Third-party Consultation Research Articles

Research on the system and mechanism of investigation and treatment of port accidents

Based on the analysis of the current situation of investigation and treatment of port accidents, this paper puts forward some suggestions, such as improving relevant laws and regulations, establishing an independent third-party investigation organization and consultation mechanism, and formulating investigation procedures, so as to promote the modernization of port accident investigation and management system and capacity.

Resolving Intractable Conflicts Through Third-Party Facilitation: A 14-Year Study

Intractable conflicts between two individuals within an organization can be particularly detrimental, exerting ripple effects that affect other individuals, entire units, or the organization as a whole. This study extends previous research on third-party consultation interventions by exploring trust and other variables that facilitate intractable conflict resolution, while examining several outcomes over time. Data for this 14-year study in an operating room came from self-reports by the participants, behavioral observations by hospital administrators, and hospital records. Results include statistically significant improvement in trust measures, individual and group effectiveness, increased availability of surgical supplies and equipment, reduced physician abuse of scheduling privileges, decreased verbal abuse of nurses by physicians, the elimination of nursing turnover, and a decision by the surgeons to not build an outpatient surgical center. From a methodological standpoint, our quasi-experimental design using longitudinal panel data provide strong evidence for the effectiveness of organization development interventions on intractable conflicts, including not only how resolutions and positive outcomes occur but also how they can endure over time.

The Longitudinal Effects of a Third-party Intervention: 14 Years of Sustainable Change

This study extends previous research on third-party consultation interventions by exploring trust and other variables that facilitate conflict resolution while examining several outcomes over time....

Sickle Cell Disease and the “Difficult Patient” Conundrum

The convergence of sickle cell disease's unique political, historical, cultural, medical, and psychological dimensions begets an especially distressing plight for sufferers of the disease. Too often, this convergence results in sickle cell patients being classified as “difficult.” As Autumn Fiester recently argued, traditional understanding of the “difficult” patient warrants reevaluation. By acknowledging the nuanced dimensions of sickle cell disease, we identify barriers to care particular to the disease, which further substantiate the need to redefine orthodox notions of the “difficult” patient. We support development of mechanisms in both health care provider education and third-party consultation support by the Ethics Consultation Service, or by other appropriately designated specialists, to respect the manifold dimensions of sickle cell disease as a necessary step toward the enhancement of clinical care for sickle cell patients.

Sustainable Change in the Public Sector: The Longitudinal Benefits of Organization Development

This article examines the impact over a 30-year period of a 4-year organization development project in the Metro County Sheriff’s Department. Interventions included confrontation team-building sessions, management training, process consultation, survey feedback, third-party consultation, technological interventions, implementation of methods for increasing accountability, and changes in the organization structure, the physical setting, and the policy formulation procedures. Results include improved organization climate and leader effectiveness; decreased employee turnover, jail breaks, and citizen complaints; increased resources allocated to the organization; and improved organizational effectiveness, as measured by criminal justice leaders in the community. This research becomes the longest longitudinal study of the effects of organization development interventions in the behavioral science literature.

The Efficacy of Third‐Party Consultation in Preventing Managerial Escalation of Commitment: The Role of Mental Representations*

AbstractAvoiding continued investment in poorly performing projects is an important function of management control systems. However, prior research suggests that managers fail to use accounting information indicating that a project is performing poorly to discontinue it; that is, they escalate commitment to the project. We perform two experiments to investigate the efficacy of a potential control mechanism, third‐party consultation, in preventing managerial escalation of commitment. We hypothesize that the information‐processing objective (that is, purpose) assigned to consultants influences the mental representations they construct to process and store information, which ultimately influences their recommendations regarding the continuation of a poorly performing project. Results suggest that consultants will not construct mental representations amenable to making high‐quality project‐continuation recommendations unless they are assigned that specific purpose. Results further suggest that applying additional effort likely will not overcome the adverse effects of having inappropriate mental representations when making project‐continuation recommendations. An implication of our study is that third‐party consultants likely will not prevent managerial escalation of commitment unless consultants have a specific mandate of making a project‐continuation recommendation in mind when they encounter relevant accounting information.

