The International Journal of Human Resource Management 6:1 February 1995

A Confucian perspective on conflict

resolution
Irene K.H. Chew and Christopher Lim
Abstract
Chinese business managers, in general, have been portrayed as valuing har-
mony and peace and having a tendency to avoid confrontation for fear of dis-
turbing relationships involving mutual dependence. This is held to be a
reflection of traditional Confucian cultural values.
This paper is an exploratory study which attempts to establish the relation-
ship between the traditional, C^onfucian cultural values and the modes of con-
flict resolution preferred by Chinese business managers. The Thomas-Kilmann
Conflict Mode Instrument was employed in this study to describe the preferred
conflict resolution modes of Chinese business managers. The results show that
compromising tend to be the most preferred conflict resolution mode of
Chinese business managers because of the latter's predominantly humanistic,
Confucian self-concept.
However, other modes, that is, collaborating, competing, avoiding and
accommodating, are also being employed by Chinese business managers as a
strategic and political variation of that Confucian self-concept.
Keywords
Confucian perspective, collectivism, conflict resolution, behaviour, harmony,
business managers
Introduction
Confiict has been viewed by Cosier and Ruble (1981) as an overt
behaviour arising out of a process in which one party seeks the
advancement of its own interests in its relationship with the other. In
somewhat similar terms, Thomas (1975, 1977) has defined confiict as a
dynamic process which goes through a chain of behaviour, namely the
latest, perceived, affective/felt, manifest and aftermath stages of
0958-5192 Routledge 1995
Irene K.H. Chew and Christopher Lim
psychosomatic behaviour. As a result, perceptions of competing objec-
tives emerge in the dynamic process. A conflict situation becomes
manifest and the competing parties engage in various forms of conflict
behaviour.
Conflict can be addressed through non-attention, suppression or
attempt at resolution. Non-attention involves what it implies: there is
no direct attempt to deal with manifest conflict. The conflict is left on
its own to emerge as a constructive or destructive force. Suppression
decreases the negative consequences of a conflict, but it does not
address or eliminate root causes. It is a surface solution that allows
the antecedent conditions constituting the original reasons for conflict
to remain in place. Conflict resolution only occurs when the underly-
ing reasons for a conflict are removed and no lingering conditions or
antagonism are left to rekindle conflict in the future.
While there are obviously numerous potential determinants of con-
flict behaviour, including non-cultural factors such as personality,
organizational culture and the legal environment, our focus in this
paper is on the influence of culture.
This paper is an exploratory study which attempts to establish how
certain traditional values may affect preferred Chinese conflict-
handling and resolution styles. The term 'Chinese' has ethnic connota-
tions in this paper. It embraces the ethnic Chinese in Singapore and
abroad.
The research context
There exists a large body of work on Chinese values in the philosoph-
ical, scientiflc and psychological literature, including Needham's (1954
to date) monumental work on the science and artefacts of the ancient
civilization of China. There has been a variety of empirical studies
including those by Lin (1911), Morris (1956), Robb (1959), Tseng
(1973), Bond (1986), Frankenstein (1986), Garratt (1981), Pye (1986)
and Lockett (1987). This paper focuses on those values and orienta-
tions which seem to have signiflcance for conflict handling and resolu-
tion. These values include certain Confucian values like (1)
conformity, (2) collectivism, (3) large power distance, (4) harmony in
interpersonal relationships and (5) trustworthiness, which are strongly
emphasized in the Analects (see Lau's 1979 translation) within the
Chinese communities of the world.
Conformity is a central value in Chinese societies. It is related to
the key humanistic Confucian values of // and jen. Li refers to the
rules of propriety which structure interpersonal relationships into hier-
144
A Confucian perspective on conflict resolution
archical dualities. Individuals have to orient their behaviour to those
interpersonal relations and not change their role system in the envi-
ronment. This role system is based on the concept of wu-lun where
roles and loyalties are prioritized in terms of the five basic social rela-
tionships: the love and respect between father and son, the loyalty and
duty between sovereign and subject, the affection between husband
and wife, the seniority of the old over the young and good faith
between friends. Jen, the core Confucian concept, indicates the virtue
of attaining a benevolent relationship between man and his followers,
and it emphasizes the idea of a proactive, holistic man or human
being who is not isolated or divorced from the world (Redding, 1980).
It is this value of human being that distinguishes Chinese society as
collectivist in comparison to the individualist Western societies
(Hofstede, 1980).
