Organization Dispute Research Articles

China's rare earth sector – between domestic consolidation and global hegemony

Purpose – China holds a global monopoly of up to 97 percent for rare earth elements (REEs), which are indispensable for all kinds of twenty-first century high-tech applications. Since China has disrupted its exports and started discriminating between domestic and foreign demand, REEs have become a geostrategic resource. In March 2012, Japan, the USA and the European Union jointly filed a World Trade Organization dispute settlement case against China. The purpose of this paper is to elaborate why China implemented export quotas and tariffs on REEs and how the state is engaged in this sector domestically and abroad. Design/methodology/approach – The analysis frames China as a “competition state” and connects domestic with foreign economic policy on REEs. It uses data from Chinese official documents and non-Chinese sources. Findings – Better government control aims to consolidate the sector and lay the foundation for three other goals, namely: the establishment of integrated and innovative Chinese corporatio...

European Union Timber Regulation: Is It Legal?

The recent entry into force of the European Union (EU) Timber Regulation completes the EU's anti‐illegal logging policy framework – the most comprehensive legislative effort to combat illegal logging in the world. The Regulation prohibits the import of timber to the European market that violates applicable laws of the harvest country, and requires that importers conduct due diligence to mitigate the risk that their inventories contain illegal timber. Despite this strong stance, the Regulation's ability to reduce the incidence of timber illegality depends on its ability to withstand challenges under international trade law. No case yet decided by the World Trade Organization's dispute bodies has considered the implications of trade restrictions built on foreign definitions of legality. An analysis of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and of relevant trade and environment cases reveals a possibility that the EU Timber Regulation may constitute an illegal trade barrier.

A messy picture

Subject area Human resource management, business ethics, public policy. Study level/applicability The case can also be taught in MBA/postgraduate in management programmes in general management or HR classes to give a lesson in organizational conflict and resolution, negotiation skills (strategies, tactics and power in negotiation) towards the middle or end of the course. The course can also be taught in MBA/postgraduate in management programmes in business ethics classes to make students appreciate the various approaches to ethics – end-results, duty, social contract and personalistic ethics. It also helps students learn how to institute ethics into the cultural fabric of the organization. In public policy programmes, it could be taught to illustrate the crucial role and at times unintended outcomes of actions of street level bureaucracies in policy implementation. The course can also be taught in refresher training programmes for executives to give lessons in conflict management, mediation strategies, union negotiations and ethics. Case overview This teaching case is based on a real incident that took place in a defence production factory of India in the year 2009. It succinctly unfolds a small showdown between two officers that acquires a disproportionate size and explosive dimension and vitiates the environment of the entire organization. The case is a narration of a small row that in no time became a full-blown organizational dispute with layers of issues. Two officers, one very senior and the other influential, got entangled in a conflict, unfortunately in the presence of a large audience; dissatisfied workers and officers fanned the sentiments and encouraged them to unethically leverage legal privileges by gaming in the name of caste and sexual harassment to gain power in the messy dispute. The protagonist Ram Sharma, the General Manager (head) of the factory, is in a precarious situation as the conflict not only puts his managerial skills but also his moral standards and ethics to test. Expected learning outcomes After discussion and analysis of this case, the students should be able to: appreciate and evaluate the complexities and multiple facets of an organizational conflict including ethical challenges faced in a real life situation, recommend the options and course of action a manager could resort to in a high stake and time bound situation, learn to develop a basic framework for analysing, negotiations and strategize to resolve a conflict as a manager-mediator in such a situation, learn to handle difficult negotiation bound by complexities of unethical and legal disputes, answer to themselves the criticality of ground level bureaucracy's role in implementation of public policies (optional if the faculty decides to discuss the part provided in the teaching note). For international students, this is a case to learn dynamics of “negotiations in Indian context”. Overall development of critical thinking and analytical skills. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

The Influence of Legal Capacity on WTO Dispute Duration

World Trade Organization dispute settlement has evolved away from the concise process originally imagined to one where panels languish for years. This is to the detriment of lesser-developed states that do not have the resources that allow for access. In this article, I perform a multivariate analysis to explore the relationship between a state's legal capacity and the length of trade disputes. Controlling for selection bias, I find that the legal capacity of both of the involved parties contributes to longer disputes. The relaxed time expectations in this process favor the inclusion of developed states and exclude those without the resources necessary to carry out what has become the normal dispute process.

