Corporate Conflict Management

The classic view on conflict has always been that conflict in any form is harmful and should be avoided at all cost. However, modern scholars and the corporate world at large are fast realizing that conflict is not as lethal as considered to be and if maintained within certain parameters, it can actually boost a company’s growth. This text tells exactly how and when a conflict can be translated into a successful process and when it should be checked before it spells trouble for the company. The book covers cases from all the essential areas of conflict and analytically discusses every aspect while striking a clear balance between theory, concept and application. This book is an attempt to expose readers to varied perspectives, to challenge their individual positions and ideologies, and to inspire, inform and train them in the field. The volume is designed for the postgraduate students of management as well as those pursuing similar professional courses. Besides, professionals and anyone keen on learning the various aspects of conflict and its management will find this book immensely useful. KEY FEATURES  Cartoons and illustrations throughout the text to make it an interesting read  Focus on both skill development and practical usage  Chapter summary and review questions at the end of each chapter for better conceptual understanding

“Raines masterfully blends the latest empirical research on workplace conflict with practical knowledge, skills, and tools to effectively manage and prevent a wide range of conflict episodes. This is a highly applicable ‘top shelf book’ that will assist anyone from the aspiring manager to top level management and leadership in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. It will also be a fast favorite of professors, trainers, and students of business and conflict management.” - Brian Polkinghorn, Distinguished Professor, Center for Conflict Resolution, Salisbury University. “With her broad dispute resolution, teaching, and editing experience, Susan Raines is uniquely qualified to organize what is known about conflict management in the workplace. She has succeeded in providing private, public, and nonprofit managers with accessible concepts and tools to deal effectively with the internal and external conflicts they must confront every day. Essential reading for all managers!” - Alan E. Gross, senior director, training coordinator, New York Peace Institute “After reading an advance copy of Raine’s impressive book, I can’t wait to begin to use it as a seminal text in my classes in organizational conflict. I am amazed at her ability to cover so well such disparate subjects as systems design, public policy disputes, small and large group processes, customer conflicts, conflicts in a unionized environment, and conflicts within regulatory contexts. Her user-friendly writing style is enhanced by her salient examples of exemplary and mistake-laden practices within public and private sector organizations. A ‘must-read’ for scholars, students, and practitioners interested in organizational conflict.” - Neil H. Katz, professor, Conflict Analysis and Resolution, Nova-Southeastern University “Conflict management skills are essential to a manager’s success. Raines, a leading scholar and practitioner, provides a comprehensive and strategic new guide to these critical skills and how to use them in any organization.” - Lisa Blomgren Bingham, Keller-Runden Professor of Public Service, School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University

List of Figures and TablesList of CasesPreface and Acknowledgments1: Introduction2: Setting the Scene3: Patterns of Conflict Management in Thirteen Executive Contexts4: Modern Times: Authoritative Conflict Management in a Mechanistic Bureaucracy5: Silent Hives: Minimalistic Conflict Management in an Atomistic Organization6: Brave New World: Reciprocal Conflict Management in a Matrix System7: Conclusion: Orthodoxy, Change, and IdentityAppendix A: Anatomy of an Ethnography of Business ElitesAppendix B: Aggregate Comparative DataAppendix C: Glossary of Native Terms at PlaycoNotesReferencesIndex Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

Emerging Systems of Managing Workplace Conflict presents illustrative real-life examples as well as cutting-edge methods and tools for integrating systems of dispute resolution into standard corporate procedures. This vital resource investigates the systems organizations have developed to manage common and costly workplace conflicts involving supervisor-employee relationships; race, age, and gender discrimination complaints; sexual harassment; occupational safety and health; reasonable accommodation of the disabled; and wrongful termination as well as other problems stemming from governmental regulations and court actions. Drawing on the authors' vast research and frontline experience with a wide variety of corporations and organizations, this important book examines successful responses to universal workplace problems and conflicts. In addition, the book is filled with illuminating case examples and stories from organizations, such as Brown and Root, Kaufman and Broad, Warner Brothers, Universal-Studios, Kaiser Permanente, the United States Postal Service, Johnson & Johnson, Shell, Prudential, and others, that have instituted systems of dispute resolution in response to ongoing destructive conflict, expensive litigation, and crippling settlements. This book offers an enormously useful approach for the application of the most up-to-date systems of organizational conflict resolution and shows how this approach can work in specific situations to save time and money.

This book draws on a wide range of practical examples to describe how conflicts within organisations are traditionally managed and the complementary conflict management methods that can be employed. Stephan Proksch clearly explains these innovative methods and their potential applications. The central focus is on mediation as an effective form of conflict resolution. Discussion and questioning techniques as conflict management tools are explained in simple and concise terms.

Make workplace conflict resolution a game that EVERYBODY wins! Recent studies show that typical managers devote more than a quarter of their time to resolving coworker disputes. The Big Book of Conflict-Resolution Games offers a wealth of activities and exercises for groups of any size that let you manage your business (instead of managing personalities). Part of the acclaimed, bestselling Big Books series, this guide offers step-by-step directions and customizable tools that empower you to heal rifts arising from ineffective communication, cultural/personality clashes, and other specific problem areas—before they affect your organization's bottom line. Let The Big Book of Conflict-Resolution Games help you to: Build trust Foster morale Improve processes Overcome diversity issues And more Dozens of physical and verbal activities help create a safe environment for teams to explore several common forms of conflict—and their resolution. Inexpensive, easy-to-implement, and proved effective at Fortune 500 corporations and mom-and-pop businesses alike, the exercises in The Big Book of Conflict-Resolution Games delivers everything you need to make your workplace more efficient, effective, and engaged.

This unique book draws together current thoughts and research in conflict management. Specifically, it brings a wealth of knowledge from authorities in the field on emerging issues such as power in conflict, cognition and emotions in conflict, leading

“Raines masterfully blends the latest empirical research on workplace conflict with practical knowledge, skills, and tools to effectively manage and prevent a wide range of conflict episodes. This is a highly applicable ‘top shelf book’ that will assist anyone from the aspiring manager to top level management and leadership in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. It will also be a fast favorite of professors, trainers, and students of business and conflict management.” - Brian Polkinghorn, Distinguished Professor, Center for Conflict Resolution, Salisbury University. “With her broad dispute resolution, teaching, and editing experience, Susan Raines is uniquely qualified to organize what is known about conflict management in the workplace. She has succeeded in providing private, public, and nonprofit managers with accessible concepts and tools to deal effectively with the internal and external conflicts they must confront every day. Essential reading for all managers!” - Alan E. Gross, senior director, training coordinator, New York Peace Institute “After reading an advance copy of Raine’s impressive book, I can’t wait to begin to use it as a seminal text in my classes in organizational conflict. I am amazed at her ability to cover so well such disparate subjects as systems design, public policy disputes, small and large group processes, customer conflicts, conflicts in a unionized environment, and conflicts within regulatory contexts. Her user-friendly writing style is enhanced by her salient examples of exemplary and mistake-laden practices within public and private sector organizations. A ‘must-read’ for scholars, students, and practitioners interested in organizational conflict.” - Neil H. Katz, professor, Conflict Analysis and Resolution, Nova-Southeastern University “Conflict management skills are essential to a manager’s success. Raines, a leading scholar and practitioner, provides a comprehensive and strategic new guide to these critical skills and how to use them in any organization.” - Lisa Blomgren Bingham, Keller-Runden Professor of Public Service, School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University