THE INFLUENCE OF CONFLICT MANAGEMENT EFFECTIVENESS ON ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF PRODUCTIVITY IN TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS.
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THE
INFLUENCE OF CONFLICT MANAGEMENT EFFECTIVENESS ON ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF
PRODUCTIVITY IN TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the study
Conflict in
an organization is a state of discord by the actual and opposing power which
arise from the pursuit of divergent interests, goals and aspirations by
individuals and groups in the organization or social environment. This is so
because changes in the social environment, such as different ideologies,
beliefs, principles and social status which develop a sense of tussle and
disagreement with each other and when this happens, the productivity of such
organization is undermined Owoseni (2012). The researcher is looking at the
effective conflict management strategies that can be adopted in the tertiary
institutions to manage conflict situations without rendering the organization
porous for incessant conflicts. Otite and Albert (1999) submitted that the most
quoted traditional definitions regarding conflict as a struggle over values and
claims to scarce status, power and resources in which the aims of the opponents
are neutralized, injured or eliminated by their rivals. In this sense, conflict may be seen as a way
of settling problem originating from the opposing interest and also
attributable to an enduring power struggle between workers and their
employers. Contrary to the prevailing
perception, conflict indeed had played quite a positive role in several respect
for progressive and good governance of the universities. After reconciliation
from the conflicting parties better ideas are produced, clarification of
individual views, people willingly search for new approaches ,and long standing
problems brought to the surface and resolved.
Alper, Tjosvold and Law (2000) assert
that conflict occurs when the actions or beliefs of one or more members of a
group are unacceptable to others and hence are resisted by one or more members
of the group just like the crisis that came up in the University of Calabar in
the year 2011 between students and the school management over sudden increments
of school fees which led to loss of properties, goodwill as well as loss of
opportunity, this issues would have been averted if proper conflict management
strategies were adopted. Karl Marx
(1818) agreed that conflict is a clash, confrontation, battle or struggle that
could come up in any organization. Eventually, Park and Bourgess in Otite
(1999) has the same view that conflict is truly designed to resolve any
divergent dualism and achieve some kind of unity even if it is through the
annihilation of one of the conflict parties.
Alper,
Tjosvold, and Law (2000) also confirmed that conflict occurs at all levels of
organic existence and it is pervasively ubiquitous and most destructive. It has
a capacity to severally constrain development and endeavor by destroying
infrastructure, interrupting the production process and diverting resources
away from product users. Workers who are the owners of labour the world over
have been known to organize themselves into associations or unions with the
primary objective of promoting and protecting themselves from unnecessary abuse
of their human rights by their employers as well as by fellow workers. In
essence, workplace conflict can arise among the workers themselves because
people disagree for a number of reasons such as follows: Alper, Tjosvold, and
Law (2000).
i) They see things differently because of
differences in understanding and view point.
ii) People have different styles,
principles, values, beliefs which determine their choices and objectives.
iii) People have different ideological and
philosophical outlooks, as in the case of different political parties.
iv) People of different social status think
differently and these develop in them the sensitivity to disagree which may
result in conflicts of views or opinions. Contrary to the prevailing
perception, conflict indeed had played quite a positive role in several respect
for progressive and good governance of the universities. After reconciliation
from the conflicting parties better ideas are produced, clarification of
individual views, people willingly search for new approaches ,and long standing
problems brought to the surface and resolved.
1.2 Theoretical framework
The following theories were discussed
to provide a framework for this
study.
1.2.1 The
human relations theory; by Mary, Follets
(1954).
1.2.2 The
administrative management theory; by Henry, Fayol (1949).
1.2.3 The
conflict theory; by Karl, Marx (1883).
1.2.1 The
Human Relations Theory
Follett (1954), a great proponent of
human relations theory was also refered to as “prophetess of management”.
Follet (1868 – 1933) a Harvard Professor in social works practiced Gestalt
psychology and business consultancy. The human relations theory involves the
study of motives, behavior and the development of criteria for designing
organization which will stimulate members co-operation in order to achieve the
goals and objectives of the organization.
It attaches
much importance to individuals motives, goals and aspirations in the
conceptualization of organizations. The organizational success is explained in
terms of individual, group motivational and inter-personal relationships,
particularly the relationship between administration and staff. She is associated with the discovery of
various phenomena such as the “Group think effect” in committee meetings;
creativity exercises like ”brainstorming” and most importantly, what later
became Management–By-Objectives (MBO) and
Total Quality Management (TQM) and Continuous Quality Improvement
(CQI). Follett admonished employers
on the over-management of employees, a process now known as “micromanaging”.
