ABSTRACT
Sometimes, during the course of labour-management
relations, conflicts are inevitable. Infacts, some specialists are of the view
that conflict is an institutionalized aspect of industrial relation because it
brings about the much-needed co-operation at the end. Conflict is described as
antagonism between people-between managements and workers at workplace. It is
believed that conflict is better managed than eliminated within the growing
realization that a number of benefits are accruable as well as costs. The study
objectives includes the following; the examination of conflict on
organizational productivity; nature of conflict and employee job commitment and
means of managing conflict within an organization. The research hypothesis
includes; the significant relationship between conflict management and
organizational productivity; between implementation of conflict management
policies and organizational productivity and between intelligent cooperation
and organizational productivity. Survey research method was used and the
population size was (170) but (150) one hundred and fifty were returned,
analyzed and computer in the chapter 4 analysis of data, while the statistical
tool of Chi-square was used to analyse the hypotheses due forts significant.
The study was concluded, summarized and
recommendations were preferred at the end of the study for public and national
consumption as my contribution to extending the frontiers of knowledge
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
Title page
Certification
Dedication
Acknowledgement
Abstract
CHAPTER
ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.0 Background
of the study
1.1 Statement
of the problem
1.2 Objectives
of the study
1.3 Research
questions
1.4 Research
hypotheses
1.5 Significance
of the study 1.6 Scope of the study
1.7 Limitation
of the study
1.8 Operational
definition of terms
CHAPTER
TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0 Introduction
2.1 Various
views of conflict
2.1.1 Conflict Development
2.2 Types
of conflict
2.3 Sources
of organizational conflicts
2.3.1 Scarce resources
2.3.2 Task specialization
2.3.3 Personality clashes
2.3.4 Communication problems
2.3.5 Differences in style
2.3.6 Task dependency
2.3.7 Institutionalized
2.4 Effect of conflict
2.5 Managing
conflict in an organization
2.5.1 Structural approaches
2.5.2 Interpersonal approaches
2.6 Conflict
stimulation method
2.7 Conflict
resolution method
2.8 Brief
history of NAHCO
2.9 Vision
of NAHCO
CHAPTER
THREE
3.0 Research Methodology
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Research design
3.3 Population of the study
3.4 Sample and sampling techniques
3.5 Instrumentation
3.6 Validity & Reliability of the
instrument
3.7 Method of Data Collection
3.7.1 Questionnaires
3.7.2 Interview
method
3.7.3 Observation
3.7.4 Secondary
data
3.8 Sources
of data collection
3.8.1 Primary
source
3.8.2 Secondary
source
3.9 Method
of data analyses
CHAPTER
FOUR: DATA ANALYSES AND PRESENTATION
4.0 Introduction
4.1 Data
presentation
4.2 Presentation
and analysis of data
4.2.1.0 Conflict always has negative effect on
workers productivity
4.2.1.1 Irregular
promotion by management gives rise to conflict Job dissatisfaction lead to
conflict
4.2.1.2 Job
dissatisfaction lead to conflict
4.2.1.3 Poor
interdepartmental communication result in group conflict
4.2.1.4 Organization
decline in productivity is as a result of clashes among workers
4.2.1.5 Conflict
always result to new inventions on your organization
4.2.1.6 Conflict
always has negative consequences in your organization
4.2.1.7 Proper
delegation of authority and responsibility of management will reduce unit
conflict
4.2.1.8 Conflict
has increase labour turnover in an organization
4.2.1.9 Divergent
interest between the employer and employees is the cause of conflict in the
organization
4.2.2.0 Conflict
arises as a result of overlapping roles of members of organization
4.2.2.1 Mass
retrenchment had lead to conflict in organization
4.2.2.2 Disagreement
among workers had lead to conflict
4.2.2.3 Lack
of cooperation between management and staff resulted in conflict
4.2.2.4 Encroachment
of right between two workers of the same level has result to conflict
4.2.2.5 Proper
level of interpersonal relationship can reduce conflict in organization
4.2.2.6 Regular
dialogue in an organization reduce conflict
4.2.2.7 Understanding
of laid down policies among workers in an organization can reduce conflict
4.2.2.8 Involving
staff representation in conflict settlement will boost employee's moral which
leads to increase in productivity
4.2.2.9 Good
relationship between organization and the public in as a result of successful
of internal corporate conflict management
4.3 Test
of Hypotheses
CHAPTER
FIVE
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Summary
5.3 Conclusions
5.4 Recommendation
BIBLIOGRAPHY
APPENDIX
QUESTIONNAIRE
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
HO - Conflict management does not
have any significant effect on organizational productivity.
Hi - Conflict management has
significant effect on organizational productivity.
Hypothesis 2
HO - Implementation of conflict
management policies does not have significant effect on productivity.
Hi - Implementation of conflict
management policies has significant effect on productivity.
Hypothesis 3
HO - Intelligent cooperation as a
result of effective communication will not boost productivity
Hi - 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.