Gorse, C A (2003) Conflict and conflict management in construction. In: Greenwood, D J (ed.) Proceedings of 19th Annual ARCOM Conference, 3-5 September 2003, Brighton, UK.
Abstract
While the adversarial nature of construction is frequently cited in the construction press only a few researchers have investigated conflict within the construction industry. Due to the interdisciplinary construction environment, which inevitably results in clashes of interest, the uses of conflict and recovery from conflict must be a subject of real interest, yet construction management research in this area is scarce. This study has gathered information on the emergence and resolution of conflict within groups. The research data have been used to develop a greater understanding of conflict occurrence and its management. Observations of construction management and design team meetings recorded using the interaction analysis technique were used to identify conflict and the nature of interaction used. A further study of postgraduate students engaged in a group exercise was used to gather perceptions and experiences of conflict and management. Initial findings identify a number of reasons for conflict and interaction behaviour used to manage conflict and reduce associated tension. It is also suggested that further research into conflict should consider issues in terms of concern for self, others and task.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | communication; conflict; groups |
| Index terms: | postgraduate, resolution, construction industry, interaction, emergence, conflict management, recovery, exercise, management research, design team |
| Subjects: | conflict resolution, industry analysis, higher education, behavioral psychology, systems engineering, operations management, professional practice, research design and methodology, health behaviours and lifestyles |
| Topics: | Design Practice, Education, Health and Safety, Engineering Principles, Research Practice, Project Management, Stakeholder Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here