Week 1: An introduction to Mediation and Conflict
Management
Week overview
Conflicts are an inevitable consequence of human interaction. A conflict can arise between
individuals, between groups of individuals and between nations. If conflict is not managed
early and effectively, conflict can negatively impact the workplace, our homes and even
society.
In this week, we will define what conflict is and how conflict is something not to be avoided
but rather approached. Mediation is one intervention that can help people approach conflict
and reach better outcomes. This week will also introduce you to mediation and describe when
it is appropriate and when other forms of dispute resolution can be used.
Learning outcomes
On successful completion of this week, you should be able to:
• define conflict
• explain the costs and benefits of conflict
• explain the common responses to conflict
• provide a conflict escalation model to illustrate the concept of conflict levels
• define conflict resolution and recognise the skills involved in the process
• define the different types of conflict resolution
• define mediation, explain its context and when it is appropriate to use it
• explain the benefits and disadvantages of mediation
• differentiate between mediation and Alternative Dispute Resolution in general.

Prescribed textbook reading
During this section you will need to read the following:
Moore, C. (2014). The Mediation Process: Practical Strategies for Resolving Conflict (4th
Edition) Jossey Bass: San Francisco, pp 3-28, 80-105.
Understanding Conflict
Definition of Conflict
This unit studies mediation and other methods of managing conflict, but before considering
the options to resolve conflict you must first be able to define what conflict means in this
context. Conflict can crop up in many ways, for instance you could discuss the conflict
between themes in a musical score or a person holding conflicting emotions (e.g. to be
excited about something but fearful of it). In business and politics, you often come across
people who have a conflict of interest. It is important therefore, to first define what conflict
means in the context in which you will be studying it.
Conflict in this context can be defined as “A process that has distinguishable phases – it
emerges for some reason, triggering emotional experiences and motivational goals in one or
both parties, which feeds into behavioural strategies and patterns of exchange. These
interactive processes produce various consequences at the intrapersonal, interpersonal or
group level.”(Fiske et al 2010)
More succinctly, conflict can be defined as a situation where there are two (or more) parties
to a dispute where each party sees the other’s position as one that is a threat to their interests.
Reading 1.1
Please read the following:
Brandon, M and Robertson L (2007). Conflict and Dispute Resolution: A Guide for Practice.
Oxford University Press: Melbourne, pp. 19-20.
These pages discuss the cost associated with conflict, which extends beyond a purely
monetary value.
The cost of conflict

There are some obvious monetary costs of conflict from the direct cost missed opportunities
to the costs of resolving the conflict using a paid mediator or litigator. Particularly in the case
of litigation, the costs of resolution may be considerable in comparison to the subject of the
conflict. Cost, however, extends beyond the simple monetary value.
Brandon & Robertson (2007) view conflict in two ways. Conflict can be seen as what it costs
the individual and organisation and communities. Some costs can be effects on relationships,
the erosion of trust, stress and depression that can result from conflicts encountered in the
workplace or in families. Workplaces experiencing internal conflict will often suffer from
decreased productivity and increased worker stress and absenteeism
Conflict is also seen as a benefit, where it can provide the individual or organisation with
better opportunities and improved relationships (Brandon& Robertson, 2007). Conflict can
also help conflicting parties understand each other, connect with each other and even work
and live with each other. Later in this course, we will see some examples of how conflict
leads to better results in the workplace.
Reading 1.2
Read the following article and located at:
http://www.cleconsulting.com.au/costcalculator.php
This article gives an example of how to estimate the monetary value of workplace conflict
Estimating the Cost of Conflict
Cleo Consulting claims that a number of factors can influence the monetary costs of conflict.
Some factors include cost of billable hours, absenteeism, time spent dealing with conflict,
litigation, number of parties directly and indirectly involved. This return on investment
calculator also considers the litigation costs in dealing with conflict and worker’s
compensation.
The benefits of conflict

