Running Head: LITERATURE REVIEW 1 LITERATURE REVIEW 8 Literature Review Topic: Influence of Dispute Resolution on Employee Retention The retention of positive and self-motivated employees is the dream of every human resource manager. Indeed, the entire organizational leadership hope to decrease the rate of turn-over since this is a development which increases expenses while ruining the productivity. De Clercq et al. (2017) argue that a significant number of employees opt to leave a conflict ridden firm, especially if they determine that these disagreements continue perpetually. Dispute resolution is, therefore, is an employee turnover management endeavor as it increases their morale in a significant manner. As a consequence, they not only enjoy their work but also look forward to remaining with the organization in question for a long period of time (Eigen & Litwin, 2014). This paper is a review of qualitative and quantitative literature on the influence that dispute resolution has on employee retention.Organizational Commitment Versus Legal Compliance Eigen & Litwin (2014) address the relationship between the implementation of typical dispute resolution systems in the view of achieving organizational justice versus merely complying with the law. The goal is to understand which of the two deserve commitment as pertains to the sustainability of a business organization. The question is whether the employees would perceive it more secure to remain with the organization that obeys every law in the book or one that seeks justice as much as possible. Eigen & Litwin (2014) is a quantitative study of an organization based in US which has a 100,000 strong workforce. It has operations in over 1,000 locations, and hence it avails an exhaustive view of the differential effects for organizational commitment while conceptualizing the most appropriate strategies towards resolving disputes. After the unique longitudinal data from the company was analyzed, it become apparent that opinions are divergent. While 70% of the respondents felt that it is best to have in-house solutions which are not necessarily imposed by law, 30% insisted that laws are imperative as they serve as the foundations of any social and contractual dealings. The two viewpoints have notable support and in that case, Eigen & Litwin find these to be issues deserving continued attention given the high number of organizations grappling with the trade-offs (Eigen & Litwin, 2014).Task Conflict versus Relationship Conflict A task conflict is the situation in an organization when parties are unable to make progress as a result of differing behaviors, needs, and/or attitudes of the stakeholders. It could be triggered by disagreements in regards to distribution of resources, organizational procedures and policies, as well as the means to be used to complete the task. Relationship conflict may or may not be caused by persistent task conflicts. It is when personality clashes emerge and negati.

1. Running Head: LITERATURE REVIEW
1
LITERATURE REVIEW
8
Literature Review
Topic: Influence of Dispute Resolution on Employee Retention
The retention of positive and self-motivated employees is the
dream of every human resource manager. Indeed, the entire
organizational leadership hope to decrease the rate of turn-over
since this is a development which increases expenses while
ruining the productivity. De Clercq et al. (2017) argue that a
significant number of employees opt to leave a conflict ridden
firm, especially if they determine that these disagreements
continue perpetually. Dispute resolution is, therefore, is an
employee turnover management endeavor as it increases their
morale in a significant manner. As a consequence, they not only
enjoy their work but also look forward to remaining with the
organization in question for a long period of time (Eigen &
Litwin, 2014). This paper is a review of qualitative and
quantitative literature on the influence that dispute resolution
has on employee retention.Organizational Commitment Versus
Legal Compliance
Eigen & Litwin (2014) address the relationship between the
implementation of typical dispute resolution systems in the
view of achieving organizational justice versus merely
complying with the law. The goal is to understand which of the
two deserve commitment as pertains to the sustainability of a
business organization. The question is whether the employees

