Do conflict management systems matter?

The most influential current idea in the theory of conflict management concerns the design features and supposed superior outcomes of conflict management systems combining interest-based and rights-based practices for resolving conflict in organizations. Yet much of the literature in the area is highly prescriptive and draws heavily either on exemplary case studies or descriptive data. Using focus groups of HR practitioners and experts in conflict resolution to develop a questionnaire covering the main conflict management practices associated with the theory of conflict management systems, the study analyzes data from a survey of firms in the Republic of Ireland to examine quantitatively the effects of conflict management systems on organizational outcomes. While proactive line management and supervisory engagement in conflict resolution as a key dimension of conflict management systems is found to be positively associated with a range of organizational outcomes, no evidence is found for the kind of system effects proposed in the theoretical and prescriptive literature. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Firms and Innovative Conflict Management Systems in Ireland

This article examines the practices adopted by firms in the Republic of Ireland to manage conflict involving groups of employees, focusing in particular on the uptake of 'alternative dispute resolution practices'. The article reveals that conflict management practices take the form of 'systems', and it estimates the incidence of innovative conflict management systems, incorporating alternative dispute resolution (ADR) practices, as involving about 30 per cent of firms. A series of influences are shown to be associated with innovative, ADR-based conflict management systems, especially commitment-oriented HRM practices and whether unions are recognized. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd/London School of Economics 2010.

Performance management systems and Public Value Strategy: a case study

Purpose
This article aims to analyze the role of performance management systems (PMS) in supporting public value strategies.

Design/methodology/approach
This article draws on the public value dynamic model by Horner and Hutton (2010). It presents the results of a case study of implementation of a PMS model, the ‘Value Pyramid’ (VP).

Findings
The results stress the need for an improved conceptualization of PMS within public value strategy. Through experimentation using the VP, the case site was able to measure and visualize what it considered public value and reflect on the internal/external causes of both creation and destruction of public value.

Research limitations/implication
This article is limited to just one case study, although in-depth and longitudinal.

Originality/value
This article is one of the first attempting to understand the role of PMS within the public value strategy framework, answering the call of Benington and Moore (2010) to consider public value from an accounting perspective.