An Institutional Work Approach to Conflict Management ACase Study of a Swedish Vehicle Manufacturer

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate workplace conflicts at a Swedish vehicle manufacturer. The aim of the study is therefore to provide a deeper understanding for conflict management in the workplace. The data was collected through internal documents and by conducting 16 interviews with employees, managers and HR-representatives from the organisation, resulting in forty-eight unique conflict situations. The data collected laid the foundations for an analysis driven by the lens of new institutionalism and institutional work, supplementing existing conflict management literature. This paper shows that in the organisation studied, there is a general approach towards managing conflict situations, regardless of the conflict type that exists, in this paper referred to as the conflict management escalation process. The origins, motives, and processes of this well-established conflict management procedure are in this paper explored and discussed in depth, contributing to previous literature in the domain of organisational conflict research.