8125

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 8125
• Author: Moore, C. W.
• Title: Editor
• USFW Year: Series
• USFW - Doc Type: 1986
• Copyright Material: YES

Approaches to Managing and Resolving Conflict 7
If a dispute is within an organization there is often an ad-
ministrative or executive dispute resolution approach. In this
process a third party, who has some distance from the dispute
but is not necessarily impartial, may make a decision for the
parties in dispute. The process can be private if the system with-
in which the dispute occurs is a private company, division, or
work team; or public if it is conducted in a public agency by a
mayor, county commissioner, planner, or other administrator.
An administrative dispute resolution generally attempts to bal-
ance the needs of the entire system and the interests of the
individual.
In the Singson-Whittamore dispute, both parties might
choose to appeal to the board of directors of the Fairview Clinic
for athird-party decision. If both parties trust the integrity and
judgment of these decision makers, the dispute might end here.
Arbitration is a generic term for a voluntary process in
which people in conflict request the assistance of an impartial
and neutral third party to make a decision for them regarding
contested issues. The outcome of the decision may be either ad-
visory or binding, Arbitration may be conducted by one person
or a panel of third parties. The critical factor is that they are
outside of the conflict relationship.
Arbitration is also a private process in that the proceed-
ings and often the outcome are not open to public scrutiny.
People often select arbitration because it is more informal than
a judicial proceeding and frequently faster, less expensive, and
private. In arbitration the parties often are able to select their
own arbiter or panel, and thus have more control over the deci-
sion than if the third party were appointed by an outside au-
thority or agency,
Whittamore and Singson have both heard of arbitration
but are reluctant to turn their problem over to a third party
before they are sure that they cannot solve it themselves. Nei-
ther wants to risk an unfavorable decision. In addition, Singson
does not want an external decision that might erode clinic man-
agement's prerogative to control the contract process,
A judicial approach involves the intervention of an insti-
tutionalized and socially recognized authority into private dis-