Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • 2009
  • Article
  • Research in Organizational Behavior

The Dynamics of Silencing Conflict

By: Leslie Perlow and Nelson Repenning
  • Format:Print
  • | Pages:29
ShareBar

Abstract

In many organizations, when people perceive a difference with another they often do not fully express themselves. Despite creating innumerable problems, silencing conflict is a persistent phenomenon. While the antecedents of acts of silence are well documented, little is known about why norms of silencing conflict evolve. To explore this evolution, we draw on an ethnographic study that spanned the entire life of a dot.com, starting with its founding and ending with its sale to a larger company. Distilling our data using causal loop diagrams, we document the processes through which acts of silence became self-reinforcing. The dynamic model of silencing conflict induced from our data has implications not only for norm development, but also for a variety of other domains including network analysis, autonomous actor models, diversity and demography, and change management.

Keywords

Interpersonal Communication; Management Style; Conflict Management; Societal Protocols

Citation

Perlow, Leslie, and Nelson Repenning. "The Dynamics of Silencing Conflict." Research in Organizational Behavior 29 (2009): 195–223.
  • Find it at Harvard

About The Author

Leslie A. Perlow

Organizational Behavior
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • February 2025
    • Faculty Research

    Michael Rose

    By: Leslie Perlow and Carin-Isabel Knoop
    • September 2024
    • Faculty Research

    Annette Rodriguez

    By: Leslie A. Perlow and Matthew G. Preble
    • September 2024
    • Academy of Management Discoveries

    Backstage Matters: Collective Energy and Information Sharing on Global Teams

    By: Wenjie Ma, Leslie A. Perlow and Eunice Eun
More from the Authors
  • Michael Rose By: Leslie Perlow and Carin-Isabel Knoop
  • Annette Rodriguez By: Leslie A. Perlow and Matthew G. Preble
  • Backstage Matters: Collective Energy and Information Sharing on Global Teams By: Wenjie Ma, Leslie A. Perlow and Eunice Eun
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College.