Conflict Management Styles - Research Paper Example

Table of Contents TABLE OF FIGURES 3 Figure 7: Results from ROCI-II, Form C.......................................................................................22 3 TABLE OF FIGURES Figure 1: Two-dimensional model of strategic intentions............................................................14 Figure 2: Conflicting management styles......................................................................................16 Figure 3: Participation rate by age groups.....................................................................................20 Figure 4: participation rate by gender............................................................................................21 Figure 5: Education of the participants..........................................................................................21 Figure 6: Working experience of the participants..........................................................................22 Figure 7: Results from ROCI-II, Form C.......................................................................................22 ABSTRACT Thestudyobjective is to discusscausesassociated with organizational and interpersonal conflictsand to identifythemostcommonmanagementstylesused by employees from two middle-sizedcompanieslocated in Warsaw, thecapitalcity of the Republic of Poland. Thisstudys nature is bothdescriptiveand quantitative. This is thereasonitwascarried out via a questionnaire, the Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory – II (ROCI -II), authored by Afzalur Rahim in 1984. I opted to use a questionnairebecausequestionnaires are superiorinstruments as compared to otherinstrumentsused in conflictmanagementanalysis (Thomas and Kilmann, 1978:Rahim,2001) Theresultsshown by thestudyconcludethat two polishcompanies under studyutilize five styles of conflictmanagement in their research, butthecollaboratingstyleseems to be themostprominentone. The Avoidance style is theleastappliedstyle in bothcompanies. 1.1 INTRODUCTION Conflict is unavoidable amongst humans. Asexplained by Rahim, Magner and Shapiro (2000), conflict at the workplace is because of a misunderstandingresulting from dissimilarthoughts, feelingsandvalues between amongst personsworkingforthesameorganization. Moreoften than not, itthemajority of theorganizationsaresusceptible to conflictsand clinical settings are noexception (Pavlakis et al., 2011). Outcomes of these conflicts affect individuals and organizations to a certain degree. The level of theimpactusually depends on an individual’s level of involvement in the particular conflicting issue. Whether the outcome of the conflict becomes negative or positive, it will largely depend on themanagement of the interpersonal conflict (Park and Antonioni, 2007). Empirical research done earlier in the field suggests that a proper conflict management strategy curtail the depressing impacts of conflicts on individuals and organizations. In addition, it has been confirmed that effective strategies can help create a trust worthy environment and a healthy workplace that might improvebothjobsatisfaction, staffretentionandmost of all, the interpersonal relationship (Rahim, 2001; Baltimore, 2006). This study seeks to analyse and expose the types of causes associated with organizational and interpersonal conflicts, as well as different aspects of organizational conflict management. Along side that, this study will also focus on various organizational conflicts management strategies, and there by try to illuminate the positive and negative outcomes (ifany) when implementing such strategies. This study also intends to inquire into the specific reasons why particular conflict management styles are better than others. The analysis and possible conclusions will be interlinked and discussed in relation to relevant scholarly literature. 1.2 Aims and objectives This research strives to fulfil the following aims and objectives: To do an in-depth analysis of causes associated with organizational and interpersonal conflicts. To examine arising conflicts within organizations, highlight various organizational conflict levels and investigate different organizational conflict management strategies, (and briefly focus on highlighting the positive and negative (if any) outcomes of implementing such strategies). To outline how particular causes, such as emotions might impact the choice of a specific conflict management style, and whether it is possible to turn conflicts into something advantageous for organizations. 1.3 Research questions The research questions for this studyare in line with the research aims and objectives. I formulated the questions in order to guide and simplify the research work further: Q1: What are the most common causes for interpersonal, as well as organizational conflicts, according to scholarly literature within the area of conflict management? Q2: What are the most common strategies when managing organisational conflicts and what are the positive and negative impacts of implementing such strategies? Q3: How do causes associated with conflicts impact the choice of conflict management styles in organizations? Q4: Can conflicts turn into beneficial tools for an organization? 