Managing cross-cultural conflict in organizations

摘要

Conflict is part of being human and thus it is a pervasive aspect of socio-cultural and professional interaction. People who have never experienced conflict at the workplace are 'living in a dream world, blind to their surroundings or are confined to solitary confinement' (Boohar, 2001). Over the past decades there has been an increase in research on conflict and its management both internationally and at an interdisciplinary level (Rahim, 1989; Thomas, 1992). Conflict and its management have therefore been researched from different angles and disciplinary perspectives, such as psychology, behavioural sciences, sociology, communication, health sciences and anthropology (Wall and Callister, 1995; Vecchio, 2000). Despite the increase in the number of concepts and definitions of conflict, there is no comprehensive definition of conflict and conflict theory in general.