A trade balance: litigation and negotiation in the World Trade Organization's dispute settlement system

The establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO) has been widely accepted as representing the legalisation of world trading rules. However, it is important to reflect on the limits of this legalisation thesis in terms of the interface between international and domestic policy processes. By locating trading disputes in a political analysis of policy implementation, it is argued that it is difficult to establish conceptually how the WTO dispute settlement system could have authority separate from and above the conventional international politics of trade policy relations. Instead, the article argues that case outcomes should be expected to be largely the product of domestic political institutions and policy processes, and how these intersect with developments in the WTO dispute settlement system. Brief studies of the Australian government's dispute settlement strategy and two high-profile WTO disputes—the US upland cotton and European Union sugar cases—serve to suggest that the authority of international trade law is not as significant as assumed by the legalisation thesis. Rather, domestic politics and institutions have an important impact on the outcome of trade disputes.

Supplying Compliance: Why and When the United States Complies with WTO Rulings

In studies of compliance with international law, the focus is usually on the demand side – that is, how to increase the pressure on the state to comply. Less attention has been paid, however, to the consequences of the side – who within the state is responsible for the compliance. This Article is the first study to systematically address the issue of how different actors within the United States government alter national policy in response to the violations of international law. The Article does so by examining cases initiated under the World Trade Organization (WTO) Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU). This Article presents empirical evidence that who within the government must supply compliance is the most important factor in explaining both whether and when the United States government complies with WTO rulings, even after controlling for important characteristics of the state filing the request and the political importance of the affected industry. These results demonstrate that understanding the domestic supply of compliance is a critical, if neglected, aspect of international law theory. The results also highlight how the dominant unitary actor model (adopted by international law scholars to explain compliance) obscures important causal pathways in the compliance process. This Article opens up a new and rich field of study into what makes international law effective or ineffective.

In the Shadow of the DSU: Addressing Specific Trade Concerns in the WTO SPS and TBT Committees

The article argues that focusing only on disputes formally raised in the World Trade Organization (WTO) Dispute Settlement system underestimates the extent of trade conflict resolution within the WTO. Both the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committees address a significant number of 'specific trade concerns' (STCs) that in the overwhelming majority of cases do not become formal disputes. The STCs address differences between Members concerning the conformity of national measures in the SPS and TBT areas with these agreements. It appears as if Committee work on STCs significantly helps defuse potential trade frictions concerning national policies in the covered areas.

From the Editors

From the Editors

Pandering to the Audience: Understanding Third Party Influence on Compliance with World Trade Organization Dispute Settlement Decisions

Do third parties have an impact on the compliance observed with rulings of the Dispute Settlement Body of the World Trade Organization? I demonstrate that third parties can impact the cost-benefit calculations of the respondent in its decision to comply with the rulings issued in a World Trade Organization dispute. I argue that different kinds of third parties impact compliance differently because of, first, the third party’s preferences to monitor a respondent and, secondly, the impact they have on a respondent’s considerations in its decision to comply. To test the impact of third parties on compliance with rulings of the Dispute Settlement Body, I examine data on compliance with rulings of the World Trade Organization’s Dispute Settlement Body from 1995 to 2006. Using a Heckman probit selection model that accounts for the fact that the disputes and third parties present during the compliance phase are not randomly selected, I find the third party’s relationship with the complainant and respondent results in varying effects on the likelihood of compliance.

Participation Versus Procedures in Non‐Union Dispute Resolution

This study examines the resolution of conflict in non‐union workplaces. Employee participation in workplace decision making and organizational dispute resolution procedures are two factors hypothesized to influence the outcomes of conflicts in the non‐union workplace. The adoption of high involvement work systems is found to produce an organizational context in which both triggering events for conflict, such as disciplinary and dismissal decisions, and dispute resolution activities, such as grievance filing and appeals, are reduced in frequency. Dispute resolution procedures have mixed impacts. Greater due process protections in dispute resolution procedures in non‐union workplaces are associated with increased grievance filing and higher appeal rates but do not have significant impacts on the precursors to conflict. This study provides evidence of substantial organizational‐level variation in non‐union conflict resolution, suggesting the importance of expanding the predominant individual and group‐level focus of current conflict management research to include more organizational‐level factors. It also supports the importance to non‐union employee representation of direct participation strategies involving employee involvement in the workplace, in addition to procedures that provide for off‐line representation.

