Global Issues: Conflict Management Differences across Cultures
Summary: Individuals from different cultures adopt different conflict resolution strategies. For
example, compared to U.S. managers, Asian managers avoid discussing a conflict. U.S.
managers prefer a style of dominance and assertively competing to see who can convince the
other. Chinese managers favor compromise and avoidance, whereas British executives favor
collaboration and competition. Arab Middle Eastern executives use an integrating and avoiding
style.
An Indian employee is hesitant to give a superior direct feedback to save face. Instead, the
person may tell you what you want to hear. Because Indians communicate positives, you
should listen for what they do not say. A desire to maintain face is related to a dominating
conflict style, and a desire to maintain the face of the other party is related to avoiding,
integrating, and compromising styles.
Collective cultures manage conflict differently from individualistic cultures. Collectivism
emphasizes group harmony, whereas individualism emphasizes individual rights. The Chinese
culture is collective and the North American culture is individualistic. Collective societies avoid
open conflict—conflict is resolved in inner circles before it justifies public involvement.
The above are some examples of what the discussion is about. Give your opinion and also any
examples from your native countries.
Contribute to the discussion with 3 posts.
All your posts should be substantial, not just a couple of quick sentences.
Your initial post should be written by Sunday 02/05 midnight and two other posts,
commenting on your classmates posts by Sunday 02/12.
Late initial posts will lose 50% of the grade.
