Characteristics and Components of an Integrated Conflict Management System

June 10, 2008

From:  Runde, C.E., & Flanagan, T.A., (2007).  Becoming a conflict competent leader: how you and your organization can manage conflict effectively.  San Francisco:  John Wiley & Sons.

• Provide options for preventing, identifying, and resolving all types of problems, including nonhierarchical disputes between employees and managers, that are available to everyone in the workplace: workers, managers, professionals, groups, teams involved in disputes, and those close by (bystanders) who are affected.
• Foster a culture that welcomes good-faith dissent and encourages resolution of conflict at the lowest level through direct negotiation.
• Provide multiple access points.  Employees can readily identify and access a knowledgeable person whom they trust for advice about the conflict management system.
• Provide multiple options for addressing conflict, giving employees the opportunity to choose a problem-solving approach t conflict resolution, to seek determination and enforcement of rights, or to do both.
• Provide necessary systemic support and structures that coordinate access to multiple options and promote competence in dealing with conflict throughout the organization (Runde & Flanagan, 2007, p. 116).

Becoming a Conflict Competent Leader is available on loan from the Ohio State University Leadership Center.  To borrow this resource or any other resource, please go to the resource search page http://164.107.48.88/winnebago/index.asp?lib