Yet, this dynamic relationship between the individual negotiation and the organizational
context often escapes attention. Patterns are difficult to spot in the moment,
particularly if only examined at the time and by those involved in the interaction. People
often overestimate the significance of individual factors and underestimate the
importance of systemic factors as contributors to their problems, contexts, and concerns
(Sturm & Gadlin, 2007). These contextual variables are also difficult to alter within the
confines of a particular negotiation or conflict resolution process. They frequently inhere
in patterns and practices that are set in place before any particular negotiation and
remain once the negotiation ends. Even when the participants understand the institutional
factors creating predictable patterns of negotiated inequality, they frequently lack
the frameworks, roles, and mechanisms to change those patterns.