This study sets out to investigate how conflict is managed at schools. The literature review clearly indicated the complexity of the management of conflict in school organisations. Schools, by virtue of being social organisations aiming at providing education services to learners, cannot thrive under conditions of dysfunctional conflict. However, it is also clear that not all conflict is bad and can be functional in school improvement and renewal. The most important aspect pertaining to conflict in schools, is that it must be managed. This actually implies that conflict has to be managed from its sources, apparent or potential and that, this must involve a process that ranges from conflict diagnosis to school organisational learning and effectiveness. This clearly relates to all types of conflict and includes, conflict resolution, prevention and management. The empirical study established that school principals largely used the dominating and avoiding styles of handling conflict. The variance between categories of responses indicated that conflict handling styles were used contingent on situational conditions. To this end, it was found that educators from big schools showed statistically significant differences with educators from small schools in so far as principals' conflict handling styles are concerned. Based on this finding and nothwistanding the results of the frequency analysis which generally indicated almost equal responses in terms of the agree and disagree responses, it was concluded that the dominating and avoidng styles, and to an extent, the compromising styles were used predominantly in the surveyed schools. The study thus recommends that peer group and needs-specific capacity building programmes for school principals should be initiated so as to expose principals to conflict management learning experiences from practice, and in relaxed atmospheres facilitated by peer coaching and mentoring. Keywords: conflict; conflict management; conflict management styles, conflict theories, conflict models; conflict resolution; organisational conflict / Thesis (M.Ed. (Education Management))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2008.

This study sets out to investigate how conflict is managed at schools. The literature review clearly indicated the complexity of the management of conflict in school organisations. Schools, by virtue of being social organisations aiming at providing education services to learners, cannot thrive under conditions of dysfunctional conflict. However, it is also clear that not all conflict is bad and can be functional in school improvement and renewal. The most important aspect pertaining to conflict in schools, is that it must be managed. This actually implies that conflict has to be managed from its sources, apparent or potential and that, this must involve a process that ranges from conflict diagnosis to school organisational learning and effectiveness. This clearly relates to all types of conflict and includes, conflict resolution, prevention and management. The empirical study established that school principals largely used the dominating and avoiding styles of handling conflict. The variance between categories of responses indicated that conflict handling styles were used contingent on situational conditions. To this end, it was found that educators from big schools showed statistically significant differences with educators from small schools in so far as principals' conflict handling styles are concerned. Based on this finding and nothwistanding the results of the frequency analysis which generally indicated almost equal responses in terms of the agree and disagree responses, it was concluded that the dominating and avoidng styles, and to an extent, the compromising styles were used predominantly in the surveyed schools. The study thus recommends that peer group and needs-specific capacity building programmes for school principals should be initiated so as to expose principals to conflict management learning experiences from practice, and in relaxed atmospheres facilitated by peer coaching and mentoring. Keywords: conflict; conflict management; conflict management styles, conflict theories, conflict models; conflict resolution; organisational conflict / Thesis (M.Ed. (Education Management))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2008.

There is a need to determine the real reasons for conflict in the South African context. because it seems that the transformation process brought forth a reduction in work opportunities, workers losing their jobs, an increase in workplace violence, increasing dissatisfaction amongst workers, more strikes occuring, affirmative action, discrimination, recruitment of workers without the appropriate skills, corruption, workers who are too lazy to work, and professionals going overseas, etcetera. Personnel in the companies must be adequately informed about the nature of conflict, the causes of conflict, the types of conflict and the management of conflict, because conflict is increasing and it must be managed correctly otherwise it will be destructive and inhibit the functioning of a company. The objectives of the research study are as follows: a) To determine how conflict dynamics are conceptualised in literature through the application of industrial sociological theories, organizational principles and general management theories. b) To determine the main sources of conflict within the Engineering Company. c) To determine if personnel on the horizontal and vertical levels in the Engineering Company are influenced differently by conflict. d) To determine if there is a significant difference between the personnel in the Engineering Company in the manner in which they handle conflict with their superior and subordinates. The research study consists of a theoretical and an empirical framework. Chapter 1 covers the introduction, problem statement, the method and purpose of the research, and the description of relevant terms. In Chapter 2, the philosophies of Georg Friedrich Hegel and Immanuel Kant, and the theories of Karl Marx and Max Weber are used to serve as a basis on which the study can be built. In Chapter 3, the nature of conflict is discussed in terms of the following types of conflict: interpersonal conflict, intrapersonal conflict, intergroup conflict, and intragroup conflict. The management of the different types of conflict is also discussed. Chapter 3 covers the empirical data of the research, and the empirical research results of the study. The most important results of this study and recommendations are given in Chapter 5. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Sociology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006

Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Sociology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

There is a need to determine the real reasons for conflict in the South African context. because it seems that the transformation process brought forth a reduction in work opportunities, workers losing their jobs, an increase in workplace violence, increasing dissatisfaction amongst workers, more strikes occuring, affirmative action, discrimination, recruitment of workers without the appropriate skills, corruption, workers who are too lazy to work, and professionals going overseas, etcetera. Personnel in the companies must be adequately informed about the nature of conflict, the causes of conflict, the types of conflict and the management of conflict, because conflict is increasing and it must be managed correctly otherwise it will be destructive and inhibit the functioning of a company. The objectives of the research study are as follows: a) To determine how conflict dynamics are conceptualised in literature through the application of industrial sociological theories, organizational principles and general management theories. b) To determine the main sources of conflict within the Engineering Company. c) To determine if personnel on the horizontal and vertical levels in the Engineering Company are influenced differently by conflict. d) To determine if there is a significant difference between the personnel in the Engineering Company in the manner in which they handle conflict with their superior and subordinates. The research study consists of a theoretical and an empirical framework. Chapter 1 covers the introduction, problem statement, the method and purpose of the research, and the description of relevant terms. In Chapter 2, the philosophies of Georg Friedrich Hegel and Immanuel Kant, and the theories of Karl Marx and Max Weber are used to serve as a basis on which the study can be built. In Chapter 3, the nature of conflict is discussed in terms of the following types of conflict: interpersonal conflict, intrapersonal conflict, intergroup conflict, and intragroup conflict. The management of the different types of conflict is also discussed. Chapter 3 covers the empirical data of the research, and the empirical research results of the study. The most important results of this study and recommendations are given in Chapter 5. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Sociology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006

In South Africa, private and public sector organizations have been experiencing conflict at an increasing rate during the past few decades and especially the last ten years. The prominence and high level with which conflict is regarded in this new democracy has made the study of this phenomenon more relevant. Especially within business organizations, between individuals, groups, and at management level, the influence of transformation and affirmative action has steadily affected interpersonal and intergroup relations. This situation makes it more difficult to handle or to manage. The lack of knowledge experienced in many business organizations causes mismanagement of conflict which eventually (directly or indirectly) affects the productivity of the employee corps and subsequently, the effectivity or profitability of the organization. The objective of this study was to establish by means of a comparative theoretical and empirical analysis, the nature, causes and handling/ management styles of conflict within a public and a private sector organization. Being respectively non-profit and profit driven organizations and having introduced affirmative action and transformation at different degrees, it was possible to evaluate the effect with regard to conflict. The research method followed in this study was both qualitative and quantitative. In the first five chapters a theoretical, qualitative approach was applied. Different theories of conflict, from the classical, neo-classical to modern systems, were analysed in order to establish sources of conflict. From this discussion, an analysis of conflict which was viewed by the theories of both Karl Marx and Ralph Dahrendorf to be a social interactive process characterized by force, strife and animosity, was accepted to form the basis of the study regarding the sources of conflict. Departing from this basis the various concepts of conflict as developed in the literature were studied in a comparative way. This was followed by a comparative analysis of conflict handling processes for which an adapted conflict process model was presented. The elements of this model form the core research of this study. Analysis of three key conflict handling style models (Thomas-Killman, ROC-II and CMS) were consequently compared to decide which one would be the most suitable for the empirical survey. The second part of this study consisted of a quantitative comparison of causes, handling styles and manifestation of conflict on an interpersonal basis within a local authority and an agricultural company. This was done by means of questionnaires containing designed variables obtained from the qualitative section of the study and a standardized section borrowed from Rahim's ROC-II model questionnaire. The descriptive statistical analysis was done with the SPSS-program in consultation with the STATCON Bureau of the Rand Afrikaans University. The empirical survey validated the viewpoints brought forward in the qualitative part of the study. By way of the results obtained from the analysis, the four hypotheses which were linked to the set objectives of the study were validated. The four hypothesis are: - A significant difference exists with regard to the causes of conflict between a local authority and agricultural organization. - A significant difference exists between employees of the local authority and the agricultural organization's perception of what effect conflict has on them. - A significant difference exists in the frequency with which different conflict-handling styles are used when compared to different background variables in both organizations. - A significant difference exists in the frequency with which different conflict-handling styles are used amongst employees of the agricultural organization and local authority Explicit findings with regard to the literature (qualitative) and empirical (quantitative) study were brought forward, and practical recommendations for management as well as recommendations for further research were made. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Industrial Sociology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