Are there positive as well as negative consequences from conflict? We can see around us the
consequences of unresolved, escalating conflict. The dispute over a fence between
neighbours that ends up in expensive litigation or the argument between nations that ends up
on the battlefield. On the other hand, conflict can challenge our views about the world or a
person and through exploring that conflict we can change our opinions, gain a new
perspective and “grow” as a person.
Conflict, especially when well-managed, can present many opportunities to strengthen
relationships and learn or generate new ideas. In many cases, we never challenge our own
views of life or ways to achieve an objective and it is only when we come into conflict with
someone else we examine those beliefs. It is typically human to react against that which is
different, and it is often easy to hang on to stereotypes and even to fight to maintain our view
of them. Through well-managed conflict, by questioning and listening we can gain a greater
understanding and let go of stereotypes.
In the workplace conflict can be the answer to doing things inefficiently just because “that is
the way it is always done”. Often when a new person joins a team, they can see inefficiencies
in processes but will come into conflict with existing team members when they want to
change the way things are done. If the conflict is managed well then the work process can be
examined and improved. Had the conflict not occurred the team would have continued with
the old inefficient practices. Innovation often springs from conflict. Better decision making
can also often be initially rooted in conflict when new information is provided clarifying a
situation.
Conflict can be a crucial part of team building; “weathering the storm” can bring a greater
sense of unity. In “Leading through Conflict” (2006), Mark Gerzon proposes that the ability
to successfully manage conflict is the most important skill a leader can have, and that to be
unable to embrace and positively resolve conflict leads to stagnation both as an organisation
and as an individual.
Common responses to conflict

People will react differently to conflict. They may react by attack, evasion, logical problem
solving, agreement, submission or retreat. The way a person reacts to conflict may change
depending on the response of others engaged in the conflict. These responses can be
classified as fight, flight flow responses. Attack is clearly a fight response. Other reactions
when responding in this way is to show a lot of emotion and to take sides in an argument.
This response can be very useful in some situations but it can also stop you from seeing the
facts or from looking at things from another perspective. Evasion and avoidance are flight
responses. Avoidance of conflict is frequently found in the workplace where managers do not
want to deal with problem employees and can be frequently seen in families when people
choose to ignore an issue in order to avoid conflict. Whilst on occasion avoidance of conflict
can be an appropriate response in the short term in can also lead to increased conflict later as
issues fester unexplored. Avoidance can also require emotional distancing which can then
result in being unaware of the emotions and reactions of others. Conflict avoidance has been
identified as a common pattern in the families of anorexia nervosa sufferers (Latzer and
Gaber 2004).
Positive Psychology, the study of the positive emotions and traits encompasses the concept of
flow (first propounded by Mihaly Csihzentmihalyi). Flow occurs when you are fully involved
and energised in an activity or process; you are intrinsically motivated (Carr, 2004). A wellmanaged conflict management strategy should result in flow, leading to robust outcomes,
problem solving and agreement.
How you respond to conflict will depend not just on your current circumstances but also on
everything that contributes to your beliefs and viewpoints. In particular, the outcome of past
conflicts will shape your current behaviour.
Approaches to Managing and Resolving Conflict
Moore’s(2014) Continuum of Conflict Management and Resolution Approaches on page 6 of
your textbook suggests that conflict can be handled from private one on one interactions,
third party mediation and arbitration to more public authoritative decision making which may
end up leading to extralegal coerced pressure.
According to Moore (2014), people’s first instinct is to avoid conflict because they want to
live harmoniously without tension. People will try to resolve the conflict informally and

and/or use negotiation to resolve the issue. If this issue cannot be solved by the two parties
then mediation is the next alternative. This is where a third party is brought in to help
disputants find their own solution to the dispute that is non-binding. Arbitration, on the other
hand involves seeking a neutral third party to make a decision on the dispute. At the private
end of dispute this form of arbitration, it is more informal and gives the disputants more
control over the decision.
When the dispute escalates to the public arena, lawyers represent each party and the case is
argued in front of a judge and perhaps a jury. The decision made by the judge is not made just
in the interest of the two disputing parties but in the interests of society at large.
In the Extralegal Approach, parties choose to resolve the issue through third parties privately
or publicly. The processes used to resolve the dispute many not rely on socially mandated
ones and can lead to either non-violent action like demonstrations or more violent or physical
coercive acts. Some acts may include vandalism, physical assaults and, at its extremeterrorism.
Reading 1.3
Please read the following article:
Noll, D. (2000). Conflict Escalation: A Five Phase Model. Mediate. Com. Available:
http://www.mediate.com/articles/noll2.cfm (accessed 18/12/2014).
Levels of conflict
Conflict can be experienced at several levels. Where there is open aggression, arguments and
antagonism it is quite clear that conflict exists. The signs may however be more subtle. Any
sort of obstructive behaviour such as not returning phone calls or emails may be due to
conflict rather than just carelessness. Absenteeism may be a signal that there is tension in a
work team. For the person involved, conflict may start as just a feeling of unease leading to
tension and eventually precipitating some sort of crisis. A typical example at work might be a
person who is consistently “off sick” when a particular task is required or has some other
urgent task to complete as a priority. You could conclude this person is just lazy or busy. In
fact, they may be avoiding the team member they have to work with due to some unstated
conflict. If they are unable to continue to avoid the situation and have to work together, the

conflict could escalate. Alternately, it may be observed that team members just seem to be
able to agree on anything or get on, stalling projects and giving way to general bickering.
In families, there is often conflict between parents and adolescents over matters such as
homework, dress, friends and so on. Where this conflict is not resolved, it can lead to the
adolescents leaving home and a complete breakdown in communication. A country may feel
unease at the military exercises taking place on its border and respond by moving its own
troops into the area in case of attack.
Once conflict exists and it is not settled quickly it can escalate through increasing levels of
confrontation. Noll’s (2000) five-stage model explains what is happening in a conflict
between two formerly successful business partners. In stage 1, people look for objective
solutions but at stage two, there is a shift from cooperation to competition. At stage three,
parties believe that it is unrealistic to expect a win/win outcome and empathy disappears. At
stage four, parties’ cognitive functioning regresses and it becomes impossible for either party
to understand each other’s perspective. Stage 5 marks a hallucinatory-narcissistic
perspective where each party considers their own perspective and use threats to get their own
way.
Manifest versus unmanifest conflict
The aspects of a conflict can be likened to an iceberg. The visible or manifest conflict is
usually obvious and can be agreed upon as having happened; it sits “above the water line”. If
workers put down tools and go on strike, picket outside a workplace or if people start
shouting at each other, the behaviour is clear to everyone (although not necessarily the reason
for it). Unmanifest conflict or latent conflict on the other hand is undisclosed, it is the far
larger portion that sits invisible below the water line. Unmanifest aspects or latent conflict is
caused by as much as what is felt or perceived as by what is. Manifest conflict is preceded by
latent conflict but if the latent conflict is not also dispelled during mediation process,
manifest conflict can well up again.
Unmanifest conflict comprises two parts, the unconscious causes of conflict of which the
parties will often be unaware, and the undisclosed aspects that the parties are most likely
aware of but are unwilling to discuss.

Reading 1.4
Please read the following article:
Rummel, R.J. (2009) Understanding conflict and war: Vol. 2: The Conflict Helix. University
of Hawaii. Available:
http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/TCH.CHAP26.HTM.
Another way to look at latent conflict is to look at the situation where there is a potential for
conflict. This article considers the overlay of three things, the dynamics of the conflict, the
level of the conflict and the level of reality.
Reading 1.5
Please read Chapter 2 page 12 Figure 2.1 from the following reading:
Eunson, B (2007). Conflict Management. John Wiley & Sons: Australia.
Spiral of Conflict Escalation
Conflict escalates, when something that seems a minor irritation to start with increases in
energy and scope as each stage fails to be resolved. Eunson (2007) depicts this as a spiral.
Starting with toleration of the conflict (guarded acceptance) conflict can be said to be covert,
meaning it is not openly declared or visible. Some behaviour will include gossiping and
sabotaging. As the conflict escalates, it becomes overt, meaning the conflict is public. There
will be complaining, anger and open arguments. During the covert stage, there will be a
critical incident (or incidents) that intensify the spiral even further. If not resolved the conflict
can escalate to threats and violence. At this stage, formal action such as litigation or
mediation will be required to resolve. Figure 1.1 shows the spiral in more detail.

