MIT Sloan Management Review Article on To Navigate Conflict, Prioritize Dignity

Four interrelated practices can bolster dignity, leading to more constructive problem-solving and collaboration.

Conflicts between businesses pursuing commercial objectives and communities defending their interests arise regularly and often inevitably, especially when companies don’t prioritize engagement with their neighbors. Consider the rapid expansion of the mining sector in Latin America, renewable energy projects that underestimate “not in my backyard” opposition, or the displacement of marginalized groups with unwanted facility siting. In many cases, the work has slogged on despite local protests, and drawn-out conflict has resulted.

Leaders inclined to think strategically and competitively may believe that stakeholder management in these cases is a matter of outmaneuvering the other party through gamesmanship, but that is shortsighted. When corporate interests conflict with the needs and values of communities, we need to build better interactions among people, especially those intensely at odds with one another who also need to collaborate.

About the Author

Merrick Hoben is a senior mediator and director of the Consensus Building Institute’s Washington, D.C., regional office. He coleads CBI’s corporate-community engagement practice area.

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