JAPANESE COMMUNITY AND ORGANIZATIONAL MEDIATION

This study investigated community and organizational mediation in Japa n. Initially, hypotheses about community mediation were developed from a review of Japanese history and culture. These predictions were comp ared to data from interviews with Japanese students and subsequently w ith data collected in Japan. The comparisons yielded revised predictio ns about organizational conflict resolution, which were strongly suppo rted by data collected in Japan. Specifically, it was found that the J apanese in their organizations, as in the community, infrequently use assertive mediation techniques such as criticism, education, and dispu tant separation. They are more apt to rely on nonassertive techniques such as gathering information from the disputants, listening to opinio ns, and relaying these between disputants. Such an approach is signifi cantly less assertive than that used by the Chinese or the South Korea ns.