Resolving conflict through managing relationships in health care institutions

To managers of health care institutions, intraorganizational conflict represents an unpleasant but essentially unavoidable prospect. Conflict arises naturally whenever one party believes its interests are being opposed or negatively affected by another, and such "circumstances" frequently arise within health care institutions. Negotiation represents a key by which conflict may be successfully resolved within such settings. The means by which health care managers may successfully negotiate conflict resolutions by managing relationships with and between their employees are discussed in this article. In particular, practical guidelines are developed that illustrate how conflicted health care parties may successfully create and then claim value through relationship-oriented negotiation processes.