Managing interpersonal conflict between employees and their supervisors continues to be a challenge for all employees. Researchers have studied how leadership styles relate to conflict management in organizations, but little is known about how servant leadership relates to conflict management in the workplace. Servant leadership is a management style in which one motivates his or her employees by serving them. The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate how 7 servant leadership dimensions exhibited by supervisors correlated with 5 conflict management styles used by employees when employees had a conflict with their supervisor. A web-based survey invitation was shared with social service employees in 1 social service organization, an online participant recruitment service, and several social service-related groups on LinkedIn, and resulted in a sample of 230 participants. Stepwise multiple regression analysis was used to determine if a predictive relationship existed between the servant leadership dimensions, measured by the Servant Leadership Scale, and helpful and unhelpful conflict management styles, measured by the Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory-II. Servant leadership exhibited by supervisors correlated positively with both helpful and unhelpful conflict management styles used by employees. Findings from this dissertation can facilitate social change by helping supervisors learn how their actions impact their staff members' preferred conflict management styles. Specifically, supervisors can modify their leadership styles to encourage staff members to use the integrating conflict management style when disagreements arise between them and their staff members.

One of the contributing factors to the current nursing shortage is job dissatisfaction due to conflict in the workplace. In order to develop strategies to reduce conflict, research is needed to understand the causes and outcomes of conflict in nursing work environments. This study tested a theoretical model linking antecedent variables (core self-evaluation, complexity of nursing care, unit size, interactional justice, managerial support, unit morale) to intragroup conflict, followed by conflict management, and ultimately, job stress and job satisfaction. A predictive, non-experimental design was used in a random sample of 277 acute care nurses in Ontario. Structural equation modeling techniques were used to analyze the hypothesized model. Final analysis revealed relatively good fit of data to the hypothesized model (Chi-square = 211.7, df = 80, CFI = .92, RMSEA=0.07). Lower core self-evaluation, higher complexity of nursing care, lower interactional justice, and poor unit morale resulted in higher intragroup relationship conflict, and ultimately a less ‘agreeable’ conflict management style, higher stress and job dissatisfaction. Conflict management style partially mediated the relationship between conflict and job satisfaction. Job stress also had a direct effect on job satisfaction and core self-evaluation had a direct effect on job stress. The study results suggest that conflict and its associated outcomes is a complex process, affected by dispositional, contextual and interpersonal factors. Nurses’ core self-evaluations, complexity of nursing care and relationships with managers and nursing colleagues influences the level of conflict they experience. How nurses manage conflict may not prevent the negative effects of conflict on job stress and job satisfaction, however learning to manage conflict using collaboration and accommodation may help nurses feel more satisfied with their jobs. In addition, education programs that contribute to an individual’s ability to feel more confident about their ability to manage conflict may help them cope more effectively with the stress generated by conflict.

One of the contributing factors to the current nursing shortage is job dissatisfaction due to conflict in the workplace. In order to develop strategies to reduce conflict, research is needed to understand the causes and outcomes of conflict in nursing work environments. This study tested a theoretical model linking antecedent variables (core self-evaluation, complexity of nursing care, unit size, interactional justice, managerial support, unit morale) to intragroup conflict, followed by conflict management, and ultimately, job stress and job satisfaction. A predictive, non-experimental design was used in a random sample of 277 acute care nurses in Ontario. Structural equation modeling techniques were used to analyze the hypothesized model. Final analysis revealed relatively good fit of data to the hypothesized model (Chi-square = 211.7, df = 80, CFI = .92, RMSEA=0.07). Lower core self-evaluation, higher complexity of nursing care, lower interactional justice, and poor unit morale resulted in higher intragroup relationship conflict, and ultimately a less ‘agreeable’ conflict management style, higher stress and job dissatisfaction. Conflict management style partially mediated the relationship between conflict and job satisfaction. Job stress also had a direct effect on job satisfaction and core self-evaluation had a direct effect on job stress. The study results suggest that conflict and its associated outcomes is a complex process, affected by dispositional, contextual and interpersonal factors. Nurses’ core self-evaluations, complexity of nursing care and relationships with managers and nursing colleagues influences the level of conflict they experience. How nurses manage conflict may not prevent the negative effects of conflict on job stress and job satisfaction, however learning to manage conflict using collaboration and accommodation may help nurses feel more satisfied with their jobs. In addition, education programs that contribute to an individual’s ability to feel more confident about their ability to manage conflict may help them cope more effectively with the stress generated by conflict.

