BODIL BENISHU, affiliation not provided to SSRN
Email: benis@yvc.ac.il
HELENA SYNA DESIVILYA, Emek Yezreel College - Sociology and Anthropology
Email: desiv@yvc.ac.il

The current study was designed to elucidate the nature of conflict management styles associated with conflict avoidance and their antecedents in the kibbutz cooperative community. Such a society is characterized by a high degree of participative democracy and collectivism, enrooted in motivation to maintain harmonic and long-lasting relationships.

The study was conducted in four kibbutzim. Seventy one members aged 25-69 participated in the study, of whom 62% were females and 38% were males. The research instruments included Rahim (1983) ROCI-II questionnaire, an open questionnaire to examine conflict strategies in actual conflict situations, and Rhoades & Arnold's (1999) Conflict Responses and Definitions questionnaire, employed to assess conflict management strategies in conflict situations with persons of varying importance to the actor. In-depth individual interviews were conducted with 4 kibbutz members in order to further understand the choice of conflict strategies in specific situations.

This study demonstrates that in contrast with the existing rational models of conflict management, handling conflicts in the cooperative kibbutz community is linked with the characteristics of the protagonists, their mutual relationship, especially the importance attached to these bonds, and the specific conflict course.

The findings point out the limitations of quantitative data in elucidating subtle considerations, underlying strategic choice and use of more indirect ways to handle conflict. Quantitative data by and large illustrated the politically correct conflict management styles (problem solving and compromising), and the normative, rational representations of conflict situations. The qualitative data reveal emotional aspects and hidden considerations, which ensure maintenance and preservation of positive and/or significant relationships.

HELEN L. BROWN, Boston College
Email: helen.brown.2@bc.edu
ARNOLD WRIGHT, Northeastern University - Accounting Area
Email: a.wright@neu.edu

Auditors and clients are often required to resolve difficult, complex accounting issues in which they have different views. This resolution entails a negotiation process where research has shown that the strategies employed have dramatic effects on the process, final agreed upon outcome, and the relationship of the parties involved. Despite its importance we have little knowledge of the negotiation strategies auditors and clients use and the factors that drive the choice of strategies. This experimental study involving 63 experienced audit managers and partners examines the impact of past relationship with the client (contending or cooperative) and the strength of the audit committee (strong or weak) on auditors' pre-negotiation planning judgments and on the use of a strategy during the negotiation process to resolve a difficult, subjective inventory write down issue.

We hypothesize that auditors are more likely to use a demanding negotiation strategy when the audit committee is strong and when client has been contentious. The findings indicate that the likelihood of the auditor adopting a preferred position within the client's negotiation range is lower when the audit committee is strong and the past relationship has been contentious, consistent with our expectations. Also, the auditor's preferred write down is relatively higher along the client's range when the audit committee is strong. In the negotiation phase the results indicate auditors provide smaller concessions and a higher final position when the audit committee is strong and the past relationship has been contentious, again supporting our hypotheses. In all, the findings support the importance of contextual factors on auditors' negotiation planning judgments and strategies.

GUANG YANG, School of Management, Dalian University of Technology, Department of Marketing, School of Business, The George Washington University
Email: gyang@dlut.edu.cn
JOHN L. GRAHAM, affiliation not provided to SSRN

The relative effectiveness of three communications media is examined using laboratory methods and applying social presence theory. The three media - face-to-face interaction (FTF), instant messaging (IM), and email (EM) - are conceptualized to have different levels of social presence. Their impact on the buyer-seller negotiation processes, such as integrative and distributive bargaining strategies, and negotiation outcomes, such as negotiation time, joint profit, and joint satisfaction were examined using negotiation simulations conducted in FTF, IM, and EM conditions. Participants completed questionnaires after negotiating in one of the three conditions, audio recordings were made for some of the FTF interactions, and transcripts of many of the computer mediated interactions were secured. The transcripts allowed for a comparison between perceptual measures and observational measures of bargaining behaviors in the three conditions. The central finding of the study is that higher social presence caused higher levels of distributive negotiation behaviors (measured using content analysis), which in turn caused more time spent, lower joint profits, and lower joint satisfaction for negotiators.

GUANG YANG, School of Management, Dalian University of Technology, Department of Marketing, School of Business, The George Washington University
Email: gyang@dlut.edu.cn

This paper examined culture's effect on the processes and outcomes of buyer-seller negotiations conducted through instant messaging (IM). The effects were examined by comparing Hong Kong (H.K.) Chinese intra-cultural negotiations with U.S. intra-cultural negotiations. The high-low context of culture (Hall 1976) and ingroup/outgroup bias of the cultures were found to influence negotiation behaviors and outcomes in the IM condition. The IM condition was considered a low context communication medium relative to face-to-face. Results show that negotiators from high context culture (H.K.), who may consider negotiating partners as outgroup members, used more distributive tactics, needed significantly longer time, and achieved lower Pareto efficiency and less joint satisfaction than negotiators from low context culture (U.S.) who do not distinguish strongly ingroup vs outgroup members. Negotiation tactics were found to mediate the effect of culture on Pareto efficiency. These results suggest that culture influences outcomes variables through processes variables for negotiations conducted through a low context medium.