All companies are confronted from time-to-time with conflicts that require resolution. Such conflicts may involve (a) the company and employee(s), (b) the company and customer(s), (c) the company and supplier(s), (d) the company and financial source(s), (e) the company and government, and (f) other parties to a dispute. The tradition (and expensive in terms of time, money, and goodwill) approach to the resolution of such disputes is to settle the conflicts within the judicial system. Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) approaches were developed with the aim of conserving time, resources, and goodwill, while resolving disputes (Barnes, Dworkin, & Richards (2005). This paper discusses ADRs within the context of a company-employee dispute at a mortgage equity investment firm.
Assessment of the Dispute Resolution
ADR is the term used to describe a variety of ways in which a dispute can be resolved outside of an organization's formal justice system or without resorting to society's judicial system (Evans, 1995).
ADR refers to an approach to conflict resolution that may take several forms. ADRs may be either internal in or external to the organization. Widely accepted internal and external ADRs are as follows:
Open-door policies allow employees to bring their complaints directly to higher-level management. Typically, such conflicts are settled on an informal basis.
An ombudsman is an employee who acts as a confidential resource and facilitator for other members of an organization. The ombudsman hears and investigates problems and concerns that are not readily resolved through other organizational channels. The ombudsman attempts to influence management to act on the complaint and, an ombudsman can recommend changes in systems and processes.
An organizational conflict management system relies on specially trained people to resolve issues through a variety of techniques
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