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Interdependence and Managing Conflict with Sub-Contractors in the Construction Industry in East Asia

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Abstract

In contrast to traditional assumptions about Asian conflict management, interdependence may induce cooperative approaches to conflict rather than avoidance or competition. Findings from supervisors on 216 subcontractors in Korea, Japan, and Hong Kong support the hypotheses that interdependence leads to cooperative conflict which results in constructive conflict which in turn helps the subcontractor contribute to the main contractor. However, competitive and avoiding conflict were found to be useful in Taiwan. Results were interpreted as suggesting that the theory of cooperation and competition offers the potential for strengthening conflict management in East Asia and that cooperative conflict, rather than avoiding, may reinforce feelings of interdependence in East Asia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lingnan University, Hong Kong, China

    Dean Tjosvold

  2. College of Business and Management, Ajou University, Suwon, 441-749, Korea

    Yung-Ho Cho & Ho-Hwan Park

  3. Department of Psychology, Fu-Jen Catholic University, Taipei 242, Taiwan

    Chaoming Liu

  4. Department of Psychology, Soochow University, Taipei 111, Taiwan

    Whei-Ching Liu

  5. Faculty of Business, Takasaki City, University of Economics, Gunma 370, Japan

    Shigeru Sasaki

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  1. Dean Tjosvold
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  2. Yung-Ho Cho
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  3. Ho-Hwan Park
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  4. Chaoming Liu
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  5. Whei-Ching Liu
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  6. Shigeru Sasaki
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Tjosvold, D., Cho, YH., Park, HH. et al. Interdependence and Managing Conflict with Sub-Contractors in the Construction Industry in East Asia. Asia Pacific Journal of Management 18, 295–313 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010693627443

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