Susan S. Raines, PhD, is a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State. For more than twenty years she was a professor of conflict management in the Graduate School of Conflict Management, Peacebuilding & Development at Kennesaw State University, in suburban Atlanta. She is the president of Collaboration Services, a consulting firm that works with public, private, and nonprofit organizations to prevent and proactively manage conflict and collaboration. She has mediated more than 17,000 cases inside and outside of the court system and served as an Alternative Dispute Resolution Reservist for the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency. Through the provision of training, one-on-one performance coaching, program evaluation, culture change initiatives, strategic planning, and crisis intervention, she has assisted organizations such as the International Monetary Fund, United Nations International Organization for Migration, the Florida and Georgia Supreme Courts, the DeKalb County Multi-Door Courthouse, The Maryland Association for Conflict Resolution, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Florida Medical Association, George Physician Leadership Association, Volkswagen North America, American Association of Chemists, New York State Agricultural Mediation Program (NYSAMP), CureViolence, and many Fortune 500 corporations. She is the coauthor of Expert Mediators and more than approximately fifty peer-reviewed publications, and served as the editor-in-chief of Conflict Resolution Quarterly for twelve years.

List of Figures and Tables

Introduction to the Third Edition

Section I. Basic Conflict Management Knowledge and Skills

1 Manager Know Thyself: The Skills and Behaviors of Great Conflict Managers

2 Theory to Practice: The Root Causes and Cures of Conflict

3 The Power of Negotiation: Essential Concepts and Skills

4 The Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Continuum

5 Managing across Cultures and Generations: Deeper Understanding Brings Maximal Performance

Section II. The Prevention and Resolution of Internal Organizational Conflicts

6 Building Healthy Organizational Cultures: The Foundation of Success

7 Interpersonal Dispute Resolution at Work: Processes to Maximize Engagement, Decrease Attrition, and Increase Team Harmony

8 Leadership Amidst Chaotic Change: New Tools for a Transformed World

9 Dispute Systems Design for Organizational Justice & Proaction

10 The Ombudsman & Manager as Change Agents: Tools for Transformation

Section III. The Prevention and Resolution of External Organizational Conflicts

11 Principles and Systems for Superior Customer Service and Customer Recapture

12 Public Policy Decision Making and Collaboration with Regulators

13 Improving Meetings and Large Group Decision-Making Processes

Glossary of Key Terms

References

Index

About the Author