when handling future conflicts.
Five generic approaches are mentioned when resolving intergroup conflict: dominating,
accommodating, problem solving, avoiding, and compromising.
The dominating approach requires
that one group holds a balance of power so that it can force its resolution on the other group. This
can be a successful approach when differences need to be resolved quickly or when unpopular
actions need to be taken such as imposing new policy. The accommodating approach involves one
group meeting the needs of another over its own. This can be beneficial when the issue is more
important to the other group or when preserving peace is more important than maximizing one’s
own interest. The third approach, problem solving, involves collaborating and working together to
maximize results for all involved. Out of these five intergroup conflict resolutions, problem solving
is probably the ideal approach due to the collaboration of parties and the merger of insight,
experience, knowledge and perspective. Avoiding conflict, the fourth approach, is only effective
when used as a temporary method. Sometimes avoiding the conflict is necessary when other issues
are more important, parties need an opportunity to cool down from a heated disagreement, or when
additional time is needed to gather more information. Avoiding can be useful as long as it is used
for a particular reasoning and not as a permanent solution to the conflict. When utilizing the fifth
approach, known as the compromising approach, usually the resolution reached is not ideal for either
group but a resolution is achieved through negotiation. Compromise is the middle-of-the-road
approach and is a good backup strategy when other approaches fail at resolving conflict (Ivancevich,
Konopaske, & Matteson, 2005). Each of the five mentioned approaches could prove effective in
resolving conflict in teams, depending on the situation.