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Managing Workplace Conflict & Change - LAWS8058
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Faculty: Faculty of Law
 
 
School:  Faculty of Law
 
 
Course Outline: See below
 
 
Campus: Kensington Campus
 
 
Career: Postgraduate
 
 
Units of Credit: 6
 
 
EFTSL: 0.12500 (more info)
 
 
Indicative Contact Hours per Week: 2
 
 
Enrolment Requirements:
 
 
Prerequisite: Academic Program must be either 9200, 9210, 9230, 9211, 9235, 5740, 5211or 5235
 
 
Fee Band: 3 (more info)
 
 
Further Information: See Class Timetable
 
 

Description

This course aims to provide students with a theoretical framework and practical insights relating to the negotiation of change and the management of conflict in the workplace. Australian IR has tended to institutionalise conflict on the assumptions of the conventional adversarial model, while the alternative mutual gains perspective has received little serious attention or application. The course will take students through some of the classic texts in the field such as Walton & McKersie's A Behavioural Theory of Labour Negotiations and Walton et al's Strategic Negotiations and then into a series of contemporary overseas and Australian case studies. The impact of the Fair Work Act on the negotiation of change and dispute resolution will also be critically examined.

LLM specialisation(s)

Corporate and Commercial Law; Corporate Commercial and Taxation Law; Dispute Resolution; Human Rights & Social Justice

Course Objectives

A candidate who has successfully completed this course will:
  • Have gained a good appreciation of the competing models on workplace change and conflict;
  • Have critically examined the approach of the key piece of federal legislation on point, the Fair Work Act;
  • Have had the opportunity to consider a number of instructive case studies;
  • Be better equipped to deal with or advise on the negotiation of change and the management of conflict in the workplace

Main Topics

  • Approaches to the negotiation of change and the management of conflict in the workplace: a comparison of the adversarial and mutual gains (interest-based) models.
  • Change and conflict resolution in social context
  • The makings of the great workplace
  • Understanding information-sharing, consultation and negotiations in the workplace
  • Competing, different and shared interests in the workplace
  • The assumptions and architecture of the Fair Work Act in relation to negotiation and dispute resolution
  • Case studies on change and conflict resolution in the workplace
  • Prospects for a fresh approach to change management and conflict resolution in Australian workplaces

Assessment

Class attendance and participation (20%)
Class presentation (20%)
Essay (60%)

Course texts

Prescribed: None

Recommended:
  • Walton & McKersie A Behavioural Theory of Labour Negotiations (Cornell University Press, 1965)
  • Walton et al's Strategic Negotiations - a Theory of Change in Labor-Management Relations (Harvard Business School Press, 1994)
  • Bamber et al Up in the Air - How airlines can improve performance by engaging their employees (Cornell University Press, 2009)
  • Kochan & others Healing Together - the labor-management partnership at Kaiser Permenente( (Cornell University Press, 2009)

Resources

Refer to the Course Outline provided by the lecturer prior to the start of the relevant semester.

URL for this page:

© The University of New South Wales (CRICOS Provider No.: 00098G), 2004-2011. The information contained in this Handbook is indicative only. While every effort is made to keep this information up-to-date, the University reserves the right to discontinue or vary arrangements, programs and courses at any time without notice and at its discretion. While the University will try to avoid or minimise any inconvenience, changes may also be made to programs, courses and staff after enrolment. The University may also set limits on the number of students in a course.