Strategic Conflict Management? A Study of Workplace Dispute Resolution in Wales. (March 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Nash, David; Hann, Deborah
• Is Part Of: Industrial and labor relations review. Volume 73:Number 2(2020)
• Page Start: 411
• Page End: 430
• Publication Date: 2020-03
• Subjects: conflict management -- high-performance work practices -- human resource management -- dispute resolution -- employee relations -- inter-employee conflict; Industrial relations -- Periodicals; 331.05
• DOI: 10.1177/0019793919874031
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0019-7939

Abstract

In this article, the authors examine the relationship between organizational strategy and the approach taken to conflict management using a large-scale survey of companies in Wales, a constituent part of the United Kingdom. They focus on conflicts among employees, an under-researched form of conflict, to examine which types of organizations adopt a more strategic approach to conflict management that aligns with broader HR objectives. They find that organizations with a unitarist, and often anti-union, orientation are more likely to make strategic choices about how they address conflict. Equally, the authors argue that some evidence suggests that organizations that take high-road approaches to HR are more likely to take an intentional approach to how they address conflict.