Gestión del conflicto, negociación y mediación [Conflict management, negotiation and mediation]

Citation

Gamero, N. (2009), "Gestión del conflicto, negociación y mediación [Conflict management, negotiation and mediation]", International Journal of Conflict Management, Vol. 20 No. 1, pp. 105-107. https://doi.org/10.1108/10444060910931639

The Editors of this book are: Lourdes Munduate, Professor of Social and Organizational Psychology, University of Seville, Spain; and Francisco J. Medina, Assistant Professor of Social and Organizational Psychology, University of Seville, Spain.

The participants (in alphabetical order) are: Carsten de Dreu, University of Amsterdam (The Netherlands); Ching Wan, University of Singapore; Ever Van de Vliert, University of Groningen (The Netherlands); Inés Martínez‐Corts, Pablo de Olavide University (Spain); Inmaculada Fernández, University of Seville (Spain); Jeanne Brett, Nortwestern University (USA); José M. Guerra, San Pablo‐CEU University (Spain); Miguel A. Dorado, University of Seville (Spain); Miguel Barón, University of Seville (Spain); Pedro J. Luque, University of Jaén (Spain); Peter Carnevale, New York University (USA); Sam Fraidin, University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign (USA); Serafín Cruces, University of Cadiz (Spain); Thelma Butts‐Griggs, Professional Mediator (USA‐Spain); and Yeow Siah Cha, University of Singapore.

This book describes the practice of conflict management from both theoretical and practical perspectives. The book provides “a comprehensive and critical synthesis of main current knowledge about psychological and social processes which influence conflict management, negotiation and mediation” (p. 24). To this end, leading academicians and practitioners in the field were brought together to make this important revision about the current state of conflict management, negotiation and mediation. Their efforts are presented in this outstanding book, which covers current theoretical and practical approaches in this field. The book offers also an innovative approach including the study of the cultural influences on negotiation and mediation. In the end of each chapter, a number of exercises, role‐plays or questionnaires are introduced to illustrate the main contents in a practical way.

On the whole, “Conflict management, negotiation and mediation” is a diversified and convincing attempt to provide a complex and articulate picture of current state of conflict management, negotiation and mediation. Because of its twofold theoretical‐practical approach, this book becomes a relevant source of information about conflict management for both students and practitioners in the field. For the practitioner, it can be very helpful in guiding the process of negotiation and mediation in organizational conflict. For students, it is a very useful tool to go more deeply into the study of conflict management, negotiation and mediation.

The book is organized in three sections with fourteen chapters. The first section, comprising four chapters, concentrates on conflict management in organizations.

In Chapter 1, E. Van de Vliert and C.K.W. De Dreu deliver a message that conflict is not only inevitable but productive and, in some circumstances, desirable. The chapter sheds light on how conflict can have positive consequences to the organizational results. Thus, they analyze the type of conflict and of interdependence among the goals and the level of tension in the group as conditions that maximize the positive results of organizational conflict. Finally, different techniques and behaviors which could be used to stimulate conflict, are reviewed.

In the second chapter, F.J. Medina, P.J. Luque and S. Cruces review the different ways of managing organizational conflict. The authors examine parties’ behaviors what can arise in a conflictive interaction from several theoretical models. Authors also analyze recent literature to demonstrate positive and negative effect of conflict stimulation in organizational life, and relevant moderators.

F.J. Medina and L. Munduate (chapter 3) deal with assessment of conflict management. In this chapter, the authors describe different methodological instruments to know conflict management styles, are used by negotiators. Additionally, they discuss the effectiveness of these styles in negotiation processes. They assume the complex perspective points out that the effectiveness of conflict management is the result of combining different styles in a certain sequence.

