Overseas Think Tank for Indonesia

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By Beni Bevly
The conflict between Indonesian government and Aceh separatists has affected local people who live in Aceh. There are about 3,502 families live desperately because all the resources have been destroyed during the conflict. Now they live scattered around in emergency huts. Their houses and other properties were burnt. The parents have no way to support their children and themselves. A lot of them only eat one meal (rice) a day (Antara News, March 9, 2007).

What is the source of the conflict? Why has not this conflict been resolved?

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The simple reason that we hear every day is that the Aceh separatists want to liberate their people from Indonesian government’s occupation and have their own Islam nation. While the Indonesia government does their “job” to keep the unity of Indonesia.

Theoretically, according to Kreitner, R., & Kinicki, A. (1998), in “Organizational Behavior,” conflict accours because:
. Incompatible personalities or value system.
. Competition for limited resources.
. Inadaquate communication.
. Organization complexity (too many hierarchical layers).
. Unreasonable or unclear policies, standards, or rules.
. Unresonable deadlines or extreme time pressure.
. Unmet expectations.
. Unresolves or suspressed conflict.

To resolve the conflict, Indonesian government and Aceh separatists need to sit down and go over the above list that causes the conflict. Instead of treating each other as enemy, both parties will enjoy the benefits of cooperating as allies.

Cohan, R. & Bradford, L., in “Influence Without Authority” suggest the following tips for dealing with potential allies:
. Mutual respects. Assume they are competent and smart.
. Openness. Talk straigth to them. Give them the information they need to know.
. Trust. Assume that no one will take any action that is purposely intended to hurt another, so hold back no information that other could use, even if it doesn’t help your immediate position.
. Mutual benefit. Plan every strategy so that both parties win.

In this situation, both parties need a high integrity negotiator who can be trusted. The negotiators will discuss the problems and how to solve it based on Kreitner’s & Kinicki’s, and Cohan’s & Bradford’s frame works.

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*Beni Bevly holds BA in Political Science, MBA in Marketing, and is a DBA (Doctor of Business Administration) candidate. He is the founder of Overseas Think Tank for Indonesia.