Regenerating Industrial Flagship Buildings; multiple case study research on the conflict-outcome relationship within inter-organizational decision making teams (public version)

Abstract

Summary:

This research answers the question how conflicts between actors influence the outcomes of decision making processes regarding the regeneration of industrial flagship buildings in Enschede and Rotterdam. The research goal is to explore this relationship and to identify moderating factors that influence the conflict-outcome relationship. Although the terminology ‘moderating factors’ might seem to refer to qualitative research, in this research it solely concerns a qualitative conception of moderation. The conflict-outcome moderated model is an existing model that gives important insights in this relationship and provided the major framework for this research. The model is translated here from an intra-organizational setting to an inter-organizational network setting. Two cases are selected: the Bale Factory in Enschede and the Grain Silo in Rotterdam. The decision making processes within these cases reveal a relatively high level of conflict. In total the data of both cases indicate 19 conflicts that influence either the performance outcomes or the bargaining outcomes. Relationship conflicts and process conflicts negatively influenced the outcomes and certain task conflicts had a positive influence on specific decision making outcomes. The most negatively influential conflict-outcome relationship is seen in the effect of relationship conflicts on bargaining outcomes, and the most positively influential conflict-outcome relationship is seen in the effect of task conflicts on performance outcomes. This thesis ends with recommendations to successfully deal with conflicts in the processes of regenerating industrial flagship buildings. Gaining knowledge about the influence of conflicts on outcomes in decision making will indirectly contribute to solving the governance problem of how decision makers can successfully collaborate to create network-effectiveness, and more specifically how city administrators can successfully deal with the regeneration of industrial flagship buildings in a complex network setting.