1. CROSS CULTURAL EFFECTS IN CONFLICT
MANAGEMENT: EXAMINING THE NATURE
AND REALTIONSHIP BETWEEN CULTURE AND
INTERNATIONAL MEDIATION
PREPARED BY: AAKASH AGARWAL
AVI VORA
DULARI CHHATRALA

2. ABSTRACT
• Culture have profound effect on how states perceive
the world, behave in it and manage their conflict
• Influence of culture on conflict and conflict
management
• Effect of culture in process and effectiveness of
international mediation.

3. INTRODUCTION
• Inter-culture conflict post 9/11 period
- pronounced culture component
- clash of civilizations
• Current international system
- mutually exclusive culture, religions and
civilizations

4. CULTURE
• “collective programming of the mind that
distinguishes the members of one group or category
of people form another”- Geet Hofstede
• Culture is “software of Mind”
• Culture is a product of shared experience of group of
people over time, it is the manner by which
individuals or groups in close proximity construct
their own reality.
• Characteristics –
complex, multi-layered and actor specific

5. MEDIATION
• Voluntary
• Non-binding process
• Designed to bring disputing parties together, and,
with the help of third party, reach mutually acceptable
outcome
• Both parties accept as preferable to continuation of
the conflict

6. CONTINGENCY FRAMEWORK

7. NATURE OF THE PARTIES
• Cultural constructs tend to give rise to set of
behavioral norms and ways of relating to both in
group and out group members.

8. Perception:
• Parties‟ perception, expectations, values and
aspirations are required to study to have real and
lasting conflict resolution.
• Misperceptions and confusions, particularly about
goals of adversary can often lead to widely differing
views about the issues at stake
• Strategies designed to overcome communication and
misperception problems can be
- facilitating the establishment of „facts‟ that both
sides can agree on
- providing objective information on perceptive
differences

9. Behavioral norms
• Culturally driven behavior can crate emergence of
new contention or impede the resolution of existing
issues.
• Various avenues available for mediator to address the
issue of conflicting behavioral norms can be-
- role modeling
- skill practice training sessions and feedback
coaching to improve operational ability to manage
conflict

10. Internal composition
• Multiple and divergent cultural group
• Different perspective of conflict and the opposing
parties and various processes involved with conflict
management effort.

11. NATURE OF ISSUE
ISSUE SALIENCY
• Nature of issues in a conflict
can have a pronounced
impact on attempts to
manage or resolve that
conflict.
• Issues which are less
sensitive require high level
of mediation success
DISPUTE INTENSITY
• Sensitivity of issue to both
the party
• Timing of mediation

13. NATURE OF MEDIATOR
PERSONAL ATTIBUTES
• Set of personal qualities that
mediators as individuals
process
• This include stamina,
intelligence, originality,
patience and perseverance,
energy, a sense of humor,
knowledge of the parties
involved and other conflict
itself
• „rapport‟ with the two
disputants are important
characteristic
REPRESENTATIVE ATTRIBUTES
• Nature of group, organization,
or state that the mediator is
representing.
• Mediator‟s quality in terms of
partiality and bias behavior are
also personal attribute which
affect credibility of mediator

14. THE MEDIATION PROCESS
THE INITIATION OF
MEDIATION
MEDIAITON
STRATEGIES
CULTURE AND
CHOICE OF
MEDIATOR’S
STRATEGY
•How voluntary
participation really is,
•whether or not
initiation and commitment
to process is unilateral or
bilateral are all aspects
that can affect the
mediation process,
•Mediators cultural
makeup
•Level of intervention and
„directiveness‟
1. Low intervention
strategies i.e.
communication and
facilitation strategy
2. Higher level of
intervention strategies
A. Formulative approach
B. Directive approach
Choice between strategies
is largely determined by 3
factors-
1. Environment and
parties in it
2. Mediator
3. Disputants

15. CONCLUSION
• Culture act like lens through which all our thoughts
and actions are refracted
• Culture is a major determinant of party behavior
involved in conflict
• Culture has been shown influence each of the
fundamental components of process of conflict
management and mediation process

16. THANK YOU