Department of Management at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, La Crosse, Wisconsin 54601.
A survey was conducted to investigate the beliefs of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) professionals about the impacts of various situational factors on the likelihood of negotiating an agreement. The author compares the survey responses of 119 labor relations and 44 nonlabor mediators and arbitrators. All respondents reported that when disputants have previous bargaining experience and deadlines are close, agreement is more likely, and that when one disputant has favorable alternatives outside the relationship agreement is less likely. Some differences emerged between the responses of those working in labor relations and those in nonlabor fields, however, and the author discusses the implications of generalizing findings from ADR in industrial relations to other settings.
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