The Efficacy of Third-Party Consultation in Preventing Managerial Escalation of Commitment: The Role of Mental Representations

Avoiding continued investment in poorly performing projects is an important function of management control systems. However, prior research suggests that managers fail to use accounting information indicating that a project is performing poorly to discontinue it; that is, they escalate commitment to the project. We perform two experiments to investigate the efficacy of a potential control mechanism, third-party consultation, in preventing managerial escalation of commitment. We hypothesize that the information-processing objective (i.e., purpose) assigned to consultants influences the mental representations they construct to process and store information, which ultimately influences their recommendations regarding the continuation of a poorly performing project. Results suggest that consultants will not construct mental representations amenable to making high-quality project-continuation recommendations unless they are assigned that specific purpose. Results further suggest that applying additional effort likely will not overcome the adverse effects of having inappropriate mental representations when making project-continuation recommendations. An implication of our study is that third-party consultants likely will not prevent managerial escalation of commitment unless consultants have a specific mandate of making a project-continuation recommendation in mind when they encounter relevant accounting information.

Haemodialysis patients' views on their resuscitation status.

Guidelines on cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) recommend that decisions about resuscitation are part of every patient's care plan. We aimed to ascertain the initial views of a haemodialysis cohort in the UK regarding their CPR status in the event of an in-hospital cardiac arrest not related to dialysis. During outpatient clinic follow-up between January and March 2001, 66 haemodialysis patients were interviewed by one of two interviewers. A standard interview format was used, which included information on complications and outcome of CPR in haemodialysis patients. Patients had no prior opportunity to discuss the issue with a third party. Fifty patients (76%) wished to receive CPR. Five patients decided against CPR, of whom two were depressed. Six patients were undecided. Five patients were excluded from the analysis because of lack of mental capacity or language difficulties. Patients who wished to receive CPR were significantly younger (59 +/- 16 vs 74 +/- 10 years, respectively; P < 0.01) and had a significantly higher serum albumin level compared with those who did not opt for CPR or were undecided. There was no difference in gender, comorbidity, length of time on dialysis, proportion of patients with adequate dialysis and mean haemoglobin level between those who wished CPR and those who did not. The majority of haemodialysis patients wished to receive CPR. These patients were younger than those who did not opt for CPR. Clearer strategies on third-party consultation and follow-up interviews are needed to guarantee that patients' wishes are respected at all times.

Application of game theory in government strategies for industrial collaborative research and development

The author shows that game theory can be instrumental in helping formulate appropriate governmental strategies to support industrial research and development (R&D) collaborations among competing firms. The author proposes several guidelines and approaches that are based on a simple model which is derived from game theory. It is shown that to assist industrial firms in reaching collaborative agreements, which is normally a very difficult task because of the conflicting interests and the great technological uncertainties involved, governments should concentrate their managerial support on facilitating the negotiation process by providing protocols and third-party consultation. Governments should also, if they have credibility and competence, propose collective goals and lead firms into working together under a government-designed framework. The author argues that because relationships in collaborative R&D programs are very costly to establish and are very specific to participants, partners may want to pursue cooperation in other endeavors once they have amassed satisfactory collaborative experience. The author discusses the ways in which the proposed guidelines and approaches are reflected in the experiences of some wellknown collaborative R&D programs, such as the Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation (MCC) and SEMATECH in the US, the Alvey program in the UK, and the Very-Large-Scale Integrated-Circuit (VLSI) program in Japan.