The value of conformity and collective orientation make individuals
consider the relationship between themselves and other parties a cru-
cial factor in a conflict situation. Thus, it is thought that the Chinese
tend to avoid confrontation for fear of disturbing their relationships
and mutual dependence. When the dispute is with a superior, it fol-
lows, the person's natural deference to authority may lead the Chinese
individual to accommodate the superior's wishes. Also, as most
Oriental societies are characterized by larger power distance between
managers and their subordinates (Hofstede, 1980), it is natural for
one to rationalize that the relative status and authority of the parties
can become a key issue in determining conflict behaviour. Here, it is
thought that subordination is a result of power distance, hierarchical
relationship and face. Because of the respect accorded to seniors and
social etiquette, it is thought that the Chinese individual is bound to
give 'face' to seniors and deference to the wishes of seniors may result
(Hwang, 1987; Yang, 1987; Redding and Ng, 1982). In fact, one could
be exposed to shame if respect for seniors is not practised. But
Confucius (see Lau, 1979: 85 Analects VI, 30 reinterpreted) thought
otherwise, since he sees that there is always not much of a conflict
between the ambition of the superior man of jen and those who are
provided assistance by the superior man:
Now a man ofjen or benevolence, wishing to be established himself, seeks also
to establish others; wishing to turn his own merits to account, helps others to
turn theirs to account as well . . .
In other words, the hierarchical level of relationship between superior
and subordinate is accepted as natural law.
The maintenance of proper relationships is not the only emphasis
of Confucianist thought as Confucianism stresses the necessity of
145
Irene K.H. Chew and Christopher Lim
keeping relationships in harmony and peace. Often, Chinese individu-
als are asked to adapt themselves to collective society, control their
own emotions and avoid dissension, competition and conflict. The
Confucian terminology for peace, namely ho-ping, is a compound of
two ideographs - harmony and equilibrium. As a result, Mencius (see
Lau, 1970: 53, Mencius, Book 1, Part A:6 interpreted) recommends
the use of empathy rather than physical force in order to bring unity
among the conflicting parties: 'Only he who abhors the taking of a
man's life may bring about unification, harmony and progress.'
The willingness to develop a trust, hsin-yi, for others depends on
such values as good faith and reciprocation. Confucius (see Lau,
1979, Analects XII, 10) does not know how a man or human being
without good faith can get on in life. In terms of a whole society,
Confucius (see Lau, 1979, Analects XII, 77) found that it is the trust
the people have in their government rather than the provision of food
to the people that formed the basis of good government. The govern-
ment which strives to be people or yew-centred, according to Mencius'
(see Lau, 1970, Mencius, Book VII: B14) contention, is not one that
betrays the confidence the people have in the government. Otherwise,
the people have the right to confront and overthrow a government
which breaks the contract of good faith when it ceases to promote
welfare and good relationship among people.
Method
In order to explore the influence of possible Confucian values and dif-
ferentiation in conflict-handling styles among the Chinese, a sample
group was used in this study. This sample comprises thirty-three
CEOs (Chief Executive Officers) in private business organizations
which cover a wide variety of industries: manufacturing, services,
trading, construction, etc. These subjects are of the Chinese ethnic
group and they reside in China, Taiwan, Indonesia and Singapore.
They all completed their primary and secondary school education in
Mandarin. All subjects were participants in a management training
course conducted by an institution of higher learning in Singapore.
Procedures
A questionnaire consisting of the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode
Instrument and a Confucian Value Questionnaire in Mandarin to be
described later were administered to respondents who participated in
146
A Confucian perspective on conflict resolution
the management course that was conducted for three sessions. The
management course had a total enrolment of 100 participants, that is,
thirty participants in two sessions and forty participants in the last
session. Out of the 100 participants, only thirty-three CEOs
responded. Several styles of conflict management were derived from
the Thomas-Kilmann instrument and, from these styles, various inter-
correlations via Pearson's r were made with the subscale scores of the
Confucian Value Questionnaire. Cronbach's alpha was used to esti-
mate the reliability of the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument
and the Kuder-Richardson Formula 21 was used for the Confucian
Value Questionnaire. The two instruments yielded a respective relia-
bility of 0.81 and 0.72.
Instruments and measures
For the first part of this study, the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode
Instrument was employed. This instrument classifies conflict behav-
iours into five basic styles: namely competing, collaborating, compro-
mising, avoiding and accommodating, depending on different degrees
of assertiveness and co-operation (Thomas, 1975).
