A Conflict Style Inventory is a tool developed to measure an individual's response to conflict situations. This reviews several inventories, and compares two of the most commonly used ones, the Thomas Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument and the Kraybill Conflict Style Inventory.

A number of conflict style inventories have been in active use since the 1960s. Most of them are based on the managerial grid developed by Robert R. Blake and Jane Mouton in their Managerial Grid Model.

The Blake and Mouton model uses two axis. "Concern for people" is plotted using the vertical axis and "Concern for task" along the horizontal axis. Each axis has a numerical scale of 1 to 9. These axes interact so as to diagram five different styles of management. This grid posits the interaction of task versus relationship and shows that according to how people value these, there are five basic ways of interacting with others.

An early conflict style inventory that was based on this grid was Jay Hall's Conflict Management Survey (Teleometrics International, Inc., The Woodlands, TX, 1973) This instrument never gained widespread use.

The Thomas Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument

Soon thereafter came Kenneth W.Thomas and Ralph H. Kilmann with their Thomas Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (Tuxedo NY: Xicom, 1974). The TKI, as it is sometimes known, put conflict style inventories "on the map" and according to the publisher's website, there are over five million copies published.

The Thomas Kilmann Conflict Mode instrument uses the Mouton and Blake axes, and identifies five different styles of conflict: Forcing, Avoiding, Accommodating, Collaborating, Compromising.

Strengths: The TKI is quick to administer and interpret. It takes about 15 minutes to answer the questions, and an hour or so for interpretation by a trainer. There are some interpretation materials helping users identify appropriate use of the styles and to help them become more comfortable with styles they are less familiar with. The TKI is also widely known and is available in English, French, and Spanish versions.

Weaknesses: The TKI is a forced choice questionnaire, which some users find frustrating. It assumes that all users have similar cultural background. Some trainers report frustration among users from minority backgrounds or in use outside the United States. Its interpretation materials are not extensive. Finally, it is pricy. The barebones basic inventory costs $16 per copy in single purchase and $11 per copy in quantities. A detailed interpretation guide for users can be purchased for $10 per copy in orders of ten or more. The facilitator's guide costs $142. http://www.kilmann.com/conflict.html

Style Matters: The Kraybill Conflict Style Inventory

The Kraybill Conflict Style Inventory was developed in the 1980s by Ron Kraybill, then director of the Mennonite Conciliation Service, a pioneer in the field of conflict resolution. Like the widely-used Thomas Kilmann inventory, it is based on the Mouton-Blake Managerial Grid and identifies five styles of responding to conflict, calling them Directing, Harmonizing, Avoiding, Cooperating, and Compromising. In its basic version it takes about 15 minutes to take and one to three hours to interpret.

The KCSI has several features not found in the TKI. One is that it gives users two sets of scores, one for "calm" conditions and one for "storm", recognizing that many people's style shifts under high stress. Some people who are high in Directing behaviors in the beginning of a conflict shift into Avoiding as stress mounts. Others may shift from Avoiding to Directing, etc.

A noteworthy feature of the KCSI is that it is available in a culturally sensitive version. Users are instructed to identify whether they are from an individualistic (eg: white, Anglo North American) or collectivistic (eg: black, Hispanic, indigenous) culture, and are given slightly differing instructions accordingly.

Strengths: Like the TKI, the KCSI is quick to administer and interpret. Questions are multiple choice which many users seem to prefer. In addition to the features described above, the KCSI has extensive interpretation pages. These include a "Hot Tips" section with many tips for maximizing effectiveness of each style in managing self or responding to others. Two pages of questions for group discussion make it well-suited for training purposes. Because it is built around the Mouton-Blake axis that is also the basis for the more widely-known Thomas Kilmann, the KCSI has a familiar feel for many trainers.

At $3.95 in quantity orders or $5.95 in single purchase, the KCSI is less than half the price of the TKI. The 22 page booklet includes both the inventory and guidance in working with differing styles. The publisher reports that French and Spanish versions are in the pipeline. The supporting website includes a free and detailed trainer's guide.

Weaknesses: The KCSI is a relative newcomer in its full-fledged form, and is less widely known than the TKI. Since it circulated free in an early version for a decade or more, user quantities are unknown, but its publisher estimates 40,000-80,000 users. It has yet to undergo standardization which would make it more useful for research purposes.