The importance of informal processes
within any organization, and the idea of the “authority of expertise” which
really served to modify the typology of authority developed by German
contemporary (Peretomode 2006). Her
ideas on negotiation, power and employee participation were highly influential
in the development of the fields of organizational studies, alternative dispute
resolution and human relations movement.
Her approach to conflict was to embrace it as a mechanism of diversity
and an opportunity to develop integrated solutions rather than simply compromising
(Bassett, 2011). Follet
propounded four principles of coordination where she noted certain principles
that must be followed to make coordination effective and these includes;
i) Principle of early stage – coordination
must start at an early stage in the management process. It must start during
the planning stage.
ii) Principle of continuity – co-ordination
must be a continuous process. It must not be a one time activity.
iii) Principle of direct contact – All managers
must have a direct contact with their subordinates. This will result in good
relations between the managers and their subordinates. This is so because
direct contact helps to avoid misunderstanding, misinterpretations and disputes
between managers and subordinates.
iv) Principles of reciprocal relations: The
decisions and actions of all the people (managers and employees) and
departments of the organization are interrelated.
If decision or action is taken by
managers, they should first find out the effect of that decision or action on
other persons (Kalyan & Sulaiman 2011).
It should be noted however that Follett’s influence can also be seen
indirectly in the work of Ron Lippitt, Ken Benne, Lee Bradford, Edie Seashore
and others at the National Training Laboratories in Bethel, Marine, where
T-group methodology was first theorized and also developed (Kleiner,
1996). This implies that Follett’s work
set the stage for a generation of effective progressive changes in management
philosophy, style and practice, revolutionizing and harmonizing the American
Workplace, and allowing the fulfillment of Douglas McGregor’s management vision
– quantum leap in productivity effected through the humanization of the work
place (Wikipedia, 2012).
Human relation
theory has its origin from the work of Mayo (1946) of the “Hawthorne studies”
which was conducted in the 1920’s at the Hawthorne works of the western
electric company, USA.
Mayo stated that the reason workers
are more strongly motivated by informal things is that individuals have a deep
psychological need to believe that their organization cares about them. Workers
want to believe their organization is open, concerned and willing to listen.
Mayo believes that:
i) Supervisors should not act like
supervisors, they should be friends, and counselors to the workers.
ii) managers should not try to micro-manage
all affairs.
iii) People should be periodically asked how
they feel about their work and their supervisors.
iv) Humanistic supervision plus morale equals to
productivity.
v) Humor and sarcasm are good in the
workplace – it is all part of group dynamics.
vi) Workers should be consulted before
changes are made and room should be given to workers to participate in decision
making.
Bernard
(1938) was a formidable part of the human relations movement. Bernard in his
book “The functions of the Executive”, noted that managers need to know more
about human behaviors, and in particular, more about the informal groups of an
organization, especially the relationship between workers and outsiders.
Chester Bernard is best known for his concept of “zones of indifference” which
is the idea that good leaders should try to take middle – of – the – road, or
neutral, position on issues because each
person’s attitude usually has such a middle – ground area where they will
believe or obey without question. Bernard noted that a certain amount of
co-operation between management and employees is necessary and that authority
is not all that is necessary as the classical schools of management would have
it. He reinforced what became a fundamental
idea in organizational theory; that all organizations pose either as a formal
organization or an informal organization.
Bernard asserted that the informal
organization regulates as if employees will obey all management orders and
instructions. The author then went ahead to outline three basic types of orders
that can be given by managers to employees;
i) Orders that are unquestionably
acceptable that are always obeyed because they lie within what they called
their zone of indifference, or typically dealt with things that are part of an
employee’s job description and are routine.
ii) Orders that may or may not be followed,
depending upon the employee and the conduct accepted by the employees informal
organization because such orders come close to being unacceptable.
iii) Orders that are completely unacceptable
and that will always be disobeyed because these kinds of orders go beyond an
employee’s zone of indifference.
Despite the contributions of the
human relations theory to the practice of modern management, the movement has
been criticized on several grounds. The human relations theory is seen by
management scholars to be too idealistic in trying to remove all forms of
conflict within organization.(O’Conner,2011). Inyang (2004), has criticized the
human relation movement for having the tendency to be pro-worker, neglecting
the primary objective of industrialized profit and also neglecting the
important role of trade unions. However, some conflicts in work situation may
not be solved by this incompatibility between the interests of management and
those of labour in spite of the difficulties that may arise between them. The
relevance of this study is clearly seen in the progressive change in management
philosophy of establishing a veritable working relationship model for employers
and employees. It also set a stage for the involvement of staff in virtually
all the important stages of management decision making without necessarily
rendering the organization porous for possible abuse by employee unions.