2. 1. METHODOLOGY The mainaim of the sample used in the study is to identify five-conflict management styles present in the Dual Concern Model of Rahim e Bonoma (1979) is mostly used by employees from the two middle-sized companies located in Warsaw, the capital of Poland. 2.1.1. Type of the study The study is in nature descriptive due to goal to collect in formation regarding the most common conflict management styles. Data collected is from co-workers from two middle-sizedcompanieslocated in Warsaw,Republic of Poland. 2. 1. 2. Population The selected participants for the sample of this study were employees from 2 medium-size companies located in the capital of Poland, Warsaw. The participants were willing to take part in the research. 2. 1. 3. Data collection instrument and procedures The instrument for the data collection used in this research was the Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory – II (ROCI-II), created in 1983 by the author Afzalur Rahim. This sample used Form C of the questionnaire, aimed in the identification of the most common conflict management styles used by peers. The questionnaire has 28 questions (see appendix), which is intended to measure the following five conflict management styles: Avoiding; Accommodating; Collaborating; Competing; Compromising. The scale used to measure the above-referred management styles was the 5-point Likert-type scale. 1 strongly disagree 2 disagree 3 neutral 4 agree 5 Strongly agree. I selected the data collection instrument used in this sample because several scholars suggest that it was the most efficient in comparison to other instruments used for this kind of study (Thomas and Kilmann, 1978; Rahim 2001). The issue of consent is clearly important when performing a study such as this. Therefore, the participants signed a consent form and then completed the questionnaire anonymously. Although given the ability to be anonymous, the participants filled in demographic information such as; gender, age, education and work experience. In order to collect the data, were delivered 45 questionnaires to the company A and 40 to the company B. After 3 days, were collected 56 completely filled questionnaires, 32 from company A and 24 from company B. 3.1 LITERATURE REVIEW The area of conflict management is becoming more and more important within many organizations and several researchers are giving the topic-increased attention (Thomas 1992; Blake and Mouton 1997; Rahim 2001). Conflicts have always been part of the world, the human relations and people regard them as inevitable elements within the societies and daily life. Within organizational conflictmanagement, there are manyscholars that are starting to pinpoint thatconflicts might alsobecome a vitalfactor that may result in importantchanges, and at somepointevenbecomeadvantageousfororganizations (Thomas 1992; De Dreu, Harinck, &Van Vianen 1999). However, in order to becoming a positivefactorfororganizations, one has to examinewhyconflictsoccurand be aware of how to handle them (Rahim 2001). 3.2 Definition of conflict There is nosingledefinition of theterm. Thesamecaseapplieswhentrying to definewhat a conflict is because a conflict might occur in manydifferentsituations. It may occur between different types of people, and, therefore, different people might choose to define conflict in different ways.However, according to Oxford Dictionaries (nd), a conflict is “a gravedisagreementorargument, typically a protracted one." Academicliteraturedescribesconflict in a similarmanner as in the Oxford dictionary. Robbins (2002 pp. 373-374) cited in Mcintyre (2007 pp. 297-298), describesaconflict as “a processthatonsetswhen one partyperceivesanother to have negatively affected something thatthefirstpartycares about”. Anotherliterature highlights thatpeople cannot regardconflicts as stationary; they are courses of actionandportrayed by a sequence of events (Thomas, 1992).These events usually happen between two parties, with eachhaving its ownlogic, experiencesandbehavior (Thomas, 1992). 3.3 Conflict and communication Conflict is a normal phenomenon in any organisation, so internal communication is equally important as external communication (Argandona 2003). Traditionally, peoplebelievedthatconflictsdestroyedtheauthority of themanagers, but within theinception of newmanagementstylesandbusinessframework, conflicts in organisations havepositiveimpacts. Scholarsattachbothconflictmanagementand organisational communication to one another by one string; which is the human resource. Human relations cannot be developed and maintained without effective communication (Argyris 2000). However, conflict can arise due to many reasons. The absence of organisational communication can be a reason to the existence of conflict or the absence of conflict. If communication is done in an organised manner, workers may follow instructions correctly and thus everything will flow in an expected manner. However, the existence of organisational communication can bring conflict since the information given out may be not agreed by the workers. Organisational communication involves transferring information within the organisation in