Conflict Management and High-Performance Work Systems

Dear Colleagues,

The new century has seen an increasingly globalized world economy and consequently emphasis has been given to cultural diversity in workforces and its influences on organization practices. Conflict is a common phenomenon accompanying the diversified workforce, whether it occurs in the form of different opinions, harsh words, or different actions taken to achieve organizational objectives (Ma et al. 2012; Meng et al. 2018; Tjosvold 2008). The growing complexities of work relationships and the increased diversity in workplaces have placed unprecedented pressure on managers, forcing them to resolve conflicts in an effective manner in order to improve organizational performance.

High performance work systems (HPWS), a set of broadly defined human resource management practices, including performance-related pay, various employee communication programs, training and team-based work (Huselid 1995), are said to be mutually reinforcing and able to generate superior organizational performance (Combs et al. 2006). While an impressive array of research has explored HPWS and organizational performance, relatively little has been done to explore the relationship between conflict management and the effectiveness of HPWS (Huang et al. 2018), even though the universalistic effect of HPWS have been the focus for many studies in the HRM field. This special issue is to focus on the investigation of the relationship between conflict management and HPWS in order to help develop more effective human resource management practice and policies. We welcome submissions that focus on, but not limited to, the following topics of interests:

• The impact of conflict management process on the effectiveness of high-performance work systems
• Individual differences in conflict management styles/processes on organizational performance
• Antecedents and outcomes of effective conflict management process
• Individual, group, and organizational factors for HPWS
• The impact of corporate culture on conflict management preferences and HPWS for high organizational performance

References:

(Combs et al. 2006) Combs, James, Yongmei Liu, Angela Hall, and David Ketchen. 2006. How much do high-performance work practices matter? A meta-analysis of their effects on organizational performance. Personnel Psychology 59: 501–28.

(Huang et al. 2018) Huang, Yufang, Zhenzhong Ma, and Yong Meng. 2018. High performance work systems and employee engagement: Empirical evidence from China. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources 56: 341–59.

(Huselid 1995) Huselid, Mark A. 1995. The impact of human resource management practices on turnover, productivity, and corporate financial performance. Academy of Management Journal 38: 635–72.

(Ma et al. 2012) Ma, Zhenzhong, Dapeng Liang, Ahmet Erkus, and Akif Tabak. 2012. The impact of group-oriented values on choice of conflict management styles and outcomes: An empirical study in Turkey. International Journal of Human Resource Management 23: 3776–93.

(Meng et al. 2018) Meng, Yong, Haiyun Yu, Zhenzhong Ma, and Zhiyong Yang. 2018. The impact of young Chinese employees’ notions of work on conflict management styles: An explorative study. International Journal of Conflict Management 29: 306–26.

(Tjosvold 2008) Tjosvold, Dean. 2008. The conflict-positive organization: It depends upon us. Journal of Organizational Behavior 29: 19–28.

Prof. Dr. Zhenzhong Ma
Guest Editor

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• conflict
• conflict management styles
• HPWS
• organizational performance
• HRM
• engagement