Då konflikter i princip är oundvikliga i projekt och på arbetsplatser, är det en central fråga för organisationer (Tonnquist, 2016). Redan 1995 beskrevs det att konflikter kommer bli allt mer förekommande inom organisationer, oavsett branschtillhörighet, på grund av lojalitetsbrist mellan arbetstagare och arbetsgivare (Wall & Callister, 1995). Idag är teamarbete mer regel än undantag (De Dreu & Weingart, 2003) och arbetsformen team beskrivs som ytterligare en bidragande orsak till uppkomsten av konflikter (Wall & Callister, 1995). Då det saknas forskning som belyser teammedlemmens perspektiv och dennes upplevelser av konflikthantering är det ett ämne som är intressant att studera. Syftet med studien är således att bidra till ökad förståelse för hur teammedlemmar upplever konflikthantering.  Teorier om konflikttyper, konflikthanteringsstilar samt temporalitet har i kombination med ett fenomenologiskt perspektiv använts för att uppfylla studiens syfte. För att bidra till ökad förståelse för fenomenet har en komparativ fallstudie om fyra fall genomförts. De fall som har studerats har varit teammedlemmar och empiri har samlats in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer. Fenomenet har studerats i kontexten team och organisation och för att sammanställa och analysera det empiriska materialet användes tematisk analys respektive tvärfallsyntes som verktyg.  I studien framkommer bland annat att teammedlemmar upplever konflikter som någonting positivt, då konflikter kan bidra till utveckling av individers förmåga att förstå människor eller utveckling av teamets prestation. Det har argumenterats för att anammandet av vissa konflikthanteringsstilar leder till uppkomst av nya konflikter (DeChurch, Hamilton & Haas, 2007) men i denna studie framkommer att dessa stilar också kan användas för att motverka uppkomsten av dessa konflikter. / As conflicts more or less are inevitable in projects and workplaces, it is a central issue for organizations (Tonnquist, 2016). As early as in 1995, conflicts were described as becoming increasingly prevalent, due to lack of loyalty between employees and employers (Wall & Callister, 1995). Today, teamwork is the exception that proves the rule (De Dreu & Weingart, 2003) and teamwork as a way of working is described as another contributing factor to the emergence of conflicts (Wall & Callister, 1995). As there is no research that highlights the team member’s perspectives and their experiences of conflict management, this is an interesting subject to study. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to contribute to an increased understanding of how team members experience conflict management.  Theories about types of conflict, conflict management styles and temporality, in combination with a phenomenological perspective, have been used to fulfill the aim of the study. In order to contribute to an increased understanding of the phenomenon, a comparative case study of four cases has been carried out. The cases that have been studied have been team members and empirical data have been collected through semi-structured interviews. The phenomenon has been studied in the context team and organization. To compile and analyze the empirical data, thematic analysis and cross case synthesis were used as tools.  The study reveals, among other things, that team members experience conflicts as something positive, since conflicts can contribute to the development of individuals' ability to understand people or a team's performance. It has been argued that the adoption of certain conflict management styles leads to the emergence of new conflicts (DeChurch, Hamilton & Haas, 2007) but this study shows that these styles can also be used to counteract the emergence of these conflicts. Furthermore, this study shows that managers as third parties have an important role in the management of conflict situations and by taking part of this study, managers can become aware of the consequences of their actions. Finally, the study reveals that when team members manage conflicts themselves, they use their precious experiences concerning conflicts. It has previously been discussed that temporality should be included in the theories used (Hernes, Simpson & Söderlund, 2013) and this study also acknowledges that the time perspective should be integrated into existing theories of conflict and conflict management.

