Citation (IEEE): K. W. Thomas and R. H. Kilmann, Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument. Tuxedo, NY, USA: Xicom, 1974.
What it argues
A self-assessment that measures a person’s preferred approach to conflict along two dimensions, assertiveness and cooperativeness. It places people among five modes: competing, collaborating, compromising, avoiding and accommodating. Its premise is that every mode is useful in some situations, and that effectiveness comes from using the mode the situation requires rather than one’s habitual default.