商务会议冲突管理中的高效信息交换研究

Chapter 1 Introduction 　　Conflicts are endemic to all social life where people struggle for scarce resources， power， etc. Especially in the business world， when people with different business goals and interests work together， the potential for disagreements always exists. Conflicts of ideas， goals and decision-making are considered inevitable both among businesses and within business organizations. Previous studies showed that 20% of the managerial time is spent on dealing with conflicts on average (Thomas， 1976). The capability of resolving conflicts effectively and successfully is the most important expertise for managers (McKenna and Richardson， 1995). Focusing on the conflicts within business organizations， an increasing number of studies attach great importance to the critical role of conflict management. Elsayed-Elkhouly’s (1996) research indicates that the ability of management to handle conflicts within business organizations will directly affect an organization’s decision-making effectiveness， choice of corporate strategies， day-to-day decision level of achievement， level of empowerment， and level of productivity. It is obvious that conflict management expertise has become the fundamental skill of organizational management. 　　1.1 Conflict Management in Business Meetings 　　In business settings， when people with different business goals and interests collaborate with each other， the chance of confronting disagreements is prominent. Conflicts over ideas， goals and decision-making are considered inevitable for both external and internal business communication. As the routine of internal communication in business organizations， business meetings are one of the prevalent occasions where conflicts are triggered， mediated and resolved during face-to-face communication among attendees with incompatible business goals or ideas. 　　This book concentrates on the study of conflict management in business meetings. As for the conceptualization of conflict management in business meetings， we interpret it from its three components， namely “conflict”， “conflict management” and “business meeting”. 　　Scholars interpret the concept of conflict differently. Rahim (1997) believes that conflict is a process in which people disagree over significant issues， thereby creating friction between parties. Taylor and Moghaddam (1994) see it as the perceived incompatibility of interests caused by the misalignment of goals， motivations or actions between two parties that can be real or only be perceived to exist， whereas Wilmot and Hocker (1998) define conflicts as an expressed struggle between at least two interdependent parties who perceive incompatible goals， scarce resources and interference from the other party in achieving their goals. Albeit that a large variety of definitions of conflict is offered by scholars in the management field， several factors are shared in common: 1) people/parties who have opposing interests， goals or ideas; 2) the tense relationship between the opposing parties; 3) the inference from rivals in achieving their goals. 　　Sweeney and Carruthers (1996) define “conflict management”， sometimes known as “conflict resolution”， as the process used by parties in conflicts to reach a settlement. This all-encompassing definition universally applies to all kinds of conflicts in diverse settings， such as business conflicts， armed conflicts， conflicts between family members， racial conflicts. However， this book focuses on conflict management issues in internal business meetings， one of the indispensable business settings where conflicts are frequently triggered， mediated and resolved during face-to-face communication among attendees who are from the same business organization but with incompatible business goals or ideas. 　　The working definition of conflict management in business meetings in this book is phrased as the settlement of conflicts among attendees who perceive incompatible goals or express incompatible ideas and get interfered with other members in business meetings. This definition stresses three unique features: Firstly， conflict management behavior under observation is restricted to business meeting occasions; secondly， conflicts arise not only because of incompatible goals but also of incompatible ideas that may contribute to the same goal; thirdly， interference comes from colleagues in the same team rather than from antagonists outside. The insights offered in this book are within the boundary set by this working definition of “conflict management in business meetings”， which is tremendously different from the research on external business meetings where attendees are from different business organizations with heterogeneous business cultures. 　　1.2 Cultural Contexts of Conflict Management in Business Meetings 　　Culture has always been considered an indispensable variable of external business communication. Previous studies of business meetings attach great importance to