Van Gramberg, Bernadine (2006) The rhetoric and reality of workplace alternative dispute resolution. Journal of Industrial Relations, 48 (2). pp. 175-191. ISSN 0022-1856

Abstract

Three dilemmas emerging from the critical literature on alternative dispute resolution (ADR) were explored in this study of workplace conflict resolution. The study found that most practitioners and industrial relations experts surveyed believed that ADR practitioners would take measures to circumvent the dilemmas, should they arise. These measures include applying appropriate standards and laws to ADR decisions; balancing power between disputants; and not exercising bias in order to obtain future work. In other words, the skills and attributes of ADR practitioners were represented by the surveyed population as being vital to delivering key qualities of ADR such as fairness and independence. However, three case studies of workplace mediation demonstrated that these normative traits were not met by the reality of ADR practice. The study raises training and accreditation issues for workplace ADR practitioners and questions the quality of workplace justice for disputants.

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