At our recent Masterclass chaired by Professor Richard Saundry, leading experts from the USA, Associate Professors Ariel Avgar (Cornell University) and Ryan Lamare (University of Illinois), shared lessons on effective strategies to prevent, contain and resolve conflict at work.
Ariel and Ryan highlighted the emergence of integrated conflict management systems and the rise of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) methods in the USA. In charting developments over the last 30 years, the speakers emphasised that:
- The deployment of conflict management in organizations has become increasingly strategic in nature
- Organizational commitment to genuine use of conflict management in organizations varies greatly
- As conflict management has grown and become more strategic, it has also become controversial, especially the use of mandatory practices, such as arbitration
- ADR and conflict management systems have yet to fully deliver on their promise in the U.S.
- For some, firms ADR and conflict management systems have provided a powerful organizational tool to address workplace conflict
You can find the full video below.
The slides from the presentation are available to download here:
Ryan Lamare is an Associate Professor at the School of Labor and Employment Relations at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Ariel Avgar is an Associate Professor at the Industrial Relations School at Cornell University