Research Proposal: Overcoming Workplace Conflicts in Organizations

This research proposal delves into the critical issue of workplace conflict, aiming to understand why organizations continue to struggle with conflict resolution despite existing measures. The study begins with an introduction that establishes the research problem, rationale, research question, and objectives, providing a clear roadmap for the investigation. The literature review examines organizational communication, culture, diversity, and environmental factors that contribute to conflict. It explores various conflict types, orientations, processes, and management techniques, while also identifying existing research gaps. The methodology chapter outlines a descriptive research design, data collection techniques (both primary and secondary), and addresses issues of reliability, validity, sample selection, data analysis, and ethical considerations. The proposal is structured to systematically meet the research objectives, providing a comprehensive framework for understanding and addressing workplace conflicts effectively. The study will be conducted in Singapore and will utilize a mixed-methods approach, gathering data through literature review, surveys, and questionnaires to assess the issues associated with conflict management.

Running head: RESEARCH PAPER PROPOSAL
RESEARCH PAPER PROPOSAL

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Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction..........................................................................................................................3
The research problem........................................................................................................................3
Rationale or purpose of the study......................................................................................................3
Research Question.............................................................................................................................3
Research Objectives..........................................................................................................................4
Outline Structure...............................................................................................................................4
Chapter 2: Literature Review.................................................................................................................4
Introduction.......................................................................................................................................4
Organizational Communication and culture......................................................................................4
Organizational Diversity Environmental...........................................................................................5
Workplace conflicts and factors influencing the management of conflicts........................................5
View of conflict.................................................................................................................................5
Type of organizational conflict..........................................................................................................6
Orientation to conflict........................................................................................................................6
Conflict process.................................................................................................................................6
Nature of conflicts.............................................................................................................................7
Organizational culture and diverse environmental.............................................................................7
Conflict management techniques.......................................................................................................7
Research Gaps...................................................................................................................................8
Chapter 3: Research Methodology and design.......................................................................................8
Research Design................................................................................................................................8
Research Site/Data sources................................................................................................................8
Data Collection techniques................................................................................................................8
Issues of reliability and validity.........................................................................................................9
Sample Selection...............................................................................................................................9
Data Analysis and interpretation........................................................................................................9
Ethical considerations......................................................................................................................10
Chapter 5: Conclusion.........................................................................................................................10
References...........................................................................................................................................11

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Chapter 1: Introduction
The research problem
Conflict could occur in any firm while workforces with distinct backgrounds and preferences
work with each other. It could be demonstrated in different manners like non-cooperation,
insults, anger, and bullying. Its cause could range from personality conflicts and
misunderstood communication to organizational mismanagement. The unfavorable impact of
workplace conflict could consider declined productivity, disruption in work, absenteeism,
project failure, termination, and turnover (Alvesson and Sveningsson, 2015). Moreover,
employers could organize workplace conflicts by developing a firm culture that is designed
for precluding conflicts as much as possible. Together with, the company can deal promptly
and impartially with conflicts that workforces cannot resolve between themselves (Ashikali
and Groeneveld, 2015).
Rationale or purpose of the study
The purpose of this study is to identify the issues to overcome workplace conflicts in spite of
having feasible measures in order to deal with the situations. Another purpose of this study is
to develop an understanding of the significance of culture in the organization. This study is
also used for increasing knowledge about conflict management in the business. It is also
conducted for understanding the importance of cultural communication and conflicts
management in the business (Başoğul and Özgür, 2016).
Research Question
The research question relies on which the investigation is developed could be described as
given below:
Q. Why are organizations still facing problems to overcome workplace conflicts despite
having appropriate measures in place to overcome the situations.

