Effect Of Employee-Employer Conflict On Organizational Performance

Project and Seminar Material for Business Administration and Management BAM

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 Content

Title Page
Certification
Dedication
Acknowledgement
Table of Content
List of Tables
Abstract

Chapter One:

Introduction

1.1 Background of the Study
1.2 Statement of the Problem
1.3 Objective of the Study
1.4 Research Questions
1.5 Research Hypothesis
1.6 Significance of the Study
1.7 Scope of the Study
1.8 Limitation of the Study
1.9 Definition of Terms
1.10 Organisations of the Study

Chapter Two:

Review of Literature

2.1 Conceptual Framework
2.2 Theoretical Framework
2.3 Empirical Review

Chapter Three:

Research Methodology

3.1 Research Design
3.2 Population of the Study
3.3 Sample Size Determination
3.4 Sample Size Selection Technique and Procedure
3.5 Research Instrument and Administration
3.6 Method of Data Collection
3.7 Method of Data Analysis
3.8 Validity of the Study
3.9 Reliability of the Study
3.10 Ethical Consideration

Chapter Four:

Data Presentation and Analysis

4.1 Data Presentation
4.2 Analysis of Data
4.3 Answering Research Questions
4.4 Test of Hypotheses
4.5 Findings

Chapter Five:

Summary, Conclusion and Recommendation

5.1 Summary
5.2 Conclusion
5.3 Recommendation
References
APPENDIX
QUESTIONNAIRE

Chapter One

Introduction

1.1 Background to the Study

Conflict in an employment relationship has been an issue of continuing interest and debate. Over the years, dealing with conflicts in an organization has been viewed as the sole responsibility of managers, who frequently take a rigid stance on how to deal with them. Organizations that address conflicts in this manner have failed to recognize that conflict is natural in organizational life and has its own benefits, as well as costs.In many organizations in Nigeria today, internal (intrapersonal) and interpersonal conflicts are consuming so much organizational time and attention that organizations are starting to look as though conflict is their primary business. This development is largely due to the inability of leaders in Nigerian work organizations to view the management of conflict as systematically as they view information, human resources, and financial management systems. Instead, conflict is viewed and handled piecemeal and is considered as a local event. The inability to view and manage workplace conflicts systematically has therefore rendered conflicts dysfunctional in some organizations.

Conflict is described as the presence of discord that occurs when the goals, interests or values of different individuals or groups are incompatible and frustrate each other’s attempts to achieve objectives in an organization. It is a communication process and an inevitable consequence of transactional relationships, manifesting in disagreement and dissonance with and between individuals and groups in the work-environment. In this context, workplace conflict is a fact of life in any organization as long as people will compete for jobs, power, recognition and security (Adomie and Anie, 2005).

Therefore, the task of management is not to suppress or resolve all conflicts, but to manage them in order to enhance and not to detract from organizational performance. A constructively managed conflict induces positive performance, while a destructively managed conflict heats up the work environment to bring about dislocation and polarization of the entire group with a reduction in productivity and job performance (Akanji, 2005). This is suggestive that a well-managed conflict aims at the improvement of organizations for the purpose of stimulating performance in the work-situation. Through good conflict management strategies, weaknesses in organizational decision-making are exposed, which may prompt the establishment to effect changes and search for positive solutions. Hence, management is duty bound to resolve conflict properly for the sake of increasing organizational performance, because the outcome of such action will result in good communication, time management, good cooperation and increased corporate productivity

1.2 Statement of the Problem

As organizations strive to achieve their goals, they are often met with challenges they must overcome as a team. Challenges leave room for conflict between members, other organizations, communities and other parties involved in the organization’s mission. While “conflict” often has a negative connotation, the effects of conflict within an organization can be positive and negative. Conflict within an organization can cause members to become frustrated if they feel as if there’s no solution in sight, or if they feel that their opinions go unrecognized by other group members. As a result, members become stressed, which adversely affects their professional and personal lives. When an organization spends much of its time dealing with conflict, members take time away from focusing on the core goals they are tasked with achieving. Conflict causes members to focus less on the project at hand and more on gossiping about conflict or venting about frustrations. As a result, organizations can lose money, donors and access to essential resources.When conflict escalates without mediation, intense situations may arise between organization members. It’s unfortunate, but organizational conflicts may cause violence among members, resulting in legal problems for members and possibly the organization.Unresolved conflict in the organization generates many serious consequences involving high financial and human costs. Conflict may lead to frustration, tension, low morale, missing meeting deadlines, lack of self-confidence, low trust level, communication problems, absenteeism, and legal proceedings. Hence, the study seeks to examine the effect of employee-employer conflict on organizational performance

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The major objective of this study is to investigate the Effect Of Employee-Employer Conflict On Organizational Performance.

