Collaborative processes to resolve confl ict in the workplace have permeated organizations in North America over the past thirty years. Mediation and arbitration processes made the earliest inroads in organizations, joined more recently by confl ict coaching and organizational ombudsry. Concurrently, law schools and other graduate schools expanded their alternative dispute resolution (ADR) off erings and confl ict resolution programs. Th is article charts the trends in workplace confl ict management and ADR education and proposes where the fi eld may be heading in the coming years. Th e authors note growing demand for workplace mediation, coaching, and ombuds offi ces, and they call for broader adoption of integrated confl ict management systems.David Brubaker is associate professor of organizational studies at the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University.Cinnie Noble is a lawyer, certifi ed coach, and mediator, and is a pioneer in the development of confl ict management coaching in the coaching and ADR fi elds.Richard Fincher is a full-time mediator of workplace disputes, commercial claims, and employment class action litigation and is a visiting fellow at the

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In this article, the authors have offered their view of the future of conflict management systems, and of some of the problems that will slow the pace of those systems' growth. All of these problems are related to the external environment faced by organizations seeking to develop conflict management systems, since there seems to be only a limited potential for influence of internal design features. The threat of the courts, problems with neutrals, and the evolving role of neutral providers may give pause, though, to those organizations currently debating the strategic question of whether to create their own system.

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