The publisher's website with information and samples from the booklet is http://www.RiverhouseEpress.com. This site also contains a free trainer's guide and numerous essays on conflict style inventories at http://www.riverhouseepress.com/Conflict_Style_Inventory_Resources.htm

History of the Development of Style Matters

Ron Kraybill, author of Style Matters: The Kraybill Conflict Style Instrument, reflects on his experience with The Thomas Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument and what motivated him to develop an alternative:

"I worked with the Thomas Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (aka TKI) for a number of years in the 1980s. I found it an effective tool to introduce people to basic notions of conflict resolution. It was quick to administer and could be interpreted in as little as 20 minutes if absolutely necessary. It was widely used so it was familiar in the training world.

But I gradually lost my enthusiasm. The Thomas Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument reflects no awareness that culture affects people's response to conflict and assumes a similar cultural background among all users. As soon as I moved outside of white North American culture people struggled with it.

The support materials that come with the TKI Thomas Kilmann are thin. Users gets scores and some questions to think about but limited help in knowing how to interact with the style preferences of others.

Many takers complained about the forced-choice setup. "I wouldn't choose either of these," people would often say. "Well, just choose one anyway," was the only answer I could give.

In the mid-1980s I was introduced to the Gilmore Fraleigh Personality Instrument. This inventory gave something The Thomas Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument didn't: a lot of practical tips for how to bring out the best in each style of functioning. I used it for several years and really liked the comprehensiveness of it for certain purposes.

But the Gilmore Fraleigh is not a conflict style inventory. It is a broad personality style instrument. For indepth training purposes it is great. But it takes several hours to administer and interpret. I wanted something quick and easy to interpret, and tightly focused on how people deal with conflict

I decided to create something with the strengths of each. I used the five-style "Managerial Grid" that The Thomas Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument authors borrowed from Blake and Mouton as a basic framework.

I used a Likert Scale for questions. Users answer questions that have a spectrum of "very characteristic" to "not at all characteristic." No forced choices!

I incorporated a feature that, like the Gilmore and Fraleigh, recognizes that most people operate differently in calm and storm conditions.

And inspired by the Gilmore Fraleigh, I created for each style a page of tips that gives users highly specific suggestions for maximizing each style. Trainers love that section because users go away from a workshop feeling really equipped with new strategic ideas.

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The result was published in the Mennonite Conciliation Service Training Manual in 1990, and has been reprinted there several times. In the years since, the KCSI has quietly established itself as a favorite among trainers around the world, its reputation spread by word of mouth. A number of conflict resolution organizations and websites have reproduced it, though it is rarely identified as the KCSI.

Recognizing the widespread use of the KCSI that had developed completely unattended, in 2004 Kraybill revised it, incorporating ideas and comments accumulated from users over a period of many years. In 2005 the upgraded version was published by Riverhouse ePress, titled Style Matters: The Kraybill Conflict Style Instrument.

The new version is 22 pages long, culturally adaptable, differentiating between users from collectivist versus individualist cultures. It contains more in-depth instructions than previous versions and the interpreation section is greatly expanded. It has a lengthy section of tips for bringing out the best in each style. It also has a two-page discussion guide at the end with many questions useful for group reflection.

Recognizing that some trainers prefer the simplist possible inventory, in 2006, Riverhouse began offering Style Matters in two versions. Style Matters Expanded is the full version described above.

Style Matters Basic eliminates the feature of cultural adaptability, reducing the time required for taking it from 25 minutes to 15 minutes and simplifying somewhat the interpretation. Both sell for the same low price of $3.95 per copy in orders of 50 or more.

The Five-Style Conflict Style Inventory Model 

The Thomas Kilmann and the Kraybill Conflict Style inventories are both five-style models. Both use a framework commonly credited to Mouton and Blake, which maps out responses to conflict according to the interaction of a horizontal and vertical axis.

The one axis is for assertive or focus on one's own agenda.
 The other axis is for cooperativeness or focus on the relationship.

The five styles of the Thomas Kilman are competing, avoiding,  compromising, collaborating, and accommodating. The Kraybill Conflict Style Inventory calls them Directing, Avoiding, Compromising, Cooperating, and Harmonizing. The interaction of the two axes for each of these styles is shown below: