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Title: Resolving Workplace Disputes: the Role of Organizational Culture in Organizational Conflict (Conflict Resolution)
Author: Otto, Amy Lea
Date: 1998
In: Dissertation Abstracts Volume: 59-04B
Synopsis:
In the present study university employees from 25 different departments completed a questionnaire assessment of their organizational culture. A subset of 15 departments also answered questions about their experiences and decision making in different types of conflict situations. Principal components analysis of the organizational culture variables resulted in eight culture components: quality of communication, presence of problem solving systems, consideration of interests, productivity, quality of relationships, rationality, cooperation, and directness of style. These components differentiated among departments. It was also found that departments which identified themselves as having problems with conflict management had lower quality of communication, were emotional rather than rational in their decision making, and were more likely to take a direct, or confrontational approach to solving conflict than those departments which were chosen at random. Organizational culture was related to respondents' conflict experiences. The effectiveness of informal conflict resolution techniques was the best predictor of whether or not a conflict had been resolved. Culture variables such as the quality of communication, quality of relationships, and rationality influenced the effectiveness of the informal techniques. The presence of formal systems for problem solving also influenced the effectiveness of the informal techniques.
Publisher: Minnesota: Univ. of Minnesota
Pages: 154
Keywords:
Conflict Management or Resolution, Education, Faculty or Administrative Conflicts, Higher Education, Organizational Conflict, Scholarly Audiences, Professional Audiences, Other Approaches to Conflict, Research, Educators, Students, College, College, Conflict Assessment, Abstract, Resource Citations, Educational Institution, Higher Education, United States, North America, Dissertation, MN
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