Managing in conflict: How actors distribute conflict in an industrial network

Finch, J. , Zhang, S. and Geiger, S. (2013) Managing in conflict: How actors distribute conflict in an industrial network. Industrial Marketing Management, 42(7), pp. 1063-1073. (doi: 10.1016/j.indmarman.2013.07.024)

Abstract

IMP researchers have examined conflict as a threat to established business relationships and commercial exchanges, drawing on theories and concepts developed in organization studies. We examine cases of conflict in relationships from the oil and gas industry's service sector, focusing on conflicts of interest and resources, and conflict as experienced by actors. Through a comparative case study design, we propose an explanation of how actors manage conflict and manage in conflict given that they tend to value and maintain relationships beyond episodes of exchange. We consider conflicts in relationships from a network perspective, showing that actors experienced these while adapting to changes in their business setting, modifying their roles in that network. By identifying conflict with the organizing forms of relationship and network, we show how actors formulate conflict through pursuing and combining a number of strategies, distributing the conflict across an enlarged network.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Finch, Professor John
• Authors: Finch, J., Zhang, S., and Geiger, S.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > Adam Smith Business School > Management
• Journal Name: Industrial Marketing Management
• Publisher: Elsevier B.V.
• ISSN: 0019-8501
• ISSN (Online): 1873-2062
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V.
• First Published: First published in Industrial Marketing Management 42(7):1063-1073
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher.

Project Code	Award No	Project Name	Principal Investigator	Funder's Name	Funder Ref	Lead Dept
62142	1	Sorting Goods from Bads	John Finch	Leverhulme Trust (LEVERHULME)	F/00 273/N	BUS - MANAGEMENT