Transforming hidden conflicts into participation

Pierre El Haddad , Marc Bonnet (1) , Patrick Tabchoury (2)

1 Laboratoire de Recherche Magellan
2 ISEOR - Institut de Socio-économie des Entreprises et des ORganisations

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to address the issues raised by hidden conflicts in a charismatic-led organization. The paper investigates the transformation from a management paradigm of quelling conflict artificially through charismatic leadership to a paradigm of negotiation that favors participation, systematicity, the multiplying of innovation sources and synchronization. The research is based on a specific approach to action research aimed at revealing the inherently masked conflictive energy, and contributing to a more sustainable, peaceful and well-performing construct. Design/methodology/approach The framework is a specific approach to participatory action research that the authors call socio-economic intervention research. Findings The results of the research support the proposition that while charismatic leadership quells conflict and jeopardizes the sustainability of the organization, socio-economic intervention research can help transform conflicts into cooperation in this type of organization. Originality/value The main contributions relate to shedding light on the hazards of denying conflict in charismatic-led organizations, and the importance of systemic negotiation in transforming conflict into cooperation in the Middle Eastern cultural context.

Mots clés: Middle East; Action research; Conflict management; Organizational development; Conflict transformation; Charismatic leadership; Inspection and certification body; Socio-economic intervention research

Domaines: Sciences de l'Homme et Société; Gestion et management

Pierre El Haddad, Marc Bonnet, Patrick Tabchoury. Transforming hidden conflicts into participation. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 2018, ⟨10.1108/JOCM-11-2016-0236⟩. ⟨hal-01907930⟩