Ombuds Publications

This compilation of publications offers information relevant to establishing and maintaining a professional Ombuds practice which adheres to a common code of ethics and standards of practice. It also includes writings that are useful to those within and outside of MIT who want to better understand and/or establish an Ombuds practice. Articles are in chronological order.

1. MIT Ombuds Office Terms of Reference (PDF)

2. Conflict Management Systems and the Ombudsman Role Therein

"The Non-Union Complaint System at MIT: An Upward-Feedback Mediation Model," in Alternatives to the High Cost of Litigation, Vol. 2, No. 4, (April, 1984), pp. 10-18, also reprinted in Riskin, Leonard L. and James Westbrook, Dispute Resolution and Lawyers, West Publishing Co., 1987, and in Westin, Alan and Alfred Felieu, Resolving Employment Disputes Without Litigation, BNA, 1988.
"Are You Hearing Enough Employee Concerns?" (PDF) with Michael Baker, in Harvard Business Review, Vol. 62, No. 3, (May-June, 1984), pp. 127-136, a review of non-union complaint systems in the U.S.
"Organizational Response to Assessed Risk," in the Program Record of the 1988 IEEE Electro 1988 Conference, Risk Assessment and Response, IEEE, 1988.
“Disputes and Conflicts Inside Organizations: A Systems Approach,” (PDF) Book Review, in Negotiation Journal, April 1989.
"People Who Feel Harassed Need a Complaint System with both Formal and Informal Options," (PDF) in Negotiation Journal, April, 1990, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 161-172.
"The Ombudsman's Role in a Dispute Resolution System," (PDF) Negotiation Journal, October, 1991, Vol. 7, No. 4, pp. 353-361.
"Options and Choice for Conflict Resolution in the Workplace" (PDF) in Negotiation: Strategies for Mutual Gain, by Lavinia Hall, ed., Sage Publications, Inc., 1993, pp. 105-119.
"The Post-Tailhook Navy Designs an Integrated Dispute Resolution System," (PDF) Negotiation Journal, Vol. 9, No. 3, July 1993, pp. 203-213.
"Specifications for an Effective Integrated Complaint System," (PDF) in Sexual Harassment on Campus, Robert Shoop et al, editors, Simon and Schuster, 1996.
"Dealing with Harassment: A Systems Approach," (PDF) in Sexual Harassment: Perspectives, Frontiers, and Response Strategies, Women & Work, Vol. 5, Margaret Stockdale, editor, Sage Publications, 1996, pp. 241-271.
"Dispute Resolution in the Non-union Environment: An Evolution Toward Integrated Systems for Conflict Management?" (PDF) in Sandra Gleason, editor, Workplace Dispute Resolution, Michigan State University Press, 1997.
“Designing Integrated Conflict Management Systems,” with the SPIDR Track One Committee, published by the Institute on Conflict Resolution, Cornell University Press, 2001.
Analyzing your Complaint System – a Diagnostic (PDF)
Analyzing your Complaint System — a Representative Table (PDF)
“Organizational Systems for Dealing with Conflict & Learning from Conflict—an Introduction;” “Systems for Dealing with Conflict and Learning from Conflict—Options for Complaint-Handling: an Illustrative Case;” “An Organizational Ombuds Office In a System for Dealing with Conflict and Learning from Conflict, or ‘Conflict Management System’;” A Supplemental Chart “Analyzing Your Conflict Management System,” in a series of six articles with Brian Bloch and David Miller, Harvard Negotiation Law Review, 2009. (citation for on-line articles)

