Instruction
Conflict and dispute are normal phenomenon in society and human relationships. When using different resolution techniques, conflicting parties could get both constructive and destructive outcomes. Good decisions from negotiation can bring a 'win-win ' prospect to interested parties. This essay firstly proves the inevitability of conflict and dispute on commercial projects, reviewing some basic definitions and theories. Then, some useful and effective dispute resolution techniques in standard forms of commercial projects are discussed and compared. Lastly, four methods and the potential use of principled negotiation is evaluated for Chinese construction industry in the 21st century.
Inevitability of conflict and dispute on commercial projects
2.1 Some basic theory and knowledge of conflict
From ancient times, conflict is always existing in everyday life if there is more than one individual. Conflict was defined as a "process which involves incompatible differences between parties that result in interference or opposition, often finding expression in antagonism and the violation of roles and procedures"(Thomas,1992). Also, conflict was defined as a "breakdown in the decision-making apparatus resulting in difficulty in selecting alternative courses of action" (Assael,1969; Lisa, 2006). According to these theories, where there is a competitive setting among two or more parties, there comes conflict. For example, fighting for a toy between boys can be regarded as a conflict, and a war between countries definitely is a big severe conflict as well. Thus, conflict occurs among most individuals,organizations, and even countries. Apart from that, conflict is always related to needs, politics, beliefs, values, power, and different goals. Those with the most resources always exercise great power over others with limited resources, leading to the emergence of a conflict.
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