Thesis (M.A.)--Bowling Green State University, 2007. / Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 91 p. Includes bibliographical references.

This research study addresses the problem of determining the strategies that can be used to manage conflict effectively. To achieve this objective a comprehensive literature study was performed to determine the views on conflict and various models of conflict. The study also included the reasons for and sources of conflict and the effects of conflict on an organisation. The next step was to identify the conflict management strategies that were revealed by the literature study. The appropriate conflict handling styles, how to improve organisational practices and special rules and structures were discussed as well as various suggestions from different authors on how to resolve a conflict situation. Based on the information obtained from the literature study a model was developed to serve as a guide to organisations to manage conflict effectively. Managers from a specific organisation were requested to complete questionnaires in order to determine the strategies used by their organisation to manage conflict. The questionnaire was developed in accordance with the findings from the research. The answers of the respondents were analysed and compared to the findings of the literature study. The information obtained from the literature study and from the respondents resulted in various recommendations and conclusions. The previously mentioned model that was developed was applied to the organisation, specifically addressing the pertinent issues as indicated by the respondents.

D.Cur. (Nursing) / The phenomenal political changes that have taken place in South Africa during the past three years have had a ripple effect on the health services of the country. Trade unionism, although they had been active in many spheres, entered the hospitals with great vengeance leaving many services crippled. Problems could not be solved according to the old, now obsolete rules of the game as these were no longer acceptable to the health care workers. New and different approaches had to be found to deal with this upheaval that was affecting patient care. The researcher realised that the nursing service manager, especially in the public sector, was in no way equipped to handle the crisis. Legal limitations aggravated the situation as there was no third party intervention that could try and find a solution to the dissatisfaction of the staff. The result was that the nursing service manager had to cope with the situation as best as she was able to, while still trying to manage the nursing care of the patients and the upheaval in the personnel corps. In addition to this, the nursing service manager, by enlarge, still had the viewpoint that conflict was a disturbing element that had to be removed. Limited studies have been done in the field and there were no guidelines to enlighten the nursing service manager. It became evident to the researcher that research into conflict management of a nursing service was necessary. Existing models and theories on conflict were reviewed to glean knowledge for the proposed study.

The management of conflict has long been of concern to social scientists, urban planners and community-minded citizens. While differing mechanisms of managing ethno-national or ethno-linguistic tensions exist, few studies advance our understanding of how conflicts are actually managed – in other words, the study of ethnic peace. In this study I draw on the experiences of two differing examples of ethnic peace: Belfast and Brussels in the expectation that other contested cities such as Kirkuk, Jerusalem, Nicosia or Mostar, who may one day consider power-sharing as a form of governance, may learn from what have been categorised as sites of successful power-sharing. While there are few studies of ethnic peace, fewer studies again seek to understand the role of the elite level bureaucrat in sustaining this peace. This dissertation fills this gap in the literature, investigating the politician-bureaucrat relationship within the contested urban environment of two differing mechanisms of consociationalism. The dissertation ascertains the extent of discretion available to the bureaucratic elite and further, through determining core beliefs of interviewees, establishes how this discretion is employed. Methodologically, the dissertation draws on a multi-method approach, consisting of semi-structured interviews and a method well established in Psychology but relative new to Political Science: Q Methodology. The empirical findings show that the bureaucratic elite influence the conflict management process. While bureaucrats are found to share a number of core governance beliefs, a number of categories of association can also be identified. These categories are not based on a primary identity, but a secondary learned identity. The findings therefore also propose that a professional or societal attachment can supersede a primary attachment within the public administration of a contested society. In a number of instances, bureaucrats are found to actively represent these secondary learned attachments over their primary identities. The findings define bureaucratic activity in two instances of ethnic peace, as well as contributing to the literature on active representation. Moreover, it is suggested that the role of the bureaucrat in the conflict management process requires much more scholarly attention if political level power-sharing agreements are to be sustainable.

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Thesis (D. Min.)--Emmanuel School of Religion, 2004. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 215-219).

