Conflict Resolution Strategies and Group Performance – It Really Does Matter How You Squabble

Tom Goddard — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 16:03:46 -0500

In a far-reaching examination on how a group’s conflict resolution style affects both its performance and the satisfaction of members of the group, Behfar and her colleagues developed an elegant group-level theory about conflict resolution strategies ("The Critical Role of Conflict Resolution in Teams," by Behfar, Peters,on, Mannix, and Trochim). This theory posits two broad dimensions: pluralistic-vs.-particularistic strategies and reactive-vs.-preemptive strategies.