The competing style is assertive and uncooperative, a power-
orientated mode used by managers who defend their positions at the
expense of other persons. The collaborating style is both assertive and
co-operative, a team-orientated mode used by managers to solve prob-
lems. The compromising style is one where managers exchange conces-
sions and therefore it is middle-of-the road or intermediate in
assertiveness or co-operativeness. The avoiding style is both unassertive
and uncooperative, a power-vacuum mode used by managers to side-
step an issue or withdraw from a threatening situation. The accommo-
dating style is unassertive but co-operative, a sacriflcial mode where
the managers suppress their own concerns to satisfy the concerns of
others.
There are thirty questions in the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode
Instrument. For each question, respondents are asked to select one
situation out of two that best describes their preferred behaviour;
these are either-or situations such as:
A. I am usually firm in pursuing my goals. (Competing Style)
B. I attempt to get all concerns and issues immediately out in the open.
(Collaborating Style)
A. I attempt to immediately work through our differences. (Collaborating
Style)
B. I try to find a fair combination of gains and losses for both of us.
(Compromising Style)
147
Irene K.H. Chew and Christopher Lim
A. I sometimes avoid taking positions that would create controversy.
(Avoiding Style)
B. If it makes the other person happy, I might let him maintain his views.
(Accommodating Style)
The second part of the survey used the Confucian Value
Questionnaire. Here certain Confucian cultural values and their
importance were ranked in terms of (a) the Chinese business man-
agers' own self-concept of Chinese values and (b) their perception of
values of other Chinese business managers. As indicated earlier, these
values include those core Confucian values of conformity, collec-
tivism, power distance and status, harmony and trustworthiness. The
first subscale, the business managers' self-concept of values, relates to
their own prioritization of the usefulness of the aforesaid values in
business dealings. In other words, this subscale focuses on the per-
sonal preferences and inner personality of the managers. The second
subscale, the business managers' perception of values of other busi-
ness managers, however, constitutes what the business managers per-
ceive are the shared values of the Chinese business community and
environment. This subscale therefore describes the managers' dynamic
assessment of the external, global Chinese values that are demanded
by their business colleagues and rivals in business dealings.
In an additional subscale of the Confucian Value Questionnaire,
potential areas of disagreement in business were solicited in terms of
benefits and profit sharing, company policies, differences in work atti-
tudes, partners' attempts to alter terms of contract, interpretation of
terms of contracts and unreliable delivery dates. The scores on this
subscale include ratings on the frequency and seriousness of these
areas of disagreement.
Analysis and results
As shown below, the responses to the questions raised under the
Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument show that the compro-
mising mode was most often used to handle conflicts:
Preferred conflict- Percentage of
handling mode respondents
Competing 18.00
Collaborating 22.20
Compromising 24.30
Avoiding 19.30
Accommodating 16.20
148
A Confucian perspective on conflict resolution
The collaborating mode seems to be preferred as well (this mode was
2 per cent below the compromising mode). The avoiding mode was
next on the list. Although the competing and accommodating models
were not strongly favoured, their percentage share of the responses
tend to be quite significant. The rank order of the conflict resolution
modes of the Chinese business manager, however, is not surprising.
The aim of Confucian traditional education has always been one that
is characterized by a love for moderation and restraint. That is the
doctrine of chung-yung which reminds us of the in medio stat virtus or
'nothing too much' ideal of the Greeks. The dominant compromising
mode of the Chinese business manager, as such, can be associated
with that kind of moderate chung-yung learning which specifies that
'to go beyond is as wrong as to fall short' (see Lau,. 1979: 108,
Analects XI, 16). But the Chinese approach to conflict management
may venture even further than the reaches of chung-yung compromise.
As the results show, other modes of conflict management were used
by the Chinese business managers as well. Using Confucian logic as it
is propounded by the I-Ching (see Wilhelm's 1967 translation), all
these modes seem to represent eclectic, ying-yang variations on the
compromise approach (i.e. the soft-hard approach). Here the soft yin
approaches of avoidance and accommodation and the hard yang
approaches of collaboration and competition exist in a conflict man-
agement continuum where there are no absolutes, only states of flux
of conflict modes that are relative to the diverse personality, values
and rationality of the Chinese business managers.
Table 1 shows the intercorrelations of the respondents' own value
and their conflict-handling mode preferences. As can be seen in Table
1, respondents who attached importance to collectivism were more
likely to use the compromising mode of handling conflicts.
