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“Overcoming Group Warfare”

by Robert R. Blake and Jane S. Mouton

Summary

While many people worried about the absence of experienced air traffic controllers after the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization went on strike in 1981, they also wondered why it was so difficult for the FAA and PATCO to come to terms before the strike was called. Important groups that need to cooperate can often overcome their difficulties and continue working together, but sometimes they can’t. Over the years disputants in the transportation and coal industries have had skirmishes that have resulted in open warfare. Even when the battles are not waged so publicly or fiercely, the human and material costs organizations pay can be staggering.

We have identified two strategies for resolving intergroup conflicts, each with variations. What we have come to call the interpersonal facilitator approach relies on a neutral person to provide a bridge to help disputing parties find common ground. The facilitator does this by identifying areas of agreement as well as disagreement so that the latter can be reduced and resolution achieved.

Originally published in 1984. Republished in 2009 in the Harvard Business Review Collection: “Harvard Business Review on Negotiation and Conflict Resolution.”

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PDF Document: "Overcoming Group Warfare"