INCREASING ORGANIZATIONAL EFFICIENCY THROUGH CONFLICT RESOLUTION IN SELECTED COMMERCIAL BANKS DELTA STATE

Abstract

In a society where people with a diverse interests, views, and values coexist, differences between such individuals and groups are to be expected. These are because these individual has different parental, educational and environmental background. The objective of this research study is to look at how to increase organizational efficiency through conflict resolution and its causes, as well as possible solution of improve working environment in an Organization. The study shows that Conflict stems from incompatibility of goals and interest and if it continued it will destroy the Organization. Conflict affects the Organization in several ways such as decreased employee satisfaction, insubordination, decreased productivity, economic loss, fragmentation, and poor performance.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

• Background of the study

For us to enjoy peace we must first of all understand war. As there can be no understanding without first misunderstanding. Conflict in an organization emanate from divergences in interests of individual workers and management. Because individuals differ in their values, attitudes and goals, conflict among them becomes unavoidable. Conflict occurs at both individual and collective levels, personality and other structural factors coming into play. Obisi (2005:47) observes that there is intra-management conflict just as conflict situations do occur between and among groups of workers and their organizations as well as between individuals. Conflict among workers in an organization is inevitable. If it manages properly, it will bring catalyst for change and can have a positive impact on employee satisfaction and performance of the organization. Conversely, unmanaged conflict negatively impacts both employee satisfaction and job performance. When organizational leaders ignore workplace conflict, they send a message that unsatisfactory job performance and inappropriate behavior are acceptable. Awan and Anjum (2015) says that properly managed conflict promotes open communication, collaborative decision making, regular feedback, and timely resolution of conflict. Open communication and collaboration enhance the flow of new ideas and strengthen work relationship, which can have a positive effect on employee morale. Regular feedback and timely resolution of conflict has the potential of improving employee satisfaction and job performance. Awan and Anjum (2015) argue that a negative work environment that does not promote conflict resolution can result in poor employee behavior and job performance. Unmanaged conflict promotes dysfunctional communication and poor behavior among staff. Poor behavior on the part of one employee has the power to affect overall employee morale, which results in lower productivity. According to Dana (2000), “conflict is not just an annoyance. It costs money and those costs can be calculated, in terms of wasted time, bad decision, lost employees.” In the health care industry, patients’ health and even their lives can be affected by unmanaged conflict. Awan and Ibrahim (2015) contend that if the individuals do not have the communication or interpersonal skills to resolve their disputes, the conflict can grow and spread to others, eventually affecting their job performance, which, in turn, affects the job satisfaction of others, as well in addition to the staff not having the communication skills to address their disputes, their leaders often lack the necessary skills to be effective in conflict resolution. Once human resources personnel are involved, the process becomes punitive and results in disciplinary action, which contributes to an even greater reduction in employee morale and employee satisfaction. Within any organization, there are usually different positions and jobs. People occupying these positions have different perceptions, goals, thought and concerns. It is difficult to conceptualize society or an organization without inherent differences and contradictions and these leads to conflict. In organization a serious problem can be conflicts that are very serious. This is the bad practice that will be impossible for the workers to at the same place for work. Awan and Ahson (2015) say that conflict is a natural and inevitable part of people working together and should be kept at a manageable level where it will not disorganize the activities of the organization towards the attainment of its objectives. Awan et al (2015) plead that conflict may also be beneficial to the organization where it brings about radical change in the organizational power structure, current interaction pattern and entrenched attitude and also can lead to increase in productivity. While some conflicts are functional others are not. It can also affect the organization negatively when it is associated with decreased employee satisfaction, insubordination, decreased productivity, leads to economic loss, fragmentation to mention but a few. It is the management major responsibility to device strategies in bringing down conflict as low as possible, which will enable the organization to still function to succeed (Robbins & Sanghi, 2006) against this background the study was being carried out on the negative effect of conflict.

• STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Conflicts in organizations have destabilizing effects on the overall performance of the organization. It leads to under performance since valuable time and resources (human and material) are used in controlling and managing conflicts rather than in enhancing output and productivity. Conflicts also lead to interpersonal disharmony in the organization which makes attainment of organizational goals difficult. It is on this backdrop that the researcher intend to investigate how to increase organizational efficiency through effective conflict management.

• OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The main objective of the study is centered on increasing organizational efficiency through conflict resolution in selected commercial banks in Delta state. But for the successful completion of the study, the researcher sets the following sub-objectives to be attained:

1. To ascertain the causes of conflict in a corporate organizations
2. To examine the different strategies of conflict management in organizations

• To ascertain the impact of conflict on workers‟ productivity

1. To ascertain the impact of effective conflict management on organizational performance
   • RESEARCH QUESTION

For the successful completion of the study, the following research questions were formulated:

1. What are the causes of conflicts in corporate organizations?
2. What are the different strategies for conflict management in organizations?

• What is the impact of conflicts on workers‟ productivity?

1. What is the impact of effective conflict management on organizational performance?
   • RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

For the purpose of the study, the following hypotheses were formulated

H₀: Organizational conflict does not have any relationship with staff performance

H₁: Organizational conflicts have a significant relationship with staff performance

H₀: Organizational conflict does not hamper workers‟ productivity

H₂: Organizational conflict hampers workers‟ productivity

• SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study is of important in several ways. Firstly, it will be beneficial to management in all corporate organizations. This is because conflict has become a daily routine and frequent feature of corporate organizations. By investigating the causes of organizational conflicts the study will be able to find out how the conflicts will be minimized since they cannot be completely avoided. Besides, in examining the causes of conflicts, the study will be able to determine why they reoccur. Furthermore, by examining how conflicts are managed, the study will be able to find out the limitation of the strategies. All these will provide the basis on which recommendations will be made for the benefit of management. Secondly the government will also benefit from the study. As conflicts occur at organizational level so do they occur in the public sector level. The findings of this study will be very useful to the government in formulating effective strategies for managing conflicts in the public sector.

• SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The scope of the study covers increasing organizational efficiency through conflict resolution in selected commercial banks in Delta State. However, for the in the course of the study the researcher encounters some constraint which limited the scope of the study. Some of the constraints are:

• Availability of research material: The research material available to the researcher is insufficient, thereby limiting the study.
• Time: The time frame allocated to the study does not enhance wider coverage as the researcher has to combine other academic activities and examinations with the study.
• Finance: The finance available for the research work does not allow for wider coverage as resources are very limited as the researcher has other academic bills to cover.
  • DEFINITION OF TERMS

Conflict resolution

Conflict resolution is conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of conflict and retribution. Committed group members attempt to resolve group conflicts by actively communicating information about their conflicting motives or ideologies to the rest of the group (e.g., intentions; reasons for holding certain beliefs), and by engaging in collective negotiation. Dimensions of resolution typically parallel the dimensions of conflict in the way the conflict is processed. Cognitive resolution is the way disputants understand and view the conflict, with beliefs and perspectives and understandings and attitudes. Emotional resolution is in the way disputants feel about a conflict, the emotional energy. Behavioral resolution is how one thinks the disputants act, their behavior. Ultimately, a wide range of methods and procedures for addressing conflict exist, including negotiation, mediation, mediation-arbitration, diplomacy, and creative peace building.

Organizations

This refers to a combination or group of people who work together to achieve a goal

Goal

This refers to a set objective.

Corporate Organization

This refers to a business entity

Management

This refers to the art of planning, organizing, directing and controlling. It also refers to decision-makers in a corporate organization

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