Communication Strategies

A conflict is a situation that arises when there is a variation of interests of two parties, and both want situations or results that might make the other party unhappy. A conflict can be broadly categorized into two branches internal or external  that is, one might have a conflict in their heads while choosing between alternatives or could be external which involves other parties and their varying perspectives. A disagreement on interests, values, beliefs and actions is what usually causes a conflict.

A conflict exists, but ideally, the purpose of existence should be the resolution of it  only this will lead to a peaceful world. There are various methods of resolving a conflict. The result is usually in three categories firstly, Win-Win  this is when both the parties get what they want and are extremely happy with their parts secondly, Win-Lose is when one party wins and gets what they wished for and the other party loses and is not happy with the result lastly, there is a Lose-Lose situation as well, where none of the parties get what they wished for and the conflict ends in nobodys interest  this usually happens when the cause or basis of the conflict is not right and could generally result in the harm of somebody else or human mankind (Brem, 1995).

Whenever there is a conflict, there are five phases that the entire procedure goes through. First, Prelude to conflict this is the existence of such variables that might result in a fight later, the factors that result in the conflict. Second, Triggering Event this is the happening of a certain event or the occurrence of a certain situation that might trigger the variables that exist and result in increased tension. Third, Initiation Phase this is when either of the two parties openly makes it clear or gives a message in any form to the other party of the existence of tension and conflict  this is when the conflict is made public. Fourth, Differentiation phase this is when both parties give their own arguments and tell reasons for their opinion. Lastly, there is the Integration stageResolution this is when both the parties make an effort and try to resolve the issue by finding common grounds.

The conflict that I usually face is in my university class. It is a great thing that my university has a very diverse student base  Africans, Americans, Canadians, Asians, Indians, Hispanics, anything you name, we have them, and that is beyond amazing. However, when working in teams on class projects, it becomes a little difficult because everybody has such varying perspectives and making sure that we take into account all of their opinions and not hurt anybodys beliefs or values.

We had to work on a marketing assignment this time around. We had to make the marketing mix of a new product Shampoo. This is a much generalized product and thus, we need to keep a huge target audience in mind. Also, we had to launch it globally.

All of us on the team understood that competition is not only restricted to your local market with increasing globalization, the entire international forum is becoming your playing field.

Although, the world is becoming a global village and international scope for all products should exist but there are still many cultural and regional differences that producers and marketers need to keep in mind before launching the product. There are a few changes that one needs to make to adjust the product according to the needs of the market in a particular region otherwise, it can result in major losses.

Naturally, in doing so, the team resulted in a conflict because everybody had their own brilliant ideas which were well suited in their culture. Some of the ideas being used in one culture were considered offensive in other cultures  this was also a major source of conflict between team members. There were instances where the American in the group wanted to use a thumbs up sign in the advertisement to show sign of approval of the shampoo. However, the Iraqi in the group took this as an offense because in Iraq, a thumbs up sign is a curse and is usually used for abusing others. A Mexican wanted to show a smiling lady in the huge crowd to imply confidence in a person but the Indonesian in the group did not approve because smiling in public in Indonesia means embarrassment. These were some cultural clashes. However, the problem shouldnt have been there if the ideas were rejected normally. But the problem was that the Mexican was not willing to understand why smiling was a problem and was not willing to accept this cultural difference and refused to believe the Indonesian. Something similar happened with the Iraqi  the American said that the Iraqi was lying and only creating problems because he was an American and Iraqis are against Americans.

A conflict is usually resolved using five strategies
1. Accommodation  this is when one party agrees to let go of their ideas and wishes and agrees to do whatever the other party wishes.
2. Avoidance  this is when all the parties involve try to ignore the fact that there is tension and that a problem exists. This can only work temporarily and can buy you time, but not in the long run it only makes things worse.
3. Collaboration  this is when the parties want to resolve the issue and want to involve all parties in doing so. Thus, they all sit together and try to come up with a solution which is mutually beneficial.
4. Compromise  this is when the problem is presented to a third person who analyzes the issue and gives a solution this often means that one party has to give in and agree to whatever has been decided (Timor Australia Friendship Manual).
5. Competition  this is when the resolution is heated, and the view of one party is forced on the other party. This is more inclined towards coercion because it is at the expense of the good of the other party.

All of us, being mature individuals decided to go with the collaborative approach and tried to go back to our basics and understand the situation well. We realized what an important part culture plays in marketing.

When marketing the product, it is important to form an emotional connection with the customers that is the selling trick.That bond can only be formed by keeping all perspectives in mind There are many cultural variables in different societies, regions, countries, religions, races etc. The major five variables are individualism vs collectivism, femininity vs masculinity, long term orientation vs short term orientation, power distance (how much power inequality is tolerated in certain cultures compared to others and lastly uncertainty avoidance (how calm one person from a certain culture can remain in emergency or unknown situations compared to another culture). It is believed that all cultural differences can be weighed in these five categories.

We then chose to propose our own strategies based on our beliefs and made sure that it was put out for criticism and ensured that the criticism was taken positively. There was a formal expectation setting meeting before it began  expectations to remain calm, rational, not take it personally, be open to ideas and take criticism positively. After everybody agreed on that, everybody took turns to present their ideas and in the end there was a question and answer session with feedback. Whatever that was not suitable according to differing cultures was then eliminated and an alternative was suggested by the rest  this means that it was a solution oriented approach. Even the rejections were not given in a failure-implying tone it was given with a very knowledgeable and learning perspective. In the end, all 4 team members had 4 strategies which were free of any cultural conflicts after discussions on it. At the end, whatever strategy suited the product and the needs of the audience the best was selected for the final project. Work was equally divided and responsibility was assumed by each for their respective parts.

It was a difficult procedure, but completely worth it because in the end we had a strategy that was extremely well-blended and suited the reality of our global customers and could be implemented successfully in any part of the world.