Figure 1.1: Conflict Spiral
Source: Eunson (2007)
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Litigation, the use of the court system, is one way of dispute resolution. Other ways that do
not use the court system are grouped together as Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). ADR
is not a new concept; in many societies some form of community ADR predates a formal
legal and court system. More recently, the Permanent Court of Arbitration was established in
1899 in order to facilitate ADR between member states using predominantly an arbitration
methodology. Arbitration employs expert third parties to provide a solution and the parties to
the dispute have much more autonomy in negotiating the issues and the processes to be used
than in the court system. Another arena in which arbitration is common is in labour relations
disputes.

Mediation is another form of ADR that employs a neutral and impartial third party. Unlike
arbitration, however, the decision-making responsibility lies with the parties to the dispute,
not the mediator. The mediator facilitates the process but does not make a decision. This is
the model of mediation commonly employed in Australia.
Other forms of AD found in some cultures include the use of mediators who, rather than
being neutral and impartial, are in fact known to the parties and have a vested interest in a
harmonious result—the village elder approach. Alternately, intermediaries may be granted
the power to negotiate on behalf of the parties, thus removing them from the decision
process.
Conflict resolution through mediation
The theory of mediation practice as studied in this course is based on this rich history and
practice. Mediation is one of the forms of Alternative Dispute Resolution available to parties
in conflict.
Moore (2014, p. 8) defines mediation as:
“a conflict resolution process in which a mutually acceptable third party who has no
authority to make binding decisions for disputants, intervenes in a conflict or dispute to assist
involved parties to improve their relationships, enhance communications, and use effective
problem solving and negotiation procedures to reach voluntary and mutually acceptable
understandings or agreements on contested issues.”
Moore (2014) adds that mediators do not just focus on the substantive tangible issues but also
seek to improve trust and the quality of their relationships between parties. If these
relationships cannot be improved, then mediator may help parties terminate relationships in a
way does not cause emotional or psychological harm to any party involved.
When are mediators needed?
Mediation can be used for a number of reasons. First, mediators are usually needed when
parties let emotions get in the way of settling disputes and they need a calm third party to
restore balance. Mediation can also be used when disputing parties need a third party who can
help them communicate their positions and interests more clearly. Mediation is especially

important when there are multiple issues and neither party knows how to address them and/or
neither party has any clear negotiating framework from which to base their settlement
discussions on.
Mediation and Intensity Levels of Conflict
1. Latent Conflicts
Mediators tend to enter conflicts when they have reached various levels of intensity (Moore,
2014). In latent conflicts, where there is underlying tension and one or both parties may be
unaware of the seriousness of the conflict, mediators may help disputants engage in problem
solving to stop the conflict from escalating further. For example, a mediator may help avert a
serious conflict between management’s decision for job cutbacks and union’s desire to keep
jobs by helping parties collaborate in solving the problem before emotions get in the way.
2. Emerging Conflicts
In Emerging Conflicts, where both parties are aware of the dispute and harsh verbal
exchanges are used, mediators help parties communicate their needs, identify each other’s
interests and negotiate effectively (Moore, 2014). This is especially applicable in a workplace
conflict where two employees may be disputing on how to proceed with a project. One
disputant may prefer a more detailed methodical process oriented approach while another
may prefer a more high level holistic approach. Mediators help parties understand each
other’s work preference and learn how to use both approaches.
3. Manifest Conflicts
Manifest Conflicts are characterised by an active and an ongoing dispute and involve the use
of nonviolent and violent activities and/or negotiations which may lead to an impasse. Some
examples of manifest conflicts may include wars, labour disputes and even child custody
disputes. In these disputes, mediators seek to address the emotional, psychological and
substantive needs. To resolve such disputes, mediators must gain the trust and respect of both
parties and show impartiality and neutrality (Moore, 2014).

