An Assessment of Conflict Management Practice at St. Mary’s University

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to assess conflict management practice of St. Mary’s University. In order to conduct the study the researcher used simple random and judgmental sampling technique for selecting 184 employees and the management, the faculty heads and members of the discipline committee respectively. Questionnaire and interview were used as methods of data collection and the reviews of the revised discipline manual, documents of exit interview and decisions of the discipline committee as a secondary data. The study used descriptive research design for the purpose of analyzing and interpreting the data. As a result, the major findings of the research are as follows, the dominant type of conflict that prevail at SMU is job related conflict and the main source of work related conflict at SMU is shortage of resources. The major conflict management style used by SMU is compromising and the frequently used alternative conflict management system is using disciplinary committee. The commitment of the top management in resolving or managing workplace conflict is average or moderate. In order to manage conflict properly, the management should be equipped with techniques or styles of conflict management besides that the management must encourage optimal resource utilization to the extent possible in order to avoid work related conflicts.