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Research Objectives
Following are research objectives for this investigation:
• To analyse the importance of culture in the organization
• To determine the conflicts management in the business
• To determine the importance of cultural communication and conflicts management in the
business
Outline Structure
This research study would consider different chapters to systematically meet the research
objectives. The first chapter is an introduction that would discuss the problem statement, aim
and objectives, research question, and purpose of the study. The second chapter is a literature
review that would discuss the importance of culture in an organisation and also explains
conflict management in the business. The third chapter is a research methodology that would
identify the tools and methods for obtaining information related to the research issue and
analyzed it in an effective manner (Belias, et. al., 2015).
Chapter 2: Literature Review
Introduction
Conflict could be significantly illustrated as distinct kinds of arguments and associations that
take place among distinct workforces as well as, tend to have an impact on firm atmospheres.
It is becoming significant to mention that the specific review of literature is significantly
intended to make sure that this research is competent for comprehending and emphasizing on
aspects associated with that of conflicts (Bortolotti, Boscari, and Danese, 2015).
Organizational Communication and culture
It is identified that the key reason for the importance of workplace communication is
significant because it facilitates the views, perceptions, and values of distinct workforces. It
simply indicates that the communication is contributed with respect to enterprise culture of a

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firm. Furthermore, in order to keep the sound culture in business, it is significant for several
managers and employees to make significant liaisons with one another with the support of
which, they would effectively competent to describe the distinct opinions, values, and
perceptions (Brettel, Chomik, and Flatten, 2015).
Organizational Diversity Environmental
It is addressed that the diversity of the atmosphere is highly persuaded while organizational
culture is not supportive. The distinct kinds of conflicts can generally tend to create because
of individual reasons and conflicts could be created because of adequate training and an
inadequate working atmosphere. When there is existence of some extent of
miscommunication then it can create the chances of conflicts. Moreover, conflicts are also
tended to increase because of a lack of attitude as well as, lack of skill set of workforces,
higher extent of stress, and inadequate work ethics (Chan and Lai, 2017).
Workplace conflicts and factors influencing the management of conflicts
The conflict that arises in the business could be referred to as conflicts because of
distinguishes in time. The reason why avoidance and removal of conflict are significant due
to unfavorable aspects of firm productivity, performance level, and stress level together with,
performance and growth of enterprises. There are different factors that can influence the
management of conflicts and needs to be dealt with consequently. These factors are culture,
context, the balance of power, and values (Chang and Lin, 2015).
View of conflict
Conflicts could be effectively illustrated as distinct kinds of arguments and associations that
take place among distinct workforces and tend to have an impact on firm atmosphere.
Although, conflicts lead to sound decision making, they lead to poor management of a firm as
well as, becoming obstacles in a firm (Cho, Kim, and Mor Barak, 2017).

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Type of organizational conflict
The interpersonal conflicts could be significantly illustrated as conflicts that generally
happens among two distinct individuals. The interpersonal conflicts could be illustrated as a
kind of conflict whereby the experience tends for taking place in the mind of distinct
individuals. In this context, it is significant for focusing on the conflicts that involve
psychological aspects comprised of value, principles, individuals, emotions as well as, other
such aspects. The intergroup conflict could be significantly illustrated as a kind of conflict
that tends to arise between different teams within the firm (De Clercq and Belausteguigoitia,
2015).
Orientation to conflict
The orientations to conflicts could be identified as several aspects that are generally
considered in the context of conflicts that occur. In the context of this, it is significant for
making sure that there is the existence of different orientations of conflicts like destructive
and constructive conflicts as well as, lose-lose and win-win orientation to conflicts (Driskill,
2018).
Conflict process
It is discussed that the initial phase involves in conflict management processes consider the
prospective opposition as well as, incompatibility. It is the first stage of the conflict in which,
enterprise executive will be essential to demonstrate to it that the hostility could be brought
down. The second phase of the conflict procedure considers the personalization and cognition
(Bortolotti, Boscari, and Danese, 2015). In the context of this research, it is becoming
significant to making sure that the intention should be kept in a manner like a win-win
scenario should be kept. In the last phase, the results of different conflicts are essential to be
favourable in nature and should avoid unfavourable results. The orientation of results should
consider a win-win condition (Brettel, Chomik, and Flatten, 2015).