an organised manner. For example information flows in a hierarchical manner. There are many factors, which prevent employees from communicating openly with the customers. Vertical conflicts arise when the superiors impose their decisions on the employees. Suchconflictsarisewhenthe organisational structure is vertical. Horizontal conflictsarise between employees in thesamedepartment. According to Bauer and Erdogan (2013) “,anything that causes a disagreement can be a cause of conflict." Conflictsarise between lineemployeesandthesupportstaffs within thedepartments of an organisation. Roleconflict is alsodue to misunderstandings. Communication has thecapability to createnegative, as well as positive relationship between the individuals and the departments (Argyris 2000). The organisation members should interact, which would reapositive, productive results by eliminating several forms of conflicts. Conflictis embedded within the everyday activities of an organisation, however, learning how to manage them in an effective way is a function that the communication has. 3.4 Potential root causes Several researchers havebeeninvestigatingwhyconflictstend to occur within organizations andthis is thegreatestpoint of interest in thisresearchproposal. Conflictmanagement within organizationsand pinpointing its rootcauses is becomingmoreandmoresignificant, mainlybecausemost of theactors in themarket are multinational companies, whorecruitemployees from diverse ethnic andculturalbackgrounds. Thus, in workplaces whereemployeeshavedifferentbackgrounds, conflictshaveshown to occurmoreeasily (Tonder, Havenga and Visagie 2008). Therefore, one might arguethatdiversity of culturalbackground within an organization might be one reason that may increasethe level of conflicts. However, it has beendemonstratedthatthediversity of culturalbackgrounds is not theonlycause of conflict in workplaces, since every organisation has its own “culture”; way of working, dresscode, routines, among others, which usuallyalso is a blend of both positives andnegatives. Hence, regardless of their background, theemployeeshave to adjust to thebasicroutinesandrules of thecompany (Tonder, Havenga and Visagie 2008). Inreview of theabovediscussion, thequestionthatarises is on whatotherreasons might increasethe level of theconflicts in organisations. Someacademic highlights thatconflictsarise on personalgrounds, whenthekeyresponsibilities of an individualdo not match with his/ her expertise, orconflict may arisewhenthetoughprocess of theteammembersare not streamlined. Other researchers believethatconflictsmainlyoriginate from theincompatibility between peopleandthedifferentobjectivesthattheyhave (Robbins 1983). According to Jung (2003), however, conflict is deeplyassociated with power, andhebelievesthatconflicts within organizations can emergewhentheobjective of theorganization is not accomplished, which also is anotherinterestingpoint of view. Whatmanyotherscholarsunderline is thatconflicts might derive from something as simple as differentsets of personalvaluesandgoals. Andthatthey are alsooftenlinked to thepersonality, functional interdependency, reasons of autonomyandstatus of the conflicting parties (Rahim 2001; Pondy 1966). Asthissection has demonstrated, thepotentialcausesfor an arisingconflict might varygreatly depending on thecontext, andthatscholarswish to explain its existence within organizationsdifferently. Overall, previousresearchtells us thatconflicts are mostcommonly interlinked with: Organizational structures, introduction of new management techniques, power relations, competition for supremacy. Different personal values and goals, diverse backgrounds, different personal character, differentiated opinions over priorities and routines Emotions, state of mind, sensitivity, communication problems. 3.5 Conflicts within organizations According to Pondy (1967), conflicts in organizations are unavoidable and considered inevitable. Managers or leaders often consider organizational conflicts as a natural phenomenon that exist in every organization and that we should not link conflicts with bad management (Pondy 1969). However, other scholars hold other views of this matter. For instance, March and Simon (in Rahim 2001) argue that an organizational conflict is, in fact, a collapse in the pattern of the management method within organizations, and that individuals or groups do not really have the choice of avoiding conflict but the conflicts take place anyway. Conflicts in organizations are a great hindrance to employee performance and due to this fact; conflict management in relation to organization performance has attracted a considerable amount of attention from many researchers. In addition, previous research within the area pinpoints and interlinks high conflict rates to poor organizational performance (Desivilya and Yagil 2005). However, it is significant to note that different studies have tried to seek various solutions to these conflicts. Olaniran (2010) argues, for instance, that most organizational conflicts are group related. He also underlines that not only do institutional factors contribute to organizational conflicts, but that personal factors also play a significant role