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This paper aims to explore language strategies and techniques in Chinese mediation that are adopted by mediators to motivate and facilitate compromise among disputants.

Ten cases were audio-recorded on the spot, transcribed for analysis in their Chinese form, and then translated into English for English readers. The translation of excerpts used in this paper to demonstrate points was double checked to ensure accuracy. Discourse analysis was adopted to explore the meanings and functions of the utterances in these excerpts.

It is found that power is embedded in the mediator's position and in his/her role in the mediation. Furthermore, neutrality is less of a concern as compared to justice in the mediator's terms. Finally, socio-cultural indications of the language strategies and techniques were drawn about contemporary Chinese society.

When dealing with Chinese people in conflict, one may emphasize common goals and bring in external reasons such as seniority, face, and status to motivate and facilitate compromise.

Studying transcripts of cases that were recorded in real time and recently is rare in studies of Chinese mediation. Studying what people actually say provides us data in reality, in contrast to the ideals as well as what they say they do in mediation.

To address the nuts and bolts of securities arbitration in the FINRA forum.

Provides introduction and background, defines key terms, and suggests ways to approach the major steps in the securities arbitration process, including witness interviews, document reviews, resolution of joint representation and conflict issues, determining the scope of attorney-client privilege, filing or reviewing the Statement of Claim, making the initial pleading, advocating for the most favorable arbitrator selection, possible employment of experts, and cross-examination.

To prepare thoroughly for a securities arbitration case and to plan a strategy for the key step of cross-examination, a lawyer needs to know the broad financial market context; the technical details of the relevant financial products, portfolio management strategies and transactions; the points of view of both the client and the opposing party; the details of all the documents introduced; and the background of the client’s and the adversary’s witnesses.

Expert guidance from experienced bank and broker-dealer litigation, arbitration and mediation lawyers.

In light of the continuing political violence in Zimbabwe since 1980, the major aim of this article is to evaluate the benefits of mediation in resolving politically motivated conflicts in Zimbabwe and Africa at large. Since the 1980s, Zimbabwe has found itself in a web of political violence with little mediation efforts devised to stop the suffering. The paper believes that mediation can have far reaching outcomes in bringing stability to countries burdened by politically motivated violence. The African Union and regional organisations have the capacity to resolve various conflicts burdening the continent, provided realistic mechanisms are put in place to avoid the recurrence of conflicts and/or wars in Africa.

The paper uses a combination of both primary and secondary sources to substantiate the argument advanced herein. Archival material from the National Archives of Zimbabwe helps to exemplify the political antagonisms which existed after independence, thereby giving a fuller picture of events leading to Gukurahundi. Additionally, secondary material is beneficial in highlighting the political conflicts affecting Zimbabwe after independence. Newspapers play an important part in revealing the challenges of South African mediation in Zimbabwe. In addition, newspapers elucidate the urgent need for SADC to establish a conflict resolution organ for the successful settlement of disputes in the region.

The paper reveals how the realisation by the southern African region on the deteriorating political and economic situation in Zimbabwe led to the appointment of Thabo Mbeki in 2007 to restore peace and stability in the country. More so, the paper analyses the challenges of South African mediation in Zimbabwe. In that context, the article suggests pragmatic strategies and tactics which should be put in place for mediation to yield effective results in Zimbabwe and the continent at large.

The paper provides deep insights into the merits of the strategy of mediation in an attempt to curb political violence in African countries. Policy makers will find the paper useful as the continent looks forward to promote sustainable development.

This paper aims to propose an accurate and efficient decision-making process adapted to the specific context of Claim Management situations, implying partners engaged in a high-involvement relationship.

We used a three-step approach: first, an inductive phase based on 12 past case studies. Second, a theory-building phase. Third, a theory-testing phase based on an ongoing case study to observe and test our propositions.

Proposal 1: Partner’s Strategic Value is an influential decision parameter that must be incorporated into Claim Management-related decision-making processes in high-involvement relationships. Proposal 2: The Fast-and-Frugal Heuristic is adapted to the intense, interactive and iterative nature of the Claim Management context. Our final proposal combines these two findings, i.e. a Fast-and-Frugal Heuristic incorporating the Partner’s Strategic Value and based on using decision criteria as a sequence, not simultaneously.

In the context of high-involvement business relationships and Claim Management, this study introduces the importance of selecting an appropriate decision methodology and integrating a strategic decision parameter (Partner’s Strategic Value) into an operational decision-making context. Furthermore, the principle of considering decision parameters in a specific sequence corresponds to the iterative and interactive nature of the Claim Management processes.

Mediators' impartiality and empathy are two classical factors in the parties' trust in mediators. However, mediators are often torn between being impartial and being empathetic. The aim of this paper is to explore this empirically.

This study empirically tests the strategic use of caucus to improve the interaction between impartiality and empathy by splitting them into two phases: impartiality in joint sessions and empathy in caucus.

The strategy did create significant synergy between impartiality and empathy with the main impact of reducing the time needed to reach an agreement.

All research data come from workplace mediation and from the same organization. Although it can be reasonably postulated that the results can be generalized to other mediation settings, this remains to be proven.

