KOREAN LEADERS (AND SUBORDINATES) CONFLICT MANAGEMENT

The first of two exploratory studies investigated the conflict management approaches of 310 South Korean leaders. Each recalled the most recent dispute they had encountered either between two subordinates or between a subordinate and a person outside the workgroup (i.e., an outsider). Subsequently, they reported the techniques used to manage the dispute. As predicted, the leaders were more assertive in managing subordinate‐subordinate conflicts. Unexpectedly, they also pressed their own subordinates quite forcefully in the subordinate‐outsider disputes. The second study investigated subordinates' interventions in their leaders’ disputes. In these conflicts, subordinates adopted a low‐key shuttle diplomacy; meeting separately with the parties, listening to their opinions, transmitting these to the other side, and calling for each side's empathy and understanding.