The Comparative Utility of Third Party Consultation and Mediation Within a Complex Simulation of Intergroup Conflict

Third party interventions designed to de-escalate intergroup conflict can be differentiated by their underlying assumptions regarding conflict. Process-oriented approaches such as third-party consultation try to de-escalate conflict by taking a subjective emphasis and focusing on the basic relationship between parties, their attitudes, and their perceptions. Traditional third-party interventions, particularly mediation, try to de-escalate conflict by focusing more on the substantive issues in dispute. This study examines how mediation and consultation operate differently within an intergroup conflict simulation. The Intergroup Conflict Simlatllion (Grant, Fisher, Hall, &amp; Keashly, 1990) creates a moderately intense resource and value conflict which involves two equal power groups negotiating for points in a dispute over land divisions. A consultation or a mediation intervention was introduced midway through intergroup negotiations. The results showed that the two interventions did not have a differential impact on settlement of land divisions. Consultation and mediation groups achieved similar point outcomes and were equally committed to and satisfied with the settlement. In contrast, the consultation intervention changed the relationship between the groups. In particular, the groups expressed more positive attitudes and perceptions about the other group and perceived the intergroup relationship as more positive and collaborative after intervention. The implications of these results for third party intervention in intergroup conflict are discussed.

A third-party consultation workshop on the India-Pakistan conflict.

Summary A problem-solving workshop on the India-Pakistan conflict was designed and evaluated with the use of a model of third-party consultation intended for the study and resolution of social conflict. Six Pakistan and Indian nationals participated in a series of separate and joint discussions focusing on the present relationship, the national images, the possible ideal relationship, and the major problems and potential solutions to the conflict. A content description and a process analysis of the workshop are provided. The results indicate that the model was successfully operationalized and that the workshop had beneficial effects on the attitudes of the participants. The model is recommended as a useful component in the developing social technology of international conflict resolution.

It Doesn't Matter If You Win or Lose, Unless You're Losing: Organizational Change in a Law Enforcement Agency

This study reports the results of a 4-year organization development project in the Metro County Sheriff's Department. Interventions included confiontation team-building sessions, management training, process consultation, survey feedback, thirdparty consultation, technological interventions, methods of increasing accountability, and changes in the organization structure, the physical setting, and the policy formulation procedures. Results include considerable improvement in organization climate and leader effectiveness, a marked decrease in employee turnover and jail breaks, a significant improvement in the managerial ability of the Department administrators, and a substantial increase in resources allocated to the organization.

The Effectiveness of Third-Party Process Consultation as a Function of the Consultant's Prestige and Style of Intervention

The present study examines the effects of process consultation on group performance and group cohesiveness. Two factors were studied: (a) the consultant's prestige (high vs. low) and (b) the style of intervention (instrumental process analysis vs. interpersonal process analysis). The results of the study are summarized as follows: 1. Task groups using process analysis, with or without a consultant, improved more in their work processes and cohesiveness than task groups which did not use process analysis. 2. Groups which were facilitated by a third party were not significantly different from groups which performed process analysis on their own. 3. There were no differences due to the prestige of the consultant. 4. Instrumental process analysis was followed by greater improvements in work process and performance than was interpersonal process analysis. There were no differences in cohesiveness as a consequence of the two styles of intervention. 5. The interaction between prestige and styles of intervention did not follow any consistent pattern. The results of this study are consistent with a "specificity proposition" stating that an intervention is more likely to succeed in those areas on which it is focused. Implications of this proposition for organization development are discussed in some detail.

A Third-Party Consultation Model for Resolving Recurring Conflicts Collaboratively

A Third-Party Consultation Model for Resolving Recurring Conflicts Collaboratively

A Prescriptive Model

Third-party consultation plays a useful role for community developers because it promotes the productive resolution of intergroup conflict in community settings. Two related case studies of third-party consultation between conflicting groups in the same neighborhood illustrates a descriptive model. Initially, the impartial consultants facilitated small group, problem-solving discussions between a recreation group, mainly identified with public housing tenants, and a political group, primarily representing private home owners. Consultations resulted in a joint proposal for a community center. This led to a conflict between proponents and opponents which became the focus for a second, but unsuccessful, intervention. The authors analyze the case studies in terms of the major components of the model and in terms of relevant principles of social psychology. Then they discuss the implications for the practice of third-party consultation by community developers.

Third-party consultation: A skill for professional psychologists in community practice.

Third-party consultation: A skill for professional psychologists in community practice.

Third-party consultation: A skill for professional psychologists in community practice.

Third-party consultation: A skill for professional psychologists in community practice.