The Classics

The two best-known third-party procedures are mediation and interest arbitration. A classic organizing framework by which to differentiate these two procedures focuses on the amount of process and decision control held by the parties (Sheppard, 1984; Thibaut and Walker, 1975). Process control refers to control over the development and presentation of information to be considered in trying to resolve the dispute. Decision control reflects the degree to which any one of the participants may unilaterally determine the outcome of the dispute.

Mediation is a procedure where a third party assists disputants in achieving a voluntary settlement. In terms of process and decision control, mediation is typically viewed as a procedure that allows the third party high process control but low decision control. With no power to unilaterally impose outcomes on disputants, mediators must rely on their interpersonal skills and available resources to influence the parties and manage discussions with the disputants. The goal is to find areas of agreement, get the parties to make concessions, and ultimately help the disputants create a settlement they can both endorse. Mediation has become a very popular procedure for helping parties resolve disputes. Although originally used in the labor relations arena, it can now be found in many domains, including business, community, and marital disputes (Lewicki, Litterer, Minton, and Saunders, 1994).