Ways of managing organizational conflict are as varied as its causes, origins and contexts. The purpose of conflict management, whether undertaken by the parties in conflict or whether involving the intervention of an outside party, is to affect the entire structure of a conflict situation so as to contain the destructive components in the conflict process (e.g. hostility, use of violence) and help the parties possessing incompatible goals to find some solution to their conflict. Effective conflict management succeeds in (1) minimizing disruption stemming from the existence of a conflict, and (2) providing a solution that is satisfactory and acceptable. In line with Ikechukwu Eze (1999), the culture of the people has a strong influence on the behaviours exhibited by such people in the organizations which they work. No wonder then why we took the cultural perspective in trying to understand the best ways of managing the dysfunctional Organizational Conflict. In this work we looked at the background of study and stated the problems from where the objectives of the study were derived. The relevant research question and significance of the study were also postulated. The researchers went ahead to lay the theoretical foundation of the study by reviewing some related and relevant literature on the topic. In chapter three, we presented a methodological framework which put in place the various methods, procedures and techniques through which the study was conducted, these include: the source of data collection, methods of data collection, population of the study, sample of the study, and method of data analysis. The data collected were analyzed and the following results emerged: i) Swedish bosses are democratic, always using their intuition and striving for consensus in their organizations. On the other hand, Nigerian bosses are autocratic, assertive and decisive. ii) In Sweden, the wide in salary between the top and bottom of the organization is very narrow. The reverse is the case in Nigerian organizations where the wide in salary between the top and bottom of the organization is very high. iii) In Swedish organizations, privileges and status symbols for managers are frowned at, task prevails over relationship, and hierarchy in their organizations means an inequality of roles established for convenience. On the contrary, in Nigerian organizations, privileges and status symbols for managers are popularized, relationship prevails over task, and hierarchy in their organizations reflects the existential inequality between higher-ups and lower-downs these. iv) In Swedish organizations, management is seen as management of individuals. The reverse is the case in Nigerian organizations where management is mainly seen as management of group. v) In Swedish organizations, conflicts are resolved by compromise and negotiation. But in Nigerian organizations, conflicts are basically resolved by: fighting them out; avoidance and smoothing. vi) Swedish employees have emotional need to be busy, an inner urge to work hard. They as well have a natural drive for precision and punctuality. In comparison, the Nigerian employees feel comfortable when lazy, or hard-working only when needed. They try to learn being precise and punctual. vii) Finally Swedish employees have average tolerance of deviant and innovative ideas and behaviour, through this way functional conflict and the gains that come with it are in check. However, Nigerian employees have high tolerance of deviant and innovative ideas and behaviour. In as much as this is good for the growth of the organization, but the functional conflict that comes with it if not properly harnessed can lead to dysfunction conflict. Based on the findings highlighted above, the following are the recommendations proffered by the researchers:- Since it is almost impossible, to manage conflicts without taking into cognizance the culture in which they emanate, Nigerians on the long run should embark on cultural transformation which should gradually permeate into their organizations, this they do by borrowing a leaf from their Swedish counterparts. By so doing, this will radically reduce the incidence of conflicts in the Nigerian organizations. In addition, Nigerian employees/managers and bosses should continually encourage settling conflicts arising in their organizations through compromise and negotiation. / +4531872444, richy042@yahoo.com