How to Model a Negligible Probability Under the WTO Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement?

Since the 1997 EC--Hormones decision, World Trade Organization (WTO) Dispute Settlement Panels have wrestled with the question of what constitutes a negligible risk under the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement. More recently, the 2010 WTO Australia--Apples Panel focused considerable attention on the appropriate quantitative model for a negligible probability in a risk assessment. The 2006 Australian Import Risk Analysis for Apples from New Zealand translated narrative probability statements into quantitative ranges. The uncertainty about a "negligible" probability was characterized as a uniform distribution with a minimum value of zero and a maximum value of 10(-6) . The Australia - Apples Panel found that the use of this distribution would tend to overestimate the likelihood of "negligible" events and indicated that a triangular distribution with a most probable value of zero and a maximum value of 10⁻⁶ would correct the bias. The Panel observed that the midpoint of the uniform distribution is 5 × 10⁻⁷ but did not consider that the triangular distribution has an expected value of 3.3 × 10⁻⁷. Therefore, if this triangular distribution is the appropriate correction, the magnitude of the bias found by the Panel appears modest. The Panel's detailed critique of the Australian risk assessment, and the conclusions of the WTO Appellate Body about the materiality of flaws found by the Panel, may have important implications for the standard of review for risk assessments under the WTO SPS Agreement.

Measuring Economic Competitiveness of Magharib Countries Export Commodities

The geographic structure of the Magharib countries necessitates its political and economic partnership. However, there were many hindrances that curtailed further mutual benefits in the past decades. That minimized its economic cooperation in many ways. The emergence of the WTO adds to questions of the best method that can activate the Magharib Union. On the long run, it is possible that joining the WTO can help to produce positive results on their economic potentials and trade competitiveness if they can improve their commodities and service quality and reach the international recommended levels. Moreover, if they can overcome inter and intra organizational disputes and coordinate the Magharib partnership by curing structural failures that can help to have better utilization of their countries' potentials. That will better their ranks in the international competitiveness standards. Tunisia ranked 40, Morocco 73. Algeria 83, Libya 88 while Mauritania was 127 in the report 0f 2010. That necessities certain collective strategies for their economic and trade policies. The paper compares that with Malaysia as a benchmark and then attempts to improvise a competition measurement to the Magharib countries economies.

Strategies and Success in Litigation and Negotiation in the WTO

Abstract This article analyzes linkages between litigation in the World Trade Organization (WTO) Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) and negotiation in multilateral trade rounds and develops a typology of links that can occur between the two processes. These include creating conditions where bargaining is informed by law, influencing the agenda-setting and creating momentum for negotiation on key issues, and affecting the status quo from which negotiations proceed by influencing interpretation of trade rules in the DSB. The purpose is to test whether poor and inexperienced states that are disadvantaged in negotiations can improve their bargaining power in negotiation rounds by pursuing legal proceedings, to see whether links can be exploited for strategy-making to promote the interests of these states, and to discuss how the WTO as an international organization benefits from their empowerment. The strategies suggested in this article could improve the commitment and active participation of relatively non-influential member states. This could be conducive to perceptions of the WTO as a legitimate organization and to a more constructive climate for effective negotiations.

Export Restrictions and the WTO Law: How to Reform the ‘Regulatory Deficiency’

Trade barriers in the form of export restrictions imposed on various food products and natural resources have been subject to extensive public attention. A notable illustration of the growing importance of export restrictions was the establishment of a panel by the World Trade Organization (WTO) Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) in December 2009 to examine complaints brought by the United States, the European Union (EU), and Mexico concerning China's export restriction policies. While export restrictions undermine the stability of the multilateral trading system by distorting global markets, the WTO law regulating this field arguably represents a case of 'under-regulation' or 'regulatory deficiency'. Hence, stricter WTO regulation in this area of apparently large 'policy space' is needed. However, various reform proposals submitted to the WTO face strong opposition mainly from developing countries. In this context, this article attempts to illustrate how a sufficiently 'differentiated' reform agenda on export restrictions could help maintain the stability of the multilateral trading system while addressing the legitimate concerns of developing countries.

