.

Michael’s BATNA was that he wanted a refund regardless, but would be happy with another night booked in and to not have to pay for the transport company that he missed as well.

Michael began his negotiation in a competitive way and stood firm on his idea that he was not going to pay any fees.

My BATNA during this conflict was to avoid the amendment fees but charge Michael the transport fee’s, as Con-X-ion is our third party affiliator and would have to be recharged. After negotiating with Michael and trying to remain professional, Michael agreed unwillingly

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Michael’s conflict style exuded competing throughout the conflict, as he used traits of threatening, raised voice and swearing to show his power. This style can be seen as intimidating to another party and can often lead to face-threatening acts. This style is explained as no expression of concern or understanding for the other’s position, nor any effort to build future relationships (Folger, Poole & Stutman, 2013). During the conflict with Michael, my conflict style shifted from avoiding to accommodating. As Michael raised his voice and began shouting at me for his mistake and then swore at me as I did not leverage with him, I used an avoiding conflict style. I used a withdrawing style and in particular a fogging style. Fogging is where a party turns aside a criticism or attack by acknowledging only part of it. I did this by acknowledging Michael’s raised voice and harsh words, by apologising that he missed the night and will still be able to see the show on another night. The withdrawing –avoiding conflict style is common in conflicts in organisations, as the conflict is handed to a superior or to another unit in the organisation (Folger, Poole & Stutman, 2013). An accommodating style usually gives in to another party and is willing to accede to the other party’s demands (Folger, Poole & Stutman, 2001). I used a conceding style during the conflict, as this style has a mixture of motives and real concern for others and a tactical concern for building relationships that may be useful in the future. As business and relationships are important to the company, I tried to remain professional and offer Michael a deal he could not refuse in order to save-face for the company in the long-term, as Michael threatened Fair Trading and social media negative publicity.

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Consumer Verse Company During the conflict with Michael, competing and avoiding conflict styles were used, thus presenting opposing conflict tactics. The conflict tactic used by Michael during the course of the conflict was threat, verbal aggression and labeling. All three tactics are aligned with competing styles, as it is a method used to show intimidation, power and authority in a negative manner. By Michael labeling me with words I cannot write down on paper, threatening to take the company to Fair Trading and yelling at me about his rights, it only escalated the conflict. As the conversation escalated and I wanted to terminate the call in trying to avoid the situation at all costs, I spoke to a team leader who advised me of my next move. The tactics I employed was meta-communication. This tactic is used to discuss and comment on communication patterns, particularly with the goal of improving communication processes (Folger, Poole & Stutman, 2001). As Michael continued a competitive style, with tactics like verbal aggression and labeling in our conversation, I reacted with a meta-communication tactic to ask him to stop swearing at me and calling me names. This pattern was not going to resolve the conflict and we needed to move forward in a positive and respectable manner. This tactic aims at changing the communication pattern and is aligned with conflict process reflection tactics.

During the conflict with Michael, a less dramatic outcome could have been avoided if we adopted a compromising conflict style. Compromisers let others know what they are willing to trade and their evaluations of other positions, but they do not always explain the reasoning or needs that underline their offers. Compromisers attempt to empower both themselves and others, because shared control is essential to the give-and-take necessary for compromise (Folger, Poole & Stutman, 2001). This style would have been better suited if Michael started the conversation in a calm manner and continued to be respectful. As Michael initially was at fault and did not want to pay any extra fees, a compromising way of handling the situation would have been to empower both myself and him in building a positive relationship. This would have enabled a smooth outcome and avoided all negative tactics used, such as threats, verbal aggression and labeling.

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A theory used during the conflict of Consumer Verse Company is framing and re-framing.

This theory illustrates how a conflict is framed and is influenced by the interaction among parties. The frames may shift as the conflict progresses between parties. (Folger, Poole & Stutman, 2013). The way that information is framed is used to formulate a negotiators goals and strategies. As Michael framed his argument in an aggressive way, I reframed the conflict to a more passive and professional approach, ignoring threats and verbal abuse. Conversations can be processed differently from one person to the next, based on human behaviour, personality traits and climate settings on the day during a conflict. The conflict between Michael and I was framed as a competitive an uncooperative process, but could have been reframed to a more cooperative and collaborative manner. Reframing can redirect conflict interaction in either constructive or destructive directions (Folger, Poole & Stutman, 2013). If Michael and I wanted to control conflict interaction and direct the conversation in an upward and positive direction, I needed to reframe the issue and problem so he would focus on the issue and not abusive language towards me.

A move that may influence framing from the text that is related to this conflict would be negative enquiry. This move involves asking the other party what he or she means by ambiguous statements in order to pin down the issues (Folger, Poole & Stutman, 2013).

