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Intervening in Employee Disputes: How and When Will Managers from China, Japan and the USA Act Differently?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 February 2015

Jeanne M. Brett ,
Catherine H. Tinsley ,
Debra L. Shapiro  and
Tetsushi Okumura
Jeanne M. Brett
Affiliation:
Northwestern University, USA
Catherine H. Tinsley
Affiliation:
Georgetown University, USA
Debra L. Shapiro
Affiliation:
University of Maryland, USA
Tetsushi Okumura
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Nagoya City University, Japan
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Abstract

We investigated how third party managers from China, Japan and the USA intervened in employees' disputes. Consistent with predictions, we found (using non-linear HLM analysis) that managers who were superiors to the disputants behaved autocratically and/or decided on conservative (e.g., contract adhering) outcomes; but managers who were peers (especially in China and the USA), generally involved disputants in decision-making and obtained integrative outcomes that went beyond initial contract related mandates. Our results extend prior research and theorizing using the dispositional and constructivist perspectives on culture by introducing norm complexity as an explanation for variations in third party conflict intervention behaviour within one culture.

Keywords

constructivist theoryculturedispositional theorydispute resolutionthird party文化冲突调停第三方特质论建构论
Type
Articles
Information
Management and Organization Review , Volume 3 , Issue 2 , July 2007 , pp. 183 - 204
Copyright
Copyright © International Association for Chinese Management Research 2007

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