New ways of managing conflict

392 Pages·1996·29.654 MB·English

by  Rensis Likert, Jane Gibson Likert

Htus book was purchased
with jiinds given by
DEWITT W&LLACE
founder ef Reader's Digest
4'
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2017 with funding from
Kahle/Austin Foundation
https://archive.org/details/newwaysofmanaginOOIike
NEW WAYS OF
MANAGING CONFLICT

NEW WAYS OF
MANAGING CONFLICT
Rensis Likert
Chairman of the board, Rensis Likert Associates, Inc.; director
emeritus, The University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research;
and professor emeritus of Psychology and Sociology, The University
of Michigan.
Jane Gibson Likert
Writer and editor, former teacher, vice-president of the League of
Women Voters of the United States, project director and counselor,
The Center for Continuing Education of Women, The University of
Michigan.
McGraw-Hill Book Company
New York St. Louis San Francisco Auckland Bogota
Dusseldorf Johannesburg London Madrid Mexico
Montreal New Delhi Panama Paris Sao Paulo
Singapore Sydney Tokyo Toronto
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Likert, Rensis, date.
New ways of managing conflict.
Bibliography: p.
Includes indexes.
1. Management. 2. Social conflict. 3. Organization.
I. Likert, Jane Gibson, joint author. II. Title.
HD38.L48 658.4 75-23216
ISBN 0-07-037842-8
Copyright (c) 1976 by McGraw-Hill, Inc. All rights
reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No
part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, record¬
ing, or otherwise, without the prior written permission
of the publisher.
7890 KPKP 854321
The editors for this book were W. Hodson Mogan and
Margaret Lamb, the designer was Elliot Epstein, and
the production supervisor was George E. Oechsner. It
was set in Baskerville by University Graphics, Inc.
Printed and bound by The Kingsport Press.
Contents
4'
Preface vii
1. A new resource for conflict management 1
.
2 The relation of conflict strategies to a society’s values and
organizational theories 11
3. Readiness for improving conflict management 45
f4. Inadequacies in prevailing methods for coping with conflict 59
5. The effectiveness of System 4T 71
6. The role of supportive behavior in System 4 leadership 107
Ay
7. The role of System 4 leadership in problem solving 125
8. Integrative goals and consensus in problem solving 141
9. Deemphasizing status and depersonalizing problem solving 157
10. The structure of the System 4 interaction-influence network: Linked
multiple overlapping groups 183
.
11 System 4 structure applied to conflicts in industrial organizations 203
.
12 System 4 structure applied to conflicts in schools 217
^13. System 4 structure applied to conflicts in universities 243
.
14 System 4 structure applied to conflicts in cities 261
15. Power, influence, and motivation in conflict management 269
.
# 16 Two studies supporting the System 4 approach to managing conflict 287
.
17 Taking action 307
18. Looking to the future 325
Appendix 329
References 347
Name index 364
Subject index 367
vi