Conflict Management Styles of Users and Analysts, and their Impact on Conflict Resolution

The topics of conflict and conflict resolution are important to an understanding of the information system development (ISD) process. The present paper explores conflict management behaviors and relates their use to the satisfactory resolution of conflicts in ISD. Project-level scores representing users’ and analysts’ typical modes of behavior were developed for 116 ISD projects. Analysis of these behaviors indicated remarkable similarities in user and analyst actions. Both engaged in high levels of integrative problem-solving behaviors and low levels of avoiding behaviors, with levels of compromising, asserting and avoiding actions in between. Users and analysts also had similar reactions to the use of these different styles. Problem-solving was found to be the most effective behavioral style for engendering satisfaction, both for oneself and for the other party in a conflict situation. Avoiding and asserting were each found to be dysfunctional.