3. Some Specific Topics in Organizational Ombuds Practice

"What Actually Works? The One-to-one Approach," (PDF) in Pearson, Carol S. and Donna L. Shavlik and Judith G. Touchton, Educating the Majority, ACE-Macmillan Publishing Co., 1989, pp. 375-384.
"Should an Ombudsman Testify?" in Alternative Dispute Resolution News, BNA, June, 1989, Vol. 3, pp. 222-223.
"Helping People Help Themselves: an Option for Complaint Handlers," (PDF) Negotiation Journal, July, 1990, Vol. 6, No. 3, pp. 239-248.
"Ombudsman Dilemmas: Confidentiality, Neutrality, Testifying, Record-Keeping," with Mary Simon and Ann Bensinger, Proceedings of the Annual Conference of SPIDR, 1989, SPIDR, 1990, pp. 282-293. Also reprinted in Journal of Health and Human Resources Administration, Winter 1993, pp. 329-340.
“Fostering Diversity, Some Major Hurdles Remain," CHANGE Magazine, March/April 1993, pp. 35-39.
"People With Delusions or Quasi-Delusions Who ‘Won't Let Go’," (PDF) Journal of the University and College Ombuds Association, Occasional Paper, Number 1, Fall, 1994.
"Options, Functions, and Skills: What the Organizational Ombudsperson Might Want to Know," (PDF) Negotiation Journal, April 1995, Vol. 11, No. 2, pp. 103-114, also reprinted by The Ombudsman Association, 1995.
“Helping bystanders take responsibility for diversity,” with Maureen Scully and Laura Moorehead, Cultural Diversity at Work, The GilDeane Group, Inc.,Vol. 10:6, July, 1998, p. 14.
“Dealing with the Fear of Violence, What an Organizational Ombudsman Might Want to Know” (PDF) with Linda Wilcox, The Ombudsman Association, 2000.
“Workplace Justice, Zero Tolerance and Zero Barriers: Getting People to Come Forward in Conflict Management Systems,” (PDF) with Corinne Bendersky, in Negotiations and Change, From the Workplace to Society, Thomas Kochan and Richard Locke (editors), Cornell University Press, 2002.
“Notes on Complaint-Handling for Managers,” (PDF) compiled for 15.667, 2002.
“Dealing with—or Reporting—Unacceptable Behavior” (PDF) with Linda Wilcox (HMS) and Howard Gadlin (NIH), the Journal of the International Ombudsman Association, Winter 2009, 2(1).
“Bystander Training within Organizations,” (PDF) the Journal of the International Ombudsman Association, Winter 2009, 2(1).
“Concerns about Bullying at Work As Heard by Organizational Ombudsmen,” (PDF) with Lydia Cummings, in Labor and Employee Relations, September 2010.
“What Happens to Confidentiality if a Visitor Refuses to Report Unacceptable Behavior?” (PDF) in Journal of the International Ombudsman Association, Fall 2011, 4(2), pp. 40-43.
(Please also see many advisories, including “Drafting a Letter —and perhaps sending—a Private Letter to Someone who has Harassed or Offended You,” (PDF) and “Keeping Notes—Writing a Diary” (PDF) listed under SELF-HELP on the website)

4. The Organizational Ombudsman Profession

"The Ombudsman as an Ounce of Prevention," with John Reddy, in Industry, Vol. 51, No. 3, (March, 1987), pp. 42-44.
"The Corporate Ombudsman: An Overview and Analysis," (PDF) in Negotiation Journal, Vol. 3, No. 2, (April, 1987), pp. 127-140.
The Corporate Ombudsman Handbook, first (draft) edition, with James Hendry and others as co-editors, May, 1987
"Corporate Ombudsman," with James T. Ziegenfuss, Lee Robbins and Robert Munzenrider, in Personnel Journal, March, 1989, pp. 76-79.
"Corporate Ombudsmen: Functions, Caseloads, Successes and Problems," with James T. Ziegenfuss, a 1989 survey of 55 corporate ombudsmen Journal of Health and Human Resources Administration, Vol. 15, No. 3, Winter 1993, pp. 261-280.
"An Overview of Client and Internal Ombudsmen," Journal of Health and Human Resources Administration, Vol. 15, No. 3, Winter, 1993, pp. 259-260.
“What is it like to be an Organizational Ombudsperson?” for the 50th year celebration Journal of the IRRA, Perspectives on Work, Vol. 1, no. 2, 1998.
"The Organizational Ombuds," (PDF) with Wilbur Hicks, from the Research Book for Managing Employment Disputes, CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution, Inc., 2004
“The Organizational Ombudsman,” with Yoshiko Takahashi, in The Japanese Journal of Labour Studies, Vol. 48, January 2006, No. 1, pp. 46-56.

