Accommodation

Definition

Accommodation refers to the process of adjusting or modifying one's behavior, attitudes, or approaches in order to resolve conflicts and find a mutually acceptable solution within an organizational context.

5 Must Know Facts For Your Next Test

1. Accommodation involves finding a middle ground where the needs and concerns of all parties in a conflict are partially addressed.
2. It requires a willingness to be flexible, make concessions, and find a mutually agreeable solution rather than insisting on one's own position.
3. Accommodation is often used when the issues at stake are not highly important to one or more of the parties involved.
4. This approach can help maintain relationships and prevent conflicts from escalating, but it may not fully resolve the underlying issues.
5. Accommodation can be an effective strategy when time is limited, power dynamics are unequal, or the parties involved value their relationship more than the specific conflict.

Review Questions

• Explain how the accommodation conflict resolution approach differs from other strategies like compromise or collaboration.
  • The accommodation approach to resolving conflicts involves finding a middle ground where the needs and concerns of all parties are partially addressed, rather than fully meeting the needs of any one side. This differs from compromise, where both parties make concessions, or collaboration, where an integrative solution is found that fully satisfies all involved. Accommodation requires flexibility and a willingness to make concessions, but may not fully resolve the underlying issues, unlike more assertive approaches.
• Describe the situations or contexts in which accommodation would be an appropriate conflict resolution strategy for organizations.
  • Accommodation is often most appropriate when the issues at stake are not highly important to one or more of the parties involved, when time is limited, when there are unequal power dynamics, or when the parties value their ongoing relationship more than the specific conflict. In these cases, accommodation can help maintain relationships and prevent conflicts from escalating, even if it does not fully resolve the underlying issues. However, accommodation may be less suitable when the conflict involves core interests or values, or when a more assertive approach is needed to address the root causes.
• Analyze how the use of accommodation as a conflict resolution strategy in organizations can both benefit and potentially limit the ability to effectively address and resolve conflicts.
  • The accommodation approach to conflict resolution can be beneficial in organizations by helping to maintain relationships, prevent escalation, and find a middle ground solution when the issues are not highly important. However, it can also limit the ability to fully address and resolve the underlying causes of the conflict. By only partially meeting the needs of the parties involved, accommodation may fail to get to the root of the problem and can leave lingering resentment or unresolved tensions. Additionally, overreliance on accommodation can make it difficult for organizations to assertively tackle critical conflicts that require more integrative or collaborative approaches. Therefore, accommodation should be used judiciously and in the appropriate contexts, balanced with other conflict resolution strategies to most effectively address organizational conflicts.

Related terms

Compromise:

A situation where both parties in a conflict make concessions and agree to a middle ground solution that partially satisfies each side's needs.

Collaboration:

A conflict resolution approach where parties work together to find an integrative solution that fully meets the needs and concerns of all involved.

Avoidance:

A conflict management strategy where individuals or groups choose to sidestep or withdraw from a conflict situation rather than directly addressing it.