CONFLICT MANAGEMENT The Psychology of conflict and conflict ...

15. MAKING SENSE OF AN ELUSIVE PHENOMENON 431
relationships (Kunda, 1992; D. M. Kolb & Bartunek, 1992)? Who does come
out ahead?
One implication of the relative failure to consider explicitly organizational
implications is that when change occurs it may go unnoticed. For
example, there are some significant examples of how new approaches
to collective bargaining led to a major transformation in relationships
between labor and management (Eaton, McKersie, & Fonstad, 2004). At
MIT, the actions of a coalition of women scientists led to more equity in
working conditions and opportunities (Meyerson, 2001). It is generally
accepted that conflict can lead to change, but we need to be clearer about
the kinds of changes we are talking about.
Let me conclude with an example that suggests how conflict management
impacts organizational practices in ways that change the context
for the expression of conflict and for its potential outcomes. The example
comes from an intervention study of gender, work, and family issues
in the workplace (Bailyn, Kolb, & Fletcher, 1997). It is a truth generally
acknowledged that, until recently, work was structured as if people had
no life outside of it. This might have been a norm that fit many men very
well but presents a challenge to women (and men) who have families.
Conflicts over time and responsibility and schedules happen routinely in
work groups and between supervisors and subordinates. People might
leave the organization and/or grieve their treatment. At the same time,
individuals begin to negotiate alternative work schedules. The conflict is
treated at the individual level—a matter of choice even though work practices
such as “face time” make it difficult for the individual to manage
work and personal life. However, it can also happen that the negotiations
can accumulate such that they lead to policies that enunciate flexible work
arrangements. That means that future negotiations take place against a
background of legitimacy as least as expressed in a policy.
However, cultural assumptions about an “ideal worker,” means that
people, especially those with high career ambitions, do not take advantage
of the policies for fear it will negatively impact their careers, that is, until
the conflict is dealt with at the group level—how can a team do its work
and still let its members have a life? The potential outcome of this form
of managing the conflict means that flexible work arrangements become
a norm and so conflicts around them might be mitigated. It also might be
because these changes happen at the group level, that decision-making
structures become less centralized on other issues as well. It also may
be that this process leads to more gender equity in the workplace, which
might give voice to groups who have not been as vocal, and so on. I use
this loose example to suggest that as we look at how conflict is managed at
different levels, we need to study how these processes change the contexts
within which future conflicts play out. These aspects of the management
of conflict are still elusive.