Exploring the Relationship between Conflict Management Style and Organizational Performance: An Empirical Study in the Organizations of Bangladesh

Abstract

Conflict originally meant to strike at another, to fight with an enemy or to battle against an opposing force. Today, it also means to be antagonistic towards others or to be in sharp disagreement with others. Within organizations conflicts are inevitable, and arise in case of disagreements over workloads, problems in communication, individual differences in needs, wants, goals, values, opinions, preferences or behavior. It can be intense, and it is usually unpleasant. The issues can be cultural, social, political or economic in nature. They can be at individual, community, national or international level. The main goal of this study is to examine the relationships between conflict management and organizational performance (OP). One potential clarification for the conflicting findings is that earlier studies did not investigate the factors that may have a positive effect on the relationships between Conflict Management Style (CMS) and Organizational Performance (OP). To analyze the conflict management from a wider perspective, the present study model includes four antecedents#x2019; factors (management facilitation, creativity and innovation, decent environment and intrinsic rewards) which are hypothesized to lead to the practices of CMS and OP as a dependent factor. Finally, the study will explore the positive relationship among the antecedents#x2019; factors, CMS and OP. The results of this study bring insight into the conflict of different opinions as valuable sources of cross-fertilization for developing new idea in handling conflict. The findings also support that management facilitation, creativity and innovation, decent environment and intrinsic rewards ultimately help to develop effective mechanism for managing conflict and also to establish healthier OP at workplace.