Meditative Approach in Organization Management: Empiric Diagnostic and Segment Specificity of Effectiveness

Transformation of managerial practices in conditions of growing uncertainty requires revision of approaches to conflict management. The meditative approach oriented to neutral mediation and conciliation procedures is considered to be a promising resource of raising efficiency of organizational management. However, the absence of empirically grounded data about its effectiveness in organizations of different scale hinders introduction of relative practices. The goal of the research is to diagnose empirically the use of meditative approach in organizations of different scale (small and medium businesses and big companies), to estimate its effectiveness and to identify segment factors influencing its results. The research is based on the principle of methodological triangulation: survey ( N = 548 valid questionnaires, SMB segments 254 respondents, big companies 294 respondents), analysis of organizational indicators and statistical processing by using IBM SPSS Statistics (Mann-Winny U-criterion, Spirman correlation analysis, successive regression, Kronbach alpha coefficient). The authors found out that big companies statistically exceed SMB by degree of conflict settlement in-building in the system of management and expressiveness of meditative logics of conflict consideration, however by communicative conditions and competence support serious differences were not found. Integral indices of meditative maturity showed that its medium rate in SMB is lower than in the big segment. The interconnection between meditative maturity and results of conflict management is statistically important only in SMB segment, while in big companies it is absent. Successive regression confirmed the impact of integral index on results in SMB. Thus meditative approach demonstrates segment-unequal results. In SMB it acts as a direct resource of raising sustainability of conflict settlement. In big companies higher level of institutional fprmalization is not converted in lowering the negative impact of conflict on organizational settlement, which requires revision of strategy of meditative practice introduction aiming at their integration with adaptation, prevention and personnel-analytical outlines of management.

1. Boyko O. V. Mediatsiya kak instrument upravleniya konfliktami v organizatsii [Mediation as Tool of Conflict Management in Organization]. Vestnik Sankt-Peterburgskogo universiteta. Menedzhment [Bulletin of the St. Petersburg University. Management], 2018, No. 3, pp. 78–95. (In Russ.).

2. Kozlova E. V., Filippova I. V. Integratsiya konflikt-menedzhmenta i upravleniya personalom: noviy vzglyad na effektivnost [Integration of Conflict-Management and HRManagement: New View on Efficiency]. Upravlencheskie nauki [Managerial Sciences], 2021, Vol. 11, No. 2, pp. 62–75. (In Russ.).

3. Ulanovskiy A. M. Mediativniy podkhod v organizatsii: ot konflikta k sotrudnichestvu [Meditative Approach in Organization: from Conflict to Cooperation]. Organizatsionnaya psikhologiya [Organizational Psychology], 2017, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 71–94. (In Russ.).

4. Shirokova G. V. Upravlenie konfliktami v malom i srednem biznese: osobennosti i problemy [Conflict Management in Small and Medium Business: Features and Problems]. Rossiyskiy zhurnal menedzhmenta [Russian Journal of Management], 2019, Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 345–362. (In Russ.).

5. Rahim M. A. Managing Conflict in Organizations. 4th ed. New Brunswick, Transaction Publishers, 2017.

6. Bendersky C. Organizational Dispute Resolution Systems: A Complementarities Model. Academy of Management Review , 2003, Vol. 28, No. 4, pp. 643–656.

7. Cardon M. S., Stevens C. E. Managing Human Resources in Small Organizations: What do we know? Human Resource Management Review , 2004, Vol. 14, No. 3, pp. 295–323.

8. De Dreu C. K., Gelfand M. J. Conflict in the Workplace: Sources, Functions, and Dynamics Across Multiple Levels of Analysis. The Psychology of Conflict and Conflict Management in organizations . Edited by C. K. De Dreu, M. J. Gelfand. New York, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2008, pp. 3–54.

9. Eisenhardt K. M. Building Theories from Case Study Research. Academy of Management Review , 1989, Vol. 14, No. 4, pp. 532–550.

10. Katz N. H., Flynn L. T. Understanding Conflict Management Systems and Strategies in the Workplace: A Pilot Study. Conflict Resolution Quarterly , 2013, Vol. 30, No. 4, pp. 393–410.

11. Latreille P. L. Workplace Mediation: A Critical Review. ADR in Employment and Labor Law . Edited by D. B. Lipsky, A. C. Avgar. Arlington, Bloomberg BNA, 2014, pp. 115–144.

12. Lipsky D. B., Seeber R. L., Fincher R. D. Emerging Systems for Managing Workplace Conflict: Lessons from American Corporations for Managers and Dispute Resolution Professionals. San Francisco, Jossey-Bass, 2003.

13. Moore C. W. The Mediation Process: Practical Strategies for Resolving Conflict. 4th ed. San Francisco, Jossey-Bass, 2014.

14. Poitras J., Bowen R. E. A Dynamic Model of the Mediation Process. Journal of Conflict Resolution , 2017, Vol. 61, No. 2, pp. 287–313.

15. Wall J. A., Stark J. B., Standifer R. L. Mediation: A Current Review and Future Directions. Journal of Conflict Resolution , 2001, Vol. 45, No. 3, pp. 370–391.