How to Coach Yourself and Others Essential Knowledge For Coaching | Page 133

original intention. They did not reject win-lose configurations out
of hand. Instead, strategic considerations for managing conflict
according to varied circumstances were identified. For instance, in
a conflict centered on bids by two alternative suppliers, the best
choice might well be a competing strategy with a winner and loser.
After all, the objective in such a situation is to win the contract for
one's own company. In most cases, winning the contract can be
accomplished only at the expense of the competing supplier, who
by definition becomes the loser.
In contrast, a competing approach almost never works well in the
interpersonal conflict of people working in the same office. Unlike
the case of competing suppliers, coworkers—both the winner and
the loser—must go on working together. Indeed, in many conflicts
revolving around office politics, an accommodating strategy may
actually enable individuals to strengthen their future negotiating
position through allowing themselves to lose in conflicts over
issues they do not feel particularly strongly about. In such
situations, accommodating can be seen as a form of winning
through losing.
Source:
http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/CompDe/Conflict-Management-and-Negotiation.html

1011