Conflict Handling Preferences: A Public-Private Comparison

Abstract

In recent years the traditional boundaries between the public and private sectors have become increasingly blurred as public organizations have adopted business-oriented management policies and practices. Yet, there is evidence to suggest that public sector employment continues to attract individuals with different values and expectations than those who choose a career with a profit-making firm. In this study, the Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory (ROCI-II) was administered to a total of 107 Hong Kong Chinese accountants from the Treasury Department and a large private accounting firm, to test whether the same interpersonal conflict-handling strategies would be used in conflict situations with a superior. The data indicated that public and private sector employees are similar in their overall approach to conflict resolution. However public employees favored more strongly the integrating, problem-solving approach, which requires information exchange, looking for alternatives and reaching a solution acceptable to all. These findings are interpreted in relation to the Hong Kong public sector's well-established principles of procedural due process and formal dispute-resolution mechanisms. The study indicates that the public-private distinction continues to exist and it is not appropriate to apply universally private sector strategies to personnel management in public organizations.