Conflict Management in Indian sub-continent

Introduction

The Indian sub-continent represents one of the most dynamic socio-economic regions in the world, shaped by deep-rooted cultural traditions, rapid economic transformations, demographic diversity, and persistent geopolitical tensions. These layered contexts create distinctive patterns of conflict across workplaces, organizations, communities, and institutions. As economies in the region continue to globalize and digitize while simultaneously grappling with informality, inequality, and social stratification, conflict management emerges as a critical scholarly and practical concern.

Conflict in the Indian sub-continent cannot be fully understood through frameworks developed primarily in Western organizational contexts. Family-owned enterprises, informal labor arrangements, gender, caste, regional identities, and collectivistic value systems profoundly influence how conflicts emerge, escalates, and addressed. The evolving realities demand context-sensitive theorizing and empirically grounded insights that reflect the lived experiences of individuals and organizations in the region.

This special issue seeks to advance scholarship on conflict management by foregrounding the unique institutional, cultural, and structural characteristics of the Indian sub-continent. It invites contributions that explore conflict at intra-, inter-personal, organizational, and societal level. We particularly encourage research that examines culturally embedded conflict resolution practices, indigenous negotiation styles, and hybrid mechanisms that blend formal legal frameworks with informal social norms. 

Aligning with the goals of UN SDG, this special issue also aims to highlight the broader implications of conflict management for employee well-being, organizational sustainability, and social cohesion.

Bringing diverse theoretical perspectives, methodological approaches, and empirical contexts together, this special issue aspires to enrich global conflict management literature while amplifying voices and insights rooted in the Indian sub-continent. In doing so, it seeks to contribute not only to academic debates but also to more inclusive, equitable, and effective conflict management practices in organizations and societies.

List of topic areas

Potential    topics    include,    but    are    not    limited    to: 

• Conflict   management   in   family-owned   businesses   and   SMEs.
• Precarious work, informal labor, and their relationship with organizational conflict.
• Negotiation styles and dispute resolution mechanisms unique to the subcontinent/ Legal and    Institutional    Mechanisms    of    Conflict    Resolution.
• Cross-border conflicts and their impact on multinational operations in the region.
• Digitalization,  remote  work,  and  emerging  forms  of  workplace  conflict.
• Culturally embedded conflict resolution practices in South Asian workplaces.
• Conflict in workplace and Well-being.
• Identity, Diversity, and Workplace Conflict.
• Gendered Dimensions of Conflict.
• Conflict in Gig and Unionized Work.

Submissions Information

Submissions are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts. Registration and access are available at: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ijcma

Author guidelines must be strictly followed. Please see: https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/journal/ijcma

Authors should select (from the drop-down menu) the special issue title at the appropriate step in the submission process, i.e. in response to ““Please select the issue you are submitting to”.

Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else, while under review for this journal.

Key deadlines

Opening date for manuscripts submissions: 01/04/2026
Closing date for manuscript submission: 31/11/2026