An Assessment of Conflict Management in an Organization

An Assessment of Conflict Management in an Organization

CHAPTER ONE

Objectives of Study

The main research objectives are given below:

1. To ascertain how conflict will be managed effectively.
2. To ascertain the major causes of conflict.
3. To assess the effect of organizational conflict on performance of employees..
4. To understand which leadership style is the most effective in addressing conflict.
5. To make recommendations for solution of problem of problem in the light of the findings of this study.

CHAPTER TWO

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

In every organization, conflict is inevitable. Conflicts occur between management and staff and between the different levels of management. Proper management is very important in all works of life, it accounts for good planning, organizing and directing of self, employees, machinery and stock in a company.

Eckhart (2004) posits that without good management of conflict, the organization will degenerate, make losses and may eventually close down. Conflicts in fact are inevitable in all organizations, they can be destructive and can sometimes do good to people. They (conflicts) need to be managed by the groups involved so that they do not escalate and yield some negative results. Conflict management deals with how to control or manage an existing conflict so that if does not escalate, thereby leading to chaos, crisis and war. At this, efforts are made to ensure that constructive conflicts do not degenerate and become destructive, in which case, they will be difficult to manage. Conflict resolution deals with settlement of conflict that may have already taken shape. It can be by reconciliation or alienation. Conflicts should be resolved before they get to the destruction phase. This research seeks to throw light on conflicts and its management for increased performance.

Conflict exists in the workplace as it does in many other parts of life. Most of industrial conflict is resolved in a spirit at cooperation between employees and employers.

Amaline (1998) defines industrial conflicts as disagreement between individuals or groups within the organization stemming from status, goals or culture.

Conceptual Framework

Conflict management must be viewed as a part of a larger process of ensuring that man lives in peace and in an orderly way, conflict should also be channelled towards positive effect in every human community. In the view of Fisher (2001) bringing about peace in a conflict situation is a process which involves different stages, the best and most crucial of which is conflict transformation. The stages are: Conflict Prevention, Conflict settlement, Conflict management, and Conflict resolution. And since conflict is inevitable in organizations and there is an extent to which conflicts become manageable, it then follows that the management of organizations should learn to manage and control conflicts effectively and timely too. In support to the above statement, Yusufu (2009) is of the view that if organizational conflicts are not properly managed, there will be low levels of performance, high labour turn over, absenteeism, damage to tools and losses in output due to the time it takes to get back to optimum level of production at the end of the conflict (strike). These sometimes make the difference between profits, loss or breakeven point so much and may lead to winding up of the company. Given the way conflict process operates, the goals of strategic managers should be to intervene as early as possible in the process such that conflict does not reach the “felt stage” and particularly, the manifest stage.

At the manifest stage, conflict is very difficult to resolve successfully and is much more likely to lead to a bad aftermath.

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CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research Design

In this quantitative study, primary data have been used for more reliable and authentic sources. The data were collected through questionnaires that had experience with conflict management in a construction industry. Participants were asked the same set of questions and were allowed to explain their answers by sharing their experiences, perceptions, opinions, and ideas. The questionnaire includes three parts i.e. causes of conflicts, effects of conflicts and conflict management techniques in which five point likert scale has been used for acquiring responses where, 1 represent strong disagreement, 5 signifies the strong agreement by the respondent & 3 stands for neither agree nor disagree..

Sample of Research

The study was conducted on all the employees of of Hartland Construction Nigeria Limiteds in the district of Multan. A total sample of 201 participants was contacted and scheduled face-to-face questionnaires, who agreed to fill out the questionnaire. So, primary data have been used for more reliable and authentic sources.

Estimation Techniques

Descriptive analysis, ratio analysis and factor analysis were the method by which the data was analyzed and organized. SPSS software was used to calculated and analyzed data through the percentage, frequency, mean, and standard deviation and variance tables and to check the relation between dependent and independent variables. A factor analysis was also used to compare the overall variance explained by the two statistical techniques. Ratio analysis from annual report is used to analyze performance of Hartland Construction Nigeria Limited This helped to give the standardized ratio which declared the study of research.

