Impacts of Management Approaches on Conflict Resolution Satisfaction: Conflict Strength Matters: Fid-Bau Portal

Impacts of Management Approaches on Conflict Resolution Satisfaction: Conflict Strength Matters

Zhang, Lihan / Lou, Jianmin / Fu, Yongcheng / Ding, Tianhuan

Conflict is inevitable in construction projects, and satisfactory conflict resolution is vital for maintaining amicable relationships and accomplishing project goals. This study aims to explain satisfaction with conflict resolution outcomes by referring to cooperative and competitive conflict management approaches and exploring how these relationships change in light of different degrees of conflict strength in terms of novelty, criticality, and disruption. We conducted a survey using convenience sampling and collected 212 valid questionnaires from Chinese practitioners in the construction industry. After checking reliability and validity, we conducted statistical analyses, including hierarchical multiple regression, moderated regression, and subgroup analysis using Stata software to test the hypotheses. The results show that the cooperative approach is relatively robust and contributes to satisfaction enhancement, regardless of conflict strength. By contrast, a competitive approach is beneficial for satisfaction only when conflict strength is low (i.e., low novelty, low criticality, or low disruption). Theoretically, this study provides a new perspective on conflict strength (rather than a commonly used indicator of the degree of conflict) and contributes to the construction conflict management research by revealing the boundary conditions of conflict management approaches. Practically, the findings provide practitioners with guidance regarding the selection of an appropriate conflict management approach with the aim of improving parties’ satisfaction with conflict resolution outcomes.