Procedural Justice and Negotiation in Day-to-Day Interactions Between Leaders and Subordinates
Keywords:
leadership, subordinates, conflict, resistance, negotiation, procedural fairness, dignityAbstract
This article develops a normative account of conflict and negotiation within leader subordinate relations in everyday organizational life. It explains how interest disputes arise from asymmetric authority, contested fairness, and the distribution of time, information, workload, and recognition. Subordinate resistance is treated as relational communication that may signal unsafe voice conditions, insufficient support for demanded outputs, or perceived misuse of evaluative power. Negotiation is framed as a legitimacy building process that can realign authority and responsibility when it meets procedural fairness, reason giving, dignity protection, and verifiable follow up. The discussion distinguishes commitment from mere compliance and argues that coercive compliance invites defensive behavior, silence, and literal obedience that weakens learning. A three component framework is offered: fairness in decision procedures, ethical use of authority, and credible routines for closing agreements. The paper emphasizes that micro interactions such as feedback delivery, public correction, and information withholding can escalate disputes into identity threats, reducing the capacity to deliberate. The central claim is that sustainable coordination requires negotiated boundaries that are realistic, consistently applied, and respectful of professional agency.
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