Proposed Model of Study

Proposed model of study was to investigate the major causes of conflict and access the effects of organizational conflict on performance and then how conflict will be managed effectively through conflict management strategies to make recommendations for the stated problem based on the finding’s from the study and gathering results in useful outcomes otherwise conflicts will remain unresolved if appropriate techniques were not managed properly according to the situation and time and same conflicts might be there in organization which can adversely affect the organizational performance.

CHAPTER FOUR

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Presentation of Data

This section presents the demographic characteristics of the respondents. Only four characteristics were treated, sex of respondents (gender), age distribution, marital status distribution and education / qualification. Percentages were used to further describe these features.

In table 1, the sex distribution of the respondents is such that of the 201 responds, 111 representing 55.2% of the respondents are males. 90 of the respondents are females representing 44.8%. This shows that majority of the respondents are males.

CHAPTER FIVE

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

Conclusions

From the findings the study concluded that the conflict management strategies are crucial for the attainment and achievement of organizational goals and objectives. In other words, if the management is not knowledgeable in conflict resolution strategies, it will affect the performance of organizations negatively but if conflict is constructively managed, it will enhance organizational performance.

From the data gathered an analyzed by the researcher and following the major research finding above, the researcher drew the following conclusions:

1. That management strategies adopted in handling Conflict will not be affected by differences in Educational Qualification of the respondents
2. That the causes of Conflict in an Organization will not have any difference whether it came from the male or female respondents.
3. That Conflict has an adverse effect on Organizational Performance.
4. That Poor Communication is a major cause of Conflict.
5. That low Morale is amongst the most ranked in the effects of Conflict.
6. That possible ways of handling Conflict situation in an Organization is by Constant dialogue.

 Recommendations

Although conflicts have both negative and positive effects, the management and the employees should work towards achieving the positive effects rather than the negative. According to Adomi and Anie (2005), managers should develop appropriate strategies to resolve conflicts as they arise in their organizations.In the light of the research findings and conclusions above, the researcher hereby recommends the following suggestions:

1. That Management must adopt Conflict Management strategies that will improve on the Performance of the Organization.
2. That management should ensure a free flow of communication between the management and the employee.
3. Management should encourage and promote interpersonal relationships among co-workers to improve on their morale
4. There is need for constant dialogue between management and the employees to clarify issues and exchange ideas.
5. Management should re-orient employees on the effect of conflict on organizational performance.
6. Group interaction and activities should be followed up so as to ensure a degree of functionality compatible to conflicts. Positive conflicts will only be possible if particularities of the organization are analyzed.
7. Efforts should be made by the management to organize seminars/workshops on organizational conflict management from time to time for the employees. This will enable employees learn about conflict and how it can be effectively managed for individual and organization effectiveness.
8. Finally, good leadership on the part of management and employee representatives can be a strategy for preventing conflicts.

References

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• Akpan, P.U. (2007). Commitment in Workplace: Theory and Application. Port Harcourt: Pan Unique Publisher.
• Awojo, A.C. (1997). Element of Management, Capic Publishers; Owerri.
• Baridam, D.M. (1999). Management and Organisational Theory. Port Harcourt: Pan Unique Publishers.
• Bassey, E.E. (2003). Modern Business Management System and Environmental Approach. Calabar, Wushen Publishers.
• Bateman, T.S and Snell S. A. (1998). Management: Building Competitive Advantage. New York: McGraw Hill.
• Bateman, T.S and Zeithaml, I.C. (1995). Management, Functions and Strategy. Boston:
• Oaktree Publishers.
• Budhwar, P.S and Yaw, D.A. ( 2001). Human Resource Management in Developing Countries. Delhi: Rout Ledge Publishing.

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