Abstracts
Abstract
Over the past several decades, industrial relations (IR) scholars have consistently advocated for better integration of their conflict theory and empirical research with that of the neighbouring discipline of organizational behaviour (OB). Achievement of such a goal has nonetheless been a continuing challenge. Offering a novel perspective on the quest for integration, this paper categorizes the distinct and dissimilar conceptual norms of conflict in IR and OB, concluding that conceptualizations of conflict in the two disciplines are built upon irreconcilable logics. Although a unified conceptualization of conflict across these differing logics is not possible, a better understanding of their irreconcilability could facilitate a more robust and ultimately fruitful dialogue among IR and OB researchers.
Summary
Over the past several decades, industrial relations (IR) scholars have consistently advocated for better integration of their theory and empirical research on conflict with that of the neighbouring discipline of organizational behaviour (OB). Achievement of such a goal has nonetheless been a continuing challenge.
Offering a novel perspective on the quest for integration, this paper categorizes the distinct and dissimilar conceptual norms of conflict in IR and OB. Conflict is normally spatial in IR and temporal in OB. In IR, the existence of conflict is commonly determined by the observer (i.e., the researchers). In OB, it is determined by the observed (i.e., the parties in the workplace, be they individuals, teams or organizations).
This paper argues that conceptual norms of conflict in IR and OB are built upon distinct, irreconcilable logics. The norm in IR is labelled a Spatial/Observer-determined (SO) logic, while the norm in OB is labelled a Temporal/Party-determined (TP) logic. The SO logic conceptualizes conflict spatially as a situation or state of affairs that can be determined by a researcher or other observer. Conflict itself is conceptualized as existing spatially among opposing interests, objectives or values. Alternatively, the norm in OB research is to utilize a TP logic that conceptualizes conflict as a temporal process between or among opposing parties, who determine when it begins and ends. Although a unified conceptualization of conflict across these differing logics is not possible, a better understanding of their irreconcilability could facilitate a more robust and ultimately fruitful dialogue among IR and OB researchers.
Keywords:
- organizational theory,
- industrial relations theory,
- organizational behaviour,
- organizational conflict
Appendices
References
- Alblas, Gert and Ella Wijsman (2021) Organisational Behaviour. 2nd Ed. Groningen: Noordhoff.
- Avgar, Ariel C. (2020) “Integrating Conflict: A Proposed Framework for the Interdisciplinary Study of Workplace Conflict and Its Management.” Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 73(2), 281–311.
- Avgar, Ariel C. and Alexander J. S. Colvin (2017) “Introduction: Toward an Integration of Conflict Research.” In Ariel C. Avgar and Alexander J. S. Colvin (eds.), Conflict Management (Volume 1). New York: Routledge, pp. 1-37.
- Avgar, Ariel C. and Eric J. Neuman (2015) “Seeing Conflict: A Study of Conflict Accuracy in Work Teams.” Negotiation and Conflict Management Research, 8(2), 65–84.
- Batstone, Eric (1979) “The Organization of Conflict.” In Geoffrey Stephenson & Christopher Brotherton (eds.), Industrial Relations: A Social Psychological Approach. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, pp. 55-74.
- Bendersky, Corinne, Julia B. Bear, Kristin J. Behfar, Laurie R. Weingart, Gergana Todorova and Karen A. Jehn (2014) “Identifying Gaps Between the Conceptualization of Conflict and Its Measurement.” In Oluremi Bolanle Ayoko, Neal M. Ashkanasy and Karen A. Jehn (eds.), Handbook of Conflict Management Research. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar, pp. 79-89.
- Bradley, Bret H., Heather J. Anderson, John E. Bauer and Anthony C. Klotz (2015) “When Conflict Helps: Integrating Evidence for Beneficial Conflict in Groups and Teams Under Three Perspectives.” Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 19(4), 243–272.
- Bray, Mark, John W. Budd and Johanna Macneil (2020) “The Many Meanings of Co-Operation in the Employment Relationship and Their Implications.” British Journal of Industrial Relations, 58(1), 114–141.
- Budd, John W. (2020) “The Psychologisation of Employment Relations, Alternative Models of the Employment Relationship, and the OB Turn.” Human Resource Management Journal, 30(1), 73–83.
- Budd, John W. and Devasheesh Bhave (2019) “The Employment Relationship: Key Elements, Alternative Frames of Reference, and Implications for HRM.” In Adrian Wilkinson, Nicolas Bacon, Scott A. Snell and David P. Lepak (eds.), SAGE Handbook of Human Resource Management (2nd edition). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, pp. 41-64.
- Budd, John W., Alexander J. S. Colvin and Dionne Pohler (2020) “Advancing Dispute Resolution by Understanding the Sources of Conflict: Toward an Integrated Framework.” Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 73(2), 254–280.
- Chamberlain, Neil W. (1944) “The Nature and Scope of Collective Bargaining.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 58(2), 359–387.
- Contu, Alessia (2019) “Conflict and Organization Studies.” Organization Studies, 40(10), 1145–1462.
- Cutcher-Gershenfeld, Joel (1991) “The Impact on Economic Performance of a Transformation in Workplace Relations.” Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 44(2), 241–260.
- De Dreu, Carsten K. W. and Michele J. Gelfand (2008) “Conflict in the Workplace: Sources, Functions, and Dynamics Across Multiple Levels of Analysis.” In Carsten K. W. De Dreu and Michele J. Gelfand (eds.), The Psychology of Conflict and Conflict Management in Organizations. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum, pp. 3-54.
- DeChurch, Leslie A., Jessica R. Mesmer-Magnus and Dan Doty (2013) “Moving Beyond Relationship and Task Conflict: Toward a Process-State Perspective.” Journal of Applied Psychology, 98(4), 559–578.