Roles of Mediators
Moore (2014) describes the various roles that mediators may often play a during the
mediation process. Some include:
• Opener of communication channels
• Legitimiser
• Process Facilitator
• Trainer
• Resource Expander
• Problem Explorer
• Agent of Reality
• Scapegoat
Probably the toughest role that the mediator has is to get parties to voluntarily participate in
the process and allow parties to reach their own agreements. This means the mediator cannot
coerce either party into making concessions or finalising an agreement. Mediators can
facilitate the process but not the outcome.
History of Mediation
Mediation has been around for centuries and practiced in many countries and communities
around the world. Disputes were originally settled by elders or religious leaders. In many
Islamic cultures in the Middle East and Indonesia, disputes were usually decided by
committees. The “musyawarah” process used in Indonesia was a consensually based conflict
procedure used to settle both local and national disputes. In the West, mediation was
normally handled by secular judges and even ambassador envoys and then became popular as
a tool used to solve disputes within the Jewish and Native American communities (Moore,
2014).

Contemporary Uses of Mediation
Mediation gained its initial popularity in labour management for promoting collective
bargaining between employers and employees but then was used by peacekeepers and tribal
conciliators and intermediaries for resolving ethnic and religious disputes. Mediation is now
gaining popularity in resolving disputes between tenant and landlords and even in resolving
disputes between divorcing couples who wish to by-pass the court system. Mediation is also
becoming another option for resolving interpersonal disputes between neighbours and work
colleagues. Mediation can be used for just about any type of dispute, although the specific
mediation approaches and techniques will vary depending on the nature of the dispute and the
intensity of the conflict involved (Moore, 2014). This study guide will describe how
mediation can vary across conflicts.
Mediation Around the World
Handling Conflict Directly or Indirectly
Cultures deal with conflict differently that can impact how mediation is conducted across
cultures (Moore, 2014). In countries like Japan, where confronting one directly can lead to a
disruption of harmony and loss of face, mediation is normally carried out by intermediaries or
introducers (shokai-sha) who carry each disputant’s messages to the other. Such approaches
can help avoid the uncomfortable tension that parties may feel when facing each other in a
joint mediation. In Australia, which prefers to confront conflict directly, parties get a chance
to face each other and jointly collaborate on coming to a solution. In Australia, venting and
arguing openly with the other person may be seen as a means to an end.
Concessions vs Face Saving
In Middle Eastern countries where maintaining one’s honour is critical, mediation focuses
less on the substantive issues and more on preserving honour (Moore, 2014). Mediators who
are neutral and who have earned high status from their age, education and/or occupation are
usually the best ones to resolve such disputes. Western countries, on the other hand, tend to
focus more on concession giving and on the tangible issues like money and property but
sometimes ignore the emotional issues of pride, which can stall settlement. Western
mediators are now beginning to see the value in not just considering the rational, logical
aspects of conflict but also the emotional and irrational aspect.

Activity 1.1
This video highlights the need for mediators to consider the cultural and emotional aspects of
conflict. Review the video: Wakeen, Terry: Cultural Differences in Conflict Resolution
Mediate.com Video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ir-YWVluBk.
• After review the video, discuss the role culture plays in this mediation.
• How were these cultural factors handled in the mediation?
Resources
Eunson, B (2007). Conflict Management. John Wiley & Sons: Australia.
Fiske, S, Gilbert D, Lindzey, G.(2010). Handbook of Social Psychology 5ed Volume 2. John
Wiley & Sons: Hoboken New Jersey.
Gerzon, M.(2006). Leading through Conflict. Harvard Business Press: USA.
McCorkle, S. and Reese, M. (2005) Mediation Theory and Practice. Pearson Education:
Boston.
Noll, D.(2000). Conflict Escalation: A Five Phase Model. Mediate. Com. Available:
http://www.mediate.com/articles/noll2.cfm(accessed 19/7/2012).
Extension readings and resources
Mediation World
This site provides the latest news, resources and training for anyone wishing to learn more
about mediation and conflict.
http://www.mediationworld.net/
Now that you have completed this week, visit the learning portal to participate in the latest
discussion forum and to check your progress by completing the self-check questions.