本研究旨在探討國民小學行政團隊的正向組織行為對團隊衝突管理之影響。本研究應用一個縱觀的研究設計來了解是否團隊正向心理的潛在影響，形成團隊成員之間的正向組織行為，進而影響其團隊衝突的型態及面對團隊衝突管理的方式，以期最終達成團隊良好的績效產出，提供教育人員重視正向組織行為，促進建立學校優質的行政團隊視野。 本研究採用問卷調查法，以桃園縣公立國民小學，共有187 所學校之教師兼行政人員為樣本母群體，採分層隨機抽樣，抽出781位受試者，回收有效問卷566份，所得資料分別以描述性統計、t考驗、單因子變異數分析及迴歸分等統計方法進行資料的分析與處理，以瞭解國民小學行政團隊的正向組織行為對團隊衝突管理之現況、差異情形及其預測力。研究結論如下： 一、桃園縣國民小學行政團隊正向組織行為之知覺現況屬中上程度，以「團隊效能」最高。 二、桃園縣國民小學行政團隊衝突型態以「任務衝突」居多。 三、桃園縣國民小學行政團隊衝突管理模式以「整合」占最多數。 四、年齡、現任職務、行政服務年資、學校歷史、教師兼行政人數等五個背景變項在團隊正向組織行為上有顯著差異，以「41歲以上」、「兼任主任職務者」、「行政服務年資16年以上」與「校齡在10年以下的大型學校」較高。 五、性別、年齡、現任職務等三個背景變項在團隊衝突型態上有顯著差異，「男性」、「兼任主任職務者」較傾向知覺任務衝突型態，「年輕者較年長者」傾向知覺關係衝突型態。 六、性別、年齡、最高學歷、現任職務、行政服務年資、學校歷史、教師兼行政人數等七個背景變項在團隊衝突管理模式上有顯著差異，「男性」、「學歷高者」、「兼任主任」傾向支配模式，「41歲以上」、「兼任主任」、「服務年資16年以上」、「在大型學校者」傾向整合模式或妥協模式，「校齡在10年以下」較傾向逃避模式，「41-50歲」、「兼任主任」且在「校齡10年以下的大型學校」較傾向退讓模式。 七、行政團隊正向組織行為與任務衝突有中度正相關。 八、行政團隊正向組織行為與關係衝突有低度負相關。 九、行政團隊正向組織行為與整合、退讓、妥協等衝突管理模式有中高度的正相關。 十、高任務高關係衝突型態之行政團隊的正向組織行為對五種衝突管理模式具顯著相關及預測力。其中以「團隊效能」對整合、逃避、退讓、妥協管理模式具有顯著正向預測力；「團隊恢復力」對整合、逃避、支配、退讓、妥協五種管理模式有顯著相關及預測力；另「團隊樂觀」對逃避、支配具有顯著負向預測力。 十一、高任務低關係衝突型態之行政團隊的正向組織行為對四種衝突管理模式具顯著相關及預測力。其中以「團隊效能」對整合管理模式具有顯著正向預測力，對逃避管理模式具有顯著負向預測力；「團隊恢復力」對整合、退讓、妥協管理模式有顯著相關及預測力；另「團隊樂觀」對退讓具有顯著正向預測力。 十二、低任務高關係衝突型態之行政團隊的正向組織行為對五種衝突管理模式具顯著相關及預測力。其中以「團隊效能」對整合、退讓、妥協管理模式具有顯著正向預測力；「團隊恢復力」對整合、逃避、妥協管理模式有顯著相關及預測力；另「團隊樂觀」對支配具有顯著負向預測力。 十三、低任務低關係衝突型態之行政團隊的正向組織行為對四種衝突管理模式具顯著相關及預測力。其中以「團隊效能」對整合、逃避、退讓、妥協管理模式具有顯著正向預測力；「團隊恢復力」對整合、退讓、妥協管理模式有顯著相關及預測力；「團隊樂觀」在此衝突型態下對衝突管理模式皆無預測力。 最後依據研究結果與結論，提出具體建議，以作為教育行政機關、行政團隊、以及未來研究的參考。 / The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of Positive Organizational Behavior (POB) on conflict management in elementary school administration teams. This study focus on team level representations of the positive psychological capacities that have met the POB inclusion criteria, and which may have a influence on conflict management, the final to achieve good team performance outputs. A survey research was conducted using a sample of public elementary school administration teams in Taoyuan County Taiwan, excluding 781 teachers from 187 school administration teams were selected by stratified random sampling. 566 valid sample data collected was analyzed and processed with the methods of descriptive statistics, t-test, one-way ANOVA, multiple-regression analysis. The major findings of this study are as follows: 1. POB is above average, “Team Efficacy” ranks the top. 2. “Team task conflict” is the majority type of conflict. 3. “Integrating” is the majority conflict management style. 4. Five demographic variables, including age, position, total serving years, school history, team members amount, show significant differences in POB. Teachers who are older than 41, work as the chief of department, more than 16 total serving years, school history in 10 years and a large school, show higher perception of POB. 5. Three demographic variables, gender, age, position, show significant differences in conflict type. Teachers who are male, work as the chief of department, show higher perception of task conflict. Teachers who are younger than 51, show higher perception of relationship conflict. 6. Seven demographic variables, including gender, age, education, position, total serving years, school history, team members amount, show significant differences in conflict management style. 7. POB is positively related to task conflict. 8. POB is negatively related to relationship conflict. 9. POB is positively related to integrating, obliging and compromising. 10. In high-high combinations of task and relationship conflict, “Team Efficacy” has positive direct effect on integrating, avoiding, obliging and compromising. “Team Resilience” has positive direct effect on integrating, avoiding, dominating, obliging and compromising. “Team Optimism” has negative direct effect on avoiding, dominating. 