INTRODUCTION

1.1  Background to the Study 

An organization is an identifiable social entity whose members pursue multiple goals collectively. The pursuance of these goals is done side by side with their personal goals and aspirations through their coordinated activities and relationships. Hence, organization has people, materials and goals that are achieved through coordination.

Organization exists to provide goods and services that people desire. These goods and services are the products of the behaviours of workers who occupy different levels of the organizational pyramid known as the “organizational structure”. These people have different cultures, skills, and educational background as well as different perceptions, roles, expectations and values. Conflict in an organization will depend on the degree with which the manpower is met with opposition in protecting their interest, values and goals.

However, the establishment and continuous existence of organization through the realization of set goals and objectives requires the continuous and effective functioning of its material input with the human elements being indispensable. The human elements required to facilitate goals attainment often engage in disagreement and variance over factors such as; interest, views, style of management among others. The reactionary effect is due to the perceived incompatibilities resulting typically from some form of interference or opposition is known as conflict. Azamoza (2004) observed that conflict involves the total range of behaviors and attitudes that is in opposition between owners/managers on one hand and working people on the other. It is a state of disagreement over issues of substance or emotional antagonism and may arise due to anger, mistrust or personality clashes. Irrespective of the factors resulting to conflict, it  has been observed that industrial conflict produce considerable effects on organizations and should be consciously managed as much as possible (Azamoza, 2004).

For people to progress at work and other aspect of life, there must be cooperation which is essential to ensure task attainment and stability in life. However, it would be wrong to reach the conclusion that cooperation is good while conflict is bad, this is because both concepts are pervasive and co-exist in our social life. Conflict is inevitable given the wide range of goals for different stakeholder in the organization and its absence signifies management emphasizes conformity and stifles innovation. Rahim (2002) opined that conflict may be intergroup with interpersonal conflict occurring between supervisor and his subordinate or between two individuals at the same level of the organizational hierarchy. Intergroup conflicts often occur between two trade unions, between two departments or between management and workers while attempting to implement the policies and program of the organization.

Conflict is widespread in human societies; it occurs in profit and non-profit making organizations and arises among members of the organization and even beyond to other organizations. Conflict does not occur until the behaviour of one of the parties interferes with the efforts of the other. It is clearly known that conflict often produces negative effects, such as to decrease organizational performance, lower satisfaction, anxiety and aggression, wastes a lot of time, uses energy and limit effectiveness. However, in the same situation, conflict can be beneficial, for it helps the organization and its members to resolve underlying problems, so that the group can move unto a more effective stage of development. Also, conflict between groups can increase within the group cohesion and can instigate needed organizational change. As such, not all conflict needs to be avoided, but all conflict needs to be managed for effective organizational performance (Adomi and Anie, 2005).

In an organization, goals that are incompatible may come about for variety of reasons. The needs and values or the personalities of the workers might clash, for example, if one member of a team is intent or determined, aggressive and highly energetic, while another member is slower, less aggressive and less interested, they may clash. Incompatible goals are often created through jobs assignment or the structure of an organization (Jones, 2000). It is common such as limited resources, job design and organizational structure which also create an atmosphere that will increase the probability of conflict. An organization with limited resources is more likely to experience conflict as their members and department fight/disagree to obtain a share of the limited resources. Under these circumstances, the goal of one individual or group cannot be reached without the cooperation of the other individual or group.

As organizations experience more turbulence and uncertainty, conflict in the workplace will rise. The uncertainty associated with any change is seen as a key cause of conflict on an interpersonal, as well as an organizational level where conflict between functions are at the order of the day. Renolds and Kalish (2002) note that managers spend at least 25% of their time resolving work-place conflict. This has a negative impact on the productivity in the work-place and can be seen as a cost to the organization. Management time can be a measure of the cost associated with conflict. If the conflict and change is preemptively managed, however, there might be a competitive advantage for an organization.

Whittington and Meyer (2003) took it a step further by suggesting that truly successful organizations of the future will have to create the compatibility to handle and absorb repeated change. They were very clear to conclude that people issues are central to this and that change should be managed proactively in order to minimize conflict in organizations. Because of the turbulent environment modern organization operates, they constantly keep