Investigating the relationship between the perception of conflict and its management methods among managers and employees of Bank Mellat branches in Tabriz city

Dissertation for receiving the master's degree "M.A. »

Trend: Business Management

Abstract

Effectively dealing with conflict is a fundamental challenge in people's interactions in the workplace. Conflict is a natural and inevitable phenomenon in individual and organizational life and it appears for many reasons and in different forms. The main problem in this research is to understand the organizational environment in terms of the existence of conflicts and examine the styles used by managers and employees to manage these conflicts. For this purpose, a study was conducted in Mellat Bank branches in Tabriz city and among the members of these branches, 200 managers and employees were randomly selected. The data collected through two questionnaires, Dobrin's conflict perception and Stephen Robbins' conflict management styles, were analyzed using Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Pearson correlation, independent t, Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis and Friedman tests.

The research results show; While there is a positive and significant relationship between the perception of conflict with competitive management styles, compromise, compromise and cooperation, but there is no significant relationship between conflict perception and avoidance management style. As there is no significant difference in the level of perception of conflict according to managers and employees of Bank Mellat branches in Tabriz city; The level of competitive management, compromise management, compromise management and cooperation management are also not significantly different from the point of view of the managers and employees of Bank Mellat branches in Tabriz city. Next, the influence of demographic factors such as gender, age, education, service history and organizational position on the perception of conflict was investigated. Also, in terms of prioritization, the level of use of management styles by the managers and employees of the statistical sample of this research, in order from least to most, is: avoidance management, competitive management, compromise management, compromise management and cooperation management. Finally, suggestions have been made for the use of conflict management styles for the managers and employees of these branches as well as future researchers.

Key words: conflict, conflict perception, conflict management styles, competition, avoidance, compromise, compromise and cooperation.

Introduction

In all periods of human life, there has been conflict [1], conflict and friction between the interests of the boss and subordinates, employer and worker, master and serf. Theorists, researchers, and even members of different organizations are aware that the conflict between departments, departments, groups, and people continues continuously. Conflict is a fact that mankind has been familiar with throughout history, but unfortunately, due to lack of proper management, most of the conflicts have turned into militancy and enmity. (Fayazi, 1388, 92-91).

Conflict is an integral part of human life and a completely "natural" thing, and it has always been associated with human life throughout history. Although man and conflict are born and developed together like two brothers (same-born), but with all the history of conflict in human life, only in the last few decades has it received the scientific attention of scientists. The existence of different personality traits, needs, expectations and perceptions has caused the inevitable occurrence of conflicts in organizations and the existence of rigid and inflexible administrative systems. These conflicts occur in various forms such as competition, controversy, conflict and conflict between individuals and groups. 2010, 439).

Although many people consider the existence of conflict, contradiction and difference as a negative phenomenon, but the accurate control and monitoring of the conflict makes the conflict become a constructive and positive phenomenon. Disagreements and conflicts in organizations have made managers spend most of their time reducing and solving these problems. In a survey of some managers, Schmidt concluded that approximately 20% of their daily time is spent dealing with conflict. Robbins considers conflict to be a process in which one party deliberately tries to block the efforts of the other party, group, or other person to achieve the desired goals or cause him to be deprived. Also, researchers have come to the conclusion that at high levels of the organization, conflict management is equal or even more important than planning, organization, communication, motivation and decision-making.In another research, among the 25 success factors of managers, conflict management has been identified as the most important role in success. (Liu, 2009, 230). Conflict is considered as an inevitable and inseparable part of organizational life that appears between individuals and groups for various reasons. Perceptual, personality, belief, political and similar differences on the one hand and different inferences about the goals of the individual, organization and society on the other hand, create various conflicts in collective work environments. Evaluating conflict positively or negatively has been very effective in managing it. Theories that consider conflict as negative try to eliminate and prevent conflict through various methods such as authority, strict control, or even respect and attention to human relationships. In contrast to the theories that have a positive attitude towards conflict, they consider a certain amount of conflict necessary for the life and vitality of the organization (Nakui Moghadam, 1387, 106).

Statement of the problem

Today, one of the topics that occupy the minds of many managers is conflict. Posthuma, 2011, 108))

Managers' attitude towards conflict is one of the important issues that is a practical guide for the manager in facing the conflict situation and in shaping his behavior to make appropriate decisions; There are situations for dealing with organizational conflicts and using methods of dealing with conflict will be effective. There are many ways to manage conflict. Managing conflict is different from resolving it. Managing, being in control and not letting things get out of hand are issues of conflict management. Successful managers in organizations will be those who have the ability to optimally use conflict management strategies in order to be effective in their subgroups, and take advantage of the positive effects of conflict, the correct and effective use of which improves performance and the level of educational health, and avoid its inappropriate use, which causes psychological complications and, as a result, decreases performance. Today, experience in management has proven that conflict in management is not only a natural thing, but also useful and constructive. (Suleimani, 1384, 185)

Conflict is a natural thing and an inevitable phenomenon in individual and organizational life and it appears for many reasons and in different forms. Due to the frequency and great importance of this phenomenon in individual, group and organizational life, the term conflict has been interpreted and interpreted in different ways. According to Greenberg and Baron [2], conflict is a process in which one party feels that the other party is doing activities that prevent him from reaching his interests and goals. Daft [3] also believes that conflict is a type of behavior between organizational groups that they think that other groups prevent them from reaching their goals and objectives. This is the point that people are interested in their opinions, while a reasonable amount of it seems necessary and necessary for individual and organizational growth. (Han, 2010, 23

According to the progress of management schools of thought in recent years, there are three different theories about conflict in organizations. According to the traditional theory of conflict, conflict should be avoided because it will have harmful functions within the organization. The theory of human relations considers conflict to be a natural thing that has definite consequences in every organization; it is harmless and potentially creates a positive force to help the organization's performance. The third theory and the most important point of view in recent years, conflict can not only create a positive force in the organization, but it is considered an obvious necessity for organizational activities. (Robbins, 2006, 292)

The main challenge in the interactions of people in the work environment is to know the atmosphere of the organization in terms of the existence of conflicts and to examine the styles and methods used by the managers and employees of Bank Mellat in Tabriz. It is the management of these conflicts, because it is not the conflict itself that is problematic, but our inability to control this phenomenon.