ABSTRACT
Chapter 6 describes how cooperation and conflict in organizations may be approached when the concepts of adaptive administration are applied. The ways in which administrators experience mixes of cooperation and conflict are evaluated. A fictional scenario based on county government is used to illustrate how the concepts of adaptive administration may be applied to problem-solving in such settings. As shown, action-reaction approaches to analysis may be used by administrators to explore how different types of interventions may be applied in order to change the likely reactions by departments the a proposed action. As indicated, cooperation and conflict are both usually present in real-world organizations. Administrators need the support of knowledge bases and theory generators to explore the types of cooperation and conflict taking place in organizations-and between organizations-and to formulate effective responses that will maximize organizational performance.