Rethinking the Right to Initiate WTO Dispute Settlement Proceedings

This article analyses the economic merits of the factual right of governments to interpose themselves as political filters ex ante of potential World Trade Organization (WTO) disputes. As analysed in this article, the current state of WTO law regarding the initiation of dispute settlement proceedings undermines the longterm objectives in pursuance of which states join trade agreements like the WTO Agreement in the first place. This article proposes the creation of an independent prosecution department within the WTO Secretariat, with an exclusive right to initiate dispute settlement proceedings. Without the existing discretionary filtering power, WTO membership would constitute a more credible commitment by governments that they wish to tie their hands in order to better resist domestic lobbying from powerful, importcompeting, industries, giving in to which might maximize the government's short-term political welfare but would be contrary to society's long-term interest in free trade. [T]he true purpose of international [trade] negotiations is arguably not to protect us from unfair foreign competition, but to protect us from ourselves. Paul Krugman

Why Are WTO Panels Taking Longer? And What Can Be Done About It?

World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement panels have steadily taken longer to complete their work since the establishment of the WTO, but since 2005, the delays have sharply increased. The Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) time frames for panel proceedings are problematic in light of the time and number of parties’ submissions. However, unexpected delays in panel work have become more frequent, which, if they continue to increase at their present rate, will offset reform of DSU time frames at other stages of the procedures. This article examines the reasons why delays have occurred and considers some possible solutions.

Ducks and Decoys: Revisiting the Exit-Voice-Loyalty Framework in Assessing the Impact of a Workplace Dispute Resolution System

Until now, empirical research has been unable to reliably identify the impact of organizational dispute resolution systems (DRSs) on the workforce at large, in part because of the dearth of data tracking employee perceptions preand postimplementation. This study begins to fill this major gap by exploiting survey data from a single, geographically-expansive, US firm with well over 100,000 employees in over a thousand locations. The research design allows us to examine employment relations and human resource (HR) measures, namely, perceptions of justice, organizational commitment, and perceived legal compliance, in the same locations before and after the implementation of a typical, multistep DRS that begins with informal reporting to local managers and culminates with mandatory arbitration. Even after holding all time-constant, location-level variables in place, we find that introduction of the DRS is associated with elevated perceptions of informal procedural justice and interactive justice, but diminished perceptions of formal procedural justice. We also find no discernible effect on organizational commitment, but a significant boost to perceived legal compliance by the company, raising important questions about the tradeoff between voice and exit and formal versus informal aspects of dispute resolution mechanisms. * Author names are in alphabetical order. Zev J. Eigen is an Assistant Professor of Law at Northwestern University School of Law, and Adam Seth Litwin is an Assistant Professor at the Carey Business School at Johns Hopkins University. The authors acknowledge the generosity of “Gilda’s, Inc.” and, more specifically, of managers in its Human Resources Department for their assistance and patience. The authors also thank Roberto Fernandez, Kenneth Ayotte, and the participants of Northwestern University School of Law’s Internal Faculty Workshop for their helpful guidance and suggestions. DUCKS & DECOYS EIGEN & LITWIN PLEASE DO NOT CITE WITHOUT AUTHORS’ PERMISSION

WTO DSB Decisions in the EC Legal Order: Approach of the Community Courts

This article examines the position of the Community courts on the issue of the internal effect of the World Trade Organization Dispute Settlement Body (WTO DSB) decisions in the EC legal order from the Biret cases to the Van Parys case, as well as the arguments that were accepted as a basis for it. Moreover, it focuses on the extent to which WTO DSB decisions are binding on the European Court of Justice (ECJ). On the basis of a detailed analysis of the relevant case law of the Community courts, it is argued that the DSB decisions do not have direct effect in the EC legal order, however still remain binding on the EC as a party to the particular WTO disputes.