1.2.2 The
administrative management theory Henry Fayol (1949)
The
administrative management theory is associated with Henry Fayol, a renowned
French Engineer, manager and industrialist. Fayol (1949) analyzed the
activities of industrial undertakings into six groups: technical (production,
manufacture and adaptation); commercial (buying, selling, exchange and market
information), financial (obtaining capital and making optimum use of available
funds); security (safeguarding property and persons); accounting (information
on the economic position, stock taking, balance sheet, costs, statistics); and
managerial.
He further
divided the activities into five elements which are to forecast and plan; to
organize; to command; to co-ordinate; and to control. Fayol suggested that a
set of well-established principles would help concentrate general discussion on
management theory, but emphasized that these principles must be flexible and
adaptable to changing circumstances.
He
recognized that there was no limit to the principles of management but
advocated fourteen (14) in his writing and these are:
1) Division of labour: The principles of
specialization of labour in order to concentrate activities for more efficiency
and increase in productivity.
2) Authority and responsibility: Authority is the
right to give order and the power to ensure obedience.
3) Discipline: Discipline is absolutely
essential for the smooth running of organization and without discipline, there
is bound to be waywardness among the workers.
4) Unity of command: An employees should
receive orders from only one superior.
5) Unity of direction: One hand and one plan
for a group of activities having the same objectives.
6) Subordination of individual interests:
The interest of one employee or a group should not prevail over that of the
organization.
7) Remuneration of personnel: Compensation
should be fair and as far as possible afford satisfaction.
8) Centralization: Centralization is
essential to the organization and is a natural consequence of organization.
9) Scalar chain: The scalar chain is the
chain of superiors ranging from ultimate authority to the lowest rank.
10) Orders: The organization should provide an
orderly place for every individual. A place for everyone and everyone in their
place.
11) Equity: Sense of justice transform the
organization.
12) Stability and tenure of personnel: People
need time to learn their job.
13) Initiative: One of the greatest
satisfaction is formulating and carrying out a plan.
14) Esprit de corps: Harmonious effort among
workers is the key to organizational success (Mullins, 1996).
Furthermore,
the theory considers management as a profession where people can be trained and
developed. The administrative management theory sees broad policy issues as the
responsibility of top managers, which they have to handle seriously for
organizational survival and growth. It relates with the work in the sense that
administrators should not see administration as positions but as responsibility
directly related/connected to their profession and that failure in
administration means failure in the profession. More so, if the organization
must succeed, the administrators should master the heuristics of the
administrative profession and follow them seriously and professionally.
1.2.3 The
conflict theory
Several
theories which emphasize social conflicts have roots in the ideas of Karl Marx
(1818). As a great German theorist and political activist, he saw conflict
theories as theories of social stratification which anchor on analysis of
capitalism, social change and a view of human liberation.
Even though
it is a necessary condition for social change to occur, individuals or groups
interacting in the society which share different interest and have different
economic capabilities always resist change. According to Marx, classes develop
on the basis of the different positions or roles which individuals play in the
productive scheme of a society. The material view of history begin from the
premise that the most important determinant of social life is the work people
are doing most especially the work that result in provision of the basic
necessities of life, food, clothing and shelter. He maintained that, everything
of value in society results from human labour, thus it is clearly seen that
working men and women are engaged in making society the conditions to suit them
for their own existence.
The three primary aspects of Marxism
are as follows:
1) The dialectical and materialist concept
of history which implies that human kind of history is fundamentally a struggle
between social class. The productive capacity of society is the foundation of
society and just as this capacity increases over time, the social relations of
production and class relations evolve through definite stages like slavery,
primitivism, communism, feudalism and capitalism esterra.
2) The critique of capitalism was seen by
Marx as dominant in 19th century. For Marx, the central institution of a
capitalist society is private property, the system by which capital such as
money, machines, tools, factories and other material objects used in production
are controlled by a smaller minority of the population. Marx argues that in a
capitalist society, an economic minority who are called the bourgeoisies referring
to the owners of capital dominate and exploit the economic majority who are
called proletariat referring to the workers whose only property is their labour and time which they have to sell to
the capitalists. Owners are seen as making profits by paying workers less than
their work is worth and thus exploiting them. He argued that while the
production process is socialized, ownership will still retain in the hands of
the bourgeoisies and this forms the fundamental contradiction of capitalist
society.
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