PLANNING THE USE OF POWER: AN EPISODIC MODEL

Power reserves such as money, information, support, knowledge, and time are essential in handling conflicts. These power reserves are, as a rule, limited in that they are insufficient in handling existing multi‐conflicting relationships. This paper presents an episodic model for the rational planning of power reserves that can aid in effective power use. How much and to what extent this power should be used depends on the following: (1) determining the significance of the various activity fields (i.e., arenas) in which conflict arises; (2) calculating the decision maker's conflict intensity with the other party(ies) in the attainment of each goal; (3) identifying the facilitating or inhibitory factors in power use; and (4) estimating the likely consequences of using power to resolve any conflict.