EFFECT OF CONFLICT MANAGEMENT ON ORGANIZATONAL PRODUCTIVITY (A STUDY OF NAHCO)

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0   BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

The word 'conflict' is universal because today organizations are faced with vast array of conflicting situations.

Conflict is wide spread in human societies and runs through the whole organization both profit and non-profit making organization. It arises among members in an organization and even within the personality of an individual. Thus, conflict is one of the most difficult challenge a manager faces.

The American Heritage College Dictionary defines conflict as "a state of disharmony between incompatible or antithetical persons, ideals, or interest; a clash". A modern view of conflict is defined as follows: "conflict is a process in which one party perceives that its interest are being opposed or negatively affected by another party.

The use of the word perceived in the Second definition is a reminder that the source of a conflict can be real or imagined. Conflict can also mean that there is a difference in opinion or agreement between two parties or groups who are trying to achieve the same goal, causing one of the parties to feel that his or her efforts to achieve the goal is being hindered or .challenged by the other party. When disagreement is poorly dealt with, the outcome can be contention, creating a sense of psychological dissonance between people.

Conflicts occur due to the dynamic state of things today in organization and the society at large. In this way we could say that there is a growing recognition of the importance of conflict in organization. A recent survey that managers spends a considerable portion of their time dealing with conflict, and that conflict management has become increasingly important to their effectiveness most especially in the area of organizational productivity, therefore we can say that conflict is inevitable and important in human process.

In the earlier stage, conflict was viewed as evil and also linked with violence, destruction arid irrationality to re-engage it negative connotation by this definition "Conflict" is regarded as harmful and must be avoided.

To the "traditionalist" the absence of conflict in an organization is an evidence of success in status- quo interest, yet the existence of conflict in an organization shows that the degree of co-operation is generally present in a well-managed organization. Due to this, we could say that conflict is better off when it is managed than eliminated. In this way one agrees that with the growing realization, conflict has a number of benefits as well as costs.

Therefore it needs to be managed rather than eliminated. The various ideals about conflict, human relations argued that conflict is a natural and inevitable occurrence in all groups and organization and that conflict is a normal and natural consequence of human interaction :n organization settings, but they are complex and its occurs for many reasons. For example, internal stress coming from the person and overlapping with the job, incompatible expectations among workers, workers group and values etc. With these the human relations come out with the idea that conflict need not be evil, but rather has the potential to be a positive drive in determining organizational productivity, thus it is inevitable and unavoidable.

Organization in another Way is a principle of life. It meets many different kinds of man's emotional, spiritual and intellectual and economic needs. The major purpose of organizations are developed and designed by man to overcome his own limitations.

Organizations are grouped into two mainly:

1.   Formal organization

2.   Informal organization

Format organization is an organization that has a well defined structure that described it authority, power, accountability and responsibility.

Informal organization is an organization that is loosely organized, flexible and not well defined.

In organization, conflict often occurs between the supervisors and subordinate, supervisors in the same rank etc. However, the solution is objective and skilled at creating a climate in which the two parties can arrive jointly at a solution

1.1   STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The real challenge managers are facing today is the necessity of understanding and learning how to respond positively and creatively to conflict at the various levels and in the widely diverse areas found in the organization.

Conflict, if not properly managed can cause problem in job satisfaction and organizational commitment, thus, leading to an un-conducive atmosphere, strikes, labour disputes and unrest, distress on the part of the organization as well as hindering the realization of the organizational goals and objectives. The focus of the study will be on how to manage conflict effectively in order to avoid those problems

1.2   OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The major objective of this study is to investigate the effects of conflict management on organization productivity. Other objectives include:

1.   To examine the impact of conflict on organizational productivity

2.   To examine the nature of conflict on employee job commitment

3.   To find the means of managing conflict with the organization

4.   To examine the different types of conflict and its impacts on organizations

5.   To emphasized the relationship between conflict and the organizational productivity

6.   To examine the causes, sources and solution of conflict in business organization

1.3   RESEARCH QUESTIONS

For the purpose of this study the following research questions- were formulated to guide the study:

1.   How can conflict lead to organizational decline in productivity level?

2.   What are the general effects of conflict on organization performance?

3.   What bring about conflict in an organization?

4.   How can conflict be effectively managed in an organization in order to increase productivity?

1.4   RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

Hypothesis 1

H_O -   Conflict management does not have any significant effect on organizational productivity.

H_i -    Conflict management has significant effect on organizational productivity.

Hypothesis 2

H_O -   Implementation of conflict management policies does not have significant effect on productivity.

H_i -   Implementation of conflict management policies has significant effect on productivity.

Hypothesis 3

H_O -   Intelligent cooperation as a result of effective communication will not boost productivity

H_i -    Intelligent cooperation as a result of effective communication will boost productivity

1.5   SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The importance of the study is to look at the impact of conflict management in the organization. It is hope that the findings and recommendations would be useful to both public and private organizations. This study will help managers in exploring the benefits realization that conflict can bring to any organization, using NAHCO as a mirror.

1.6   SCOPE OF THE STUDY

A general survey has revealed that much attention has not been given to the impact of conflict on organizational productivity in this country and most especially managers, despite the fact that the effect of conflict is inevitable and universal in the society. However, this project aims at looking into these problems, most especially in large organizations and to see the achievement so far and also make: the necessary recommendation.

1.7   LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

There are some limitations faced by the researcher during the course of this study. Limited time and financial challenge were some of the limitation encounter by the researcher.

1.8   OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS

v Behaviour: This is the way a person responds to a situation or stimulus.

v Conflict: This is define as a disagreement between two or more organizational members or groups based on the fact that they need share resources or because they have different goals, values or perception.

v Communication: It is primarily a mechanical process, in which a message is constructed and encoded by a sender, transmitted through some channel, then receive and decoded by a receiver.

v Conflict management: This is a holistic approach to divergent orientation between both parties (employer and employees) as the case may be, with the objective of mitigating the effect of the conflict, preventing conflict from ensuring and to make the most of the opportunities offered by the same conflict.

v Management: The process of planning, organizing, leading and controlling the effort of an organization member and of using all other organizational resources to achieve stated organizational goals.

v Organization: This is define as a co-ordinate social unit, made up of two or more people that function on a relatively continuous basis to achieve a common goal.

v Organizational Productivity: This is the aggregate level at which all the resources in the corporate organization are being put to use; its measurement in real terms is the output level of all resources in the organization.

v Productivity: This can be defined as a measure of how effectively; all the factors of production have been put to use.

v Policy(ies): It is a predetermined, selected, course established as a guide towards accepted goals and objectives.

v Psychological Dissonance: This is an emotional instability or disorder, an unrest mindset or doubts.

v Role Conflict: This is defined as difficulties which an individual experiences in performing a particular role.

v Role Expectation: This is a situation in which other expects a person to act in a given period.

v Role Perception: This is defined as an individual's view of how he/she is expected to act in a given period.

v Role Identity: This is defined as certain attitudes and behaviors consistent with a role. 

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