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In construction, the involvement of complex human interactions and incompatible interests among negotiating parties would pose as an obstacle in any negotiation process. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of face in governing the behaviour of negotiating parties.

This paper identified the generic types of face-saving tactics used by construction negotiators, investigated the tactic-outcome relationships and examined the effects of face-inducement factors on these relationships with the use of moderated multiple regression (MMR).

A taxonomy of face-saving tactics has been developed by employing the technique of principal component of factor analysis. The results suggest that the use of face-saving tactics in construction negotiation would statistically result in an achievement of mutual agreement, maintenance of harmony and avoidance of offending situations. The MMR models finally affirm that some tactic-outcome relationships would significantly depend on the face-inducement factors.

This research highlights the usefulness of face-saving tactics in construction negotiation.

The findings revealed that these tactics can help facilitate the achievement of mutual agreement, maintain harmony and avoid offending situations. In this connection, an awareness of the proper use of face-saving tactics is worth-noticing in order to have successful dealings in negotiating project disputes.

In construction, there are some distinct features which may influence the use of face-saving tactics and the behaviour of project dispute negotiators. The findings of this research would provide an insight into promoting proactive and collaborative project dispute resolution.

The purpose of this paper is to obtain insight into court-referred mediation in the Israeli Labor Courts, by analyzing its processes and outcomes, as a function of tactics used by both the disputants and the mediator.

Observation of 103 court-referred mediations, for each of which a detailed process and outcome were documented. Data on disputants' refusal to participate in the mediation was also collected. At the end of each mediation case, disputants were given a questionnaire in which they expressed their satisfaction with the outcome and their evaluation of the mediator's contribution.

A low rate of refusal to participate in court-referred mediation was found. Also, the higher the ratio of soft tactics to pressure tactics employed (by all parties involved) during the process, the higher the rate of agreements. Mediators use significantly more soft tactics than disputants, and are more active in using tactics. The two significant variables that predict the mediation's agreement are the ratio between soft tactics to pressure tactics used by all parties, and mediator contribution to the process.

The significant role of soft tactics in the process, outcome, and satisfaction of court-referred mediation may serve as a guideline for disputants and mediators.

This unique research, which examines the impact of tactics on court-referred mediation, may provide added and significant theoretical insight into its process and outcome, as well as a better understanding of other “hybrid” (compulsory at the beginning, voluntary at the end) mediations.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the communicative rituals of opening and closing manifested in e‐mail‐based Internet Public Library's (IPL's) online reference interaction.

A total of 400 transcripts comprising user queries and responses by IPL librarians are examined. The opening and closing elements are identified to examine the way in which IPL librarians and users construct social space; that is, communicate their interpersonal and affective stances during the course of seeking and offering information.

The results of data analysis show regular patterns of verbal and structural politeness indicators of opening and closing e‐mail discourse. Linguistic elements such as greetings and acknowledgement are included in all the sampled transcripts; i.e. a 100 percent occurrence. Closing rituals have a 95 percent occurrence of linguistic features such as acknowledgement and invitation for follow‐up. In contrast, there is a low occurrence of personalized openings through greeting by user name (26 percent). This lack of personalization also occurs in closings: personalized farewell through use of librarian name appears in only 8 percent of closings.

The employment of the various politeness tactics in opening and closing reflects the librarian's attention and concern to user's information needs, interests and wants. Such communicative competence narrows social distance and brings forth close socio‐interpersonal space for interaction; this may, in turn, improve the overall quality of reference service. Research findings also indicate that more use of personal names may decrease the social distance between the librarian and user, resulting in increased solidarity and proximity.

The study provides new insights into linguistic politeness and the functions of address forms such as personal names with a view toward developing effective opening and closing rituals that contribute to the enhancement of virtual reference services.

Given the growing relationship between Nigeria and the USA, the purpose of this study is to compare conflict communication of Nigerians and Americans.

A total of 186 Nigerians and 214 Americans completed an online survey of Hammer’s (2005) Intercultural Conflict Style Inventory as well as items about the effect of conflict on team collaboration.

Contrary to expectations, Nigerians reported using more direct, whereas Americans reported using more indirect, communication when confronting conflict despite the stereotype that Americans are typically direct or more likely to say what is on their minds. However, consistent with expectations, Nigerians reported exercising more emotional restraint, whereas Americans favored the use of emotional expressiveness in conflict.

