Cultural Values And Emotional Intelligence As Predictors Of Conflict Management Styles: A Study Of Teachers In Accra

INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the Study Conflict may be considered as a normal facet of our everyday life and is a truth that exists in any human society throughout history (Ahmed, 2015). Wherever two or more people interact, there is a tendency for conflict to arise. In other words, conflict in the workplace is destined to occur as long as there are ongoing interactions among stakeholders. Conflict may occur within any organisation, be it a large business or a privately-owned small business, in schools or charity organizations, which can have a devastating effect on these organisations. This is why it is estimated that Fortune 500 senior human resource executives spend up to 20% of their time in litigation activities (Levine, 1998). Studies also show that up to 42% of a manager's time is spent on reaching agreement with others when conflicts occur (Watson & Hoffman, 1996). The outcome of a poorly managed conflict can lead to negative consequences such as time-wasting, decreased morale, and increased level of absenteeism, high turnover, complaints, and litigations (Runde & Flanagan, 2007). As a result, some organisational theorists such as the Classical Organizational theorists, viewed conflict as undesirable and should be eliminated (Chen, 2006). To them, conflict is a major obstacle for the proper functioning of any organisation and had to be avoided in every organisational context. However, later research initiated by Human Relation theorists, have regarded conflict as a prerequisite of a growing organisation, which links different views and is necessary for creativity and innovation (Al-Hamdan, Al-Ta'amneh, Rayan, & Bawadi, 2019).