This quantitative study was conducted to investigate the preferred conflict-management behaviors of small-school principals in Texas Education Service Center regions five, six, and seven. The problem facing the small-school principal in conflict-management was knowing how and when to behave towards campus teachers in order to further the goals of the school system and satisfy the needs of its teachers. The study focused on the principal-teacher relationship and the five possible preferred conflict-management behaviors - competing, collaborating, compromise, avoiding, and accommodating. The abilities of gender and experience were analyzed as possible predictors of the preferred conflict-management behaviors of small-school principals. Using a logistical regression analysis, the predictive abilities of gender and experience were evaluated by using the Thomas-Kilmann Instrument in relation to five possible preferred conflict-management behaviors of small-school principals toward teachers. The instrument identified frequencies of preferred conflict-management behaviors. Based on existing literature, the null hypotheses posited that neither gender nor experience would have a significant predictive effect (.05 alpha level) on the preferred conflict-management behaviors of the small-school campus principals under examination. Results indicated that gender could not predict a clear preference for any of the five possible conflict-management behaviors. Thus, the null was not rejected concerning gender. Also, experience was found to have no significant effect on the prediction of collaborating, avoiding, and accommodating. However, findings revealed that experience had a significant positive relationship to a preference for competing behaviors; and experience also had a significant negative relationship to a preference for compromising behaviors in the group of small-campus principals. Findings indicated that more experience came with an increased preference for competing and a decreased preference for compromising behaviors. The study sought to address a gap in the literature as related to the preferred conflict-management behaviors of small-school principals in the principal-teacher relationship. Societal changes and differences in school administrator and teacher viewpoints have necessitated that school principals acquire and improve conflict-management skills in advancing student achievement. By focusing on the small-school principal-teacher relationship and the variables of gender and experience the study contributed to the research-base surrounding small-school campuses. Findings suggested the need for a renewed emphasis on conflict-management skills in principal preparation programs.

ABSTRACT THE EXAMINATION OF GUIDANCE AND RESEARCH CENTERS&rsquo / ADMINISTRATORS&rsquo / CONFLICT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES WITH THE PERCEPTIONS OF SELF AND TEACHERS Cebeci, S&uuml / lbiye M.S., Department of Educational Sciences Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Hasan SimSek September 2006, 136 pages The purpose of this study is to examine conflict management strategies of administrators who are working in Guidance &amp / Research Centers (GRCs) of Central Anatolia with the perceptions of teachers and administrators themselves. The subjects of this study included 30 administrators and 141 teachers who worked in the 30 GRCs in 13 cities of Central Anatolia of Turkey. Data collection was carried out by using quantitative techniques. A survey technique was used to collect data. A questionnaire which was translated to Turkish by G&uuml / m&uuml / Seli (1994) from The Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory II (ROCI II) to identify administrators&rsquo / conflict management strategies was used to collect data. The questionnaire has two parallel forms, one for administrators to rate themselves and the other for teachers to rate administrators. Administrators&rsquo / self-ratings of their own coflict management strategies and teachers&rsquo / ratings of administrators&rsquo / conflict management strategies were measured with a 5-point likert scale. In addition, the data related with demographic characteristics of both teachers and administrators were gathered by demographic inventory. Demographic Inventory (DI) was developed by the researcher to provide basic demographic information about participants. Descriptive statistics and SPSS 14.0 were utilized to analyze data. The results revealed that concerning rank ordering of styles, both administrators and teachers indicated administrators as using the Integrating style of handling conflict first, followed by Compromising, Obliging, Avoiding, and Dominating. The data did not reveal rank order of differences between the perceptions of administrators and teachers. The study also revealed that with the perceptions of self, administrators used integrating style at 5th level (strongly agree), compromising style at 4th level (agree), obliging style at 3rd level (undecided), dominating and avoiding style at 2nd level (disagree). On the other hand, with the perceptions of teachers, administrators used Integrating and Compromising style at 4th level (agree), obliging and avoiding style at 3rd level (undecided), dominating style at 2nd level (disagree). Keywords: Conflict management, conflict management strategies, conflict management strategies of administrators, educational administrators.

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