Feedback and Grievance Resolution

Abstract

This paper assesses the contribution to grievance negotiations of participants' use of feedback about previous grievance settlements and arbitration decisions. Analysis of survey data collected from a sample of management and union grievance participants at three organizational levels supports the central proposition of systems theory that feedback contributes to the system's effectiveness, measured here as the estimated and observed rate of grievance resolution. Significant variance in the use and impact of feedback is found, however, across union and management respondents and organizational levels.