The effect of Bosnian and Herzegovinian national culture on conflict resolution styles in foreign-owned companies

Conflicts are an integral part of doing business and companies cannot avoid them. In a globalized and dynamic environment, there is a need to manage conflicts that occur within the company, in a productive and effective way. Conflict management styles are influenced by a number of factors, including the national culture of employees, who will have certain preferences in resolving conflicts in accordance with their culture. When it comes to multicultural environment, the knowledge of the national culture of the country in which the business is being done, as well as the company’s home country, national culture is extremely important for conflict management and creation of positive atmosphere in the company. Doing business in a foreign market additionally complicates the process of the creation of interpersonal conflicts. Thus, top management coming from the home country has a big task of understanding the values and customs which are the part of personality of each employee from another country, and at the same time, the understanding of the national culture of the country in which the business was internationalized. The aim of the research is to, based on theoretical and empirical research, examine the impact of Bosnian and Herzegovinian national culture on conflict resolution styles used in foreign companies doing business in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Research results show that the national culture is a significant factor in conflict management in a company, but also in conflicts in general. The level of harmonization of chosen styles and ways of managing them with the national culture of the employees will affect their business performance, positive atmosphere and communication, and more efficiency for achieving the company’s business goals.