As the statement made by Michael was, “ You suck at your job” could have changed to “ I am not happy with the way this outcome, can I please speak to a manager”. This simple process of questioning can often encourage parties to think through vague and judgemental statements, in order to reduce them to more objective terms (Folger, Poole & Stutman, 2013). The conversation could have been re-framed to a more polite and less abusive disagreement, resulting in Michael still attending the show without any extra fees. When harmful behaviour is framed, I am more hesitant to help Michael, until I reframed the conversation to a more pleasant one to complete the call and move forward to the next.

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Conflict of the unknown During the stress of the semester, work pressure and anxiety, the road did not get any easier. Burning the candle at both ends, something had to give. The candle seemed to burn out quicker at work than anything else, as I had important things to tick off my “to-do list”.

During the week that my Grandpa had a stroke after multiple altercations, I lost not only my appetite, but also copious amounts of sleep. This resulted in an uncomfortable conflict with Leanne, my team leader. Leanne attacked me on the day for being ten minutes late and said, “you really need to call us if you are running late, it’s really not good at all.” As I was tired, upset and not in a good way, I reacted in a way I usually wouldn’t. I told her I wasn’t running late because I slept in or was lazy, my Grandfather was in hospital and I had no family here. My body language presented a wall around me and my attitude shifted towards anger and defensiveness, as I got my back up with Leanne. After the few days I had, all sweetness and face-saving left and I said exactly how I felt, regardless who it was to. This behavior is extremely out of character for me, which is what triggered the conflict between Leanne and I. As I have never had any issues with other employees or team leaders at work, this was the first. Leanne, my team leader has only been in the business for the past six months and has not formed strong relationships with the staff just as yet. However, she is very professional on most occasions, has three young boys and a strong work ethic. From an outsider point of view, she comes across quite sweet and accommodating, but there have been multiple occasions where she has taken a stern and competitive view on situations, only seeing black and white. We have always had a respectable work relationship and no issue, but during this week, I was not taking any prisoners.

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Leanne’s BATNA was to reveal it very early on in the conflict that she did not know about the email and that I need to email her personally. If I could not emai her, I had permission to text her in the morning on the work mobile shared by all team leaders on the day of their shift.

My BATNA was to keep my options open and not succumb to her requests, instead to hide my BATNA until the negotiation was underway in full force. I decided that my best aternative to the conflict issue would be to send a mass email out to all team leaders and follow through with it after emailing, so there was proof in writing.

Conflict styles can shift during a short discussion or one that has been brewing over time.

If one style is not working, parties will shift automatically to find one that does work or suit their personality, needs and wants. Leanne began the conflict in a competitive manner, with verbal and non-verbal aggression and dominance. This is also seen as showing her power over me, as she has higher authority over me. Leanne’s referent power and expert power was used during this conflict, as she believed I was in the wrong and she was right. As her position in the business is above me, she used her power in a competitive way to intimidate me and show authority. As Leanne automatically thought I was late for no reason, attack mode set in. This is particularly associated with competitive styles of not seeing another party’s point of view, as well as not showing a concern for others (Folger, Poole & Stutman, 2013).

Once the negotiation was underway, I reacted in an avoiding conflict style as I had minimal sleep, high stress and anxiety about university assignments and my Grandfather.

I avoided the conflict using a protective variation, as I did not have the energy to reexplain my situation over and over again, as my manager knew and did not pass on the information to the team leaders. Protecting styles emerge when parties are determined to avoid conflict at all costs (Folger, Poole & Stutman, 2013). I had asked my manager Jacki to please forward my email to her the day before saying I was going to be in late the next day and will try do my best to get to work as early as I can. As protecting is an avoiding variation, it attempts to raise an issue with a strong counterattack, designed to warn others off. As my non-verbal behavior of folding my arms, not looking at Leanne in the eye all the time and moving to my desk on the far end of the office to avoid her, I used this variation to avoid the conflict at all costs.

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As Leanne used a competitive style in the beginning and kept pushing for an apology or stronger explanation after I had already sent an email to the manager, Leanne then changed her conflict style. The conflict shift from competitive to accommodating began, as Leanne then tried to email Jacki to say who was in and not in for the day, she then saw her email from Jacki that I originally sent the day before. Leanne then approached me with a softer manner, using an accommodating style. After realising the sensitivity of my situation and the real reason I was late, Leanne backed down and apologised and gave me a hug.

Leanne explained the reason for attacking me was that employees have been late too often, which has caused an issue in the business. All team leaders are trying to put consequences in place for late attendance and wantitng to rectify the issue as soon as possible.

