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1. Introduction
This study suggests that a more considerate approach to conflict management should be used, and examines the specific tendency to tolerate high levels of conflict in one area to keep levels of conflict in other areas low. We build on the triad construct proposed by Smith (1989) to explain how conflict among retail buyers influences conflict between retail buyers and store staff.
Previous studies have regarded organizational conflict as involving the interdependence of two parties and are, thus, based on the following dyadic relationships: horizontal, vertical, inter-functional and intra-group (Barclay, 1991; Chabaud and Codron, 2005; Da Silva et al., 2002; Dawson and Shaw, 1989; Jehn, 1995, 1997; Keaveney, 2008; Rispens et al., 2007).
In the real world, conflict may emerge in different relationships simultaneously, with particular conflicts potentially affecting others (Brodt and Neville, 2013; Heider, 1958; Yap and Harrigan, 2015). In such a situation, two types of interactions among conflicts exist: positive and negative interactions. In a positive interaction, conflict in one relationship causes a high level of conflict in the other relationship. In a negative interaction, conflict in one relationship is reduced by conflict in the other relationship. This occurs when one party’s high degree of conflict with a competitor leads to a low degree of conflict with a third party that offers the first party attractive resources that give it an advantage over the competitor. This study verifies the existence of the latter relationship in retail organizational conflict.
In this study, we focus on retail buyers to examine the negative interaction between conflicts pertaining to different aspects of retail organizations. Buyers tend to have a broad spectrum of job-related tasks, which are essential to the achievement of a retailer’s objectives (Hanssen and Skytte, 1998; Keaveney, 1995). In addition, they play a role that spans the boundaries between merchandise divisions and retail stores and, therefore, may perceive conflicts within both merchandise divisions and retail stores (Fiorito et al., 2010).
Studies focusing on Japanese corporate culture have found that the Japanese cultural tendency toward maintaining harmony and cooperative relationships plays an important role (Chung et al., 2008; Hofstede, 1994; Markus and Kitayama, 1991; Xie et al., 1998; Saito and Ohbuchi, 2013). Japanese firms, including retail companies, pursue harmony...