Article

The Sequence Effect and its Impact on Cooperation, Conflicts, and Conflict Management in IT Freelancer-Client Relationships

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Abstract

Since conflict is a ubiquitous phenomenon in inter- but also intra-organizational work, conflict management behavior (CMB) is a preconditioning factor for successful cooperations. Prior research shows, that CMB can be individualistic or collectivistic in orientation and highlights the episodic nature of CMB. However, in focusing on analyzing specific conflicts and conflict dynamics in cooperations, research paid less attention to how conflict and CMB are influenced by structural patterns and thus might overstate the role of individual agency compared to the role of the general structure of the cooperation. We address this issue by investigating the inter-organizational cooperation of IT-freelancers and their client organizations. Based on 18semi-structured problem-centered and expert interviews with IT-freelancers, representatives of client organizations and agencies, we show that the CMB orientation depends on the very institutionalized sequential stages of the cooperation. While individualistic CMBs dominate the pre-contract sequence, in which recruitment processes and negotiations take place, parties switch to collectivistic CMB in the contract sequence, in which the actual cooperation iscarried out. The post-contract sequence serves for reflections on the cooperation and thereby affects the readiness for future collaborations andinforms future pre-contract sequences, again. Thus, with focus on the IT industry the paper addresses research gaps related to the specific temporality and temporal structuring of contingent work. It introduces a sequence-oriented framework and analysis of conflict and conflict management in inter-organizational projects and thereby complements the established episodical perspective on conflicts by taking into account a rather structural viewpoint.

Keywords: sociology, behavioral sciences, inter-organizational projects, conflict management behavior, cooperation, qualitative interviews

How to Cite:

Bassyiouny, M., Ehlen, R., Wilkesmann, M., Ruiner, C., Apitzsch, B. & Schulz, L., (2024) “The Sequence Effect and its Impact on Cooperation, Conflicts, and Conflict Management in IT Freelancer-Client Relationships”, Negotiation and Conflict Management Research 17(3), 229-254. doi: https://doi.org/10.34891/zckv-8a93