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Rating: 
Summary: "Comprehensive Study of Evolution of Corporate ADR Processes
Review: ADR experts Lipsky, Seeber and Fincher have provided a comprehensive and practically written account of the evolution of corporate alternative dispute resolution ("ADR")processes from the early days of collective action in the 1930's to the present-day use of conflict management programs to enhance the productivity and overall satisfaction of workers in companies seeking to compete in global markets. The book places today's corporate ADR programs in the context of labor history and the increasingly complex federal, state and local legislative scheme, thus providing an important frame of reference to those interested in introducing, designing, and implementing internal ADR systems. The authors' premise is that corporations that consider managing workplace conflict as a significant organizational goal have moved from a "dispute resolution" perspective to a "conflict management" paradigm. Whether a corporation will adopt any such system depends on a myriad of factors both internal (corporate culture and mission) and external (markets, regulations, litigation exposure). The authors note that the field of dispute resolution has depended on almost allegorical accounts of the cost-savings, efficiencies, and high satisfaction rate reported by participants in ADR systems. The field has not generated the empirical support for these oft-repeated benefits of dispute resolution processes, leaving corporations without the metric economic evidence needed to support new corporate initiatives. Recognizing the challenge of providing "hard evidence that corporations actually do save time and money by using ADR, however" (p.313), the authors "conclude that the vast majority of corporations favor dispute management over conflict management." (id.)The authors use the building blocks of hundreds of interviews of corporate executives, human resources, employee relations and legal department officials throughout the country as well as government representatives to make their case that corporations that approach conflict management systematically and with a long-range perspective will ultimately embrace and benefit from successful systems. One of the most useful contributions made by the book is the extensive discussion in Part Two: The Extablishment of Conflict Management Systems, which provides -- excuse the expression-- a "road-map" for individuals within corporations seeking to introduce, design and implement a complete workplace conflict resolution system. The authors provide templates for deciding such important questions as composition of the design committee, eliciting support from various corporate constituencies, determining the scope of the process, common design features, and methods for evaluating success. The authors conclude the book with a clear-eyed discussion of the future of workplace conflict management systems, in a society still grappling with litigation prevention and reduction strategies. As a practitioner in the field, I highly recommend this to others interested in promoting alternative dispute resolution in the workplace.
Rating:
Summary: "Comprehensive Study of Evolution of Corporate ADR Processes
Review: ADR experts Lipsky, Seeber and Fincher have provided a comprehensive and practically written account of the evolution of corporate alternative dispute resolution ("ADR")processes from the early days of collective action in the 1930's to the present-day use of conflict management programs to enhance the productivity and overall satisfaction of workers in companies seeking to compete in global markets. The book places today's corporate ADR programs in the context of labor history and the increasingly complex federal, state and local legislative scheme, thus providing an important frame of reference to those interested in introducing, designing, and implementing internal ADR systems. The authors' premise is that corporations that consider managing workplace conflict as a significant organizational goal have moved from a "dispute resolution" perspective to a "conflict management" paradigm. Whether a corporation will adopt any such system depends on a myriad of factors both internal (corporate culture and mission) and external (markets, regulations, litigation exposure). The authors note that the field of dispute resolution has depended on almost allegorical accounts of the cost-savings, efficiencies, and high satisfaction rate reported by participants in ADR systems. The field has not generated the empirical support for these oft-repeated benefits of dispute resolution processes, leaving corporations without the metric economic evidence needed to support new corporate initiatives. Recognizing the challenge of providing "hard evidence that corporations actually do save time and money by using ADR, however" (p.313), the authors "conclude that the vast majority of corporations favor dispute management over conflict management." (id.)The authors use the building blocks of hundreds of interviews of corporate executives, human resources, employee relations and legal department officials throughout the country as well as government representatives to make their case that corporations that approach conflict management systematically and with a long-range perspective will ultimately embrace and benefit from successful systems. One of the most useful contributions made by the book is the extensive discussion in Part Two: The Extablishment of Conflict Management Systems, which provides -- excuse the expression-- a "road-map" for individuals within corporations seeking to introduce, design and implement a complete workplace conflict resolution system. The authors provide templates for deciding such important questions as composition of the design committee, eliciting support from various corporate constituencies, determining the scope of the process, common design features, and methods for evaluating success. The authors conclude the book with a clear-eyed discussion of the future of workplace conflict management systems, in a society still grappling with litigation prevention and reduction strategies. As a practitioner in the field, I highly recommend this to others interested in promoting alternative dispute resolution in the workplace.
