e., Americans are generally not 'timid' and avoid confrontations), it would be unlikely that the Chinese workplace environment would have a good fit with American workplace environments.
3. Leung's article on workplace conflict among Hong Kong employees demonstrates the importance of respect to superiors and authority in the workplace, no matter is s/he has incorrectly done something or was wrong in an argument with another employee. Because Chinese culture is generally a high uncertainty avoidance culture, it is best to approach conflicts in an indirect manner. Employees could take advantage of their collectivist nature to work together and invite the conflicting parties to a private (yet social) gathering or event. The team could work together to make the two parties feel at ease with each other, if not directly reconcile in front of their teammates. This subtle way of conflict resolution...
Again, it is important to remember the context and culture in which the conflict happened in the workplace, because developing resolutions from it would entail understanding also possible reactions from the individuals/groups concerned. Thus, while a direct approach would work best with Americans, a more indirect, carefully planned and gentle approach to reconciliation is more applicable to the Chinese and Asian cultures/workplace environments.
References
Adler, R. (2009). Interplay: The Process of Interpersonal Communication. Oxford University Press.
Leung, a. (2008). "Interpersonal conflict and resolution strategies: an examination of Hong Kong employees." Team Performance Management, Vol. 14, Issue 3/4.