11. In high-low combinations of task and relationship conflict, “Team Efficacy” has positive direct effect on integrating, and has negative direct effect on avoiding. “Team Resilience” has positive direct effect on integrating, obliging and compromising. “Team Optimism” has positive direct effect on obliging. 12. In low-high combinations of task and relationship conflict, “Team Efficacy” has positive direct effect on integrating, obliging and compromising. “Team Resilience” has positive direct effect on integrating, avoiding and compromising. “Team Optimism” has negative direct effect on dominating. 13. In low-low combinations of task and relationship conflict, “Team Efficacy” has positive direct effect on integrating, avoiding, obliging and compromising. “Team Resilience” has positive direct effect on integrating, obliging and compromising. “Team Optimism” has no effect. Based on the results of the research, suggestions for educational administration authorities, administration teams and future related study are proposed.

It is proposed that goal pursuit is related to how we resolve conflicts with others, and with our psychological well-being. The aim of the current study was to investigate whether there is an association between individual’s interpersonal goals (compassionate and self-image goals), conflict management style (integrating, compromising, obliging, dominating and avoiding), and psychological well-being. To further investigate the role of interpersonal goals, we designed a self-report questionnaire to measure the preference of compassionate goals as opposed to self-image goals in social conflict situations. Seventy university students completed an on-line questionnaire. The results showed that compassionate goals are negatively associated with dominating style, and positively associated with integrating, compromising and obliging style. Self-image goals correlated positively with dominating style, and negatively with integrating style. Furthermore, individuals with higher levels of self-image goals have a consistent way of dealing with conflicts in different situations. There was no statistically significant association between psychological well-being and interpersonal goals or conflict management style. The results are discussed in light of previous findings and concrete suggestions for further research are presented. / Det föreslås att ens strävan efter ett mål är relaterat till hur man löser konflikter med andra, och vårt psykiska välmående. Syftet med studien var att undersöka sambandet mellan individers interpersonella mål (medkännande och självbildsmål), konflikthanteringsstil (integrerande, kompromissande, tjänstvillig, dominerande och undvikande), och psykologiskt välmående. För vidare undersökning av interpersonella måls roll, designade vi ett självrapport frågeformulär för att mäta preferens av medkännande mål i motsats till självbildsmål i sociala konfliktsituationer. Sjuttio universitetsstudenter slutförde online frågeformulären. Resultatet visade att medkännande mål är negativt associerade med dominerande stil, och positivt med integrerande, kompromissande och tjänstvillig stil. Självbildsmål korrelerade positivt med dominerande stil, och negativt med integrerad stil. Dessutom, individer med höga nivåer av självbildsmål hanterar konflikter på ett konsekvent sätt genom olika situationer. Det var inget statistiskt signifikant samband mellan psykologiskt välmående och interpersonella mål eller konflikthanteringsstilar. Resultaten är diskuterade med hänsyn till tidigare fynd och konkreta förslag på framtida forskning är presenterad.