Week One Critique

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In Chapter One of Emerging Systems for Managing Workplace Cnflict: Lessons from American Corporations for Managers and Dispute Resolution Professionals, authors, David Lipsky, Ronald Seeber, and Richard Fincher (2003) lay the foundation for the rest of the book. They provide historical background on why corporations have shifted from dispute resolution to conflict management and stress the fact the “substantial dissatisfaction” that must drive companies to change how they handle dispute resolution (Lipsky, Seeber, & Fincher, 2003, Chapter 1, Inclination to Change). In addition, the authors articulated the differences between dispute management and conflict management (Chapter 1, Litigation, Dispute, and Conflict Management), detailed the five characteristics of an integrated conflict management system, listed the eight essential elements of a fair conflict management system, and pointed out other characteristics that effective conflict management systems share (Chapter 1, The Concept of a Conflict Management System).
Meanwhile in Chapter Two, Lipsky et al. (2003) asserted that the rise of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in the United States should be understood as “a phenomenon that is part of a new and emerging social contract.”(para 11). They further detailed the forces of change which seemingly led to the “reorganization of the way work is performed in U.S. companies” (Chapter 2, Forces of Change). Then they closed the chapter by summing up how the recognition of power imbalances between government and citizens, as well as employers and employees led to “developing new strategies and techniques for managing and resolving conflict” (Chapter 2, Conclusion, para 5).
Thus the reading agrees with this cohort member's p...

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...conflict resolution students, she would strive to cover the same information in a more clear cut manner; utilizing a more graphically-appealing layout, keywords, sidebars, and interesting quotes to keep readers engaged. Those issues, however, are simply ones of personal preference and shouldn't take anything away from the text. Emerging Systems for Managing Workplace Conflict is a valuable resource for conflict resolution students.

Works Cited

Amerland, D. (2014, April 8). Business agility: Is the company hierarchy holding you back?. Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/netapp/2014/04/08/business-agility-holacracy/
Lipsky, D. B., Seeber, R. L., & Fincher, R. D. (2003). Emerging systems for managing workplace conflict: lessons from American corporations for managers and dispute resolution professionals. [Kindle edition]. Available from Amazon.com.

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