Conflict Resolution Strategies in the Transition to Market Economy

Abstract

One of the most typical characteristics of post-totalitarian societies is the expansion of conflict. In the transition from totalitarianism to democracy, conflict accompanies the changes in all social spheres: politics, economics, culture, personality, and so on. The most dramatic and difficult conflicts to overcome are the economic ones. The conflicts in the economic sphere always emerge, develop, and die away within a given organization. It is precisely the structure and characteristics of the organization that determine the dynamics and the development of the conflict, and it is again the organization that determines the resolution and disappearance of the conflict. The goal of our empirical study was to trace the dynamics of the conflicts within changing Bulgarian organizations, as well as to reveal their peculiarities depending on the gender, age, and position of the subjects in the organizational hierarchy. In addition, our task was to find out the ways in which the five basic strategies for conflict resolution are applied in developing organizations. The general conclusions of our study outline the ways for successfully coping with conflicts and effectively managing organizations in the transition from a centralized to a market economy.

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