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Journal of Education for Business
ISSN: 0883-2323 (Print) 1940-3356 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vjeb20
Conflict Management: A Gap in Business Education
Curricula
Matthew Lang
To cite this article: Matthew Lang (2009) Conflict Management: A Gap in Business Education Curricula, Journal of Education for Business, 84:4, 240-245, DOI: 10.3200/JOEB.84.4.240-245 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.3200/JOEB.84.4.240-245
Published online: 07 Aug 2010.
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ABSTRACT.
R
here is nothing as intertwined in the relational experience of people than conflict: It is a fundamental basis for all human interaction, and yet noth-ing generates more fear and uncertainty (Porter-O’Grady,2004).Conflictandcon-troversyinorganizationsareaninevitable partofthedecision-makingandproblem-solving processes. Conflict management is considered an important part of any supervisor’srole,sometimestakingmore than25%ofhisorhertime(Mintzberg, 1975;Thomas&Schmidt,1976).Inmore recentstudiesresearchershavefoundthat managersspendmorethan18%oftheir time on employee conflict, a figure that has nearly doubled since the mid-1980s (Hignite,Margavio,&Chin,2002).Why is management spending more time managing conflict? The growing complexity of organizations, use of teams and group decision making, and globalization are likely culprits (Jas-sawalla & Sashittal, 1999; Jehn, 2000; Kahai, Sosik, & Avolio, 2004; Pfeffer & Veiga, 1999; Tjosvold, 1985). With theprevalenceofintegratedsystemsand processes,itisdifficulttoachievesuc-cesswithouttheorganizingcomponent of teams (Crawford, 2002; Sparrow, 1997). Because none of these factors is likely to diminish soon, manage-mentwillcontinuespendingsignificant amountsoftimedealingwithconflict.
Regardlessofthespecificdefinitionof conflictapplied,firmshaveincreasingly
movedfromeffortstoeliminateconflict toeffectivelymanagingconflict,thereby acknowledgingthatconflictissimplyan expected(andsometimesevendesirable) byproduct of organizational processes (Higniteetal.,2002).Asaresult,acquir-ing people-related skills such as nego-tiation,conflictresolution,interpersonal communication,andproblemresolution is critical for all levels of an organiza-tion (Analoui, 1995). Employees need conflict management skills to manage their internal functioning, make deci-sions, and work effectively in the ever-increasing team environment of today’s organizations (Jassawalla & Sashittal, 1999; Pfeffer &Veiga, 1999; Tjosvold, 1985,1987).
The present study demonstrates that conflict is a significant and unavoid-able factor in organizations and that dealing with it effectively is important to individual managers and organiza-tional success. In studying U.S.- and non-U.S.-based universities, I found a lackofemphasisonconflictresolution educationinthebusinesscurriculaand provideacourseforfutureresearchinto conflictresolutioneducation.
LiteratureReview
Conflict may significantly affect employee morale and turnover rate. It may also result in litigation, affecting the overall health of the organization
ConflictManagement:AGapinBusiness
EducationCurricula
MATTHEWLANG
MORGANSTATEUNIVERSITY BALTIMORE,MARYLAND
T
ABSTRACT.Conflictmanagementis asignificantandunavoidablepartofa manager’sroleinanorganization.Employ-eesneedconflictmanagementskillsto managethemselves,makedecisions,and workeffectivelyintheever-increasingteam environmentoftoday’sorganizations.In thepresentarticle,theauthordemonstrates thedisconnectbetweentheimportanceof conflictresolutionskillsinorganizations andtheirlackofemphasisinundergraduate businesscurriculathroughastudyofuni- versityWebsitesfromU.S.-andnon-U.S.-basedschools.
Keywords:businesseducation,conflict, conflictmanagement,conflictresolution, management,undergraduatecurriculum
Copyright©2009HeldrefPublications
(Hirschman, 2001; McKenzie, 2002). Conflict can have constructive or destructiveresultsfortheorganization, dependingonhowindividualsapproach and manage it (Lovelace, Shapiro, & Weingart,2001).Althoughconflicthas beenatopicofmuchresearch,littlehas been done to study how much conflict management education currently exists inundergraduateuniversities.
Todate,researchhasfocusedonthe multidimensional aspects of conflict (Pinkley, 1990; Pondy, 1969; Rahim, 1992; Wall & Nolan, 1987), various types of conflict (Aritzeta, Ayestaran, & Swailes, 2005; Jehn, 1995; Jehn & Mannix, 2001), its impact on teams and group decision making (Cohen & Ledford, 1994; Kirkman & Rosen, 1999; Schweiger, Sandberg, & Ragen, 1986; Spreitzer, 1995), organizational effectiveness (Luthans, Welsh, & Tay-lor, 1988; Tjosvold & Field, 1984), and multicultural and multigenera-tionalcausesofconflict(Chen,Liu,& Tjosvold, 2005; Glass, 2007; Godfrey, 1995;Graham,Mintu,&Rogers,1994; Inkeles & Levinson, 1969; Puffer & McCarthy, 1995; Stewart & Barrick, 2000; Tjosvold, Poon, & Yu, 2005; Volkema,1998;West,2002).Fromthis list, I reviewed the use of teams and culturaldiversitybecausethesearetwo increasingsourcesofconflictintoday’s organizations.
