Business values, management and conflict handling: issues in contemporary Singapore

Outlines the conflict‐handling style of a representative sample of 303 Singaporeans. Using the Thomas‐Kilmann conflict mode instrument, investigates some interesting gender, age, role and occupational differences in conflict‐handling style. Suggests that, while Western thought and practice emphasize collaboration in resolving conflict in organizations, the cultural value systems of different Asian cultures emphasize unassertiveness. Suggests that the issue may be about the conflict between traditionalism and modernism, and that economic development brings with it an inevitable change in the psychological practice of capitalism.