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Nature of conflicts
There are distinct kinds of conflicts that are generally affected by different factors. These
conflicts considering the conditions that take place as a consequence of personal factors,
structural factors, and communication. The structural factors consider the conflicts that could
be related to common resources, specialization, differences in goals as well as, the
interdependence of workforces (Chan and Lai, 2017). Along with this, the expectation and
role of workforces can also create conflict in the workplace. The personal factor of different
workforces could also lead to conflicts. The communication in business supports keeping
sound links to the outsider contact as well as, distinct suppliers as available in firm (Chang
and Lin, 2015).
Organizational culture and diverse environmental
It is addressed that conflicts could often be taken place because of increase rivalry as well as,
limited resources. In addition, poor communication acts as a cause of workplace conflict that
could lead to the poor performance of a business in the longer term. In such a condition,
when a manager is competent for offering significant training to workforces then they would
be competent for resolving the conflicts. When workforces are competent for keeping
favourable working atmosphere, then in this condition, significant activities and plans could
be intended for increasing business productivity as well as, reducing the conflicts (Cho, Kim,
and Mor Barak, 2017).
Conflict management techniques
The Weberian theory is used to manage conflicts in the workplace. This theory illustrates the
fact that different firms have clearly illustrated the roles and accountability along with,
communication as hierarchical, structured, and clear. Along with this, Tompkins and the
Cheney theory described that there are different types of control (De Clercq and
Belausteguigoitia, 2015). It is supportive of business in terms of managing the power in

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significant manners and keeps them in a bureaucratic, simple, and concretive way. Along
with this, Deetz’s Managerialism Theory discusses that it is becoming significant for a firm
to make sure that it is competent to illustrate firm communication and engage in firm control
(Driskill, 2018).
Research Gaps
There is different research that has conducted on conflict management but only a few
researches that provide depth understanding regarding the specified topic. There are different
previous researches that do not focus on the issue to deal with workplace conflicts in spite of
having significant measures in place to deal with conditions (De Clercq and
Belausteguigoitia, 2015). Hence, this research is conducted to overcome this issue.
Chapter 3: Research Methodology and design
Research Design
The descriptive research design would be significant for this investigation because different
aspects associated with conflict management could be significantly illustrated. It would
support in basic rationale associated with the phenomenon that is relied on in which the firm
would be competent for achieving the objectives of investigation (Brennen, 2017).
Research Site/Data sources
The research site would be selected by an investigator to perform the research would be in
Singapore in which, author of the research is located.
Data Collection techniques
The data-gathering technique that would be selected for this research study is a mixed
research method i.e. both primary and secondary methods. Under secondary research
techniques, data would be gathered through journal articles, news articles, and related papers
from which, data about conflict management could be collected consequently. Primary data
would be gathered by the survey through questionnaires as it would aid to address the

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information related to the concept of conflict management and assessing the issues in
association with the management of these concerns (Hennink, Hutter, and Bailey, 2020).
Issues of reliability and validity
The reliability of content analysis investigation is illustrated as stability and tendency for
coders in terms of consistently re-code the same information in the same way over the period
of time. It is identified that the issue of reliability could be further difficult by inevitably
human nature of investigators. In the context of this reason, coding errors could be minimized
but not be avoided (Flick, 2018).
Along with this, the validity of content analysis is associated with the correspondence of
categories related to the conclusion and generalisability of outcomes to theory. The
overarching issue of concept assessment research is challengeable nature regarding
conclusions. It is reached by its inferential processes. Researcher would develop the rules that
permit one and others in terms of categorizing and coding the same information in the same
way over a time period that is illustrated as stability. It is significant for the success of
conceptual assessment (King, Horrocks, and Brooks, 2018).
Sample Selection
In this research, an interview would be used for gathering the data and assessing the data
consequently. It is significant for comprehending that through the specific secondary
technique, data will be collected consequently from 5 respondents.
Data Analysis and interpretation
The qualitative method would be used in this research because it helps to gather theoretical
information regarding research concerns. In the context of this method, secondary sources
and interviews would be used to gather the data. Along with this, a qualitative data analysis
method would be used to analysing the gathered data. It would be used to make sure the
concept of conflict management and also it could be understood critically. Furthermore, and