within these types of conflicts (Olaniran 2010). According to Cinar and Kaban (2012), conflict situations deteriorate the task-authority-responsibility relation, which triggers a chaotic environment in the organization. This calls for the need of an effective organizational conflict management framework, and using such conflict management strategies that might turn conflicts into benefits for an organization. Conflict management is incredibly significant, specifically within organizations. Overall, organizational conflict management tends to involve a procedure that covers the following steps; the identification of the conflicting issue, assessment of its intensity, evaluation of its extent of impact, formulation of appropriate intervention method and observation of the outcomes. However, it is significant to underline that the choice of a certain strategy might impact whether an organization is able to turn arising conflicts into advantages instead (Freedman 2010), which is of relevance for this research study. 3.6 Organisational conflict levels According to Rahim (2001), hecategorizes organizational conflicts as intra organizational conflicts (friction within an organization) and inter-organizational conflict (friction between two ormoreorganizations). An intra-organizational conflict may occur among departments, among groups of employeesandindividuals. Rahim (2001) statesthat an intra-organizational conflict, which is an essentialconceptforthisstudy, can be defined into four basicstages; interpersonal, intrapersonal, intergroup and intragroup conflict; 1. The interpersonal conflict or dyadic conflict applies to a conflict in between two or more members from an organization. 2. The intrapersonal conflict also defined as an intra-psychic conflict that occurs when there is inconsistency in the ideas, attitudes, emotions and values of an organizational member. 3. The intragroup conflict or intradepartmental conflict is a term that refers to conflicts amongst group members or between two or more parties within a group. 4. The intergroup conflict refers to conflict in between two or more groups within an organization. This type of conflict is also known as interdepartmental conflict (Rahim 2001). The above discussion reveals that incompatibilities may be caused through three different sources such as, individual, groups or organisational, but they can also be classified into two levels that are intra-level conflict and inter-level conflict (Rahim 2001). 3.7 Positive and negative aspects of conflict Several scholars argue that conflict is the engine of socialdevelopment. Its effects are positive, whenever properly managed in order to achieve satisfactory cooperation solutions for the benefit of all parties involved in the conflict (Thomas 1992; Rahim, Garret and Buntzman 1992; Rahim 2001; Yasmi, Guernier and Colfer 2009). Thomas 1992 argues that a few organizational conflicts do not need a solution butrequires stabilization. According to the author, these kind of conflict, that consider important and functional for the organizations, is better to manage instead of eliminate or reduce. According to various scholars, positive and negative approaches to conflict resolution can result in the following: a. Positive aspects: fortify relations, develop creativity and increase motivation, increase staff engagement, cooperation among workers and allow identifying ignored problems (Robbins 1992; Rahim 2001; Castro and Nielson, 2001). b. Negative aspects: distance staff members, decrease worker’s creativity, create stress and dissatisfaction, create anger and violence and decrease the level of communication (Robbins 1992; Rahim 2001; Castro and Nielson, 2001). Emerging facts support that under controlled conditions, conflict can be positive for organizations. 3.8.1 Conflict management methods and their outcomes Emotional state of a person plays a key role in determining conflict management preferences mainly at the intergroup level. According to Desivilya and Yagil (2005), emotions and personal problems are important factors that may have an impact on organizational conflicts in various ways, and in order to solve these types of arising conflicts, they believe that employees could benefit from learning emotional management strategies (Desivilyaand Yagil 2005). Briefly described, Desivilyaand Yagil (2005) states that by using emotional management strategies, it may overcome individual’s preferences in solving conflicts, as well as highlighting team members’ perceptions of conflict experiences, which are additional reasons for not being able to solve a conflict. Thus, proper emotional management would contribute to improving organizational performance as well as gaining better results (Posthuma 2011). Research points out that effective conflict resolution within in an organization improves the overall performance. There is a positive relationship in between innovative behavior and the work on conflict management. Moreover, previous research done in relation to specific conflicts resolution strategies also demonstrates that there is a large variety of models as well as methods to investigate these strategies, and that different scholars have chosen to