Research Proposal: Evaluating Conflict Resolution Among Stakeholders

This research proposal investigates the evaluation of conflict resolution methods among project stakeholders. The study aims to identify the sources of conflict, determine effective identification strategies, and explore various resolution techniques. The proposal outlines the research aims, objectives, and scope, emphasizing the importance of project management in contemporary business environments. The methodology includes an interpretivism philosophy, a descriptive research design, and a deductive research approach. Data will be collected through interviews with stakeholders from different projects. The proposal also addresses ethical considerations and presents a detailed timeline for the research process. The literature review covers the impact of conflicts on projects, the importance of stakeholder involvement, and the role of project management principles in achieving success. The research seeks to provide insights into managing conflicts, enhancing project outcomes, and fostering productive stakeholder relationships. The proposal includes references to relevant academic literature.

Running head: RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Evaluation of conflict resolution between stakeholders
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author Note:

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RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Research Aims and Objectives....................................................................................................3
Research Scope............................................................................................................................4
Research Questions......................................................................................................................4
Problem Statement.......................................................................................................................4
Literature Review............................................................................................................................5
Introduction..................................................................................................................................5
Research Methodology....................................................................................................................6
Introduction..................................................................................................................................6
Research Philosophy and justification.........................................................................................6
Research Design and justification...............................................................................................7
Research Approach and Justification...........................................................................................7
Data Collection Process...............................................................................................................8
Sampling method.........................................................................................................................8
Ethical Considerations.................................................................................................................8
Timeline...........................................................................................................................................9
References......................................................................................................................................10

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RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Introduction
The research will be based on the study of the evaluation of the ways to remove and
manage conflicts among the stakeholders of a project. The underlying source of the conflicts is
not always evident. The managers of the project and the teams that the managers lead needs to
examine the different types of the relationship between the different issues and the motivations
of the stakeholders by means of interpersonal skills (Annane et al. 2018). The skills involve the
likes of the ability to resolve conflicts, overcoming the hurdles to change management as well as
build trust. The following scenarios of the real life projects will be analyzed in order to
demonstrate the usage of different types of the techniques for the management of the conflicts in
the project workplace. The management of the stakeholders and their proper involvement is one
of the most important necessities that can help in the success of the project.
Research Aims and Objectives
The research has aims to determine the different kinds of the steps and the strategies that
are taken by the management of the organizations in order to ensure a successful and smooth
completion of the project.
The objectives of the following research will be;
a. To evaluate the source of conflicts that lies in between the stakeholders
b. To Determine the ways and steps implemented to identify conflicts
c. To determine the ways and steps to resolve conflicts

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RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Research Scope
` The choice of the topic of the research itself has been the first and foremost reason behind
the increase in the scope of the research. The topic of the research deals in the evaluation of
conflicts in between the stakeholders of a particular project. The topic is important given the fact
that project management has become one of the major areas of the business in the modern days.
The research will provide a detailed and transparent view to the different kinds of the conflicts
that is currently present and the sources of such conflict. The inclusion of the secondary research
in the form of interviewing the stakeholders of the project will provide clear and detailed original
responses. Such a process will naturally increase the scope of the research.
Research Questions
The research questions of the following research are as follows;
a. How does the source of conflicts that lies in between the stakeholders can be
evaluated?
b. How can the ways and steps implemented to identify conflicts be determined?
c. What are the ways and steps to resolve conflicts are determined?
Problem Statement
The role of the stakeholders of a particular project is utmost important for an
organization. The main problem that will be addressed in the following research is the different
kinds of the elements that turns out to be the cause of conflict for the stakeholders of the project.
The research thus aims to hit out the exact points or sources that creates problems to the success
of a project.

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RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Literature Review
Introduction
According to, Heravi Coffey and Trigunarsyah (2015) different kinds of projects face
large number of conflict situations which generally hamper the cause of the project. Typically a
conflict situation results from shortage of resource and an antagonistic feeling. Conflicts arise
among different individuals, groups and individuals and between organizations. However, the
largest conflict that tends to disperse the cause of the organization is when conflicts arise among
the stakeholders of the project during a particular project. On the other hand, Experts who are
credited for different types of project management activities believes that conflicts are one of the
most inevitable causes in a project management. According to, Ward and Strong (2016) the
potential conflict in information systems development projects is usually high because it
generally involves individuals from different backgrounds and orientations working together to
create a complex task.
The reason for conflict in team projects can be related to differences in values, attitudes,
needs, expectations, perceptions, resources, and personalities. The presence of Proper skills in
dealing with conflict can assist project managers and other organization members to handle and
effectively resolve conflicts, which can lead to a more productive organization as a whole (Ward
and Strong 2016). The use of the project management principles brings value to the organization.
The application of these principles helps the managers to establish success measures and manage
cost and time to ensure the success of the project. However, the presence of problems among the
stakeholders of the project is a major concern for the organization. The conflicts in between the
people especially the stakeholders are believed to be one of the frontline cause for the same.

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RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Conflict can be defined as a situation of competition in which both the parties are aware
of the incompatibility of the future positions and stands at a neutral juncture that leads to a
deadlock (Annane et al. 2018). The conflict of interest in between the stakeholders of the project
may arise from financial, personal, legal and other problems. It is important for the management
to resolve the conflict as early as possible to ensure success in the business project.
Research Methodology
Introduction
The nature of the study is one of the major elements to the development of the
methodology of the research study and it also decides on the method of deciding the strategies of
the particular research (Kumar 2019). The research will be using the qualitative methods to
evaluate the different kinds of the research objectives chosen earlier. The qualitative data
provides the research with the advantage of collecting a reliable and valid data and also analyze
them in the most effective manner.
Research Philosophy and justification
The three most widely used philosophies are positivism, interpretivism and pragmatism.
The positivism philosophy is based on quantifiable observations while the interpretivism
philosophy is based on the perspective of the individuals. Pragmatism philosophy on the other
hand is the combination of both the interpretivism and positivism philosophy. The following
research is based on the interpretivism philosophy. the interpretivism philosophy has been
selected as because the research will conduct a number of different types of interview of the
stakeholders of the project to get an idea of the way to evaluate the research.

