Reconciliation: Conversations Beyond Cultural Boundaries

Conference at Adelaide, South Australia, 29 November - 1 December 2001

ABSTRACTS OF POSTERS

Shona Erskine - Conflict Resolution in Cross-Cultural Settings

Stewart Levine - Managing by Agreement: the new MBA

Tania Miletic - Ethnic Identity, Memory & Conflict: Effects of the Balkans conflict on Young Australians from Croatian and Serbian origins

Jaime Tan - Negotiation on-line: Does the medium make a difference?

SHONA ERSKINE
Conflict Resolution in Cross-Cultural Settings

The present study investigates the role of culture in conflict resolution. 43 Australian and 40 Chinese completed an 82-item scale measuring the four dimensions of cultural values identified by Hofstede (1984).  They then responded to two conflict scenarios by answering a series of questions based on the Littlefield, Love, Peck, and Wertheim (1993) model of conflict resolution. It was hypothesized that Australian and Chinese groups would have different value system placement along Hofstede's four dimensions and that this would manifest in different interpretations of conflict according to the Littlefield et al. model. Analysis suggests that the groups differ on each of the four dimensions, and interpreted and responded to the scenarios differently. It was concluded that value dimensions of culture are associated with conflict response. This has implications for establishing expectations for win-win outcomes, common goals and empathy for others needs, all of which are integral to the use of integrative bargaining to handle conflict constructively. The presentation will suggest that further studies investigating the role of gender and individual conflict pathways is required, in order to develop guidelines for inter-cultural conflict resolution more fully.

Shona Erskine

I recently completed a Bachelor Arts (Honours) Psychology at Deakin University under the supervision of David Mellor. I am now studying mediation through the International Conflict Resolution Centre at Melbourne University while planning a Phd to investigates the aspects of the mediation process that encourage parties in conflict to gain an understanding of their different value systems.

STEWART LEVINE
Managing by Agreement: the new MBA

Managing by Agreement creates covenantal relationships that are based on shared commitment to ideas, issues, values, goals and management process. Covenant is the true source of real teams, and is a key ingredient for having a "Work Family" which provides a source of the richness and fulfillment we seek. With covenants in place results beyond expectation follow. When you start a new project you will have the tools to put in place a road map that reminds you of your mission, and the route to get you there. If you’re deep in conflict MBA provides a 7 Step Process to Resolution. Managing by Agreement provides a dynamic context that advances change in organizational cultures. Agreements provide the context that promotes collaboration, teaming, learning, change, and continuous improvement. The new MBA provides standard practices through which desired changes can be identified, clarified and implemented. Individuals and groups are legitimized as they learn how to address their unique needs and concerns. The result is empowerment, teamwork, increased productivity and self-management.

Stewart Levine teaches all over the world. Getting to Resolution: Turning Conflict into Collaboration was named one of the 30 best business books of 1998. McGraw Hill is featuring his new book, The Book of Agreement: Tools for Self-Organizing in a Virtual World, in its 2002 Sourcebook for Innovative Management Practices

TANIA MILETIC AND ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR DI BRETHERTON
Ethnic Identity, Memory & Conflict: Effects of the Balkans conflict on Young Australians from Croatian and Serbian origins

Ethnic identity is seen as a psychological construct which links memories of the past, to the present and to expectations of the future. Personal exposure and involvement with a culture leads to the development of identity, and this then is said to influence how information is processed and interpreted, including how memories are constructed and retrieved. The present study examines the construction of ethnic identity in two groups, young people (18-35 yrs) born in Australia identifying themselves as Croatian and Serbian Australians. It then examines strength of association between measures of ethnic identity and memories surrounding the political conflicts that occurred in South East Europe and involving these two groups. The results suggest that ethnic identity is constructed and reconstructed in a dynamic way as circumstances change. The results also suggest that measures of ethnic identity are associated with what might be called sided/biased remembering of events. This has important implications in relation to conflict negotiation and resolution as well as importance in considering the stories of people who come from conflict zones, even in second and subsequent generations of Australian immigrants whose heritage is from a country with a history of or current conflict.

Tania Miletic received her BA at Melbourne University in 1996, and received her Postgraduate Diploma in Psychology in 1999. Under the supervision of Associate Professor Di Bretherton at the International Conflict Resolution Centre, she completed her thesis entitled 'Collective Memory & Ethnic Identity in Contexts of Ethnic Conflict'.

Tania has been employed with the Victorian Transcultural Psychiatry Unit since late 1997 as a Research and Education Officer. She shares her time between participating in the development and delivery of clinician training within the Education and Professional Development Program, and is involved with various projects within the Research Program examining issues of migration, culture, service delivery and clinical practice in mental health.

JAIME TAN
Negotiation on-line: Does the medium make a difference?

Traditional theories of negotiation in social science have been mostly based on face-to-face interactions (Bazerman and Carroll, 1987; Johnson and Johnson, 1997). However, with the advent of new communication technologies and the rise in the number of virtual work organisations, there is an increasing reliance on computer-mediated communication between individuals, especially in this emerging global economy. Electronic media, such as emails and computer conferencing have allowed remote individuals to overcome temporal, geographical and even hierarchical barriers. It is not unimaginable that individuals may be using such electronic media to negotiate conflicts with other virtual workers in the world. Thus, it is becoming increasingly important to re-examine the assumptions that traditional (face-to-face) negotiation is based on. Because the primary medium of most electronic media is plain text, electronic communication is likely to contain impoverished dynamic personal information and feedback, thus the general assumptions that apply to traditional negotiation may not apply to electronically-mediated negotiation.

Jaime Tan
My name is Jaime Tan, a second-year PhD student currently enrolled in The University of Melbourne. I am interested in examining the differences in the negotiation process across different mediums of communication, specifically between face-to-face and electronically mediated negotiation. I came to Australia, from Singapore, to pursue my graduate and now post-graduate studies.

This conference is sponsored by the World Mediation Forum, the University of South Australia, and the Hawke Institute. 

 Related sites: Ausdispute | Conflict Management Research Group | AAPAE Conference

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updated 21 February 2003