Collectivism, rather than harmony as a personal value, has tended
to become the hallmark of this proactive compromise approach of the
Chinese business managers. Collectivism is the dominant Chinese
business managers' answer to the difficulties of practising the univer-
sal golden rule of love, which, as stated in the Analects XII, 2 (see
Fung, 1948: 43), runs as follows:
Do not do to others what you do not wish yourself. Do to others what you
wish others to do to yourself.
A significant collectivism -> compromise correlation (r = 0.58, p <
0.01), and not a significant conformity -^ collaboration or conformity
> avoidance correlation, has emerged to solve such moral dilemmas
in business. This connection between collectivism and compromise
indicates that there is a kind of affinity in the Chinese for teamwork
149
Irene K.H. Chew and Christopher Lim
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and brotherhood, and this, as it is embodied in the Book of Rites
(Legge, 1900/1965: 364-5), points to a Utopian vision of Great
Brotherhood (Ta-Tung) where:
The worthy, sincere and able were promoted to office and the people practiced
good faith and lived in good neighbourliness. These people worked hard to
earn a living. They hated to see goods lying in waste, yet they did not hoard
them for themselves; they disliked the thought that their energies were not
fully used, yet they used them not for private gains.
Compare the conflict mode correlations of those respondents who val-
ued harmony. In the case of those respondents who valued harmony,
both compromise and competition were likely to be used to resolve
conflict. This implies that, even in competition, as it is embodied in
Sun Tzu's Art of War (see Giles, 1910: 17 translation), harmony or
diplomatic tactics may be desired in ultimate terms, for 'supreme excel-
lence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting'.
Table 2 shows the intercorrelations of the respondents' perception
of values held by Chinese business managers and the respondents'
conflict-handling mode preferences. The assumptions of Table 2 are
different from that of Table 1 where the emerging conflict modes
reflect the business managers' self-concept of traditional values. In
Table 2, the intercorrelations, ceteris paribus, tend to be seen as repre-
sentations of conflict modes that are modified by the Chinese business
managers' perception of others. As can be seen in Table 2, the avoid-
ing mode (r = 0.74, p< 0.01) was predominantly used by respondents
who perceived collectivism to be valued by Chinese business man-
agers. The collectivism -> avoiding stance recalls the logic of wu-wei
(non-action or non-interference) in Taoist philosophy. The term wu-
wei does not mean no-action that is contrary to the tao or goal-path
in which people reach their destination or objectives. In this case,
those business managers who used the avoidance mode were not tak-
ing a competitive stance to disrupt the status quo of other business
managers, whom they perceived to have a keen preference for a ta-
tung collectivism and teamwork. In the other case of respondents who
thought that Chinese business managers valued trustworthiness, it
may seem implausible that the competing mode (r = 0.56, p < 0.05)
was used to resolve conflict. Apparently, it was the dark, hijacked side
of Confucianism that tended to be portrayed in this case. Here a
number of Chinese business managers seemed to have applied the
competing mode to exploit or betray whatever trust or good faith
they think others have on them. They were probably the competing
xiao-jen (petty Machiavellian men and women), who, living in their
own world that was devoid of compromise, believed in the law of the
jungle and the survival of the fittest.
151
Irene K.H. Chew and Christopher Lim
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A Confucian perspective on conflict resolution
Intercorrelations of the possible areas of disagreement and the
respondents' conflict-handling mode preferences are indicated in Table
3. Respondents who preferred the accommodating rather than the
compromise or collaboration modes of conflict, as expected, experi-
enced the least disagreements and these relate to policies (r = 0.46, p
< 0.05) and differences in work attitudes (r = - 0.45, p < 0.05). As for
respondents who preferred the avoiding modes, they seldom experi-
enced differences resulting from differences from unreliable dates
(r = - 0.43, p < 0.05) since they tended to be less affected by such
unreliability.
Although the sample size was not large and exploratory in this
study, the authors are of the opinion that the aforesaid signiflcant
results indicate that there are important culturological findings to be
made about the conflict management modes of Chinese business man-
agers. It is not, however, the intention of this paper to study all the
relationships and ramifications of Confucian culture and conflict man-
agement. Rather, the authors are able to summarize from this research
the basic influence of Confucian values on conflict management.
