Focus Topic: International and Cross-Cultural Conflict Management

Recognizing the need to include more research from outside the U.S. and non-western cultures, this special issue explores conflict management in organizations in international and cross-cultural settings.

Examples of topics that would be appropriate for this special issue are: How does national culture influence conflict management and conflict resolution processes and outcomes? Are there different conflict styles used in different countries? Do countries outside the U.S. have unique ways of handling conflict? Are the outcomes of conflict different in different cultures. How is conflict perceived in different cultures. Are there different causes and outcomes of conflict in different countries? Are there alternative perceptions or conceptualizations of conflict in different cultures that either exacerbate or mitigate conflict? How does language influence conflict?

These examples provide illustrations of the types of international and cross-cultural conflict studies that would be appropriate. However, researchers are encouraged to submit manuscripts using innovative theories or methods that advance our understanding of conflict from global or international perspectives.

This call for papers is aimed at a wide array of scholars–from different disciplines such as management, communications, psychology, sociology, economics, public administration, and law.

Studies using a variety of methodological techniques are encouraged including (but not limited to): laboratory studies, field studies, case studies, survey research, and analysis of archival data. Articles focused solely on theory development are also welcome as are papers that present novel approaches to conflict management in the context of organizations in international settings.

Manuscripts should focus on the following criteria:

Use clear exposition, be technically adequate, make a theoretical contribution (e.g., testing, creating, or extending theory), make an empirical contribution, be innovative, interesting, & novel, and have potential implications for practice
– Length: generally no longer than 35 pages (including everything: tables, references, figures, etc.)
– Double-spaced with 1 inch margins, 12-point Times New Roman font.
– Following APA (5th ed.) format.
All papers will be blind reviewed.

Inquires and manuscripts should be submitted in electronic form by October 1, 2006 to: Richard A. Posthuma, rposthuma@utep.edu

teamwork is a web based collaboration project management software. it has calendars, file sharing, task assignment and tracking, etc. they mention communication but i think it’s all web based w/in the system and not tied into email. definitely worth a look if you’re looking for low cost/free team sofware.

A review of research methods for assessing content of computer-mediated discussion forums Journal of Interactive Learning Research | Date: September 22, 2006 | Author: Marra, Rose

Computer-mediated communication (CMC) technologies are becoming increasingly important components of online educational environments (Romiszowski & Mason, 2004). The online discussion forum that is a significant component of many web-based courses is one type of CMC. Instructors and students rely on these asynchronous forums to engage one another in ways that replace face-to-face communication. The goal of such interactions is to promote critical thinking, meaningful problem solving, and knowledge construction (Kirschner, Strijbos, Kreijns, & Beers, 2004). In spite of the …

The Effects of Cultural Diversity in Virtual Teams Versus Face-to-Face Teams
D. Sandy Staples, Lina Zhao. Group Decision and Negotiation. Dordrecht: Jul 2006. Vol. 15, Iss. 4; p. 389

AbstractDiversity in the national background and culture of team members is common in virtual teams. An experimental study, with short term teams, was undertaken to examine the effect of cultural diversity on team effectiveness and to examine if this effect changes depending if the team worked face-to-face (F2F) or virtually. Heterogeneous teams were created that had greater diversity than homogeneous teams of individualism/collectivism values, different languages spoken, country of birth, and nationality. The teams worked on a desert survival task either F2F or virtually (via audioconference and electronic chat tools). The overall results indicated that heterogeneous teams were less satisfied and cohesive and had more conflict than the homogeneous teams, although there were no statistical differences in team performance levels. However, examining just the heterogeneous teams found that the performance of the virtual heterogeneous teams was superior to that of the F2F heterogeneous teams. The results support Carte and Chidambaram’s (2004) theory that the reductive capabilities of collaborative technologies are beneficial for newly-formed diverse teams.

it seems aol screwed up and let a database of search queries go public. 21 MILLION search queries have been revealed all attached to a unique ID number which means 658k of its users search histories are now public.

read the c-net article i linked to about the data for a fascinating look at how well we could be tracked, how so not private our activities are and aol’s screw up (different link – aol apologises)

i have to say this is a lot more fascinating than reality shows like big brother. i wonder how long until there’s a tv show which tracks a person’s search queries and then shows up on their doorstep to question them about it. or perhaps tie in with sponsors and show up with their fav things.

and you can go to aol search logs to create that tv show or begin your stalking career.