Other objectives include:

To examine the impact of conflict on organizational productivity
To examine the nature of conflict on employee job commitment
To find the means of managing conflict with the organization
To examine the different types of conflict and its impacts on organizations
To emphasized the relationship between conflict and the organizational productivity
To examine the causes, sources and solution of conflict in business organization

1.4 Research Questions

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

How can conflict lead to organizational decline in productivity level?
What are the general effects of conflict on organization performance?
What bring about conflict in an organization?
How can conflict be effectively managed in an organization in order to increase productivity?

1.5 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

1.6 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.

1.7 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.

1.8 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.

1.9 Operational Definition of Terms

Behaviour:

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

1.10 Organization of the Study

This research work is organized in five chapters, for easy understanding, as follows.

Chapter one is concern with the introduction, which consist of the (overview, of the study), historical background, statement of problem, objectives of the study, research hypotheses, significance of the study, scope and limitation of the study, definition of terms and historical background of the study.
Chapter two highlights the theoretical framework on which the study is based, thus the review of related literature.
Chapter three deals on the research design and methodology adopted in the study.
Chapter four concentrate on the data collection and analysis and presentation of finding.
Chapter five gives summary, conclusion, and recommendations made of the study.

Chapter Five

Summary, Conclusion and Recommendation

5.1 Summary

This study examine the effect of employee-employer conflict on organizational performance using NAHCO in Lagos Metropolis as case study. The study examined 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 design was adopted for the study and with the aid of convenient sampling method, the researcher selected One hundred and seventy (170) participant who are NAHCO in Lagos Metropolis as the respondent of the study. Well structured questionnaire was issued to the (170) but (150) one hundred and fifty were returned, analyzed Data was analyzed in frequencies and tables using simple percentage. Hypothesis test was conducted using Chi-Square statistical tool.

5.2 Conclusion

Conflicts are inevitable part of organizational life since the goals of different stakeholders such as managers and staff are often incompatible. Conflict is an unpleasant fact in any organization as longer as people compete for jobs, resources, power, recognition and security. Conflict situations affect the overall effectiveness of co-operate organizations in the sense that they cause disharmony among organizational participants impacting negatively on organizational performance. This is because useful time and resources are wasted during conflicts in organizations. Therefore in order to harmonize these divergences, Conflict resolution becomes an important aspect of corporate management. From the analysis of the study, Findings reveals that:

Factors like Task inter-dependencies, Status inconsistencies, jurisdictional ambiguities, communication problems, dependence on common resource pools/tools, and Individual difference are the causes of conflict in organization.
Implementation of conflict management policies has significant effect on productivity.
Organizational conflict can have a significant effect on productivity this is because it decreased employee satisfaction, Low morale and job commitment, breed Insubordination and low performance, lead to Project failure and economic loss.
Approaches to resolve organizational conflict include Prioritize the areas of conflict. encourage constructive discussions on different idea, create an atmosphere of mutual trust, Identify points of agreement and disagreement and Focus on behavior and events, not on personalities.

5.3 Recommendation

Base on the result of the study, the following recommendations were made:

Organizations (Managers) should pay more attention on the conflict phenomena, they should increase qualification and gain/improve skills related to conflict management.
Also, there can be conducted trainings about the conflict and its constructive and destructive outcomes.
Conflict resolution by a third party through dispute resolution or direct dialogue is one of the most effective means. But should be considered that, every organization has specific style, specific rules, policy and situations which can not be combine in general rules. All this knowledge should be used in daily routine at the workplace. This will increase both the performance and the productivity of the employees and will be reflected on organizational outcomes positively.
Adequate conflict resolution mechanism is recommended to be set up and maintained in order to serve as a catalyst to reduce accumulated grievance and trigger employees to better performance.
Finally, There is a need to continuously educate the workforce on the best way to channel their grievances. This is to ensure that the employees do not take laws into their hands.

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