Investigating the relationship between conflict management styles and organizational effectiveness in the health insurance organization of Gilan province

Academic Thesis for Master's Degree

Business Management Field

Insurance Management Orientation

Abstract:

Undoubtedly, managers play a decisive role in increasing the effectiveness of insurance organizations, and conflict management is very important in such organizations. The general purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between conflict management styles and the effectiveness of the health insurance organization of Gilan province in 2012. The research method is descriptive and objective type. The statistical population of this research is the health insurance of Gilan province. 26 organizational unit managers were selected for sampling. After the preliminary test of the questionnaire, 26 questionnaires were distributed; 23 questionnaires were completed and returned. In this research, available sampling method was used. The data collection tool is the standard questionnaire of conflict management styles (Rahim, 1983) and the standard questionnaire of organizational effectiveness (Hamidi, 2012). SPSS 19 software was used to analyze the data, and the results of this research indicate that managers use more cooperation and compromise strategies in conflict management in the health insurance organization of Gilan province. Also, the compromise style also leaves many effects. On the other hand, using the competition style in conflict management has the opposite effect. Also, avoidance style does not have a significant effect on organizational effectiveness.

Keywords: conflict management styles, organizational effectiveness, health insurance organization of Gilan province.

Introduction

One of the major obstacles to achieving the goals of an organization is the existence of disagreements among people. Conflict is considered as an inevitable and inseparable part of organizational life, which often arises due to organizational characteristics (Nakui Moghadam, Pirmoradi, 1387: 106). Conflict is the difference in achieving the goals of the organization; Today, human power is considered as the main asset of organizations and as its competitive advantage. The existence of cooperation and empathy between these valuable resources is one of the most important factors for success in all organizations. Conflict in the organization is inevitable and not necessarily unnecessary for the organization. Conflict can promote more creativity and innovation and change, or it may cause waste and analysis of the organization's energy and resources. Therefore, the ability to guide and control the phenomenon of conflict in organizations is one of the most important skills of managers that managers need today. Conflict is defined as one of the components of the organization that consists of elements of constructive (functional) conflict, non-constructive (non-functional) conflict and balanced conflict (Nargesi, 1390: 4).

In many organizations, conflict exists as a serious issue. Maybe everywhere this phenomenon does not have the power to cause the dissolution of the organization; But there is no doubt that it can have an adverse effect on the performance of the organization or create a situation where the organization loses many of its efficient forces. "Cohen" considers conflict in the organization to break cooperation or a threat to it and believes that the occurrence of conflict in organizations is both natural and expected in people's relationships. Therefore, conflict is inevitable and no one can claim that they have not faced it or will not face it. Creativity within an organization does not occur in a vacuum; Rather, organizational conflict as a platform prepares the ground for the emergence of creativity. The conflict of the organization represents the relationships of its units and shows its degree of flexibility (Qovi Andam, 2016). While organizations with constructive (functional) conflict create positive and effective factors to encourage and grow creativity and innovation in their organization. Undoubtedly, managers play a decisive role in increasing the effectiveness of organizations, and conflict management is very important. The existence of a calm environment combined with organizational health is one of the necessities of effective insurance organizations. Therefore, conflict is a reality in organizational life, including insurance organizations, and with the passage of time and changes in organizations, it will not be acceptable to ignore conflict or deal with it. Therefore, trying to identify the source of conflict leads to the adoption of appropriate methods in conflict management in insurance organizations. In order to increase the effectiveness of the organization, management needs the participation and cooperation of the organization's members.In this regard, the manager should motivate the employees and believe in free and two-way communication. The correct application of conflict management strategies is the guarantee of strengthening this importance (Qavi Andam, 2016).

1-2) Statement of the problem

In order to be effective, every organization must first of all be able to adapt and compromise with the changing environment and deal with any problem in crisis cases, use its best resources, successfully deal with external threatening forces, and direct their forces towards the main goal of the organization, and always maintain its survival capabilities. to grow and develop and in other words enjoy organizational health (Reza'i Sufi et al., 2011: 62).

Generally, the following three views are proposed in the field of the role of conflict in the effectiveness of organizations: For most people, the term organizational conflict contains some kind of meaning and concept. Conflict can only slow down the coordination and necessary actions of the group in order to achieve the goals of the organization. Another theory on conflict argues that conflict improves the effectiveness of an organization by motivating change and improving the decision-making process. There is also a third theory in this field, which is known as the theory of interactionists. Clearly, the interactionist approach does not argue that all conflict is constructive and useful. Of course, there are conflicts that have a negative impact on effectiveness. According to the theory of interactionists, managers have a decisive role in such cases (Robbins, 2018: 358-359). In conflict, which is an inevitable phenomenon of life, a person is faced with two opposing desires at the same time, one of which prevents the occurrence of the other; External and internal events (unresolved unconscious and conscious internal conflicts) are very stressful and endanger a person's health. Avoiding stress is an adaptive response, but continuous and uncontrollable stress is a maladaptive response. Conflict is often considered harmful, but sometimes it causes problems to appear and their resolution, to improve decision-making and performance, to create creativity and change. Conflict causes different perceptions of the values, goals and intentions of another person and makes people face many problems (Ghanbari et al., 2019: 43).

It is hoped that through this research we can gain general insights and provide practical solutions to those involved. This research seeks to find out what conflict management styles the health insurance managers of Gilan province have and what methods and styles they use to resolve conflicts and problems between themselves and employees and which style increases the effectiveness of the organization. Therefore, an attempt is made to identify and introduce the best styles by examining the relationship between conflict management styles and the organizational effectiveness of health insurance, or to identify and introduce the conditions and situations that can be most effective in each of the styles.

In fact, the growth of an organization depends on how it faces conflicts. The absence of conflicts cannot necessarily provide the best conditions. Decision making in conflict can be constructive or destructive. A constructive approach to conflict helps us see the situation from different angles, but a destructive approach can lead to destruction. Therefore, conflict management is the most important condition for the growth of the entire organization. In fact, the path of conflict is legitimate and is a positive indicator of the health of an organization (Antonioni, 1998). Olcom and Hakufazlo [1] (2004) showed that if conflict is managed carefully and diligently, it will become one of the most important tools in the growth of the organization. Also, Rahim et al. In fact, the main question of the research is whether there is a relationship between conflict management styles and organizational effectiveness in the health insurance organization of Gilan Province? 1-3) The necessity of research: The importance of conflict and the necessity of its effective management has made the study of conflict in the organization to be of interest to researchers and management and organizational experts. Fayazi contrast, 1388: 92). Undoubtedly, managers play a decisive role in increasing the effectiveness of insurance organizations, and conflict management is very important in such organizations.