work according to different ones. The table below summarizes various models that earlier scholars within the field of conflict management have used. Figure 1: Two-dimensional models of strategic intentions Source: (Thomas 1992 in Alakavuklar 2007) 3.8.2 The dual concern model Asignificanttheoreticalmodelcommonlyused within conflictmanagement is thedualconcernmodel of conflictresolution, which explainstheoccurrences of conflicts based on whether a persononlyworries about his ownoutcomeorwhether a person has theconcernforotherpeople’s outcomes. Thismodel has its reference in Blake and Mouton’s (1964) workandthetheory of competitionandcooperation of Deutch (1973). Theapproach of Thomas and Rahim are analogous (Caiand Frink 2002). Thedualconcernmodel highlights five variants of conflictmanagementstylesthatindividuals may use. Collaborating (or integrating) conflict style; a person adopting this conflict style demonstrates a high concern for one’s self as well as others. Thisstyledemonstratesthewillingness to addresscontrastingopinions constructively, to shareinformationopenly, and to pursuemutuallyacceptablesolutions. According to Friedman et al. (2000), adoptingthisstylereducesrelationshipconflict as well as taskconflictand is perfectlysuitablefordealing with complexsituations (Rahim, 2002; Thomas, 1992). Obliging (accommodating) conflictstyle: A personadoptingthisstyle has lowconcernfor his ownneedsandahighconcernforotherpeople’s needs. Thisstyledemonstratestheapproach of protectingandmaintainingrelationships by safeguarding theinterests of other, therebycompromising with theindividual’s ownconcerns (Rahim, 1986; Thomas, 1992). Dominating (competitive) conflict style: also sometimes identified as a win-lose strategy that utilizes forceful tactics in situations that requires speedy decision-making. Apersonwhomakesuse of thisstyledoes everything to winorachieve his or her goalsand as a result, frequentlyignoresexpectation of therest. If a managermakesuse of thisstyle, heorshe is abusingpower on his/her subordinatesandforces their obedience. (Rahim, 1986; Thomas, 1992). Avoidingconflictstyle: Avoiding styleshows a person with littleconcernforone’s self as well as theneedsand expectations of others. Thepersonadoptingthisstyletends to withdraw from conflictissues, therebycreatingsituations that might haveharmfuloutcomes on theindividual as well as theorganization (Rahim, 1986; Thomas, 1992). Compromisingconflictstyle: Lastly, wecharacterizecompromisingstyle by a moderate level of concernforone’s ownself as well as others. Thisstyletakesplacewhenthe two parties are equalandintent to decreasethedifferences, orwhenpeopleneed to reach a temporaryresolution without timepressure. However, thisstyle is inappropriate as far as identifyingrealandcomplexproblems is concerned (Rahim, 1986; Thomas, 1992). In thisstudy, Iintend to usethese five dimensions of conflictmanagementstylesasthefoundationwhilecollectingprimary data. In order to makespecificconclusionswhethercertaincauses, such as emotions, might affectthechoice of aconflictresolutionstrategy, as well as whetherone can turnconflict into an advantageinstead of a disadvantage (Chan, Sit and Lau 2013). Therationale behind thechoice is thefactthemostpopular conceptual framework of conflictmanagement (Brewer, Mitchell and Weber, 2002). Figure 2: Conflict management styles(Source: Ozkalp, Sungur and Ozdemir, 2009) 3.8.3 Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory-II (ROCI-II) Brusko (2010) argues that one useful data collection method to manage organizational conflicts is the Rahim model that incorporates a scale known as the Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory-II (ROCI II). The ROCI–II was invented in order to “measure five independent dimensions of the styles of handling interpersonal conflict with superior, subordinates, and peers: integrating, obliging, dominating, avoiding, and compromising” (Rahim 2001, pp. 35). By using three different forms that corresponds to each category mentioned above (superior, subordinate and peers), the ROCI-II method uses self-reports from the organizational members in order to find out how interpersonal conflicts are handled within each category. The five conflict resolution styles are measured by using a scale where a specific number of statements corresponds to each management style; seven (integrating), six (obliging), five (dominating), four (avoiding) and three (compromising) statements. The participant then uses a 5-point Likert scale to answer every statement individually. Consequently, a higher score symbolizes that a specific conflict style has a higher usage. If properly managed, conflicts can actually lead to creativity, development, modifications, structural changes and generation of healthy working climate in organizations rather than being destructive. Thus, assessment of the reasons that give rise to conflicts is of paramount importance. Without this, we can never formulate and implement a perfect strategy (Rahim, 2002).Desivilyaand Yagil (2005) highlighted that personal and emotional problems are critical factors that may have an impact over organizational conflicts in numerous ways. In such contexts, imparting knowledge regarding emotional management strategies to employees can bring down the rate of occurrences of conflicts. Implementing a generalized strategy may help overcome individual’s preferences in solving conflicts, thereby emphasizing on group members’ perceptions about rationally solving conflict issues. According to Ozkalp, Sungur and Ozdemir (2009 pp. 431), “conflict is an inevitable condition in all cultures and organizations” and thus it is a crucial part when exploring potential causes for arising conflicts, as well as when understanding what type of conflict management approaches that leaders choose to implement within their organizations. Conflicts can be managed in different ways, which depends on concern for production as well as concern for people. 