Exploring the Predictive Power of Demographic Factors on Conflict Management Styles of Individuals: A Study of Moserbaer Photovoltaic Ltd

Abstract

History of conflict is deeply rooted in the very existence of human beings on this planet. This phenomenon can be observed and felt in every aspect of our life be it personal, professional, political, international (state and country conflicts) conflicts for border and power or environmental. Workplace conflict is one of the key issues to be addressed and managed so as to get the desired results. To get the functional outcome and resolve the dysfunctional conflicts is the key to employee performance and organizational effectiveness. Therefore organizations are turning their focus from conflict resolution to conflict management so as to harness the positive effects of conflict. The purpose of the study was to explore the extent to which various selected demographic variables play a predictive role for the conflict management strategies of employees in Moserbaer Photovoltaic Ltd. A demographic instrument was developed to measure the independent demographic variables viz. age, gender, work experience, family type and marital status. Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory – II (ROCI-II) (Rahim, 1983), a 28 item measure of conflict-handling styles was used to measure the dependent variable viz. conflict handling styles of the employees. The study was conducted in Moserbaer Photovoltaic Limited, Greater Noida. The sample was drawn from managerial positions of the organization using convenient sampling design. The sample size constituted 25 employees from managerial positions of the organization with a diverse demographic profile. The sample however could have only three females out of the total 25 due to less number of female workers being employed in the departments targeted. Most of the respondents were from purchase, production planning and control or broadly from the supply chain function of the organization. The data analysis was done by using frequency distribution and one way ANOVA. The findings of the study indicate that gender do predict the compromising and dominating conflict handling styles. Also marital status would predict if the employee will use avoiding conflict handling style. Obliging and integrating styles are not associated with any of the demographic variables selected. Keywords: Conflict, Conflict Management, Demographic factors

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