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the reason why conflict management can be comprehended critically. Moreover, the primary
technique of data gathering was implemented and this was then supported through a
secondary technique of analysis (Myers, 2019).
Ethical considerations
In this research, the researcher would make sure the authenticity and verification of sources
are being considered feasibly. In addition to this, plagiarism could be the biggest issue that
would be avoided by provided proper sources of research in a feasible manner. Researcher
would also consider different criteria set by the ethical committee in university. In addition to
this, when conducting interviews, authentic sources would be used (Silverman, 2016).
Chapter 5: Conclusion
From the above discussion, it can be concluded that culture is important in an organization. It
can be summarised that conflict management could be used in the business. Furthermore, it
can be concluded that cultural communication and conflict management is important in
business. It can be summarised that the interview method would be used for capturing the
primary information regarding research concerns. Along with this, qualitative data analysis
would be used for analysing the information.

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References
Alvesson, M. and Sveningsson, S., 2015. Changing organizational culture: Cultural change
work in progress. Routledge.
Ashikali, T. and Groeneveld, S., 2015. Diversity management for all? An empirical analysis
of diversity management outcomes across groups. Personnel Review, 44(5), pp.757-780.
Başoğul, C. and Özgür, G., 2016. Role of emotional intelligence in conflict management
strategies of nurses. Asian nursing research, 10(3), pp.228-233.
Belias, D., Koustelios, A., Vairaktarakis, G. and Sdrolias, L., 2015. Organizational culture
and job satisfaction of Greek banking institutions. Procedia-Social and Behavioral
Sciences, 175, pp.314-323.
Bortolotti, T., Boscari, S. and Danese, P., 2015. Successful lean implementation:
Organizational culture and soft lean practices. International Journal of Production
Economics, 160, pp.182-201.
Brennen, B.S., 2017. Qualitative research methods for media studies. Taylor & Francis.
Brettel, M., Chomik, C. and Flatten, T.C., 2015. How organizational culture influences
innovativeness, proactiveness, and risk‐taking: Fostering entrepreneurial orientation in
SMEs. Journal of Small Business Management, 53(4), pp.868-885.
Chan, S.H.J. and Lai, H.Y.I., 2017. Understanding the link between communication
satisfaction, perceived justice, and organizational citizenship behavior. Journal of business
research, 70, pp.214-223.
Chang, C.L.H. and Lin, T.C., 2015. The role of organizational culture in the knowledge
management process. Journal of Knowledge management, 19(3), pp.433-455.
Cho, S., Kim, A. and Mor Barak, M.E., 2017. Does diversity matter? Exploring workforce
diversity, diversity management, and organizational performance in social enterprises. Asian
Social Work and Policy Review, 11(3), pp.193-204.

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De Clercq, D., and Belausteguigoitia, I., 2015. Intergenerational strategy involvement and
family firms’ innovation pursuits: The critical roles of conflict management and social
capital. Journal of Family Business Strategy, 6(3), pp.178-189.
Driskill, G.W., 2018. Organizational culture in action: A cultural analysis workbook.
Routledge.
Flick, U., 2018. An introduction to qualitative research. Sage Publications Limited.
Hennink, M., Hutter, I. and Bailey, A., 2020. Qualitative research methods. SAGE
Publications Limited.
King, N., Horrocks, C. and Brooks, J., 2018. Interviews in qualitative research. SAGE
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Myers, M.D., 2019. Qualitative research in business and management. Sage Publications
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Silverman, D. ed., 2016. Qualitative research. Sage.