Teams
Organizationsuseteamstocopewith the highly competitive marketplace, develop new products, improve qual- ity,reducecosts,anddealwithrestric-tivegovernmentfunding(Jassawalla& Sashittal,1999;Pfeffer&Veiga,1999). Diverse teams generate conflict, and the approach that teams take toward dealing with the conflict is critical to their success (Edmondson, Roberto, & Watkins, 2003; Pelled, Eisenhardt, & Xin, 1999). Organizational teams cannot be expected to instantly feel empowered and confident in dealing with their conflict (Kirkman & Rosen, 1999). However, these teams must be abletodealwithconflicteffectivelyas theyconfrontmanyissuesanddivisions throughouttheproblem-solvingprocess (Ilgen,1999;Sims,1995).
Although developing conflict man-agement skills would appear to be useful for organizational teams, they maybeevenmorecriticalforemploy-ees in empowered and self-managed work teams (Alper
,
Tjosvold, & Law, 2000).Theymustresolveissuesassoci-atedwiththeirpersonalities,workroles andhabits,qualityofwork,scheduling, and conflicts with other teams. This is especially true for top management teams,inwhichcooperativeconflicthas beenshowntoleadtomoreinnovative andeffectiveorganizationsbyfostering deeperexplorationofissues(Chenetal., 2005).Thisdeeperexplorationofissues leads to higher quality solutions and a strategicadvantagefortheorganization (Amason, 1996; Chen et al.; Mooney, Amason,&Sonnenfeld,2001).ImpactofCulture
Nationalcultureisalearnedtraitthat is reflected in the designs of organiza-tions,influencingaperson’sconception ofself,relationtoauthority,andwaysof dealingwithconflict(Inkeles&Levin-son,1969).Asorganizationscontinueto expandglobally,culturehasaddedeven more complexity to the organization, and,asaresult,firmsaremakingteams andgroupsincreasinglymoreimportant in solving complex issues (Stewart & Barrick, 2000;West, 2002). Cross-cul-tural negotiations between individuals in the same organization or from dif-ferent organizations have the potential tobemorecomplexandconfusingthan in-culture negotiations (Godfrey, 1995; Puffer&McCarthy,1995).
Theemotionalintelligenceofgroup membersisanimportantconflict-han-dlingcomponentofmulticulturalteams. By improving the emotional intelli-gence of managers, Rahim, Psenicka, Polychroniou, and Zhao (2002) found that subordinates were likely to use more problem-solving and fewer bar-gaining strategies when dealing with conflict. Managers can be trained to enhance their emotional intelligence, but the higher their emotional intel-ligence entering the organization, the more effective the training can be (Cherniss & Adler, 2000). Providing more conflict management training in undergraduatebusinessprogramscould
helpraisetheemotionalintelligenceof futuremanagers.
Hypotheses
Conflictresolutionskillsarecritical to individual employees, organization-al teams, top management decisions, andeffectiveorganizationalleadership. The volume of research that has been conducted, in the United States and internationally, on conflict resolution is a good indicator of its importance inthestudyofanyorganizationandits or training. Given conflict resolution’s importanceintheoryandpractice,itis imperativethatconflictresolutionskills beanintegralpartofmanagementand business education in undergraduate schools. Our discussion suggests the followinghypotheses:
Hypothesis 1 (H1): The curricula of U.S. undergraduate business and man- agementschoolsdonotemphasizecon-flictresolutioneducationortraining.
H2: The curricula of non-U.S.-based undergraduate business and manage-mentschoolsdonotemphasizeconflict theU.S.-basedschoolsbyusingtheU.S. News&WorldReport(2005)rankings, whichrankedschoolsaccordingtodata collectedinthespringof2005.Torank colleges and universities,U.S. News & World Report assigned schools on the basis of categories developed by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advance-mentofTeaching.The124schoolWeb sites I reviewed represent the top two tiers(offourtiersinU.S.News&World Report) of the 248American universi-ties (162 public, 86 private) that offer a wide range of undergraduate majors.