M.A. Dorado (chapter 4) deals with the role that emotion plays on understanding of conflict and negotiation. In this chapter, Dorado, analyses the incidence of emotional processes in the conflict management within the framework of four kinds of models. Firstl, relational commitment models focus on emotional effect of previous meeting on the current negotiation. A second group, cognition‐affect relationship models, analyse the relationship between negotiators’ affect and their information processing. The third group includes researches that study the use of strategies linked affect (i.e. the influence of affect on strategies used by negotiators and their effectiveness). Finally, Dorado includes the dynamic model of dyadic negotiation, which analyses the role of the affect in a dyadic negotiation.

The second part of the book (eight chapters) examines negotiation and mediation procedures.

Chapters 5, 6 and 7 by L. Munduate and F.J. Medina examine negotiation characteristics and strategies used during negotiation processes. Chapter 5 addresses nature of negotiation. In this chapter, the authors distinguish also between integrative and distributive negotiation and between transaction and dispute management. The chapter details the essential phases of negotiation process and advances potential results that could derive from this process. They advise some ways to handle disputes. Chapter 6 examines how negotiation process can be planed. Munduate and Medina focus on different techniques, which allow negotiators to obtain a great account of information about other party's and own negotiation situation and interests and to analyse how they can achieve their negotiation goals. Chapter 7 analyses the moment negotiators confront negotiation process and describes two kinds of negotiation strategies, distributives and integratives, and their different tactics. In the end of this chapter, the authors include also some reflections about ethic aspects related to the use of certain negotiation strategies and tactics.

In chapter 8, I. Martínez‐Corts, J.M. Guerra and L. Munduate examine the use of power in negotiation. The authors stress power as a fundamental factor to determine potential outcomes that each party would obtain from negotiation process. The chapter is devoted to describe power characteristic and bases in negotiation processes. They depict also several influence tactics, focusing on coalition as the most habitual tactic to transform the course of power relationships among parties.

I.F.J. Cisneros, F.J. Medina and M. Dorado (chapter 9) focus on some negotiators’ personal characteristics such as cognitive processes, personality traits, emotional intelligence, gender and motivational factors. Authors comment that these characteristics constitute elements that negotiators bring about at negotiation process and that, to a great extend, support their negotiation strategies and influence on effectiveness of negotiation process.

The chapter by M. Dorado and F.J. Medina (chapter 10) is concerned with analysis of negotiator effectiveness. Theses authors stress the importance of developing valid criterions to assess the effectiveness of negotiation process. Those criterions could have profound repercussions on futures processes given that they would provide an invaluable guide to negotiators about the most effectiveness way to manage conflicts. Criterions should also evaluate who is the last beneficiary of reached agreements, or not only focus on assessing achieved results but also on negotiators’ procedures. In this sense, the authors analyze several proposals of criterions to the study of negotiator effectiveness, and suggest one model to synthesize these proposals.

In chapter 11, F.J. Medina and L. Munduate try to go beyond the study of dyadic negotiations and examine three negotiation situations: negotiations by mean of teams, negotiations with representatives and negotiations in which there are more than two parties involves.

T.B. Griggs, L. Munduate, M. Barón and F.J. Medina (chapter 12) write about mediation as an important alternative to negotiation. The authors provide a framework for the concept of mediation and sum up the main advantages derived from its use. Furthermore, a generic structure of mediation process and different mediation skills and techniques are introduced to offer mediators a guide that allows them to help parties to solve their problems. In the end of the chapter, the authors present a mediation model drew from labour relations field in Spain.

The third part of the book (two chapters) analyzes the role of the culture in the effectiveness of negotiation and mediation.

In chapter 13, J.J. Brett examines the influence of the cultural values or norms on negotiation process and outcomes. The model presented by Brett shows how the course of intercultural negotiations are affected by the way of carrying out negotiations in each cultural group. In Brett's model, culture is presented as an important factor that can facilitate or hinder a negotiation process. Strategies used by negotiators are influenced by the cultural values and norms of the membership group. So, understanding the other party's cultural characteristics could help negotiators to obtain better gains.

In the Chapter 14, P.J. Carnevale, Y.S. Cha, C. Wan and S. Fraidin explore the impact of culture on mediators’ interventions. From this chapter, several interesting research questions are also delivered showing the need of increasing researches in this field.