Designing an Internal Organizational System for Conflict Management - Dispute Resolution Journal - Vol. 64, No. 2
Etty Liberman heads the field of research at the National Center for Mediation and Conflict Resolution (NCMCR) in the Ministry of Justice, Israel. Her areas of research include programs for training mediators in small claims and labor courts, conflict management processes in organizations, community dispute resolution, and criminal restorative justice programs.
Yael Foux Levy is a lawyer at the NCMCR. She heads the field of ADR in the workplace, in organizations and in business. She has established and operated practical experience programs and the applicable professional standards for mediators in courts throughout Israel.
Peretz Segal heads the Legal Advice and Legislation Department in the Ministry of Justice. In 1988, he established the NCMCR as an independently functioning unit within the Ministry. He works to advance the use of alternatives to the legal system.
The authors would like to thank Susan Zaidel for her assistance with this article. Her comments and suggestions were insightful and greatly contributed to our thinking processes.
Originally from Dispute Resolution Journal
In recent years there has been growing acceptance of the notion that an internal conflict management system (CMS) for workplace disputes must be designed to promote a positive work environment. This article discusses the design and implementation of a CMS for an Israeli municipality: it focuses on the findings of a needs assessment survey, which guided the design of the system, and reports on how the organization promoted the CMS to its employees. In addition, it assesses how effective the CMS has been from the perspective of users on improving interpersonal relationships and creating a positive workplace atmosphere. It concludes with a discussion of the conditions required for a successful incorporation of the system within an organization.
Conflict is an integral and inevitable aspect of life, including the workplace, even within successful organizations. There could be dissatisfaction with the way an employee, manager or executive interacts with others, or a decision by management (such as to deny a promotion or discipline an employee).1