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RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Research Design and justification
According to, Patten (2016) the most widely used research designs are exploratory,
explanatory and descriptive research design. The explanatory research designs provide the
opportunity for the research to provide explanations to the phenomenon and also help to predict
different kind of future occurrences. Secondly the exploratory research design is based on the
testing of the hypothesis, research objectives as well as the questions of the research. Lastly the
descriptive research design can be said to be a combination of both the explanatory and
exploratory research design which emphasizes on describing the characteristics of a population
through the collection of data. Due to the dual characteristics of descriptive research design, it is
the most widely used research design by the researchers while conducting a research.
The research that will be conducted based on the given topic will be using the descriptive
research design. The use of the descriptive research design will be providing an opportunity for
the research to easily clarify the hypothesis and the research topic. It will also help to provide
correct answer to the research questions. The use of the descriptive research design is justified as
because it helps the research to answer the questions related to the evaluation of the problems
that occur within the stakeholders during an ongoing project.
Research Approach and Justification
The inductive and deductive research approaches are generally used in different
researches. The following research will use the deductive research approach as because it allows
the research to test the research hypothesis and answer the research questions. The use of the
deductive model can help the research to verify the research perspectives based on the existing
theories and concepts related to the topic of the research.

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RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Data Collection Process
The data will be collected through the process of interview. the interview process will be
completed by means of interviewing different stakeholders of different projects selected from
different business organizations. the selection of the interview process is justified as because
interviewing the stakeholders will bring out the original and reliable information for the research.
Sampling method
The random sampling method will be selected for this particular process as because the
random selection of the participants of the interview can save time and money.
Sample Size
The following research will be considering 7 different project stakeholders. These 7
people will be interviewed and the responses will be analyzed to find out the results of the
research.
Ethical Considerations
Ethics stands out to be one of the major considerations for a research. The researcher
must ensure that the name of the participants along with their responses is kept secret from
others. The information must be secured following the guidelines of the Data Security Act of
1992.

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RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Timeline
Task Name Duration Start Finish
Research Proposal
Timeline
98 days Mon 4/1/19 Wed
8/14/19
Selection of the
Research Topic
1 day Mon 4/1/19 Mon
4/1/19
Approval of the
Research Topic
2 days Tue 4/2/19 Wed
4/3/19
Researching and
the Development of
the Aims and
Objectives
6 days Thu 4/4/19 Thu
4/11/19
Preliminary
Investigation
12 days Fri 4/12/19 Mon
4/29/19
Assembling all the
Preliminary Data
8 days Tue 4/30/19 Thu
5/9/19
Researching the
Data
6 days Fri 5/10/19 Fri
5/17/19
Compiling the Data 14 days Mon 5/20/19 Thu
6/6/19
Submission of the
Draft
1 day Fri 6/7/19 Fri 6/7/19
Continuation of the
Research
20 days Mon 6/10/19 Fri 7/5/19
Assembling New
Information
10 days Mon 6/10/19 Fri
6/21/19
Identification of
the Sample
1 day Mon 6/24/19 Mon
6/24/19
Selecting The
Number of Sample
Size
4 days Tue 6/25/19 Fri
6/28/19
Interviewing The
Sample Population
5 days Mon 7/1/19 Fri 7/5/19
Researching on the
Available Data
28 days Mon 7/8/19 Wed
8/14/19
Compiling the
Total Data
15 days Mon 7/8/19 Fri
7/26/19
Assembling and
Preparing the final
Report
12 days Mon 7/29/19 Tue
8/13/19
Final Submission 1 day Wed 8/14/19 Wed
8/14/19

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RESEARCH PROPOSAL
References
Annane, D., Lerolle, N., Meuris, S., Sibilla, J. and Olsen, K.M., 2018. Academic conflict of
interest. Intensive care medicine, pp.1-8.
Domhoff, G.W. and Fox, K.C., 2015. Dreaming and the default network: a review, synthesis, and
counterintuitive research proposal. Consciousness and cognition, 33, pp.342-353.
Heravi, A., Coffey, V. and Trigunarsyah, B., 2015. Evaluating the level of stakeholder
involvement during the project planning processes of building projects. International Journal of
Project Management, 33(5), pp.985-997.
Kumar, R., 2019. Research methodology: A step-by-step guide for beginners. Sage Publications
Limited.
Patten, M.L., 2016. Proposing empirical research: A guide to the fundamentals. Routledge.
Shulha, L.M., Whitmore, E., Cousins, J.B., Gilbert, N. and al Hudib, H., 2016. Introducing
evidence-based principles to guide collaborative approaches to evaluation: Results of an
empirical process. American journal of evaluation, 37(2), pp.193-215.
Taylor, S.J., Bogdan, R. and DeVault, M., 2015. Introduction to qualitative research methods: A
guidebook and resource. John Wiley & Sons.
Walliman, N., 2017. Research methods: The basics. Routledge.
Ward, W. and Strong, C., 2016. Disclosure, Evaluation and Management of Financial Conflict of
Interest in Research. Research Management Review, 21(1), p.n1.