The Oxford Handbook of Conflict Management in Organizations

New ways of managing conflict are increasingly important features of work and employment in organizations. In the book the world's leading scholars in the field examine a range of innovative alternative dispute resolution (ADR) practices, drawing on international research and scholarship and covering both case studies of major exemplars and developments in countries in different parts of the global economy. Developments in the management of individual and collective conflict at work are addressed, as are innovations in both unionized and non-union organizations and in the private and public sectors.

New practices for managing conflict in organizations are set in the context of trends in workplace conflict and perspectives on how conflict should be understood and addressed. Part 1 examines the changing context of conflict management by addressing the main frameworks for understanding conflict management, the trend in conflict at work, developments in employment rights, and the influence of HRM on conflict management. Part 2 covers the main approaches to conflict management in organizations, addressing both conventional and alternative approaches to conflict resolution. Conventional grievance handling and third-party processes in conflict resolution are examined as well as the main ADR practices, including conflict management in non-union firms, the role of the organizational ombudsman, mediation, interest-based bargaining, line and supervisory management, and the concept of conflict management systems. Part 3 presents case studies of exemplars and innovators in the field, covering mediation in the US postal service, interest-based bargaining at Kaiser-Permanente, 'med-arb' in the New Zealand Police, and judicial mediation in UK employment tribunals. Part 4 covers international developments in conflict management in Germany, Japan, The United States, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and China.

This Handbook gives a comprehensive overview of this growing field, which has seen an huge increase in programmes of study in university business and law schools and in executive education programmes.

William K. Roche, Professor of Industrial Relations and Human Resources, University College Dublin,Paul Teague, Professor of Management, Queen's University Belfast,Alexander J.S. Colvin, Professor of Labor Relations and Conflict Resolution, Cornell University

William Roche is Professor of Industrial Relations and Human Resources at the School of Business, University College Dublin and Honorary Professor at the School of Management, Queen's University Belfast. He is the author and editor of numerous books, including Recession at Work (with Paul Teague, Anne Coughlan and Majella Fahy, Routledge, 2013); Managing Workplace Conflict in Ireland (with Deborah Hahn and Paul Teague, Government Publications, 2009), and Partnership at Work, (with John Geary, Routledge, 2006). He is a member of the editorial advisory boards of the British Journal of Industrial Relations, Industrial Relations Journal, Human Resource Management Journal, and Labour and Industry. He has led or contributed to strategic reviews undertaken by such bodies as the Labour Relations Commission, The National Economic and Social Council, the National Centre for Partnership and Performance and IBEC.

Paul Teague is Professor of Management at the Management School, Queen's University Belfast and Visiting Professor at the School of Business, University College Dublin. Previously, he has held positions at the London School of Economics and Cranfield School of Management. He has also been a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Massachusetts. He is author of Employment Standard-Setting and Dispute resolution in the Republic of Ireland (with Damian Thomas, Oaktree Press, 2008) and Managing Workplace Conflict in Ireland (with Deborah Hahn and Bill Roche, Government Publications 2009). His other research publications on conflict resolution include Towards Flexible Workplace Governance (Studies in Public Policy, Institute of Policy Studies, Trinity College Dublin) and articles in leading journals such the British Journal of Industrial relations, Work, Employment and Society and Comparative Labor Law & Policy Journal.

Alexander Colvin is Professor of Labor Relations and Conflict Resolution at the ILR School, Cornell University and member of the Advisory Board of the Scheinman Institute on Conflict Resolution at Cornell. He has published articles in journals such as Industrial & Labor Relations Review, Industrial Relations, British Journal of Industrial Relations, Academy of Management Journal, Personnel Psychology, Relations Industrielles, the Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, the Ohio State Journal on Dispute Resolution, and the Cornell Journal of Law & Public Policy. He is also co-author (with Harry C. Katz and Thomas A. Kochan) of the textbook An Introduction to Collective Bargaining and Industrial Relations, 4th edition (Irwin-McGraw-Hill).