Professor Dean Tjosvold

Making Conflict Productive: Can Asian Values Contribute?

Guest lecture by Professor Dean Tjosvold, Lingnan University, Hong Kong

Conflict is inevitable when people from diverse cultures work together, but, when well-managed, it can very much contribute to solving problems and strengthening relationships. However, people often have different approaches in how to deal with conflict. Our research has documented that discussing conflicts openly for mutual benefit is appropriate and useful for people from China as well as North America. It is often argued though that Chinese values make managing conflict productively difficult. Recent experimental and field studies suggest that Chinese values can be expressed in ways that promote the open, constructive discussion of opposing views.

Dean Tjosvold is the Henry Y. W. Fong Chair Professor of Management, Director of the Hong KongCooperativeLearningCenter, and former Head of the Management Department, LingnanUniversity, Hong Kong. After graduating from PrincetonUniversity, he earned his Masters Degree in History and Ph.D. in the social psychology of organizations at the University of Minnesota. Professor Dean has published over 200 articles, 20 books, 30 book chapters, and 100 conference papers on managing conflict, cooperation and competition, decision-making, power, and other management issues.

Arranged by Asia Research Centre