4. DATA ANALYSIS After collecting the questionnaires, I moved to the next step of analyzing the results found. I had to divide this section in to several sections to get clear picture. I divided in to data analysis from the demographic questionnaire, Working Experience, results from the Rahim organizational conflict inventory-ii, form C. 4.1 Data Analysis from the demographic questionnaire The participants were grouped according to age groups as can be seen in the Figure 3.The majority of the participants (52% = 29 participants) are between 30 to 40 years old, 27% are between 19 to 30 years old, 14% ( are between 41 to 50 and 7% are between 51 to 65 years old. Age Nr of participants % 19-30 15 27 31-40 29 52 41-50 8 14 51-65 4 7 Total 56 100 Figure 3 - Participation rate by age groups As shown in the Figure 4, 32 participants were female (57%) and 24 were male (43%). Figure 4 - Participation rate by gender As shown in Figure 4, the majority of the participants got a BA degree (52%=29 participants). Figure 5 – Education Working Experience As shown in the Figure 6, 59 % of the participants in this sample have up to 10 years of working experience in the two companies. Figure 6 – Working Experience Working Experience Nr of participants % Up to 10 years 33 59 Between 10 – 20 years 15 27 More than 20 years 8 14 Total 56 100 RESULTS FROM THE RAHIM ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICT INVENTORY-II, FORM C Figure 6 shows the results of the ROCI-II, Form C. The Collaborating style (in green) is the most prominent among employees of the companies A and B while dealing with interpersonal conflicts with their peers. A total 32% of participants (20% from Company A and 12% from Company B) use the Collaborating style from time to time. Figure 7 - Results from ROCI-II, Form C Conflict management styles TOTAL Avoiding Accommodating Collaborating Compromising Competing Company A 4 6 11 6 5 32 Company B 3 3 7 5 6 24 TOTAL (N) 7 9 18 11 11 56 TOTAL (%) 12 16 32 20 20 100 5. DISCUSSION In the study of causes and management of organizational conflicts in two companies located in the capital city of Poland, colleagues in both companies conflicted while communicating to each other due to the following reasons: Organizational structures, introduction of new management techniques, power relations, competition for supremacy. Different personal values and goals, diverse backgrounds, different personal character, differentiated opinions over priorities and routines Emotions, state of mind, sensitivity, communication problems. The study reveals that conflict within an organization when properly managed could have positive aspects. Conflicts can positively fortify relations, develop creativity and increase motivation, increase staff engagement, cooperation among workers and allow identifying ignored problems. When poorly managed, conflicts within an organization can distance staff members, decrease worker’s creativity, create stress and dissatisfaction, create anger and violence and decrease the level of communication. Collection of data in the study was through the Rahim Model that incorporates five independent dimensions (integrating, obliging, dominating, avoiding and compromising). The model self-reports data from the organizational members while trying to handle conflicts. The participants in the research from both companies participated willingly and 52% of them were between the age of 30 and 40, 27% were 19-30 years and 14% were between the ages of 51 and 65. Amongst the participants, 59% had an experience of up to 10 years, 27% had experiences of between 10 and 20 years and 14% had experiences of over 20 years. With the Rahim Model, I/were discovered that the most common conflict management styles applied in the two polish companies are the collaborating style at 32 present; competing style (20 present), compromising style (20 present), accommodating style (16 present) and the least applied style was the avoiding style with 12 present. While performing my research, the author of this study had the following limitations: Timing Work, Family Difficulties in getting participants and companies for the sample Adverse weather conditions Financial constraints Convincing power Any other person intending to perform a similar kind of research should at least use a larger sample (more than two companies) and utilize more than one conflict management model in order to find results that are more credible and