• To resolve disputes and conflicts occured in cyberspace by the methods such as online negotiaion, mediation, or arbitration.Abbreviation of Online Dispute Resolution.
• To resolve disputes and conflicts occured in the real world using online communication methods such as e-mails, chat, or TV conferences。
• To prevent these disputes and conflicts online.
• The main advantages of ODR are: to reduce cost and time for resolution; to correspond to complex cross border disputes.
When the word "conflict" is translated into Japanese, the word gives an impression to have the meaning of the large scale disputes as the troubles between countries. But "conflict" has broad meanings starting from intrapersonal conflicts to social conflicts. Thus it is not appropriate to translate into one Japanese word to the word "conflict". Here the different words such as troubles, problems, issues, disputes, and conflits are used interchangibly.
Conflict is perceived negatively, but that is not always the case. Some conflicts bring positive results such as constructive controversy which foster academic exploration. We all have values. We can escape from our conceptual constraints only when we move out of our own society and meet different cultures. We learn for the first time that our solutions, thoughts, and norms are not always the "correct" answers by start questioning our own values. The flexibility which we can adopt ourselves to new values, the acceptance of different ideas, and the balance of competition and cooperation are the keys to such positive conflicts.
There are various factors causing conflicts such as generation and gender differences, incompatibility, misperception, misunderstanding, miscommunication, differences in ethical and moral understandings.
There are different patterns how people engage or disengage in conflict. They are conflict avoidance, compromise, competition, accommodation, and collaboration. Collaboration is what conflict resolution practitiners aim for. It is said that Japanese have a tendency to avoid conflicts because Japanese put weight on the harmony of their society. That is why the number of litigation cases are fewer than western countries. But at the same time, avoidance can leave ill feelings in the deep inner self. On the other hand the westerners are said to be competitive, that is why they want to make it clear winner and loser in litigations. When disagreeing parties come up with a middle ground which would benefit both parties, that is called collaboration. This is a "Win-Win Solution”which originally came from the Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In by Roger Fisher, William L. Ury, and Bruce Patton.
There are also different approaches to conflicts. Bernard Mayer explains in his famous book, "The Dyanmics of Conflict Resolution". They are power-based, rights-based, interest-based, principle-based, and manipulation-based approaches.
Power-based apporaches can be violent and destructive causing physical harms. Wars are the extreme example of this approach and domestic violence is one of them.
Rights-based approaches claims what they are entitled to. When people get an eviction order in order by a government to construct a new freeway, some people will stand up against leaving their houses. They claim that they have a right to live there which they bought.
Interest-based approaches assert what they need. When a child is told to go to bed, he says he wants to finish watching the TV program. He means that he does not go to bed until he can satisfy his interests.
Principle-based approaches assert moral rights by saying what is fair, just, or imparital. A homewowner refuses to pay for the work of a contractor complaining his working attitude was against the code of professionals.
Manipulation-based approaches can be destructive when one side cheats and lies, but it is not always the case. A mother allows her child to have a chocolate bar in order to let him study for a test.
Conflict Resolution proposes various ideas for solutions to variety of conflicts such as interpersonalconflicts, racial discrimination, religious and moral conflicts. The term "dispute resolution" is getting popular and this includes the meaning of arguments or quarrels. The academic researches and studies of Conflict Resolution are popular in the US.
The number of litigation cases was increasing and overwhelming in the US causing delays and high costs. Thus Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) such as facilitation, mediation, arbitration, mini-trials have become popular.
Even if you win in a small claims court, it is very hard to collect money. You need to spend more and hire a collection agency. If a defender gets a judgement against him, it hurts his credit record and affect it for years. Thus litigation methods are win-lose solution.
The diversification of the US brings about different cultural, traditional, linguistic backgrounds which cause disputes and conflicts. ADR works to overcome such differences and brings win-win solutions.
The world have become small and more cross border issues arise. The issue becomes complex by deciding what law to apply when the parties are from different countries. In ADR, parties are empowered to discuss and decide on the rules.
In the 1960s, the new laws concerning racial/gender discriminations went into effect in the US causing the increase in the number of filing cases at courts. Along with this, time and cost spent on them increased with the increasing mistakes in administrative procedures. ADR has become popular to reduce the burden of courts. Good athletes are in great request nowadays and they play in foreign countires.Arbitration is widely used in sports area starting from International Olympic Committee.
Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) became popular along with the development of computer technology. Online communication are used everyday and have become necessary element in dispute resolution. In 1990s, two professors, Ethan Katsh and Janet Rifkin, and Colin Rule made published the concepts and application of ODR which was originally the online version of ADR. In addition, there is an automated negotiation which is not intercepted by the human factor. It is said that the disadvantage of ODR is the lack of nonverbal communications, but the development of TV conference technology, the disadvantage will soon be overcome. In addition, ODR does not only aims to resolve conflicts, but it has the meaning of conflict prevention.
Internet have made our lives easier. We started exchange information via internet, then we started to communicate. From WEB 2.0, we formed communities within the cyberspace and started to interact in social netowrking sites. The next generation, WEB 3.0 will further fill in the gap between the cyberspace and our real lives. We will get online information which can be linked directly to our personal lives.
The online identity is, however, still not established and it is easy to cause troubles and create complex problems. Pseudonyms are used in fraudulent activities and the cyberspace which based upon the trust among honest people become very unstable.
When we communicate face to face, we can find our own misunderstandings and assumptions easier than when we communicate online. Without nonverbal communications. conflicts can be escalated. ODR proposes preventive measures and solutions to such disputes which arose in cyberspace. In addition, ODR uses various online technology to solve conflicts arose in this real world.
ODR is faster and cheaper than litigation. We do not have to travel to go to court and we can file complaints online instantly. It has a disadvantage of lacking nonverbal communication, but many parties are comfortable not having the other side in front of them. There is a way of ODR to have a TV conference system to have interactive communication, but the high quality, high resolution TV systems are too costly at this point.