Complaint handling on the shop floor: Cooperative relationships and open-minded strategies

Managing conflicts between employees and supervisors is a critical issue in maintaining productive labor-management relations. This study uses the the ory of cooperation and competition to specify the nature of the relationshi p and the flexible strategies that facilitate mutually beneficial solutions to employee complaints. Results based on interviews of supervisors and uni on employees in a remote site in British Columbia support the hypotheses th at cooperative, compared to competitive and independent, goals promote open -minded discussions of complaints that result in efficient resolutions whic h benefit both supervisors and employees. Results suggested that developing cooperative goals and open-minded negotiation skills can help supervisors and employees to create integrative solutions to shopfloor conflicts.