In South Africa, private and public sector organizations have been experiencing conflict at an increasing rate during the past few decades and especially the last ten years. The prominence and high level with which conflict is regarded in this new democracy has made the study of this phenomenon more relevant. Especially within business organizations, between individuals, groups, and at management level, the influence of transformation and affirmative action has steadily affected interpersonal and intergroup relations. This situation makes it more difficult to handle or to manage. The lack of knowledge experienced in many business organizations causes mismanagement of conflict which eventually (directly or indirectly) affects the productivity of the employee corps and subsequently, the effectivity or profitability of the organization. The objective of this study was to establish by means of a comparative theoretical and empirical analysis, the nature, causes and handling/ management styles of conflict within a public and a private sector organization. Being respectively non-profit and profit driven organizations and having introduced affirmative action and transformation at different degrees, it was possible to evaluate the effect with regard to conflict. The research method followed in this study was both qualitative and quantitative. In the first five chapters a theoretical, qualitative approach was applied. Different theories of conflict, from the classical, neo-classical to modern systems, were analysed in order to establish sources of conflict. From this discussion, an analysis of conflict which was viewed by the theories of both Karl Marx and Ralph Dahrendorf to be a social interactive process characterized by force, strife and animosity, was accepted to form the basis of the study regarding the sources of conflict. Departing from this basis the various concepts of conflict as developed in the literature were studied in a comparative way. This was followed by a comparative analysis of conflict handling processes for which an adapted conflict process model was presented. The elements of this model form the core research of this study. Analysis of three key conflict handling style models (Thomas-Killman, ROC-II and CMS) were consequently compared to decide which one would be the most suitable for the empirical survey. The second part of this study consisted of a quantitative comparison of causes, handling styles and manifestation of conflict on an interpersonal basis within a local authority and an agricultural company. This was done by means of questionnaires containing designed variables obtained from the qualitative section of the study and a standardized section borrowed from Rahim's ROC-II model questionnaire. The descriptive statistical analysis was done with the SPSS-program in consultation with the STATCON Bureau of the Rand Afrikaans University. The empirical survey validated the viewpoints brought forward in the qualitative part of the study. By way of the results obtained from the analysis, the four hypotheses which were linked to the set objectives of the study were validated. The four hypothesis are: - A significant difference exists with regard to the causes of conflict between a local authority and agricultural organization. - A significant difference exists between employees of the local authority and the agricultural organization's perception of what effect conflict has on them. - A significant difference exists in the frequency with which different conflict-handling styles are used when compared to different background variables in both organizations. - A significant difference exists in the frequency with which different conflict-handling styles are used amongst employees of the agricultural organization and local authority Explicit findings with regard to the literature (qualitative) and empirical (quantitative) study were brought forward, and practical recommendations for management as well as recommendations for further research were made. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Industrial Sociology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

This study develops and tests a group conflict model as an explanation for international immigration beliefs in the United States and Canada. Group conflict is structured by evaluations concerning group relationships and group members. At a conceptual level group conflict explains a broad range of policy beliefs among a large number of actors in multiple settings. Group conflict embodies attitudes relating to objective-based conditions and subjective-based beliefs.

The author analyzes the current status of freedom of association in Latin America, specifically collective bargaining and the different schemes this institution presents itself after the neoliberal policies of economic deregulation took place in the decade of nineteen ninety. / El autor analiza la situación de la libertad sindical en América Latin, específicamente la negociación colectiva y los distintos modelos en los que esta se presenta luego de las políticas neoliberales de desregulación económica de la década de mil novecientos noventa.