BUS603: Managing People

The identified and specified significant differences, as well as interactions, not only contribute to the discussion of the dispositional and situational approaches to exploring the conflict resolution methods, but also to a more general theoretical and methodological discussion of dispositional/situational concepts.

In this context, it is necessary to interpret the already presented findings that men prefer the use of a dominant, competing style of conflict resolution, in contrast to women who rather prefer to avoid the conflict, and that women often seek to mitigate the conflict by using the compromising strategy. Men use more physical strength to convince others; they express their dominance and competitiveness. Women try to compromise, speaking less in mixed discussion groups. Men take the initiative, direct the conversation, and do not like to be interrupted. On the contrary, women tend to support the discussion, ask questions, and show interest.

It is clear from the above-mentioned research results that the level of generalization of certain claims in both dispositional and situational terms, as well as in the context of gender issues, is a question that can be discussed. In this sense, it should be noted that the mosaic of knowledge areas that are related to conflict definition issues as well as ways of solving them is much richer. In the context of research on conflicts in managerial work, which is a part of the study of organizational conflict, it is possible to consider the orientation of research projects in the direction of identification of cultural specifics, or the aforementioned discussion on the dispositional and situational concepts of conflict definition and analysis, or the impact of the conflict resolution processes and their outcomes on individuals as well as on the organization as a whole. This is also related to the discussion of the use of the interactive approach in designing the further research, analyses, and interpretation of the results of the study.

As mentioned in the introduction to the chapter, the positive perception of effectively solved conflicts is characteristic also for the presented research results as well as the other possible directions of the conflict investigation. In this respect, it is important for the research projects to focus on the issue of identifying factors that are related to effective conflict resolution, or to the escalation of conflicts and their negative impact on individuals as well as on the organization.

In this sense, it is possible to direct the focus of further research to the process of building mutual trust between the conflicting parties. Examining the trust attribute, which must be perceived by the other side of the conflict as a pivotal step and not as a weakness, is one of the important research orientations in this area. In the context of managerial work, the selection of people for managerial positions, the preparation and training of managers, the specification of the factors related to effective conflict resolution is essential. These factors can be considered as important predictors of successful managerial work. Their research is, however, linked to the difficulties that are caused by the research sample itself - the managers, their job exhaustion, time stress, availability, but also unwillingness to reveal their conflict resolution procedures. The snowball sampling method, which we have used several times in the research, is one of the solutions to these difficulties within this context. At the same time, it is important for managers themselves to see the benefits of these research results for their work.