| Honor among the Ranks: The Relation of Honor and Conflict Management |
| | Wright, E Faye | Case Western Reserve U. | efw2@po.cwru.edu | (216) 721-3313 |
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According to a conceptual framework of honor, how conflict is managed is a unilateral decision based on one’s conception of honor, and more importantly, one’s conception of dishonor, and the importance the issue plays in one’s honor status. Honor is the value of oneself in one’s own eyes, but also in the eyes of one’s society. This value is judged by societal consensus based on a cluster of rules determined by the community. Honor is the right to respect; the right to pride. If one has no honor, one has no right to respect or pride. If one is dishonored, one loses those rights. It is both internal so that it motivates toward socially approved behavior, and external, because only by the response of observers can we fully understand ourselves. Honor interpreted by management according to their superior social status codes can never be attained by subordinates, who nevertheless have a need to attain and retain honor in their own right. As subordinates struggle to maintain their honor in the pluralistic society dominated by organizational authorities, the conflicts that arise may be addressed openly, as subordinates directly meet the affronts to their honor, or the conflicts may be managed privately and indirectly. Examining the efforts that people make to attain and retain the aspired honor of their organizational society, and the clashes for honor at the intersections of societies, may help shed alternative light on organizational conflict.
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| | Keywords: honor; conflict; respect |
| How high can you go? Preliminary investigations of the perils and benefits of negotiator optimism |
| | Riley, Hannah Christina | Harvard Business School | hriley@hbs.edu | (617)-495-6903 |
| | Robinson, Robert J. | Harvard Business School | RRobinson@HBS.edu | 617-495-6068 |
| | While the negotiation literature emphasizes the importance of accurate perceptions, it also suggests that aggressive optimism is advantageous for individual performance. Analysis of data from a simple buyer-seller negotiation shows performance benefits of high aspirations without risk of impasse. Analysis of pretrial bargaining reveals correlations between aspirations and other prenegotiation perceptions and demonstrates how negotiator optimism enhances individual performance while diminishing settlement chances. Authors suggest avenues for investigation of tradeoffs between accuracy and inflated optimism. |
| | Keywords: optimism; aspirations; overconfidence |
| An Application of the Competence Model to Organizational Conflict |
| | Gross, Michael Anthony | Arizona State U. | michael.gross@asu.edu | (480) 965-3431 |
| | Guerrero, Laura K. | Arizona State U. | laura.guerrero@asu.edu | (480) 965-3730 |
| | Alberts, Jess K. | Arizona State U. | Jess.Alberts@asu.edu | (480) 965-7141 |
| | Based on the competence model of conflict, this study examines how three conflict styles--solution orientation, control, and
nonconfrontation--relate to perceptions of appropriateness, effectiveness, and satisfaction. Using a simulated decision-making
task involving 100 dyads, three aspects of the competency model were tested: (1) how competence perceptions of a partner's
conflict style affect competence judgements, (2) whether perceptions of competence mediate the relationship between partner
conflict style and satisfaction with the outcome, and (3) whether actor-observer biases affect perceptions of conflict style and
competence. Findings show that a solution-oriented style is perceived as appropriate while a controlling style is not; and that
a nonconfrontational style is evaluated as particularly ineffective. Results fail to show evidence for any mediating effects,
and data suggests that the actor-observer bias may be minimized in specific contexts, such as when participants have less
investment in the outcomes of their behavior.
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| | Keywords: Conflict Management; Competency; Decision-Making |
| Malaysian Community Mediation |
| | Wall, James A. | U. of Missouri, Columbia | wallja@missouri.edu | (573)-882--4561 |
| | Callister, Ronda R. | Utah State U. | callister@b202.usu.edu | (435)-797-1905 |
| | Malaysian Community Mediation
This study investigated the mediations of village leaders (i.e., ketua kampungs) and religious leaders (i.e., imams) in Malaysia. In the initial phase of this project, we interviewed 30 Malaysian students to find how community disputes were handled in Malaysia. Their responses indicated that such disputes were seldom taken to court; rather, they were channeled to ketua kampungs or imams. To investigate the types of disputes these individuals handled and the way they mediated them, we had four Malaysian students to interview 127 ketua kampungs and 52 imams.
We found most family disputes were taken to the imams, especially those of the husband-wife variety. By contrast, most of the agricultural and community disputes were taken to the ketua kampungs.
As for the mediators' approaches, they -- overall -- relied heavily upon the techniques of meeting with the disputants (separately and together), listening to the disputant's side, information gathering, and calls for concessions. They also utilized three distinct strategies: a "meet separately" strategy; an "assertive" one; and one based on "information" gathering. As for differences between the ketua kampungs' and imams' mediations, the imams relied more upon prayer, moral principles, listening, and third party advice. Also they less often (than the ketua kampungs) called for concessions. Imams, in addition, used different strategies; one group employed a unique "meet together" strategy, and another group relied upon a "prayer" strategy. These were not detected in the ketua kampungs' mediations. |
| | Keywords: Negotiation; Mediation; Conflict |
| Piloting a Barge: Union-Management Cooperation in the United States Postal Service |
| | Chelte, Anthony F. | Western New England College | achelte@wnec.edu | 413-782-1553 |
| | Abstract
A long tradition of mistrust and adversarial labor-management relations have plagued the United States Postal Service. Backlogs of greivances in excess of 73,000 have increased tensions and resulted in more than $200 million dollars in additional operating expense for the organization. The need to focus on increased customer satisfaction, quality, and productivity provided the impetus for Marvin Runyon’s vision for cultural change in the USPS. Since 1971, many programmatic efforts had been launched to achieve better relations in the Service. Employee Involvement, Quality of Working Life and the Postal Academy have tried to alleviate labor-management tensions. Many of these approaches have been abandoned. This paper reports on one District’s commitment to building union-management partnerships through total involvement of all participants across the region.
Keywords: labor relations, USPS, labor-management cooperation
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| | Keywords: conflict management; labor relations; mediation |