Subordinate Views in Supervisory Conflict Situations: Peering into the Subcultural Chasm

Abstract

Workplace conflict has traditionally been approached with legalistic, problemsolving, and power-oriented models. Most dominant organization cultures embody a combination of these models' assumptions. Based on 100 case studies from the United States, a bottom-up model reflecting the beliefs prevailing in subordinate subcultures is inductively developed via a two-stage content analysis. The key assumptions of all four models are contrasted along six cultural dimensions: namely, the nature of relationships, truth/reality, analytic determinations, evidence, time, and the consequences of grieving. The processes of nicknaming and story telling through which subcultural meanings are commonly constructed also receive close scrutiny.