reliable. Weather conditions should put in to consideration when a similar research is done. The author had to be late for interviews because of heavy storms. He could wait until the storms were over before he could continue with the research. At least the season should be studied well and the time for storms should be noted so that a better time for the research is designed. During the research, a lot of travelling was included. Since no one opted to provide refreshments or meals, the author had to deep his hand in to his own pocket to serve himself with refreshments and meals. If such a research should be done, then the author should prepare himself/herself with enough cash to support him/her with transportation and refreshment sectors. This is because this research is a tiresome one. Lastly, the author should be equipped with the knowledge to convince some people to participate in making the research a success. Some people proved to be difficult to convince in providing some information to the author. This proves that no one will always give information on good will. Some must disturb before giving out information. This should be put in to consideration when conducting a research of such a kind. 6. CONCLUSION This dissertation has argued that conflicts within an organization can be both beneficial and harmful to an organization. Conflicts within an organization when properly managed can fortify relations, develop creativity and increase motivation, increase staff engagement, cooperation among workers and allow identifying ignored problems. When poorly managed, conflicts within an organization can distance staff members, decrease worker’s creativity, create stress and dissatisfaction, create anger and violence and decrease the level of communication. It is nowpossible to statethatthebeststyleforconflictmanagement is thecollaboratingstyleandthatthemajorcauses of conflict within an organization is theintroduction of newmanagementtechniques, powerrelations, competitionforsupremacy, Different personalvaluesandgoals, diversebackgrounds, differentpersonalcharacterandemotionalstate of mind. Thelimitation of thefindingsincludethe data collected may onlyapply to the two companies under studyandthatcollecting data from theparticipantswasdifficult. Thenumber of willingparticipantswassmallandcollecting data from them wastimeconsuming. Furtherresearchregardingtherole of conflicts in an organization would be worthwhileifonlythe researcher expandsthenumber of companiesandparticipants in thestudy. The researcher should alsoutilizemoremodels in data collection in order to maketheresultsmorecredible. Bibliography Alakavuklar, O. N., 2007. Interpersonal Conflict Handling Styles: The Role of Ethical Approaches. Available at: http://www.academia.edu/813712/Interpersonal_conflict_handling_styles_The_role_of_ethical_approaches(Accessed 20 February 2014). Argandona, A., 2003. Fostering values in organizations. Journal of Business Ethics, 45 (1/2), pp. 15-28. Argyris, C., 2000. Breaking the Code of Change. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Baltimore, J., 2006. Nurse collegiality: fact or fiction? Nursing Management, vol. 37, no. 5, pp. 28-36. Brewer, N., Mitchell, P. and Weber, N., 2002. Gender role, organizational status, and conflict management styles. International Journal of Conflict Management, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 78-94. Brusko, L., 2010. A Survey of Conflict Management Strategies, Gender Roles, and Status in an Organizational Setting, Journal of Undergraduate Research XIII, pp. 2-6 Bauer, T.and Erdogan, B., 2013. Organizational Behavior, v. 1.0.Available at: http://www.academia.edu/813712/Interpersonal_conflict_handling_styles_The_role_of_ethical_approaches(Accessed 8 April 2014). Castro, A.P., Nielson, E. 2001. Indigenous people and co-management: implications for conflict management. Environmental Science and Policy 4, pp. 229-240. Cai, D. A. and Frink, E. L., 2002. Conflict Style Differences Between Individualists and Collectivists, Communication Monographs, Vol. 69, no. 1, pp. 67– 87 Chan, J. C. Y., Sit, E, N. M. and Lau, W. M., 2013. Conflict management styles, emotional intelligence and implicit theories of personality of nursing students: A cross-sectional study. Nurse Education Today, pp. 1-6. Cinar, F. and Kaban, A., 2012. Conflict management and visionary leadership: an application in hospital organizations. Procedia - Social and Behavioural Sciences, 58, pp. 197-206. Capra, F., 2002.Life and Leadership in Organizations: The Hidden Connections, Random House. Connecticut: Cengage Learning. Davis, M. H. and Kraus, L. A., 1997.Personality and empathic accuracy.Journal of Managerial Psychology, 23(2), pp. 118-134. De Dreu, C. K. W., Harinck, F., & Van Vianen, A. E. M. (1999).Conflict and performance in groups and organizations.In C. L. Cooper & I. T. Robertson (Eds.), International review of industrial and organizational psychology (Vol. 14, pp. 376 – 400). Chichester, UK: Wiley. Desivilya, H. S. and Eizen, D., 2005, ‘Conflict management in work teams: the role of social self-efficacy and group identification. International Journal of Conflict Management, vol. 16, no. 2, pp. 183-208. Desivilya, H. S. and