Business Mediation, ADR and Conflict Management in the German Corporate Sector - Status, Development & Outlook
Published 26 November 2014
Introduction
Over the last decade, the willingness of German corporations to invest time, energy and funds into conflict management structures has been constantly growing. Many companies have discovered that a superficial approach to dispute resolution and a lack of systematic conflict management has significant negative effects: loss of efficiency, high direct and indirect conflict costs, employee dissatisfaction and high staff turnover. On the other hand, optimizing the handling of internal and external conflicts saves costs and improves employee satisfaction as well as enhancing the company's reputation amongst its customers and business partners.
As a result, the interest in developing professional dispute resolution is significantly increasing. Dozens of German corporations have improved their internal conflict management by setting up "pools" of mediators . Others increasingly make use of business mediation and other forms of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in Business-to-Business (B2B)-relations. In this field, it is universally accepted that the use of ADR methods reduces "external legal spending" significantly, which enables businesses to save time and preserve a successful long-term relationship with business partners. Similarly, in Business-to-Consumer (B2C) relations, many industry sectors settle disputes with their customers by utilizing conciliation bodies.
This paper will be part of the TDM special "Dispute Resolution from a Corporate Perspective" - www.transnational-dispute-management.com/news.asp?key=515