Is mediation the preferred procedure in labour dispute resolution systems? Evidence from employer–employee matched data in China

Abstract

This study explores procedural preferences in the historical development of labour dispute resolution systems at the national level and employees’ pre-experience preference to resolve disputes at the individual level. Drawing on two datasets – one from national public statistics and one from China’s employer–employee matched data – we find that mediation has fluctuated in its use and efficacy, and it has re-emerged as an important method to stabilize labour relations. Employees choose internal mediation only if they feel that the enterprise’s mediation committee is selected fairly. Organizational structure factors, such as the enterprise’s size and the effectiveness of the Staff and Workers Representative Congress, moderate the relationship between employees’ perceptions of justice and procedural preferences. This study contributes to the dispute resolution literature by highlighting the interactions between individual perceptions of justice and organizational factors of procedural preference. Additionally, practical implications are offered to aid in the design of dispute resolution systems and improve organizational justice.

Keeping dispute resolution internal: Exploring the role of the industrial relations climate, organizational embeddedness and organizational turbulence

“…Our primary contribution is to the dispute resolution literature, by examining how and when the workplace industrial relations climate influences employees’ preference for IDR. Previous research has mainly focused on the effectiveness of IDR, while limited effort has been made to consider the factors that influence employees’ preference for IDR, except certain empirical research discussing the influence of procedural justice on the preference of dispute resolution procedure at an individual level (Feng and Xie, 2020; Goldman et al, 2016; Shestowsky, 2014). By exploring the impact of the workplace industrial relations climate on employees’ preference for IDR, this study contributes to organizational level determinants of the dispute resolution procedure preference (i.e.…”

“…Following Feng and Xie (2020), employees were asked ‘if you had a labour dispute with the employer, which one is your preference for seeking help?’ Preferences for dispute resolution procedures included ‘supervisor’, ‘enterprise union’, ‘government labour bureau’, ‘collective action’, and ‘others’. In the Chinese context, IDR mainly consists of internal consultation and mediation within organizations.…”

“…We controlled gender, age, education and hukou at an individual level, because prior literature showed that such demographic information was related to employees’ preference for dispute resolution procedures (Xie et al, 2017). We also controlled firm ownership, firm size and firm sector at the firm level because these firm characteristics have a contextual effect on employees’ preference for labour dispute resolution (Feng and Xie, 2020). Firm ownership was coded as a dichotomous variable (1 = SOE, 0 = POE, which includes both domestic, privately owned enterprises and foreign invested enterprises).…”

“…Previous literature mainly focuses on the perceived procedural justice at an individual level (e.g. Feng and Xie, 2020; Goldman et al, 2016; Shestowsky, 2014). Scant attention has been paid to organizational factors, such as the industrial relations climate – defined as the degree to which relations among employees, union representatives and management are seen by participants as mutually trusting, respectful and cooperative (Hammer et al, 1991; Kersley et al, 2006; Snape and Redman, 2012).…”

Surviving trust from conflict in the construction industry: an interaction between conflict handling behaviors, behavioral outcomes, conflict and trust

“…Literature in construction conflict management also leaves the impact of conflict on trust as a gap. Current studies mainly concern about: how conflict influences project performance (Chen et al, 2014); what causes conflict (Jaffar et al, 2011) and how it evolves (Mahato and Ogunlana, 2011); and how to use different conflict-handling strategies (Tang et al, 2020) or dispute resolutions (Feng and Xie, 2019) to make use of the functional conflicts and reduce the dysfunctional impacts (Liu and Zhai, 2011).…”