Yagil, D., 2005. The role of emotions in conflict management: the case of work teams. International Journal of Conflict Management, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 55-69. Dolan, S. and Garcia, S., 2000.Managing by values in the next millennium: cultural redesign forstrategic organizational change.Canadian Journal of Economics, 34, pp. 18-35. Dolan, S., Garcia, S., Diegoli, S. and Auerbach, A., 2003. Organizational values as ‘attractors ofchaos’: an emerging cultural change to manage organizational complexity.Journal of Economics, D23, M14, 033. Freedman, J., 2010.The Business Case for Emotional Intelligence. Available at: (Accessed 16 March 2014). Friedman, R. A., Tidd, S. T., Currall, S. C. and Tsai, C. J., 2000. What goes around comes around: the impact of personal conflict style on work conflict and stress. International Journal of Conflict Management, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 32-55. Goleman, D., 1996.Emotional intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ. London: Bloomsbury. Goleman, D., 2004. What makes a leader? Harvard Business Review, 82(1), 82-92. Graham, P., 1998. Saying "no" to compromise; "yes" to integration.Journal of Business Ethics, 17, pp. 1007- 1013. Heris, S. and Branch, A., 2011. Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence and Conflict Management Strategies in Physical Education Experts of Tehran University.World Applied Sciences Journal 15 (11), pp. 1619-1622. Jung, S.,2003. The effects of organizational culture on conflict resolution in marketing.Journal of American Academy of Business. Vol. 3, pp. 242-46 March, J. G., & Simon, H. A. (1958).Organizations. New York: Wiley. Mcintyre, S. E., 2005. Como as pessoasgerem o conflitonasorganizações: Estratégiasindividuaisnegociais, AnálisePsicológica (2007), 2 (XXV), pp. 297-298 Mukherji, P. and Albon, D., 2009. Research Methods in Early Childhood: An Introductory Guide. London: SAGE. Olaniran, B. A., 2010, ‘Group communication and conflict management in an electronic medium’.International Journal of Conflict Management, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 44-69. Oxford Dictionaries, nd. Available at: (Accessed 4 December 2013). Ozkalp, E., Sungur, Z. and Ozdemir, A. A.,2009. Conflict management styles of Turkish managers.Journal of European Industrial Training, vol. 33, no. 5, pp. 419-438. Park, H. and Antonioni, D., 2007. Personality, reciprocity, and strength of conflict resolution strategy.Journal of Research in Personality, vol. 41, no.1, pp. 110-125. Pavlakis, A., Kaitelidou, D., Theodorou, M., Galanis, P., Sourtzi, P. and Siskou, O., 2011. Conflict management in public hospitals: the Cyprus case. International Nursing Review, vol. 58, no.2, pp. 242-248. Pondy, L. R., 1966.A systems theory of organizational conflict.Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 9, pp. 246-53. Pondy, L. R., 1967.Organizational conflict.Administrative Science Quarterly,12 (2). Pondy, L. R., 1969. Varieties of organizational conflict.Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 14, pp. 499-505. Posthuma, R. A. (2011), ‘Conflict management and performance outcomes’, International Journal of Conflict Management, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 108-110 Rahim, M. A. (1986).Referent role and styles of handling interpersonal conflict.The Journal of Social Psycho- logy, 126 (1), pp. 79-86. Rahim, M. A. , Garrett, J. E. and Buntzman, G. F., 1992. Ethics of managing interpersonal conflict in organizations.Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 11 (5-6), pp. 423-433 Rahim, M. A., 2001. Managing Conflict in Organizations, 3rd edition, pp. 7-24, 35-50. Rahim, M. A., 2002. Toward a theory of managing organizational conflict. The International Journal of Conflict Management, vol.13 no.3, pp. 206-235. Rahim, M. A., Magner, N. R. and Shapiro, D. L., 2000. Do justice perceptions influence styles of handling conflict with supervisor? What justice perceptions, precisely? International Journal of Conflict Management, vol. 11, no 1, pp. 9-31. Robbins, S. P. ,1983. Organizational Behavior.Prentice Hall.Englewood Cliffs. Robbins, S. P., 2002. Organizational Behavior, 10th edition, pp.33-374. Spaho, K., 2013. Organizational Communication and Conflict Management. [pdf] Available at: (Accessed 22 April2014). Thomas, K. W., 1992. Conflict and negotiation processes in organizations. In M. D. Dunnette, & L. M. Hough (Eds.), Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology, Vol. 3, 2nd edition, pp. 651-717. Thomas, K. W., &Killmann, R. H. 1974.Thomas- Kilmann conflict mode instrument. Tuxedo, NY: Xicomm Inc. Thomas, K. W., &Killmann, R. H. 1978.Comparison of four instruments measuring conflict behavior, Psychological Reports, V. 42 pp. 1139-1145, 1978 Tonder. V. C., Havenga, W. and Visagie, J., 2008. The Causes of Conflict in Public and Private Sector Organizations in South Africa, Vol.6, 4th edition, pp. 373-398. Yasmi.Y.,Guernier, J. and Colfer, C. J. P., 2009. Positive and negative aspects of forestry conflict: lessons from a decentralized forest management in Indonesia. International Forestry Review Vol.11(1).Available at: (Accessed 22 April 2014). Read More