U.S. News & World Reportsurveyed deansandseniorfacultyatundergradu-ate business programs accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate
SchoolsofBusiness.Deansandfaculty were surveyed in the spring of 2005 and were asked to rate the quality of all programs they were familiar with on a scale ranging from 1 (marginal) to5(distinguished).Therankingswere solelybasedonthissurvey,whichhada 45%responserate.
The list of non-U.S.-based schools was derived using The Times High-er Education Supplement: Univer-sity Rankings(2006), which ranked schools according to data collected in the spring of 2005. To rank col-legesanduniversities,TheTimesused qualitative and quantitative criteria, making extensive use of peer review as a key criterion. Research quali-ty was also evaluated on 5 years of citations. Qualitative and quantitative formsofdataeachaccountedforhalf the total score. The 100 school Web sites I reviewed for the present study represent a compilation of the top 50 European and non-European (and non-U.S.-based)schoolsidentifiedby TheTimesrankings.Thepeer-review portionofthescorewasderivedfrom the opinion of graduate recruiters, especially those who work interna-tionally or on a substantial national scale.Thisgroupofrecruitersinclud-edindividualsrepresentingcompanies in manufacturing, services, finance, transportation, and the public sector. There were a total of 736 recruiters in the group, and they were asked a simple question: Which universities dotheyliketorecruitfrom?
Theactualrankingoftheschoolswas not important for the present explor-atorystudy,buttherankingsdidprovide a recognized sample of well-regarded universities to evaluate. Because many universitiesmimicortrytoemulatethe was self-reported on each university’s WebsiteduringMarchandAprilof2006 forU.S.-basedschoolsandduringOcto-berof2006fornon-U.S.-basedschools. U.S.-based schools were included in the final sample as long as their Web
sitesprovidedinformationonabusiness department,managementdepartmentor business concentration degree option, and course descriptions and titles. In all, 27 schools were dropped from the original 124 for not meeting either the criteria,whichleftafinalsampleof97 schools. Non-U.S.-based schools were not included in the final sample for one of three reasons: (a) they did not identifyabusinessdepartmentorbusi-nessconcentrationoptionontheirWeb sitetoevaluate;(b)theydidnotdisplay course descriptions on their Web site, and course titles, when displayed, did notexplicitlyincludethewordconflict intheirtitle;and(c)thecoursedescrip-tionscouldnotbetranslated.Inall,31 schoolsweredroppedfromtheoriginal 100 for one or more of these three reasons, which left a final sample of 69schools.
Athree-stepprocesswasusedtoeval-uate each university’s Web site. First, theWebsitewasassessedtodetermine whetherabusinessschool,department, or concentration was identified. Many non-U.S.-basedschoolsplacedbusiness ormanagementdepartments(ormajors) in economic, commerce, or humanity divisions,oftenlabeledfaculties.Ifone was not identified, the university was dropped from the sample. Second, all university Web sites containing course descriptions were reviewed to deter-mine the existence of conflict resolu- tioncontentintheircurricula.Thepres-ent study focused on universities that emphasizedconflictresolutionskillsin their curricula. Therefore, I concluded thataschoolpossessedconflictresolu-tion content in their business curricu-lum only if the course description or
titleincludedthewordconflictinsome form,includingconflictresolution,con-flict management, conform,includingconflictresolution,con-flict assessment, or interpersonal conflict. Third, course descriptions were evaluated to deter-mine whether conflict resolution was simplyasmallpartoftheoverallcourse contentortheprimaryfocus.
RESULTS
The U.S.-based school sample was demographicallydiverse,includingpri-vateinstitutions(secularandreligiously affiliated) and public institutions from various regions throughout the United States.Table1identifiesthenumberof schoolsincludedinthefinalsampleper theirU.S.News&WorldReport(2006) rankingandthosethatincludedconflict managementcontentinacourse.
Table 2 provides further details for thoseschoolsthatidentifiedconflictina course.Those schools that emphasized conflict management typically had a course dedicated to the subject, and Table 2 identifies those in the last col-umn. Schools that possessed conflict managementintheircurriculumbutdid not emphasize it are identified in the thirdcolumn.
Of the 97 schools in the study, only 44 (45.4%) clearly identified the topic ofconflictmanagementordealingwith conflictaspartofacourseinthebusi-ness management curriculum and of those44,only18(or18.6%ofthetotal) had a course dedicated to the subject. The universities that had a dedicated conflict management course varied in theirrequirementsforit.Forexample,4 of18(22.2%)universitiesidentifiedthe courseasanelectiveanddidnotrequire
TABLE1.ConflictManagementinCurricula:U.S.RankingSubsets
Numberofschools Numberofschoolsincludingconflict Rankingrange includedinfinalsurveysample managementcontentinacourse
1–25 14 11
26–50 19 5
51–75 21 8
76–100 21 6
101–124 22 18
Total 97 44
Note.Rankingrangeidentifiedusing2005rankingsfromU.S. News & World Report.
it of all business students, resulting in only 14 schools possessing a required course that primarily focused on con-flict management. The remaining 26 schoolWebsitesthatidentifiedconflict aspartoftheircurriculum(59%ofthe 44) combined it with various content, including but not limited to organiza-tional behavior, communications, or managementandleadership.