The Karenina Principle and the Pathology of Administrative Appeals: A Chiropractic Approach to Improving DOD Acquisitions

What do appeals of administrative decisions tell us about the processes that give rise to them? Bid protests of Department of Defense source selections are illustrative. Rejected bidders can appeal to the Government Accountability Office. GAO sustains protests – few, but costly and growing – on grounds of procedural irregularity. Applying concepts from organizational economics, conflict management, and dispute systems design, we explore misalignments among management practices within agencies that can contribute to procedural errors and, thereby, to appeals. A conflict management audit, including interviews with participants in the process and analysis of GAO’s bid protest decisions, identifies sources of conflict in misalignments among strategy, structure, human resources, policies and procedures, and monitoring. Strategically adjusting the decisions to contract out, expanding authority and responsibility for risk management, creating professional development opportunities, revisiting policies on bundling and duration of contracts, and using performance information to incentivize the workforce can mitigate bid protests.

Conflict Coaching: Conflict Management Strategies and Skills for the Individual

I. Introducing Conflict Coaching 1. Conflict Coaching: Conflict Management Strategies and Skills for the Individual A General Definition of Conflict Coaching Sources of Development: An Overview of "Conflict" and "Coaching" in Likely Drivers of Continued Development for Conflict Coaching Conflict Coaching Principles Major Reasons for the Conflict Resolution Field to Develop Conflict Coaching 2. The Comprehensive Conflict Coaching Model An Overview of Coaching Models The Comprehensive Conflict Coaching (CCC) Model II. Conducting Conflict Coaching 3. Stage One - Discovering the Story Narrative Theory Narrative Theory Applied to Conflict Management Discovering the Story General Principles for Discovering the Story Specific Approaches for Discovering the Story 4. Stage Two - The Identity Perspective Identity in Relation to Emotion and Power Overview of Research and Theory on Identity A Model of Identity in Interpersonal Conflict in the Workplace 'Facework' as the Primary Means of Managing Identity General Principles for Identity Work with Conflict Coaching Clients Specific Approaches for Identity Work with Conflict Coaching Clients 5. The Emotion Perspective Introduction to Emotion Theories of Emotion Emotional Competence General Principles for Emotion Work with Conflict Coaching Clients Specific Approaches for Emotion Work with Conflict Coaching Clients 6. Stage Two - The Power Perspective Power in Relation to Identity and Emotion Overview of Research and Theory on Power Sources of Client Power in Conflict Power Patterns in Conflict Interaction Power Strategies and Tactics Power and Culture Working with Clients Who Feel and/or Act Disempowered General Principles for Power Work with Conflict Coaching Clients Specific Approaches for Power Work with Conflict Coaching Clients 7. Stage Three - Crafting the "Best" Story Relevant Change Theories The Link to Narrative Theory General Principles for Crafting the "Best" Story Specific Approaches for Crafting the "Best" Story 8. Stage Four - Communication Skills: Confrontation, Confirmation and Comprehension Culture and Communication Skills Key Conflict Communication Skills General Principles for Communication Skills Work with Conflict Coaching Clients General Approaches for Communication Skills Work with Conflict Coaching Clients Specific Approaches for Confrontation, Confirmation and Comprehension Work with Conflict Coaching Clients 9. Stage Four - The Conflict Styles Opportunity A Conflict Styles Framework Focusing on the Me, You and We of Conflict Styles Conflict Styles and Culture General Principles for Conflict Styles Work with Conflict Coaching Clients Specific Approaches to Conflict Styles Work with Conflict Coaching Clients 10. Stage Four - The Negotiation Opportunity Basics of Negotiation Two Major Approaches to Negotiation 11. Stage Four - Coordinating Coaching with Other Conflict Processes Organizational Dispute Systems The Role of Conflict Coaching in Leveraging Dispute Systems General Principles for Coordinating Conflict Coaching with Other Conflict Processes Specific Approaches for Coordinating Conflict Coaching with Other Conflict Processes 12. Learning Assessment in Conflict Coaching: The Parallel Process Learning Assessment: Did the Conflict Coaching Work? General Principles for Learning Assessment Specific Approaches to Learning Assessment III. Integrating Conflict Coaching Into Your Practice 13. Needs Assessment and Program Evaluation for Conflict Coaching Needs Assessment: Will Conflict Coaching Meet "My" Needs? Program Evaluation: Is Conflict Coaching Working for "You?" Using Needs Assessment and Program Evaluation to Market a Conflict Coaching Practice 14. The Future of Conflict Coaching A Research Agenda Training and Delivery Mechanisms Policy/Implementation Agenda