Research On Conflict Avoidance Resolution In Interfirm Conflicts

Networking growth has become a paramount strategy for enterprises by linking formal and informal network relationships under the complicated globalization,the starting point of relevant researches of which has attracted much attentions accordingly.Relevant studies of resources integration,capability complement and rent acquisition from networking,etc have been conducted,focusing on the bright sides of it such as synchronous manufacturing,structural hole cluster,combination of economies of scale and economies of scope,magnification of the experience curve and the learning curve.However,the negative effects derived from networking relationship like over-embeddedness,group thinking,mutation and decay of relationship are attached less importance.The myth of instability incurred from the dark sides of relationship is considered as inter-firm conflict.Consequently,networking growth involves collective value creation and welfare acquisition,with the enterprises within it coordinating contradiction and resolving conflict simultaneously.Comparably,how to manage to negative relationship and offset its dark sides largely affect the effectiveness of business interaction,with manipulation and adoption of appropriate conflict resolutions determining the relationship quality within co-operation.Generally,western theorists emphasize the significance and effectiveness of integrated and cooperative conflict resolutions,while conflict avoidance,as a universal strategy applied in Chinese Confueian culture,is rationally regarded and preferred by Chinese entrepreneurs,which highlights its value in local industrial practice.This paper,under the circumstances of networking growth and management localization,points out the topic of adoption and application of conflict avoidance resolution within inter-firm conflict by discussion of its motives,behaviors,effectiveness and pattern shift directed by systematic scientific methodology.Firstly,this paper states the theoretical constraints through literature review of relevant researches on inter-firm conflict,features of Chinese Guanxi,embeddedness theory as well as conflict avoidance resolution,positing the rationale and viewpoint of this paper.Secondly,the research framework of motives,behaviors and effectiveness of conflict avoidance is constructed by theoretical deduction and depth interview,consequently analyzing the moderation effects of embeddedness on motives,and how relationship orientation,perceived conflict asymmetry and task independence affect the margin effects of this strategy on effectiveness.Thirdly,a empirical study is undertaken to exam the hypothesis through 276 samples from manufacturing industries by path analysis and hierarchy linear regression,with the result revealing that most of the hypothesis are proved.Finally,this paper conducts a evolutionary game analysis to produce equilibrium of conflict resolutions in order to illustrate the dynamic mechanism of the shift of conflict resolution styles.At the end,conclusions,contribution and implications are safely drawn accordingly,with analysis of constraints of this paper and pinpoint of the perspectives of further study.The conclusions of this paper include followings:(1)the harmony motive from Chinese Confucian values is the major determinant of conflict avoidance.Compared to avoidance disintegration derived from rational calculation of negative expectation,mediocre thinking arisen from benefit maximization and forward earnings plays a significant part in inducing conflict avoidance.(2)embeddedness,at the meso level,has effects on adoption of conflict avoidance style in inter-firm conflict,which shows discriminatory moderation effects on the application of this style with interaction with value motives.Specifically,there is less significant effect of interaction of values motives and network density on conflict avoidance behaviors,while the network centrality substantially promotes the relationship between the harmony motive of avoidance disintegration and conflict avoidance behaviors,but this kind of moderating impact is not remarkable on the relationship between the the motive of mediocre thinking and conflict avoidance behaviors.The differentiation reveals that power,compared to information sharing and intimate,exert more influence on the adoption of conflict avoidance,further proving that this conflict style is largely triggered by mediocre thinking as a strong context clue and sufficient condition.(3)the results also show that conflict avoidance,as an active resolution in China industrial practice,facilitates the maintenance and improvement of relationship quality amongst cooperators,with this effect strengthened by affective orientation atmosphere and weakened by instrumental orientation of that.From perception viewpoint,there is less significant negative moderating effect of perceived conflict asymmetry on effectiveness of it,compared to the positive moderating effect of task interdependence on that.(4)analysis of evolutionary game of different conflict resolution styles demonstrates that the adoption of conflict avoidance roots in the rational measure of costs,relation payouts and excessive earnings from cooperation.The enterprises involved in inter-firm conflict,with reference to those three factors combined with consideration of the reaction of counterpart,modify,adjust and shift their own conflict resolution styles accordingly by imitation and learning in order to optimize their the limitation and timeliness of avoidance.This paper,different from recent researches,introduces embeddedness into the framework to broaden the application of embeddedness theory and advocate the paradigm shift of conflict management;the revision of conflict avoidance behaviors from the perspective of culture values,with defining active and passive avoidance,tallies with the reality of China industrial practice,furthering advance of conflict management theory;introduction of relationship orientation and task interdependence to discuss the effectiveness of conflict avoidance bridges the gaps of current studies;the complexity perspective on study of dynamic shift mechanism of conflict resolution styles deepens the understanding of the adaptive conditions and application boundary of avoidance by analyzing the reference factors and evolutionary process.