2. would perceive it more secure to remain with the organization
that obeys every law in the book or one that seeks justice as
much as possible.
Eigen & Litwin (2014) is a quantitative study of an
organization based in US which has a 100,000 strong workforce.
It has operations in over 1,000 locations, and hence it avails an
exhaustive view of the differential effects for organizational
commitment while conceptualizing the most appropriate
strategies towards resolving disputes. After the unique
longitudinal data from the company was analyzed, it become
apparent that opinions are divergent.
While 70% of the respondents felt that it is best to have in-
house solutions which are not necessarily imposed by law, 30%
insisted that laws are imperative as they serve as the
foundations of any social and contractual dealings. The two
viewpoints have notable support and in that case, Eigen &
Litwin find these to be issues deserving continued attention
given the high number of organizations grappling with the
trade-offs (Eigen & Litwin, 2014).Task Conflict versus
Relationship Conflict
A task conflict is the situation in an organization when parties
are unable to make progress as a result of differing behaviors,
needs, and/or attitudes of the stakeholders. It could be triggered
by disagreements in regards to distribution of resources,
organizational procedures and policies, as well as the means to
be used to complete the task. Relationship conflict may or may
not be caused by persistent task conflicts. It is when personality
clashes emerge and negative emotional interactions among the
people develop (De Clercq et al., 2017; Camelo-Ordaz et al.,
2015).
Camelo-Ordaz et al. (2015) endeavor to establish how task as
well as relationship conflicts come about during the process of

3. decision making. This is particularly with the stakeholders in
the top management within organizations. The view is that
conflicts have a negative impact on the firm’s innovativeness.
The researchers had a sample of 64 respondents drawn from top
management of Spanish firms. It is proposed that with
behavioral integration, the negative impact of the conflict tend
to reduce. It also follows that the challenge in question would
be unlikely to trigger relationship conflicts.
Camelo-Ordaz et al. (2015) used the Harman one-factor test and
found that there is a high correlation (at 0.797, or
approximately 0.8) between task conflict and relationship
conflict. A confirmatory factor analysis test was conducted to
confirm those findings and it was established that the effects of
task conflict on relationship conflict is significant, and it ends
up hampering the firm’s innovativeness. The high correlation
between the two dimensions of workplace conflict are predicted
to have the effect of masking any potential gains from task
conflict.
Camelo-Ordaz et al. (2015) insist on the need to come-up with
the right mechanisms for managing conflicts involving the top
management. Otherwise, it is likely that the competent,
experienced, and motivated members of the top management
would feel compelled to leave if they conclude that the
organization is an obstacle towards their zeal for success. The
stakeholders in the top positions within an organization do
appreciate that conflict is inevitable since individual needs and
attitudes vary. Nevertheless, successful organizations have
policies and procedures which facilitate timely resolution of
disagreements (Camelo-Ordaz et al., 2015; De Clercq et al.,
2017).
The Ethnographic Underpinnings of Workplace Disputes
Knights & McCabe (2016) explain that the actor network theory
can facilitate the understanding of resistance at the places of

4. work. In some of the cases, resistance is ethnographic and it is
caused by the stakeholders’ inexperience with heterogeneous
environments and relations. The authors suggest than an
effective resolution of disputes at the places of work would
require managers to be ethnographers. They would understand
their stakeholders’ perspectives from the point of view of the
cultures.
Of course, Knights & McCabe (2016) argue, effective
ethnography would call for an extensive interaction, interviews,
as well as observation; which means that those in leadership
positions will need to be competent qualitative researchers. In
every organization, there are multiple departments and division,
and each of them has distinguishing behavioral patterns and
distinctive histories. A department would, for instance, be seen
to depict distinctive qualities defined by the rules the
stakeholders have set, their assumptions, values, and
communication behaviors.
Lund Dean et al. (2014) agrees with Knights & McCabe (2016)
that nuanced understanding of not only the organizational
practices but also the various subcultures is needed. In essence,
the leadership must be observant as well as understand a host of
viewpoints based on ethnographic skills. Lund Dean et al.
(2014) adds that the leadership must be keen of informal
conversations taking place, say, over lunch in the same manner
they are observant about comments made in the meeting rooms.
In any case, it is when the pressure of formality is lifted when
individuals express their true feelings.Integrated Conflict
Management
Integrated conflict management (or resolution) systems is when
an organization avails multiple alternatives towards addressing
conflicts. The employees and management are provided with
opportunities to choose the problem-solving approaches they
find appropriate towards determining the which need to be

