Handbook

This course aims to provide students with a theoretical framework and especially practical insights relating to the negotiation of change and the management of conflict in the workplace. Australian IR has tended to institutionalise conflict on the assumptions of the conventional adversarial model, while the alternative mutual gains perspective has received little serious attention or application. The course will take students through some of the classic texts in the field such as Walton & McKersie's A Behavioural Theory of Labour Negotiations and Walton et al's Strategic Negotiations and then into a series of contemporary overseas and Australian case studies. The impact of the Fair Work Act on the negotiation of change and dispute resolution will also be critically examined.

Main Topics

• The makings of the great workplace
• Understanding information-sharing, consultation and negotiations in the workplace
• Competing, different and shared interests in the workplace
• Approaches to the negotiation of change and the management of conflict in the workplace: a comparison of the adversarial and mutual gains (interest-based) models
• The assumptions and architecture of the Fair Work Act in relation to negotiation and dispute resolution
• Dealing with workplace grievances, including bullying and discrimination issues
• Case studies on change, negotiations and conflict resolution in the workplace
• Prospects for a fresh approach to change management and conflict resolution in Australian workplaces.