Nancy T. Watson – författare

This book addresses an important topic - Conflict, mediation and dialogue. Conflicts are a part of life. Although many people assume conflicts are negative and, therefore, should be avoided, conflict is truly neutral. The engagement in conflict is what can be constructive or destructive. There are many positive outcomes experienced when a conflict is well managed, hence the critical role of this book. For instance, most change is driven by some level of conflict. You must learn, grow and develop effective conflict management skills as a way to manage change. Thus, the conflicts we deal with in our personal lives and in the workplace are essential to our development and our organizations' healthy development. However, if managed poorly, some conflicts can escalate to the point that they can destroy individuals or organizations. As illustrated in this book, the key to managing conflicts is to understand conflicts; expect conflicts, and manage conflicts before they escalate into destructive or costly loss of personnel, diminished climate or lead to lawsuits. The book provides one of the growing and recognized methods of dealing with conflicts - mediation and dialogue. The contents of this book reflect areas of importance addressed in mediation training: alternative dispute resolution practices, conflict management intervention options, models of thinking about conflict, the mediation format, and the skill set needed by a strong conflict management and mediator. Readers are challenged to reflect upon their biases and beliefs that may negatively impact the mediation process.

This book addresses an important topic - Conflict, mediation and dialogue. Conflicts are a part of life. Although many people assume conflicts are negative and, therefore, should be avoided, conflict is truly neutral. The engagement in conflict is what can be constructive or destructive. There are many positive outcomes experienced when a conflict is well managed, hence the critical role of this book. For instance, most change is driven by some level of conflict. You must learn, grow and develop effective conflict management skills as a way to manage change. Thus, the conflicts we deal with in our personal lives and in the workplace are essential to our development and our organizations' healthy development. However, if managed poorly, some conflicts can escalate to the point that they can destroy individuals or organizations. As illustrated in this book, the key to managing conflicts is to understand conflicts; expect conflicts, and manage conflicts before they escalate into destructive or costly loss of personnel, diminished climate or lead to lawsuits. The book provides one of the growing and recognized methods of dealing with conflicts - mediation and dialogue. The contents of this book reflect areas of importance addressed in mediation training: alternative dispute resolution practices, conflict management intervention options, models of thinking about conflict, the mediation format, and the skill set needed by a strong conflict management and mediator. Readers are challenged to reflect upon their biases and beliefs that may negatively impact the mediation process.

Cultural Impact on Conflict Management in Higher Education shares information regarding conflict management and resolution in higher education from a global perspective. In this book, we introduced many conflict resolution methods from different regions in the world. You can borrow some successful strategies and examine the differences and similarities between contexts. The book shares a conflict resolution model which may direct the reader to start thinking about addressing and managing conflicts from different levels of organizations.This book is a collective work of authors coming from all over the world. We chose higher education as the context because it is a place where diverse thoughts, perspectives, and people come together. Because of the potential richness of diversity on a college campus, the opportunity for conflicts occurs.Managing conflict does not work when there is a 'one-way only approach/model' for addressing conflict. Some conflict resolution encompasses multiple dimensions: (a) one’s personal beliefs or beliefs about an issue; (b) an individual’s personal history in terms of how the conflict was perceived as something to be discussed or not; (c) work culture of the conflict where if ‘one has a conflict,’ the person or unit is messing up or there is a problem person; (d) the unconscious strategies of ‘face saving’ (trying to maintain one’s image) present; (e) social hierarchies or relationships; and (f) the diversity dimensions and issues that may be present.