Leanne’ conflict tactic started in competitive way, which resulted in aggressive tactics such as a threat. This tactic is a statement that if the other party does not meet party’s demands, negative consequences will result (Folger, Poole & Stutman, 2001). As Leanne stated I would be receiving a warning or other negative consequences, she used her referent and expert power to threaten me as a tactic for me to comply. As I retaliated to Leanne’s threat, I used a leave field and postponement tactic. A leave field tactic is used to remove yourself from contact with the other party, I moved away to the far end of the office to avoid any sight of her for further conflict. I also did not want to deal with the conflict at the very minute she wanted to, which is why i used postponement, in postpoining the issue until a future time.

A suggested conflict style for positive conversations and feedback would be to use a problem-solving conflict style. This style has a goal of developing a solution that meets all important needs of both parties and does not lead to any significant disadvantages. This style aims to discover a creative solution through joint effort. I could have emailed Leanne personally and told her the day before and Leanne could have identified the problem without emotional conflict of threats and consequences. Burke (1970) lists a number of characteristics of problem solving in the text, however the main one for Leanne and myself would be the belief that both parties involved have the potential to resolve the conflict and achieve a better solution by collaboration.

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Conflict of the unknown The theories and applications that best describe the conflict of the unknown would be climate and communication priacy management theory. Climate represents the prevailing temper, atttitudes, and outlook of a dyad group, or organization (Folger, Poole & Stutman, 2011). Climate helps explain the general sense of a relationship, what actions are appropriate and how fellow members are likely to react. As Leanne set the mood, also known as climate, the feeling was tense, uncomfortable and awkward. Climate emerges from an interaction, as it is a shared experience for both parties. Uncertainty on how to act and the consequences of actions made by both parties is a strong focus in the text. During the conflict, Leanne and myself were uncertain as to how we would each react to comments and non-verbal messages sent to each other. Uncertainty is natural in conflict and can cause the climate to increase or decrease.

Another theory related to the conflict with Leanne would be Communication Privacy Management Theory. This theory is based around the disclosure in relationships of managing private and public boundaries. In particular for this conflict a contextual criteria is used as a development for privacy rules. There are two elements in contextual criteria, social environments and physical setting. As Leanne and I were based in an office, that was not particularly large, anyone could hear our conversation that was meant to be private and only between my boss and I. As I am a closed book, I did not want to reveal private information for the office to know about for any attention or sympathy. The social environment involves special circumstances that might prompt a disclosure or a decision not to disclose. A physical environment has to do with the actual location (West & Turner, 2010). Leanne and I then formed a boundary linkage, as I revealed the information to her. A boundary linkage is the connections forming a boundary alliance between people. For example, when I revealed the real reason I was late to Leanne and disclosed private information, we are then linked in a privacy boundary.

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Reflection and Wrap Up. The word “conflict� can have a rather negative connotation towards it, however after completing this class, I now see the positive attributes it has. Previous classes in my degree, such as Human Communication and Interpersonal Communication have taught me many theories and applications into understanding communication between myself, others and in groups or organisations. However, Corporate Conflict Resolution has been the cherry on the cake in dealing with everyday disagreements and re-directing it to a more positive outcome. After writing my personal conflict journals, I have realised a few things about my character traits and myself. Observing that I am an avoider in most conflicts, competitive during conflicts related to my family and an accommodator in the work force has given me the understanding of what I may need to change. Perhaps in the future I could be more of a collaborator and compromiser with my family, instead of escalating conflicts with a matching competitive style as most of my family members use. I have been brought up to be a go-getter and stand up for myself, yet I have noticed in most conflicts, I shy away of any disagreements and avoid an argument at all costs. I know understand that disagreements are healthy and can in fact bring parties closer together, to a more solid understanding of one another to form close-knit bonds.

After writing the above journals, I have also realised that I enjoy communication immensely.

From a journalism and advertising background, this class has supplied lessons, skills and theories that I can use in my career and with family and friends. Understanding face-saving is so vital, as face-threatening acts occur daily within conversations amongst groups and dyads.

Understanding my BATNA in conflict has really helped me to gain confidence in myself to know that I do not have to back down or reveal my best alternative in the beginning of a negotiation. As we watched the video in class on the ten steps of negotiating, I tend to agree with all of what Alan McCarthy had to say in the 10 Rules of Negotiation. Never negotiate with yourself and never reveal your BATNA. With the conflict with my boss, team leader Leanne and bridesmaid Gina, I have learnt to be more open from the beginning of the conversation, but never to reveal my BATNA. I think it is important to frame questions and conversations in a way that can be taken as lightly as possible if the conversation is directing its way to a negative manner. As I am more involved in the work force, internships and formal environments, I think it is important to understand the way in which power can be used positively and negatively, the way in which climate can guide the conversation and how I should re-frame my ideas, questions and answers to formulate a clear communication process.

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Negotiations Planning Sheet Sweet and Sour

What I want?