5. Effectiveness and Usefulness of Organizational Ombudsmen

The Corporate Ombudsman Handbook, first (draft) edition, with James Hendry and others as co-editors, May, 1987; and "Corporate Ombudsmen: An Exploratory National Survey of Purposes and Activities," and "Cost-Effectiveness of Ombudsman Offices" with James T. Ziegenfuss and Lee Robbins, May, 1988; both reports distributed to the Corporate Ombudsman Association.
"Organizational Response to Assessed Risk," in the Program Record of the 1988 IEEE Electro 1988 Conference, Risk Assessment and Response, IEEE, 1988.
"Cost-Effectiveness of Ombudsman Offices," with Anthony Perneski, in the Corporate Ombudsman Newsletter, May, 1990.
"Corporate Ombudsmen: Functions, Caseloads, Successes and Problems," with James T. Ziegenfuss, a 1989 survey of 55 corporate ombudsmen Journal of Health and Human Resources Administration, Vol. 15, No. 3, Winter 1993, pp. 261-280.
"Perspectives on Costs and Cost Effectiveness of Ombudsman Programs in Four Fields," with James T. Ziegenfuss, Gary Hall, Anthony Perneski and Marshall Lux (an analysis of five types of ombudsman offices), Journal of Health and Human Resources Administration, Vol. 15, No. 3, Winter 1993, pp. 281-312.
“Effectiveness of Organizational Ombudsmen, ” (PDF) with Mary Simon, in The Ombudsman Association Handbook, Chapter IV, The Ombudsman Association, Hillsborough, NJ, 2001, pp. 4-01 to 4-22. 2001 update dated April 2002.
“Identifying and Communicating the Usefulness of Organizational Ombuds, With Ideas about OO Effectiveness and Cost-Effectiveness” (PDF) in the Journal of the International Ombudsman Association, Winter 2010, 3(1).

6. Micro-inequities, Micro-affirmations; the Minutiae of Discrimination

"Saturn's Rings," a study of the minutiae of sexism which maintain discrimination and inhibit affirmative action results in corporations and non-profit institutions; published in Graduate and Professional Education of Women, American Association of University Women, 1974, pp. 1-9. "Saturn's Rings II" is a 1975 updating of the original, with racist and sexist incidents from 1974 and 1975. An excerpt appears in the Harvard Medical Alumni Bulletin, Volume 50, No. 1 (Sept./Oct. 1975), pp. 14-18. A more complete version appears in Bourne, Patricia and Velma Parness, eds., Proceedings of the NSF Conference on Women's Leadership and Authority, University of California, Santa Cruz, California, 1977, also reprinted in Comment, Vol. 10, No 3 (March 1978), p. 3.
The “Saturns Rings” papers were revised and republished as "The Minutiae of Discrimination: The Need for Support," (PDF) in Forisha, Barbara and Barbara Goldman, Outsiders on the Inside, Women in Organizations, Prentice-Hall, Inc., New Jersey, 1981, Ch. 11, pp. 155-171.
"The Case of the Valuable Vendors, Subtle Discrimination as a Management Problem," Harvard Business Review, Vol. 56, No. 5, (Sept.-Oct., 1978), also reprinted in Dealing With Conflict, Harvard Business Review, Harvard Business School, 1983, pp. 167-173.
"Dealing With Sexual Harassment," Harvard Business Review, Vol. 59, No. 3, (May-June, 1981).
"Barriers to Equality: the Power of Subtle Discrimination," (PDF) The Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, June, 1990, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 153-163; also reprinted in Mappes, Thomas A. and Jane S. Zambaty, eds., Social Ethics, 4th edition, McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1991.
"The Case of the Hidden Harassment," (Comment) in Harvard Business Review, March-April, 1992, p. 7.
“Micro-affirmations & Micro-inequities,” (PDF) Journal of the International Ombudsman Association, March 2008, 1(1).

7. MIT Articles and Materials

Harassment at MIT: Think Prevention (PDF) , appeared in the MIT Faculty Newsletter, Vol. II No. 1, October 1989
Conflicts of Interest Arising from Personal Relationships (PDF) , appeared in the MIT Faculty Newsletter, Vol. X No. 1, September 1997
Cumulative Effects of Apparently Small Events (PDF), appeared in the MIT Faculty Newsletter, Vol. XIV No. 4, 2002.
Requests for Personal Work May Pose a Conflict of Interest (PDF), appeared in the MIT Faculty Newsletter, Vol. XV No. 4, February/March 2003
Negotiation and Conflict Management (15.667), Sloan School of Management