Rating:
Summary: First Rate
Review: Emerging Systems for Managing Workplace Conflict is a rich compendium of research, insightful analysis and practical advice that will be invaluable for any individual interested in the field of workplace conflict management. Written by three authors who each bring an average of between 25 and 35 years of background experience in labor relations and human resources management, supplemented by extensive work as mediators, arbitrators and consultants to public and private sector organizations, it is a "must read" in its field. The work is based on more than six years of research into conflict management systems in the United States. The authors draw upon surveys of general counsel of Fortune 1000 corporations, onsite interviews with over 700 executives, managers and attorneys in sixty firms and extensive interviews with individuals operating as neutral parties in the settlement of conflicts and disputes. Based upon their research, the authors conclude that "... there is a sea change in U.S. organizations that reflects an emergence of systems of conflict management and a new paradigm for organizations" (p.5). Their finding, they note, is independently confirmed in research conducted in 1999 by Bingham and Chachere who found that "about half of [U.S.] 'large' private employers ha[d] established some sort of formal dispute resolution procedure for their nonunion employees"(p. 81). With this major movement established, the authors proceed to explain the reasons for the shift to conflict management systems, the processes that have emerged to service that demand, how those systems were created and implemented and the challenges that lie ahead in the field. Importantly, the authors immediately focus on the corporate interests that drive the development and implementation of alternative systems for conflict management. Overwhelmingly, the primary driver in developing alternative systems to replace litigation procedures is the belief that dispute resolution can be accomplished at less cost in dollars and time." (p.6). "In our survey of the Fortune 1000," the authors write, "about 80 percent of the respondents told us that saving time or saving money was the primary reason the corporation had used ADR" (p.313). The implications of this finding are clear and reflected, as the authors point out, in the fact that "... the vast majority of corporations favor dispute management over conflict management" (p.313). Having presented us with the primary drivers as well as several other contributing factors, the authors move into a discussion of alternative management systems and their components. Readers will learn the pros and cons of the main features of these systems. It is truly a handbook of elements for both the decision-maker and the designer. The book explores who is eligible in most systems, the essential elements for judging the fairness of a system, the issues of who pays the costs, training requirements, the use of outside "neutral" parties and a host of other common design features in considerable detail. You will find the most common element, the Open Door, explored with its drawbacks and its contributions. Additionally, you will find a careful discussion of other features such as "hotlines," ombudspersons, resolution facilitators, internal peer mediation and external "neutral" ad hoc personnel. Always, the authors present the pros and cons of each of the possible components. Professors Lipsky, Seeber and Fincher then lead the reader through the process of system design and implementation, citing key steps along the way. Always, their work is based on findings from major U.S. organizations that have engaged in the process. As they examine the process, the authors provide the reader with another very valuable part of their work by confronting the issues inherent in evaluating the systems. Their findings will be either a comfort or a source of devastation for the planner. The authors put the matter succinctly and critically. The frame for evaluation is necessarily couched in the key question: "As compared to what?" (p.269). Indeed, the answer is far from easy. Rather, it may be astonishingly elusive. The challenge of evaluation is one the authors explore in detail, showing various evaluation schemes in practice in American corporations today. Results, alas, yield data far from business case standards. "Leaders of organizations, even if they believe in conflict management," they conclude, "are often faced with going forward in the absence of any hard evidence about the benefits of the system" (p.308).
"There is in fact very little hard evidence that corporations actually do save time and money by using ADR ...," they conclude (p. 313). "Furthermore," they assert, "it is not clear to us that many corporations are even gathering the information necessary to make a cost benefit analysis" (p.313). As befits a work of this breadth and depth, the authors do not disappoint us as they turn their attention at the close of their work to the future of conflict management systems. Their work is insightful and thorough. "Contrary to much of the popular literature and perceptions regarding ADR and somewhat surprising to us," the authors conclude "we do not believe that the ADR movement has achieved the critical mass necessary to institutionalize it within most large businesses and organizations" (p.315). And yet, the authors are confident that the future trend is toward the expansion of alternative dispute resolution procedures, but far less certain about the broad expansion of conflict management systems. It is an area with unresolved issues and significant promises. Readers will find thought provoking and useful discussion of these issues as the conclusion to the work. There is far more in this book than this review touches upon. Additionally, readers will find an extensive bibliography, current research statistics, informative footnotes and an eminently useable glossary. Highly recommended. John Baker, Ph.D.
Editor, The Negotiator Magazine
Rating:
Summary: Practical Guide for Managing Workplace Conflict
Review: For many years, scholars and academics have focused on the importance of conflict resolution in the workplace. This tradition goes back to studies that were done in the 1940s-50s. In more recent years, conflict in the workplace has become a major issue. No longer are workplaces those socially integrative, sometimes paternalistic, havens for lifetime security. They are now arenas for multiple conflicts. The issue therefore becomes how to deal with these conflicts in a non-ad hoc manner--how to put in place systems for managing conflict. American corporations have much to teach the world in this regard. The problem is that before this book, no one has systemized these lessons. Before this book, there was no central location where the tools, the methodologies, and the processes necessary for putting quality conflict resolution was readily available. Lipsky, Seeber, and Fincher have provided a critical service in having completed this volume. They have written the definitive reference volume on the specific issue of alternative dispute resolution techniques in American business. In this context, they have served the practitioner community well. Yet not only is this a well-written book for the practitioner, it is an informative book for the academic. The combined research record of these authors is impressive and it serves them well in putting this material together. Anyone interested in alternative dispute resolution in the workplace must have this well-written volume as a reference.
Rating:
Summary: Practical Guide for Managing Workplace Conflict
Review: For many years, scholars and academics have focused on the importance of conflict resolution in the workplace. This tradition goes back to studies that were done in the 1940s-50s. In more recent years, conflict in the workplace has become a major issue. No longer are workplaces those socially integrative, sometimes paternalistic, havens for lifetime security. They are now arenas for multiple conflicts. The issue therefore becomes how to deal with these conflicts in a non-ad hoc manner--how to put in place systems for managing conflict. American corporations have much to teach the world in this regard. The problem is that before this book, no one has systemized these lessons. Before this book, there was no central location where the tools, the methodologies, and the processes necessary for putting quality conflict resolution was readily available. Lipsky, Seeber, and Fincher have provided a critical service in having completed this volume. They have written the definitive reference volume on the specific issue of alternative dispute resolution techniques in American business. In this context, they have served the practitioner community well. Yet not only is this a well-written book for the practitioner, it is an informative book for the academic. The combined research record of these authors is impressive and it serves them well in putting this material together. Anyone interested in alternative dispute resolution in the workplace must have this well-written volume as a reference.
Rating:
Summary: Emerging Systems for Managing Workplace Conflict : Lessons f
Review: This book presents real-life examples as well as methods and tools for integrating systems of dispute resolution into standard corporate procedures. It investigates the systems for management of workplace conflicts involving supervisor-employee relationships, discrimination and sexual harassment, occupational safety, and wrongful termination. (...)
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