Overall, Nigerians were more concerned than Americans about the negative effect of conflict on team collaboration in the workplace. This concern was associated with the use of directness, indirectness and emotional restraint. Further, an exploratory structural equation model showed that the use of emotional expression was affected, in different ways, by several aspects of work and communication. Implications of these results are discussed along with directions for future research.

The purpose of this paper is to determine whether librarians at the University of Kansas are providing instruction through chat in order to develop best practices for training purposes.

The authors analyzed a sample of chat transcripts using the “ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education” to determine whether librarians were utilizing opportunities for instruction in the chat medium. Using this analysis, they selected the best examples of instructional techniques.

Students were open to receiving instruction through chat. Librarians who were most successful in providing assistance to students demonstrated persistency and approachability in their interactions.

The authors developed a list of top ten practices for instruction through chat which can be used for training purposes.

Librarians need to continue to develop instructional techniques to create more opportunities for teaching moments in chat. The paper raises awareness of the impact of librarians' demeanor in the online environment.

Traditionally, conflict theory and research has focused almost exclusively on verbal behavior to understand strategic processes. Research on various nonverbal cues in conflict interaction is limited to investigations of narrowly defined variable sets and/or atheoretic descriptions of nonverbal behaviors, with little attention to the underlying reasons for the behavioral choices made by disputants. This paper proposes an attribution‐based model of conflict escalation as a consequence of non‐verbal status displays. The lack of research on the role of nonverbal communication in conflict escalation and the limitations of current models of nonverbal immediacy exchange are cited as a justification for the proposed model. Implications of the model are summarized in the form of several propositions.

Whether we think of management training as a defensive strategy or as a missionary strategy, we need some way of relating our methods of teaching individual skills to what we deem to be the needs of the organization. The idea put forward here is that the successful manager and the successful organization deal effectively with information by varying their behaviour in accordance with certain attributes of the information itself. Those who teach problem solving techniques have tended to emphasize the value of a systematic intellectual approach, and those who teach interpersonal skills have tended to emphasize authentic social relations. These criteria are not the only ones, however, and may even be dysfunctional at times. There are occasions when, for example, imaginative thinking or diplomatic behaviour are needed. The volume of information, its complexity, and the degree to which it is restricted, may provide some indication as to which criteria should be applied. These same information characteristics may also point beyond the exercise of individual skills to the climates of opinion and organization structures which individuals create by their collective activity. The relationships suggested have not been fully established by research, but are consonant with much that has been written on the subject.

This study aims to identify different antecedents and reveal divergent moderating effects of horizontal collectivism, thereby unlocking the asymmetric mechanisms for employees’ brand citizenship behavior (BCB) and negative word-of-mouth (NWOM).

This study uses a survey data set and analyzes it with structural equation modeling along with common latent factor analysis designed to control for common method variance.

BCB is associated with pride at work but not perceived organizational support (POS), so POS drives BCB not directly but indirectly through the emotion of pride at work. In contrast, employees’ NWOM is associated with both POS and frustration, and POS drives NWOM directly and indirectly through the emotion of frustration. Horizontal collectivism has divergent moderating effects that strengthen the relationships of BCB with POS and pride at work and weaken the relationship between employees’ NWOM and frustration.

This study makes two major theoretical contributions to internal branding. First, as a response to the need for an investigation into drivers of employees’ brand-oriented behaviors, it will identify different psychological antecedents and mechanisms for BCB and employees’ NWOM. Second, capturing the potential of horizontal collectivism on employees’ brand-oriented behaviors, this study will reveal the potential divergent moderating effects of horizontal collectivism on BCB and employees’ NWOM. These two contributions will lead to a better understanding of the different mechanisms for employees’ BCB and NWOM.

The purpose of this research is to investigate the practices of the interim and current CEOs employed in managing a supportive environment conducive for learning as well as sustaining organizational change; and second, to describe the theory of practice guiding their efforts.

An action science approach, coupled with the case‐study data‐gathering method to enable a pragmatic grounding of the change processes and organizational learning.

A theory of practice defined as three process principles of power that aid in managing a supportive environment conducive for learning as well as organizational change.

The theory of practice set forth combines two advocated views in using power (position power and empowerment) into a framework of reciprocal‐relational power. The theory needs to undergo further research to test its applicable knowledge in an action context.

Potential guide in helping practitioners in recognizing and implementing processes of reciprocal‐relational power to improve organizational learning and the success of change.

The paper presents a new way to recognize and see reciprocal‐relational forces within a cultural‐social‐political context.