Conflict Management Training in China: The Value of Cooperative Conflict Theory

Conflict management is needed in China to resolve frustrations, solve problems, and manage change. The theory of cooperative and competitive conflict has the potential to guide conflict training in China. The theory can help managers and employees understand how to make their conflicts productive and learn cooperative conflict skills of direct expression of feelings, an elaboration of ideas, emphatic understanding of opposing perspectives, creating alternative solutions, and accepting new resolutions. Recent experiments show that Chinese values of social face, persuasion, and nonverbal communication, when appropriately expressed, promote cooperative, constructive conflict. Field studies indicate that cooperative conflict contributes to successful teamwork, quality service, and leadership in Chinese organizations. These studies challenge Western stereotypes that China is conflict-negative and autocratic. With cooperative conflict, individuality and freedom of expression very much contribute to group life and organizational productivity.