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Purpose — The purpose of this study is to examine whether conflict management styles are able to predict actual behaviors in business negotiation in two different countries. Design/methodology/approach — Subjects were recruited from both Canada and China to participate in a laboratory study. Three simulated business negotiations were used for participants to negotiate deals in both countries in order to compare the validity of conflict management styles in predicting negotiation behaviors. Findings — This study shows that conflict management styles are valid predictors of actual negotiation behaviors in Canada, but not in China. The results also show that Chinese people use a more avoiding approach and demonstrate a higher level of integrativeness during business negotiation simulations, while Canadians use a more compromising approach and show a higher level of distributiveness. Practical implications — Practical implications of the findings are discussed in terms of the usefulness of self-reported conflict management styles for negotiation researchers and practitioners in training seminars and in terms of the effectiveness of first offer as one negotiation strategy to achieve better negotiation outcomes. Originality/value — This study is particularly pertinent, given that the relationship between conflict management styles and actual behaviors in negotiation receives little attention and that even less attention is given to this relationship in a cross-cultural context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This study aims to explore the impact of well-educated young Chinese employees’ notions of work on their conflict management styles in the increasingly turbulent workplace to help better manage work-related conflict in the time of transition in China.Design/methodology/approach Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect data from over 400 young Chinese employees. The data were first factor analyzed to explore the underlying dimensions of contemporary work notions in China’s transition period. Hierarchical regression analysis was then conducted to explore the relationship between dimensions of work notions and conflict management styles.Findings The results showed that well-educated young Chinese employees’ notions of work consisted of sense of control, fulfilling and rewarding, holistic concerns, personal growth and development and meaningfulness. The results further indicated that young Chinese employees with strong needs to satisfy individual interests in their work tend to use competitive methods to manage work-related conflicts, employees with strong needs to satisfy group interests in their work prefer to use collaborative methods and those who believe in collective efforts in achieving individual goals through group goals’ obtainment are more likely to use collaborative and compromising approaches.Originality/value This study provides a new perspective to manage work-related conflict in the Chinese context. The findings of this study are able to help enrich conflict management theories in China and suggest insightful conflict resolution approaches to work-related conflicts in China’s changing environment. This study also helps bridge the research gap between work notions and conflict management styles. The results of this study can greatly facilitate Chinese companies’ endeavors toward crafting a more innovative workforce and help improve employee performance in China’s transition to industrialization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]