When mediators use the trust caucus strategy, impartiality and empathy work better together and parties put more weight on empathy than on impartiality. While the use of the trust caucus does not increase the likelihood of reaching agreement, it does significantly decrease the time needed to conclude an agreement.

The study uses a quasi‐experimental design to test its hypothesis. Furthermore, the study uses real mediation cases.

This paper aims to extend current understanding of organisational choice theory through examining to what extent firm‐level factors influence the growth of franchisee‐owned mini‐chains within Australian franchise systems. In particular, this study examines how the age of the system, corporatisation of management processes, plurality of distribution, levels of intra‐firm conflict and franchise system complexity influence multiple unit franchising adoption.

A qualitative methodology was adopted to gain a clearer picture of the salient issues influencing multiple unit franchising adoption from the franchisor's perspective.

The research reveals that mature franchise systems in Australia use sequential methods of multiple unit franchising expansion in order to minimise adverse selection costs and leverage learning economies derived from previous experiences in managing intra‐firm channel relationships.

Industry‐specific influences and differences in managerial orientations may limit the predictive application of this study to all franchise systems. However, on balance the reflections offered by the participants provide a rich and valuable source of information about the factors influencing their willingness to encourage this growth strategy.

Franchisors need to consider upfront whether they are ready and able to encourage multiple unit ownership within their systems. Less experienced franchisors may need to corporatise operations, minimise channel conflict and introduce administrative support procedures to ensure the recruitment of suitable franchisee candidates who will assist in realising the franchisor's goals, thus promoting a harmonious franchising relationship.

Whereas, previous research has investigated motivations for encouraging multiple unit franchising, this paper supplements that literature by examining multiple unit franchising within Australia.

In several recent judgments, the Jordanian Court of Cassation has found that using arbitration to resolve individual labor disputes is null. The aforementioned approach which constituted a departure from the well-established former approach that the same court has followed has been confirmed by the new amendments that the Jordanian Arbitration Act has seen in 2018. In view of this, this study aims to highlight and critically analyze the above-mentioned court’s decisions and the new amendments pertaining to arbitration clauses from a Jordanian Labor Law perspective and the distinct characteristics rooted in it to find out the extent to which applying arbitration in such a context is acceptable or not.

To examine how effective are the approaches followed by the Jordanian courts and the legislator in ruling the unacceptability of arbitration clauses in individual labor contracts and to observe to what extent it has been successful in this relation, this work makes use of the secondary data available in this regard as the main method to complete such an examination and this includes the relevant different legislations, court’s decisions and jurisprudence. By critically analyzing and comparing the various data contained in these secondary data sources, this work will identify the problems associated with such approaches and accordingly bring up different recommendations and conclusions.

While the current author do largely agree with the conclusions that have been reached recently by the aforementioned courts, it is submitted that these courts and the legislator have not dealt with such a matter in an adequate and comprehensive manner as they should have spilled more ink on this area of law. Furthermore, this work argues that while the principles that necessitate arbitration shall be respected, the distinct characteristics of the labor law warrant a more careful approach than actually followed by the competent authorities.

Taking into consideration the recent different approaches followed by the Jordanian courts and legislator in ruling the unacceptability of arbitration clauses in individual labor contracts, it would not be a surprise to say that there is no comprehensive and updated scholarly work which has either examined such different approaches or addressed its implications. Accordingly, this work derives its originality and value from being the first and most updated work that examines and addresses such a thorny matter.

The art of negotiation has been explored in a number of bestsellers over the last decade. With the advent of a truly global economy, international and cross‐cultural relationships are forming out of necessity. The potential for error when talking between cultures is considerable and many negotiations have failed owing to cross‐cultural communications breakdown. Pointers are presented of the pitfalls to watch out for when undergoing cross‐cultural negotiations and how to avoid them so as successfully to complete agreements with those from other cultural backgrounds.

The purpose of this paper is to explore China’s labour dispute arbitration system reform through analysing the degree to which it has attained its stated objectives – notably, independence, justice, efficiency and professionalism – from the perspectives of the arbitrators, previously ignored in research on China.

This paper used a mixed research method using questionnaires and interviews. Questionnaires were sent to all full-time labour dispute arbitrators in Beijing, China with a useable response rate of 71 per cent. Additionally, qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 key stakeholders involved in the arbitration process.

Instead of establishing an impartial platform, the arbitration system endeavours to promote the state’s capacity to rule over labour relations. Its recent reform excluded arbitrational independence owing to concerns about reducing the Chinese Communist Party’s arbitrary power. Arbitrational justice was perceived to improve through case resolution efficiency, which made arbitrators minimise arbitration time, partly because of high caseloads but largely because of their key performance indicators. Quality of arbitration was compromised. The arbitrators understood the spaces and boundaries of the reform, and focused on increasing professionalism to enable them to more fluidly manoeuvre between the different political economic interests, above safeguarding labour rights.

The questionnaire size was too small for regression analysis. Future research should expand the sample sizes and conduct cross-regional studies.

In 2008, China undertook an arbitrational system reform – probing its practical influence contributes to the authors understanding about the changing institutional environment of Chinese labour relations.

As a pilot study on labour dispute arbitrators, this research presents the dynamics of the Chinese labour dispute resolution mechanism.