Conflict handling profiles and performance in dyadic alliances

Charles Albert Funk

doi:10.7273/000006032

In this exploratory study of the alliance partner conflict process, a relational view is used to propose a five phases for describing and assessing partner conflict handling orientations and their relationship to alliance performance: a predispositional phase where a number of contextual factors (relational history, stakes and incentives, partner power, organizational pressure for success, environmental munificence) drive the establishment of initial conflict handling orientations (collaborative, competitive, compromising, accommodative, avoidant); an initial interaction phase where partners first attempt collaboration; an adjustment phase where partner orientations and performance assessments begin to affect initial contextual factors; a performance phase where altered partner orientations affect performance assessments; and a repeated interaction phase where unfavorable partner conflict orientation pairings reduce collaborativeness but do not necessarily dissolve the alliance. This study investigates four of these phases (predispositional, initial interaction, performance and repeated interaction). After reviewing relevant conflict literature in the sociology, marketing, organizational behavior and strategic alliance fields, a pre-post experimental design is developed to assess the phases using a sample of junior and senior business students (N=198). Subjects are initially surveyed to assess their individual conflict handling orientations and then pre-experimentally surveyed to confirm their adherence to a specific conflict handling orientation (either collaborative or competitive) that they are randomly primed to assume. Subjects then play an experimental game with an anonymous alliance partner (who was actually the experimenter) where they propose payment levels for the manufacture of a series of alliance products. The experimenter-partner either accepts or rejects these payments based on a consistent handling conflict orientation. At the end of the game, subjects complete a post-experimental survey measuring their final conflict handling orientations. Results provide partial support for each of the four hypothesized phases in alliance partner conflict handling. In particular, an alliance partner?s initial collaborative predisposition and the continuing stickiness? of the alliance relationship in the face of uncooperative and/or assertive partners are evidenced in this work and should assist alliance managers and their parent organizations in strategically assessing the initial complementarity and the ultimate success of the alliance relationship. Finally, study limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Conflict handling profiles and performance in dyadic alliances

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