Conflict Management and Benz

 Article Summary
     Tan (2009) conducted a case study of a conflict between Mercedes Benz and China that started in the winter of 2001. The original conflict was initiated by Wuhan Wild Animals Zoo and their faulty automobile purchased from Benz. Benz refused any compensation to the zoo for airbag and tire malfunctions that resulted in fatalities. This incident created a media frenzy that resulted in the people of China rallying against the Benz company.

    The author states that the isolated incident turned into nation-wide conflict. The people were unhappy about the customer relations policy that was happening in China compared to the "lemon law" policy that the U.S. upheld for Benz customers. Even with the media and complaints, the Benz company refused responsibility for the car's malfunctions, blaming the customer. The poor public relations at the Benz company in China led to the escalation in the conflict.


Integration
   The conflict resolution problems that the article by Tan (2009) discusses, suggests that the incident could have been dealt with in a better way, avoiding the escalating direction it had went which is a prime example of a non productive conflict interaction or destructive conflict. The Benz company's continued avoidance of the complaints of the zoo escalated the conflict into a national problem.

  In this conflict, neither party was achieving their goals because of inflexibility and poor communication and problem solving skills. Avoidance and escalation locked the Mercedes Benz company and the people of China into a locked cycle of both parties trying to win instead of some sort of resolution that both could be satisfied with. The outcome was detrimental to both parties involved, with Benz acquiring a bad customer service reputation and the zoo losing money.

Application 
   This case study discussed by Tan (2009) could be used by companies that are training public relations or customer service employees on conflict management. It is a good example of how a simple private issue can gain support and escalate into a bigger scale conflict when not handled efficiently and effectively.

   Another application for this study involves company policies and international business. It could  be used to establish multi-national policies that are carried out the same in all countries in companies that are multi-national. If policies remained constant, there would not be an issue regarding the fairness one company shows one country contrary to another.


References

Tan, J., Tan, A. (2009). Managing public relations in an emerging economy: The case of Mercedes in China. Journal of Bussiness Ethics. Vol 86, 257-266.

Nuclear Conflict

                                        Iran has many current conflicts within their country and with other countries. Iran and the United States have a long history of conflict without resolution. The Carter administration attempted to develop diplomatic ties with the Islamic Republic after their revolution of 1979 from the monarchy of the Pahlavi dynasty. The White House then  shifted to a policy of containment after the seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran where fifty-two Americans were held hostage, some for more than two years. This event marked the beginning of U.S. sanctions on Iran.    





      The United States continued this minimalistic strategy of containment with Iran while continuing to monitor developing nuclear technology advances in Iran. Negotiations have been attempted but the U.S. has avoided policies with Iran and their President Mahmoud Ahmadinjad throughout the years. The United States and other world powers have been becoming increasingly concerned about the Nuclear Program in Iran over the past few years. A meeting in 2009 between the U.S., France, Russia and Iran was uneventful in deliberations after Iran stalled when an agreement was not reached.  

                                                           
       The U.S.  increased sanctions on Iran in July 2010 on imports in the country and nuclear programs, limiting their ability to buy components and maintain business around the world. In more recent negotiations last month, Saeed Jalili (negotiator for Iran) and Catherine Ashton (EU negotiator) along with six other countries including the U.S., have again started discussing the nuclear program issues that are of concern for the world  powers.
                                                               
                                      
     In this continuing conflict between Iran and the United States there have been many years of avoidance by the U.S. and Iran. The U.S. have avoided policies with Iran in order to avoid war with the country, yet the U.S. is interested in protecting itself from potential threats of nuclear war. This is a credible fear from the U.S. because Iran is seemingly unstable with constant protesting, human rights  deterioration and notable hatred of the U.S. by Iranians. Iran has avoided discussing their nuclear program because they know that the only resolution the U.S. wants, will result in the termination of the nuclear intelligence that they have been developing.
     Iran created the triggering event in 1979 by initiating conflict with the U.S. by taking over the U.S. Embassy and the conflict has escalated since then. The United States sanctions on Iran is a forcing, competing style of conflict in which the party (U.S.) exhibits low flexibility and simply tries to get others (Iran) to go along with them by virtue of superior power. Iran is in more of a contending, competing style of conflict where they are somewhat flexible as long as the flexibility does not prevent the party (Iran) from achieving their goals (nuclear technology). There does not seem to be a resolution in sight between the U.S. and Iran, but negotiations are currently being held in Turkey with the other world powers.

Interpersonal Relations: Perception

   In conflict situations, perception of interpersonal relations are important. In class and in the text, we learned that perception is a feature in conflict. Perception of  the other person's behavior can affect the situation's direction within a conflict. Fritz Heider, considered a social psychologist, wrote many books pertaining to interpersonal relations that can be helpful in understanding conflict. In his book, The Psychology of Interpersonal Relations, quite relevantly he quotes:
        In the experience of conversation, a common ground constitutes itself between the other one and myself,
       my thought and his make up a single tissue, my words and his are called out by the phase of the discussion,
       they insert themselves in a common operation of which neither one of us is the sole creator. A double being
       comes about, and neither is the other one for me a simple behavior in my transcendental field, nor am I that
       for him, we are, one for the other, collaborators in a perfect reciprocity, our perspectives glide one into the
       other, we coexist within the same world (Merleau-Ponty, 1945).

   The image represents a video in Heider's experiments where the triangles and the circle are in a series of movements that are interpreted by the subjects.The personal characteristics given to each object are portrayed in their movements so their motives and sentiments can be perceived. His work also implies, simply, that when one person (A) acts, person (B) will interpret it in his own psychological processes and perceive (A)'s psychological processes as well.
  The more I read of Heider, the more relevance I find for his studies and research for this class. I would recommend reading more of his works because he sets up a bases for human interactions, perceptions, and reciprocity which are key features in conflict.                                                                            http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=Zh6TDmayL0AC&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=interpersonal+communication+psychology&ots=x0XSiZba7M&sig=TYZCqQJRsKgDY49a97V38wwV23k#v=onepage&q&f=false
      

Conflict Resolution

    My name is Jen and I am currently in my last semester at Kent Stark. My future plans include obtaining my doctorate in research psychology at Akron. I hope to take my GRE's and apply for next fall semester. I thoroughly enjoy psychology and could never get bored with finding answers to unresolved questions. I am taking Conflict Resolution with Dr. Betz this semester because I felt it was an interesting and beneficial class that will help me in the future. Everyone encounters conflict, but having the tools to resolve it efficiently is a skill most people could use.