I most importantly want to uphold my position as Stage Manager in the highest regard for the company and prove I am good at my job. Ideally, I want the guest to walk away and not embarrass me in front of all remaining guests at Cake, Bake and Sweets Show. I care about my position, face and repuation amongst the people that could possibly hire me for the next few events as Stage Manager. My interests are in long-term goals of wanting a full time position, pleasing the celebrity chefs, such as Miguel Mastrae and Adriano Zumbo. I also care about the safety of other guests and pleasing all guests who have paid for the book and for a photo opportunity.

Information I need?

Information about guest capacity in the arena and exact times set for book signing with added time incase the line was too long could benefit my decisions before conflict could arise.

Information about where supervisors of the show are at certain times of the day would benefit, as it is important information. This informatioin would benefit me when I need to make an executive decision and not get into trouble by the event coordinators and National Media Company.

Standards I could use?

There are no real standards or criteria related to this negotiation, except for knowing what times the celebrity chefs needed to leave, in particular any extra time they could offer us to sign all guests who have paid for a photograph too. During the conflict with the guest, I could have taken a step aside and analysed time and efficiency of the line in relation to the time that was left.

My BATNA:

If the guest and I didn’t reach an agreement, I could coordinate with the celebrity chefs and the guest to have a photo after the final show, to avoid any further conflict with remaining guests who missed out. My other alternative approach could be to apologise and offer a book signing and a photo for one guest of the family to be taken at the end of the day, before the chefs had to leave the show for the airport.

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Their interests?

The guests’ main interest was meeting Adriano Zumbo and Miguel Mastrae and having their celebrity chef cook book signed. The guest portrayed strong interests in baking, cooking and all things sweet as she had parcels and parcels of merchandise bought from the show that day. I think the guest takes the event quite seriously, as she verbalised how long she had been waiting for the show to begin.

Their BATNA

I believe the guests BATNA was to cut the line after herself and her family, as she was waiting in line for a long period of time. As I told her this was not possible, the guest best alternative was to have the celebrity chefs sign her book before he left, as well as take a photo of each member of her family. The guest stood firm on wanting a photo if she could not get a book signing and the chef had to leave to catch the next flight.

Possible Options?

The solution that would meet both our needs, such as remaining professional and upholding a reputable name as a Stage Manager and having a photo and book signed with the celebrity chef would be the following. To avoid any further conflict, the guest was to give her mobile number to myself and at the end of the day I would call her and have her take a photo with the celebrity chefs, as well as have her booked signed before they left for their aiport. This was to be done backstage and at the end of the day, as the guest was staying for the entire duration of the show.

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References: Folger, J., Poole, M., & Stutman, R. (2013). Working Through Conflict: Strategies for Relationships, Groups and Organisations (7th ed., p. 76). New York: Pearson.

Folger, J., Poole, M., & Stutman, R. (2013). Working Through Conflict: Strategies for Relationships, Groups and Organisations (7th ed., p. 91). New York: Pearson.

Folger, J., Poole, M., & Stutman, R. (2013). Working Through Conflict: Strategies for Relationships, Groups and Organisations (7th ed., p. 120). New York: Pearson.

Folger, J., Poole, M., & Stutman, R. (2013). Working Through Conflict: Strategies for Relationships, Groups and Organisations (7th ed., p. 117). New York: Pearson.

Folger, J., Poole, M., & Stutman, R. (2013). Working Through Conflict: Strategies for Relationships, Groups and Organisations (7th ed., p. 256). New York: Pearson.

Folger, J., Poole, M., & Stutman, R. (2013). Working Through Conflict: Strategies for Relationships, Groups and Organisations (7th ed., p. 116). New York: Pearson.

Folger, J., Poole, M., & Stutman, R. (2013). Working Through Conflict: Strategies for Relationships, Groups and Organisations (7th ed., p. 115). New York: Pearson.

Folger, J., Poole, M., & Stutman, R. (2001). Working Through Conflict: Strategies for Relationships, Groups and Organisations (4th ed., p. 227). United States: Longman.

Folger, J., Poole, M., & Stutman, R. (2001). Working Through Conflict: Strategies for Relationships, Groups and Organisations (4th ed., p. 241). United States: Longman.

Folger, J., Poole, M., & Stutman, R. (2001). Working Through Conflict: Strategies for Relationships, Groups and Organisations (4th ed., p. 249). United States: Longman.

Pruitt, D., & Rubin, J. (1986). Social Conflict: Escalation, Stalemate and Settlement. New York: Random House.

West, R., & Turner, L. (2010). Introducing Communication Theory: Analysis and Application (4th ed., p. 202). New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

West, R., & Turner, L. (2010). Introducing Communication Theory: Analysis and Application (4th ed., p. 452). New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

Thank you for an amazing semester Sasha, it has been so wonderful having you teach me again.

Wishing you all the best for the future and rest of the year.

Creation: Magazine Style - Journalism Major Designed: InDesign Photos: Attributed to Fashion Illustrations by Kerrie Hess