Dispute Resolution

Dispute resolution generally refers to one of several different processes used to resolve disputes between parties, including negotiation, mediation, arbitration, collaborative law, and litigation. Dispute resolution is the process of resolving a dispute or a conflict by meeting at least some of each side’s needs and addressing their interests. Dispute resolution strategies include fostering a rapport, considering interests and values separately, appealing to overarching values, and indirect confrontation.

Conflict resolution, to use another common term, is a relatively new field, emerging after World War II. Scholars from the Program on Negotiation were leaders in establishing the field.

Mediation can be effective at allowing parties to vent their feelings and fully explore their grievances. Working with parties together and sometimes separately, mediators try to help them hammer out a resolution that is sustainable, voluntary, and nonbinding. In arbitration, the arbitrator listens as each side argues its case and presents relevant evidence, then renders a binding decision. Litigation typically involves a defendant facing off against a plaintiff before either a judge or a judge and jury. The judge or jury is responsible for weighing the evidence and making a ruling. Information conveyed in hearings and trials usually enters the public record.

There are many aspects of disputes, including value creation opportunities, agency issues, organizational influences, ethical considerations, the role of law, and decision tools.

Articles offer numerous examples of dispute resolution and explore various aspects of it, including international conflict resolution, how it can be useful in your personal life, skills needed to achieve it, and training that hones those skills.

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What are the Three Basic Types of Dispute Resolution? What to Know About Mediation, Arbitration, and Litigation

PON Staff • 08/27/2024 • Filed in Dispute Resolution

When it comes to dispute resolution, there are so many choices available to us. Understandably, disputants are often confused about which process to apply to their situation. This article offers some guidance. … Learn More About This Program

Four Conflict Negotiation Strategies for Resolving Value-Based Disputes

PON Staff • 08/27/2024 • Filed in Dispute Resolution

In many negotiations, both parties are aware of what their interests are, and are willing to engage in a give-and-take process with the other party to come to agreement. In conflicts related to personal identity, and deeply-held beliefs or values, however, negotiation dynamics can become more complex and require alternative dispute resolution tactics for conflict … Learn More About This Program

Using Principled Negotiation to Resolve Disagreements

Katie Shonk • 08/20/2024 • Filed in Dispute Resolution

Parties can often reach a better agreement through integrative negotiation—that is, by identifying interests where they have different preferences and making tradeoffs among them. If you care more about what movie you see tonight, but your friend cares more about where you have dinner, for example, you can each get your preference on the issue … Learn More About This Program

To Break Impasse, Move Beyond Concerns about Fairness in Negotiation

PON Staff • 06/24/2024 • Filed in Dispute Resolution

Think about the last time you engaged in an otherwise cordial bargaining session that reached an impasse. Maybe you were far apart on price or disagreed about who was responsible for a serious problem. In such cases, parties often have different views about what constitutes fairness in negotiation.

That’s what happened in 2014, when negotiators from … Learn More About This Program

Repairing Relationships Using Negotiation Skills

PON Staff • 03/02/2023 • Filed in Dispute Resolution

Negotiation is not only something we do at work; often the toughest negotiations we encounter are in our personal lives. Some of the most successful negotiation examples of the power of negotiation skills in dispute resolution is when they repair relationships between friends. … Read Repairing Relationships Using Negotiation Skills

Patience is a Winning Negotiation Skill for Getting What You Want at the Negotiation Table

PON Staff • 02/27/2023 • Filed in Dispute Resolution

On April 9, 2012 the hearts of internet entrepreneurs everywhere must have skipped a beat at the news that Facebook was paying $1 billion in cash and stock to buy Instagram, a San Francisco-based start-up. … Learn More About This Program

Difficult Situations at Work – Negotiation Skills for Dealing with Difficult People

PON Staff • 01/30/2023 • Filed in Dispute Resolution

Here are a few examples of difficult situations at work and some negotiation skills for dealing with difficult people we encounter in every area of life. First, negotiators should ask themselves: Why do some people get under our skin? … Learn More About This Program

Alternative Dispute Resolution In-House: Mediation, Arbitration, or Med-Arb?

PON Staff • 01/17/2023 • Filed in Daily, Dispute Resolution

The three most common alternative dispute resolution techniques are mediation, arbitration, and med-arb. However, it can often be difficult to determine which method is best for your particular situation. Here are four possible objectives you may have as a leader in your organization and suggestions for which type of ADR may be most appropriate in that … Learn More About This Program