- Edwards, Paul (1992) “Industrial Conflict: Themes and Issues in Recent Research.” British Journal of Industrial Relations, 30(3), 361–404.
- Farber, Henry S. and Harry C. Katz (1979) “Interest Arbitration, Outcomes, and the Incentive to Bargain.” Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 33(1), 55–63.
- Fox, Alan (1974) Beyond Contract: Work, Power, and Trust Relations. London: Farber & Farber.
- Frangi, Lorenzo, Sung-Chul Noh and Robert Hebdon (2018) “A Pacified Labour? The Transformation of Labour Conflict.” In Adrian Wilkinson, Tony Dundon, Jimmy Donaghey and Alexander J. S. Colvin (eds.), Routledge Companion to Employment Relations. New York: Routledge, pp. 285-303.
- Gall, Gregor and Robert Hebdon (2008) “Conflict at Work.” In Paul Blyton, Nicolas Bacon, Jack Fiorito and Edmund Heery (eds.), SAGE Handbook of Industrial Relations. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, pp. 588-603.
- Godard, John (2014) “The Psychologisation of Employment Relations?” Human Resource Management Journal, 24(1), 1–18.
- Hartley, Jean (1988) “Psychology and Industrial Relations: Social Processes in Organisations.” International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations, 4(1), 53–60.
- Heery, Edmund (2016) Framing Work. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Jehn, Karen A. (1995) “A Multimethod Examination of the Benefits and Detriments of Intragroup Conflict.” Administrative Science Quarterly, 40(2), 256–282.
- Jehn, Karen A. (1997) “A Qualitative Analysis of Conflict Types and Dimensions in Organizational Groups.” Administrative Science Quarterly, 42(3), 530–557.
- Jehn, Karen A., Lindred L. Greer, Sheen Levine and Gabriel Szulanski (2008) “The Effects of Conflict Types, Dimensions, and Emergent States on Group Outcomes.” Group Decision and Negotiation, 17(6), 465–495.
- Katz, Harry C. (2020) “Introduction to a Special Issue on Conflict and Its Resolution in the Changing World of Work: Honoring Professor David Lipsky.” Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 73(2), 253.
- Katz, Harry C., Thomas A. Kochan and Alexander J.S. Colvin (2017) An Introduction to U.S. Collective Bargaining and Labor Relations. 5th Ed. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
- Kochan, Thomas A. (1998) “What is Distinctive about Industrial Relations Research?” In Keith Whitfield and George Strauss (eds.), Researching the World of Work. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, pp. 31-45.
- Kochan, Thomas A., Harry C. Katz and Robert B. McKersie (1986) The Transformation of American Industrial Relations. New York: Basic Books.
- Kochan, Thomas A., Christine A. Riordan, Alexander M. Kowalski, Mahreen Khan and Duanyi Yang (2019) “The Changing Nature of Employee and Labor-Management Relationships.” Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 6, 195–219.
- Mikkelsen, Elisabeth N. and Stewart Clegg (2018) “Unpacking the Meaning of Conflict in Organizational Conflict Research.” Negotiation and Conflict Management Research, 11(3), 185–203.
- Mikkelsen, Elisabeth N. and Stewart Clegg (2019) “Conceptions of Conflict in Organizational Conflict Research: Toward Critical Reflexivity.” Journal of Management Inquiry, 28(2), 166–179.
- Nieto-Guerrero, Manuel, Mirko Antino and Jose M. Leon-Perez (2019) “Validation of the Spanish Version of the Intragroup Conflict Scale (ICS-14).” International Journal of Conflict Management, 30(1), 24–44.
- O’Neill, Thomas A. and Matthew J. W. McLarnon (2018) “Optimizing Team Conflict Dynamics for High Performance Teamwork.” Human Resource Management Review, 28(4), 378–394.
- Park, Semin, John E. Mathieu and Travis J. Grosser (2020) “A Network Conceptualization of Team Conflict.” Academy of Management Review, 45(2), 352–375.
- Pondy, Louis R. (1967) “Organizational Conflict: Concepts and Models.” Administrative Science Quarterly, 12(2), 296–320.
- Riordan, Christine A. and Alexander M. Kowalski (2021) “From Bread and Roses to #METOO: Multiplicity, Distance, and the Changing Dynamics of Conflict in IR Theory.” Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 74(3), 580–606.
- Strauss, George (1977) “The Study of Conflict: Hope for a New Synthesis Between Industrial Relations and Organizational Behavior?” In Proceedings of the 29th Annual Meeting of the Industrial Relations Research Association. Madison: Industrial Relations Research Association, pp. 329-337.
- Tapia, Maite, Christian L. Ibsen and Thomas A. Kochan (2015) “Mapping the Frontier of Theory in Industrial Relations: the Contested Role of Worker Representation.” Socio-Economic Review, 13(1), 157–184.
- Thomas, Kenneth W. (1976) “Conflict and Conflict Management.” In Marvin D. Dunnette (ed.), Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Chicago: Rand McNally, pp. 889-935.
- Thomas, Kenneth W. (1992) “Conflict and Conflict Management: Reflections and Update.” Journal of Organizational Behavior, 13(3), 265–274.
- Walton, Richard E. and Robert B. McKersie (1965) A Behavioral Theory of Labor Negotiations. New York: McGraw Hill.
- Weingart, Laurie R., Kristin J. Behfar, Corinne Bendersky, Gergana Todorova and Karen A. Jehn (2015) “The Directness and Oppositional Intensity of Conflict Expression.” Academy of Management Review, 40(2), 235–262.