| Abstract: | This article suggests three ways to manage organizational conflicts. The first is the collaboration theory which maintains that people should air their differences and work for mutually satisfactory solutions. Collaboration requires that members of the organization be interdependent, capable of interacting candidly, and sufficiently committed to the organization to justify the time and energy required to develop and preserve mutually beneficial relationships. A second approach, the power play, is a method of handling organizational conflict which is diametrically opposed to collaboration. It is characterized by an adversary ethic and rational self-interest; the parties are involved in a win/lose situation. According to Derr, the power-play is the dominant conflict management strategy for those who seek autonomy and is best suited for idealogical disputes. Bargaining, the third technique, contains elements that overlap collaboration and power-play. Bargaining "trade-offs" are particularly useful in dealing with conditions of scarcity; this method is seen as economical in that it requires parties to meet only periodically to review the old contracts and to develop new contracts. The author concludes that there is no one best way to manage organizational conflicts and suggests that conflict management will require more extensive studies of the realities of power play. |