5. taken. Negotiation is usually recommended as the first step
towards having a conflict resolved. There are other measures
that need to be taken to ensure success (Knights & McCabe,
2016).
Brubaker et al. (2014) argue that collaborative processes
towards resolving conflicts at the workplaces have been
embraced by American organizations over the last three
decades. They argue that before collaborative approaches,
managers favored mediation and arbitration, and these ushered
in the era of organizational ombudsmen and conflict coaching.
The challenge was that these early strategies were a reserve for
graduates of legal studies, and it kept the conflicting parties at
bay. They imposed solutions, rather than having the concerned
stakeholders collaborating to arrive at all-inclusive.
Brubaker et al. (2014) favor an integrated conflict management
system. They have employed a qualitative analysis on the past
and present trends in order to predict the future. They conclude
by suggesting that if integrated conflict resolution approaches
are exploited, organizations will manage to move from just
intervention towards the prevention of conflict. It does also
makes it possible to upgrade from ad hoc and focus on finding
and implementing the most appropriate systems. Brubaker et al.
conclude that teams which will focus on managing change
instead of merely seeking to resolve conflicts will outperform
their competitors (Brubaker et al., 2014).
According to Brubaker et al. (2014), the management has the
duty to encourage empowerment as well as recognition. This is
in the spirit of embracing the emergent shifts in conflict
dynamics. The new stakeholders need to be briefed on the
various options available to them in case they have the need to
petition for a desire they perceive to be invaluable. Such
avenues make them feel appreciated and dissuaded to seek
employment elsewhere.Conclusion

6. Whether a business organization is large or small, resources and
time are invaluable. Whenever a conflict comes about, the
litigation costs could be overwhelming. Even if it does not call
for litigation, the parties involved end up wasting effort, time,
and resources needlessly. This is why the leadership must
consider it indispensable to provide options for resolving
disagreements (Camelo-Ordaz et al., 2015). An organization
needs to have an integrated conflict management strategy in
place as well as underpin organizational commitment. This
would help eliminate the challenge which would arise if the
parties to the dispute are compelled to resolve it in court and
hence keep on adhering to appointments over which they have
little control (Knights & McCabe, 2016).
Conflicts, or disputes, could actually have positive outcomes in
organizations. This is because they encourage open-mindedness
as well as avert the risk of being trapped in group-think.
Nevertheless, it is the steps which are taken to manage conflict
that matter. The review of literature suggest that leaders must
be ethnographers (Lund Dean et al., 2014; Knights & McCabe,
2016) and ensure organizational commitment beyond what is
required under the law (Eigen & Litwin, 2014).
Nevertheless, disagreements which start as task conflicts could
escalate into relationship conflicts (Camelo-Ordaz et al., 2015;
De Clercq et al., 2017); and at this point, they will have become
significantly personal. In some cases, the conflicting parties
might never be in a position to team-up again. Brubaker et al.
(2014) argue that having an integrated conflict resolution
mechanism is indispensable since the stakeholders are
facilitated with a host of options to deal with the issues
confronting them.
References
Brubaker, D., Noble, C., Fincher, R., Park, S.K., & Press, S.
(2014). Conflict resolution in the workplace: What will the

7. future bring? Conflict Resolution Quarterly, 31(4), 357–386.
https://doi.org/10.1002/crq.21104
Camelo-Ordaz, C., García-Cruz, J., & Sousa-Ginel, E. (2015).
The influence of top management team conflict on firm
innovativeness. Group Decision & Negotiation, 24(6), 957–980.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10726-014-9424-4
De Clercq, D., Mohammad Rahman, Z., & Belausteguigoitia, I.
(2017). Task conflict and employee creativity: the critical roles
of learning orientation and goal congruence. Human Resource
Management, 56(1), 93–109. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.21761
Eigen, Z.J., & Litwin, A.S. (2014). Justice or just between us?
Empirical evidence of the trade-off between procedural and
interactional justice in workplace dispute resolution. ILR
Review, 67(1), 171–201.
https://doi.org/10.1177/001979391406700107
Knights, D., & McCabe, D. (2016). The “missing masses” of
resistance: An ethnographic understanding of a workplace
dispute. British Journal of Management, 27(3), 534–549.
https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.12170
Lund Dean, K., Safranski, S., & Lee, E. (2014). Religious
accommodation in the workplace: Understanding religious
identity threat and workplace behaviors in legal disputes.
Employee Responsibilities & Rights Journal, 26(2), 75–94.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10672-013-9232-z
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