This doctoral thesis examines the relationship between Protestant Christianity and collective violence in rural China during the turbulent period of the late nineteenth century (1860-1900). It focuses on the creation of some Chinese Baptist and Presbyterian village communities in the prefecture of Chaozhou in Guangdong province. Set in this highly competitive and violent environment, this study singles out intra-lineage and intra-village conflicts as a key to understanding the Protestant expansion into the interior. It argues that Protestant Christianity advanced in some inland areas with a long history of rural violence. Conversion, especially of an entire lineage segment or a substantial number of villagers, often followed the pre-existing communal divisions and rivalries. When the American Baptist and English Presbyterian missions became entngled in the longstanding intra-lineage and intravillage conflicts, they added a new dimension to the competition. The missionary presence enabled the local Christians to mobilize external resources to strengthen themselves against their rivals. Apart from appealing to the missionaries for help, the Christians also took the initiative to integrate the church into the extensive kinship, lineage and territorial networks. It was through these networks that the Christians could come together to form a regional church alliance for mutual support and protection. In this process of church-building and alliancemaking, the Baptist and Presbyterian communities emerged as some kind of protective organizations and created a new balance of power in the local politics. This political nature of the Protestant movements not only fits well with David Faure's characterization of popular religious activities as "a demonstration of power" but also permits a comparison with Maurice Freedman and Hugh D. R. Baker's studies of lineage politics in southern China. This argument is tested against four incidents of collective violence. In the Zhazi (1878) and Caikou (1898) cases of intra-village disputes, the rival segments split into Christian and non-Christian factions. When the non-Christian power holders sought to get rid of a handful of Presbyterian worshippers, the Presbyterians had to rely on the English mission for help. In the Kuxi (1896) and Liugang (1897) cases of intra-lineage conflicts, the hostile lineage segments divided into the Baptist and Catholic, as well as the Baptist and Presbyterian camps. They continued to struggle against each other under the respective covers of the churches. In all the cases, the Christian communities employed conversion as a political strategy to pursue their own agendas, which were different from the religious concern of the missionaries. In this perspective, many incidents of violence involving local Christians should better be understood in the wider context of communal conflicts in southern China generally, and not just be seenas the results of anti-imperialism, anti-foreignism and cultural antagonism between Confucianism and Christianity. The violence was in fact the manifestation of factional struggles which had long predated the arrival of the Baptist and Presbyterian missions. This research has consulted a wide range of primary sources, ranging from the Baptist and Presbyterian missionary accounts to the American and British consular correspondence, and from the Chinese local magistrates' reports to some ethnographic data which was collected in several Christian villages in 1998. By supplementing the archival materials with the ethnographic data, this study has been able to probe more deeply into the inner dynamics of the Christian communities than have many current studies of Chinese Christian movements. It has also gone beyond the conventional focus on inter-group violence to explore the significance of intra-group fighting at the grass-roots level.

This dissertation project broadly addresses the question of how state behavior is conditioned by the structural configuration of the network in which they are embedded. It attempts to reconcile some of the discrepancies between the systemic and dyadic approaches to international relations, by arguing that the international system is a multidimensional network that results as an emergent property of the dyadic ties that exist between states.This dissertation consists of three stand alone analyses, connected by their focus on systemic configuration and the impact of various elements of international structures on the behavior of states. In contrast to most studies of international relations, dimensions of the international order are observed, rather than assumed. The first chapter focuses specifically on observing and describing the structure and tendencies of the behavioral dimension of the international system. It assesses patterns of consistency in international relations, searching for both simple, dyadic consistency as well as more complex, triadic consistency. The second chapter relies on these positive and negative relations to create a model of policy reinforcement, with a focus on the onset of militarized conflict. Structural balance theory is used to identify shared, external relations that either reinforce or dampen the impact of dyadic hostility on militarized conflict. The final empirical chapter shifts to a more localized focus, investigating the impact of alliance portfolio size on the likelihood of alliance obligation fulfillment. Here, the size and capabilities of a disputant's local alliance portfolio do not directly modify the behavior of the disputant, but instead that of the disputant's other allies.Together, these chapters demonstrate the importance of accounting for systemic factors in explaining and analyzing dyadic behavior. The characteristics of local networks, such as alliance portfolios, have significant implications for state security. The configuration of foreign policy relations provides feedback to states, influencing their willingness to take aggressive actions. Bipolarity and multipolarity can be empirically observed through the clustering of states, rather than by merely counting the number of major powers. However, perhaps most significant is the contribution these analyses make to a small but growing literature attempting to move beyond the dyad.

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