Suchergebnisse

A model of org as a system is outlined as the basis for a theory of org & conflict. Elements in the description of an org are: the static structure of parts; description of the org as a machine, or energy transformer; description in terms of a growth system or dynamic open system; control processes involving information inputs & outputs & knowledge structures; the value dimensions of the org image; &the establishment & development of the image. 3 conflict situations are then distinguished &analyzed: econ conflict, interaction conflict, & internal conflict. The most important avenue of conflict resolution is simple avoidance. If this is impossible, resolution depends on the reduction in the intensity of the conflict &the development of over-riding org's which include both parties. I. Taviss.

A theoretical analysis of the causes of fam conflict & of means of preventing & resolving conflicts is presented. Causes include: (1) 'compulsion'--eg, the inability of hostile fam members to withdraw from the field, (2) 'intimacy' of contact between fam members, (3) the small size of the group which facilitates the polarization of factions, & (4) the rapidity of developmental alterations in whatever equilibria may be established. 'Normative mechanisms' for preventing fam conflict include: (1) avoiding probable sources of conflict by discouraging incompatible marriages & minimizing contact between 'dangerous' fam members, (2) allocating rights & duties to particular roles. according to prescribed cultural patterns which narrow the area open for debate, & (3) culturally prescribed rules for fair treatment of fam members, esp those calling for equal treatment of children when they arrive at the same age. 'Instrumental mechanisms' for resolving fam conflicts include: (1) providing increased facilities for fam living (such as a 2nd car), (2) enacting priority systems for the use of limited facilities (eg, establishing a budget or TV schedule), (3) enlarging areas of autonomous decision-making within the fam as by giving the marriage partners financial allowances to spend as they see fit, & (4) providing opportunities for tension-reduction as by temporary vacations from the fam. Processes of resolving fam conflict include: (1) discussion leading to consensus, compromise, or concession, (2) mediation by a 3rd party, & (3) accommodation. In the event of failure to achieve any of these, more drastic withdrawal from the field may be the only remaining means of ending open conflict. AA.

Whenever shared interests among the parties to a dispute make any reasonable sort of settlement mutually advantageous over stalemate or violence, yet emotional commitments render the conflict seemingly 'hopeless,' a suitably-chosen random settlement mechanism may be invoked. The presence of a neutral 3rd party, whose interests are also served by any peaceable settlement, but who wishes to avoid the onus of 'compulsory arbitration,' can facilitate operation of such a mechanism. The threat of invoking a random settlement need not preclude normal bargaining. Indeed, the probability distribution governing random settlement processes can be manipulated to encourage bargaining convergence, by rewarding concessions & penalizing unilateral intransigence. AA.

Recently, in this journal, René Millon and others discussed the results of their study of irrigation agriculture in the contemporary social setting of the Teotihuacan Valley, Central Mexico. In introducing their study, the authors briefly noted comparable investigations (including my own) and came to the general conclusion that "any system of irrigation agriculture creates its own distinctive potential for both cohesion and conflict, whatever may be the social system of the people who practice it." Do social systems play as passive a role in determining the social effects of irrigation agriculture as the statement implies? I wish to suggest a distinction which may be important in seeking answers to this question and then to briefly compare certain aspects of Millon's Mexican example with my own study of irrigation agriculture and social organization in the Southern Euphrates Valley of Iraq.