Discussion and summary
It is the Confucian concept of collectivism, that is of self as a centre
of ever-widening relations embodying family, society, nation and
being-with-others in the universe, that has created a social pressure
for Chinese business to be less openly aggressive and emotional in
conflict situations. Such a concept of collectivism, as shown in this
study, naturally leads to the possession of high compromising and
avoiding styles and relatively lower preference for competing behav-
iour.
The influence and operation of conformity, power distance, har-
mony and trustworthiness are most complicated. The correlations
between the various conflict modes and the Confucian values of con-
formity and power distance tend to be non-significant and inexplica-
ble. They are inexplicable, perhaps, in the sense that the conflict
modes of the Chinese business managers do not quite corroborate the
conformity -> accommodating and power distance -^ competing para-
digms of the democratic system. A reasonable explanation for such
non-significant correlations, however, lies in the fact that conformity
and power distance are taken for granted by Chinese business as nat-
ural laws of socialization whereas, in the democratic Aristotelian sense
(see Sinclair, 1981: 181, Aristotle: The Politics, III iv, 1277 a33-b7),
these same values may be critical, bargainable rule-of-law concerns:
153
Irene K.H. Chew and Christopher Lim
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A Confucian perspective on conflict resolution
For there is such a thing as rule by a master, which we say is concerned with
necessary tasks: but the master has no necessity to know more than how to use
such labour. Anything else, I mean to be able actually to be a servant and to
do the chores, is simply slave-like. . . . But there is another kind of rule - that
exercised over men who are free, and similar in birth. This we call rule by a
statesman.
Though ironical, the humanistic values of harmony and trustworthi-
ness can, among other things, be associated with the competing mode
of Chinese business managers. Here, the latter mode can be practised
as a utilitarian form of legalism to ensure peace and harmony among
the conflicting parties or, alternatively, as a malevolent form of utili-
tarianism to exploit the trust and good faith of other business man-
agers.
The Chinese business managers' form of conflict management can
be likened to the changing colours of the chameleon. According to the
findings of this research, several forms were utilized on different occa-
sions but these styles also reflected an explanation of thinking that is
characteristically Confucian. The following are some possible
Confucian logic or managerial justifications that support the conflict
responses of Chinese business managers:
7. Reframing as a locus of thinking The compromise approach
tends to be the dominant Chinese business managers' tactic to reframe
or neutralize any unfavourable outcome that may arise from a conflict
situation. Apparently, the internal locus of thinking of the Chinese
manager is that: To get something, one must give first. This is a well-
known compromise tactic that may be employed by many Chinese
business managers when they negotiate to market their goods and ser-
vices. That tactics are a product of reciprocal determination whenever
two or more parties are involved in a conflict situation.
2. Postponement motives as external locus In order to respond to
another party or business competitor in a conflict situation, the
Chinese manager should be able to extricate himself from difficulties
by avoiding a confrontation with his opponent. The Chinese manager
should be able to modify and postpone his or her plans to suit chang-
ing circumstances in order to achieve the best results. The external
locus of thinking of the Chinese business manager is opportunist and
recalls the Art of War as it is propounded by Sun Tzu (see Giles,
1910): Know your opponent and know yourself. If you are unsure about
nature and the situation, do not force a triumph. Those who can wait,
and can follow the opponent's transformations and then triumph when
the iron is hot, can be called genius.
3. Receptivity as an exonerative action In order to absolve himself
or herself from being labelled as uncooperative in a conflict situation,
155
Irene K.H. Chew and Christopher Lim
the Chinese business manager must be able to empathize with the
view of his or her business opponents. The logic of the Chinese man-
ager tends to be as follows: Whenever one yields, resistance becomes
less. If one becomes more sympathetic and accommodates the needs of
our opponents, they become more forthcoming. This prevents the escala-
tion of conflict. If however one does not know how to exercise authority
or is overly solicitous to the needs of the opponent, the conflict will end
up as a lose-win situation. The idea is to be receptive and at the same
time exercise restraint in one's accommodation.
As it is used in this paper, the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode
Instrument has been a useful construct in deciphering Chinese conflict
management style. Yet, as a self-report instrument it can measure
only reported preferences and not actual conflict behaviour. It follows
that more qualitative research and content interviews have to be con-
ducted to map out the actual conflict behaviour of Chinese business
managers if more cross-cultural learning in conflict behaviour is to be
unravelled.
Irene K.H. Chew
School of Accountancy and Business
Nanyang Technological University
Christopher Lim
Nanyang Polytechnic
School of Business Management
Singapore
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