Martin Patchen

The locus and basis of influence on organizational decisions.

Abstract A conceptual approach to studying interpersonal influence is outlined as a framework within which results of a study of purchase decisions in business firms are presented. Data concerning the bases of influence in these organizations—especially data showing the importance of a persons stake in the decision—do not fit neatly into the well-known influence categories proposed by French and Raven. Disagreements among informants about who had most influence on each decision also raises questions about the general applicability of certain often-used measures of influence in organizations.

Strategies for Eliciting Cooperation from an Adversary

Experimental, computer-simulation, and inter-nation studies concerning effective strategies for eliciting cooperation from an adversary are reviewed. The laboratory and inter-nation studies are consistent in indicating that a policy of general reciprocity, combined with the use of unilateral cooperative initiatives to break out of lock-ins on mutual competition, generally is effective in gaining an adversarys cooperation. The conditions under which this strategy is likely to be effective are examined also.

Discussions and Reviews : Models of cooperation and conflict: a critical review

tures of the situation (e.g., relative power, conflict of interest, communication channels); various characteristics of the parties (e.g., ideology, motives, group decision-making processes); subjective orientations of the parties during interaction (e.g., perception of the other’s intentions); and strategies of interaction (e.g., behaving noncooperatively and then switching to cooperation). A complete list of all possible relevant features of the objective situation, characteristics of the parties, subjective orientations of the parties, and patterns of interaction would surely be a very long one. This obviously pre-

Conflict and cooperation in American‐Soviet relations: What have we learned from quantitative research?

This paper reviews quantitative (primarily events data) research on the interaction between the United States and the Soviet Union. Cooperative actions appear to be primarily a reaction to the rivals behavior while conflic‐tual actions appear to be primarily a continuation of each nations own past behavior. The principle of reciprocity appears to generally govern interactions but there are significant deviations from reciprocity. Each superpower appeared most likely to take conflictful actions and least likely to reciprocate cooperation when it was distrustful of its rivals aims, confident of its ability to win advantage in competition, and relatively unconcerned about the costs of competition. Patterns of interaction differ in significant ways from simple reciprocity, including reactions to deviations in, rather than the absolute magnitude of, the others behavior and reactions to the difference between the rivals and ones own prior behavior.

The Escalation of Inter-Nation Conflicts

Abstract Nations engaged in a dispute may escalate their use of coercion in order to raise the costs of the fight to the other side and gain concessions. As a fight continues, escalation is made more probable by changes in the motivation and the expectations of the participants. The goals of each participant may expand and winning the dispute may become more important than it was initially. Each may come to expect the other to increase its coercion beyond previous boundaries and no longer see the prospect of a negotiated settlement. In addition, normative and other inhibitions on the use of force tend to decrease once the use of coercion has begun. The ways in which a conventional war might escalate to a nuclear war are discussed. The conditions under which deescalation of coercion will occur are outlined.

Resolving Disputes Between Nations: Coercion or Conciliation.

The use of force and coercion to settle disputes between nations is a central problem of our time. Martin Patchen considers the circumstances that lead nations to use coercive means in disputes with other nations and also examines the effectiveness of other means of resolving international disputes. Patchen examines conflict and cooperation as general social processes and builds on previous work to present an overall theoretical framework that encompasses the conflict situation, perceptions of the adversary, decision-making, bargaining, and interaction and influence sequences.