GROUP & ORGANIZATION MANAGEMENT Cropanzano et al. / CONFLICT RESOLUTION TACTICS Disputant Reactions to Managerial Conflict Resolution Tactics A COMPARISON AMONG ARGENTINA, THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, MEXICO, AND THE UNITED STATES RUSSELL CROPANZANO Colorado State University HERMAN AGUINIS University of Colorado at Denver MARSHALL SCHMINKE University of Central Florida DINA L. DENHAM Price Waterhouse Corporation This study examined disputants’preferences for supervisory conflict resolution tactics. We iden- tified three research needs. Previous work has (a) been mostly from the manager’s (and not the subordinate’s) perspective, (b) examined only a limited set of possible intervention tactics, and (c) tended to be confined to North American samples. In this role-playing study, we addressed these three needs by examining disputant reactions to five different conflict resolution tactics. In addition, we included participants from Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and the United States. The results provide evidence pertaining to the efficacy of some tactics and the problems of others. In particular, managers seem to engender the most positive responses when they act either as impartial facilitators or as inquisitorial judges. Research has shown that managers can spend as much as 20% of their time resolving conflicts (Thomas & Schmidt, 1976). If conflict levels are too high, an organization can be rife with anger and hostility, making it difficult to coordinate even the simplest shared activities (Baron, 1991; Rahim, 1985; Robbins, 1974; Thomas, 1993; Wall & Callister, 1995). Individuals may be harmed as well. For example, people who live and work in contentious envi- ronments report higher levels of stress (Cropanzano, Howes, Grandey, & Toth, 1997) and more psychological distress (Bergmann & Volkema, 1994; Bolger & Schilling, 1991; Lepore, 1992). This is because conflict is an Group & Organization Management, Vol. 24 No. 2, June 1999 124-154 © 1999 Sage Publications, Inc. 124