The non-U.S.-based school sample was also demographically diverse, including private institutions (secular and religiously affiliated) and pub-lic institutions from various regions throughout the world. Table 3 summa-rizesresultsofthesurvey.
Ofthe69schoolsinthestudy,only14 (20.3%ofthetotal)clearlyidentifiedthe topicofconflictmanagementordealing withconflictaspartofacourseintheir businessmanagementcurriculum,andof those14,only7(or10.1%ofthetotal) had a required course dedicated to the subject.Theuniversitiesthathadastand-aloneconflictmanagementcoursevaried
intheirrequirementsforit.Forexample, one of the seven schools identified the courseasanelectiveanddidnotrequire itofallbusinessstudents.Theremaining seven schools (of the 14 that identified conflict management in their curricula) identifiedconflictmanagementorinter-personal skills training as a subset of a course, representing 10.1% of the total. Thiscoursewaspartoftherequiredcur-riculum,anditusuallycombinedconflict orinterpersonalskillstrainingwithvari-ouscontent,includingbutnotlimitedto organizationalbehavior,communications (e.g.,groups,teams,interpersonal),ora managementandleadershipcourse.
DISCUSSION
Conflictisaninevitablepartofevery organization and conflict resolution skills have proven to be important for managers. However, the results of the present study demonstrate that the cur-rentundergraduatecurriculaofU.S.and non-U.S.-basedschoolsdonotreflectthe
importance of conflict resolution skills. Becausemostcollegegraduatesworkin oneformofanorganizationoranother, it is essential that conflict management training be emphasized, especially in business programs. In fact, many aca- demicprogramsattempttomodelindus-trypracticeandassigngroupprojectsto facilitatetheteamworkandconflictreso-lution skills of their students. However, projects are often assigned with limited information regarding how individuals orgroupsshoulddealwithconflictsthat mayarise.
The link between effective con-flict resolution skills and the success of interpersonal relationships, task achievement,organizationalteams,top management decisions, and effective organizational leadership has already been established. If effective conflict skillscontributesignificantlytoman- agementandorganizationaleffective-ness, then providing thorough and meaningful conflict resolution skills tocollegeundergraduateswouldcon-tributetotheirindividualeffectiveness andtheeffectivenessoforganizations thathirethem.Theliteraturesupports the need for a formal and required conflictresolutioncoursetobeestab-lishedforallaccreditedundergraduate businessschools.
Thenon-U.S.studyhadtobecomplet-edin3monthsforaPhDcourse.Because of time and resource constraints, I used onlypubliclyavailableWebsiteinforma-tion.IreviewedonlyWebsitespublished inEnglish,Spanish,orFrench.Manyuni-versity Web sites not originally written inEnglish,Spanish,orFrenchcontained basicandoverviewinformationtranslated
TABLE2.ConflictManagementEmphasisinCurricula:U.S.-BasedUniversities
Numberofschools Numberofschools Numberofschools includingconflict notemphasizing emphasizingconflict managementcontent conflictmanagement managementin Rankingrange inacourse incoursecontent coursecontent
1–25 7 7 4
26–50 5 2 3
51–75 8 4 4
76–100 6 4 2
101–124 18 13 5
Total 44 30 18
Note.Rankingrangeidentifiedusing2005rankingsfromU.S. News & World Report.
TABLE3.ConflictManagementEmphasisinCurricula:Non-U.S.-BasedUniversities
Numberofschools Numberofschoolsin
Numberof thatidentified Samplegrouping whichaconflict Numberofschools schoolsincludedin conflictmanagement thathada courseisasubsetto withastand-alone Rankingrange finalsurveysample intheircurriculum course(%) anothercourse conflictcourse
1–20 14 4 28.60 2 2
21–40 16 4 25.00 2 2
41–60 14 2 14.30 1 1
61–80 16 1 0.06 0 1
81–100 9 3 33.30 2 1
Total 69 14 20.30 7 7
Note.RankingrangeidentifiedusingTheTimesHigherEducationSupplement:WorldUniversityRankings(2006).
into English, but some did not publish course-specific information in English, whichlimitedthesamplesize.Afollow-up study should be conducted in which eachuniversityinthisstudyiscontacted
Current research identifies several causes and types of conflict, predicts thattheincreasingglobalizationoffirms wouldleadtomoreorganizationalcon-flict, agrees that conflict management skillscanbetaught,andacknowledges that firms are actively implementing conflictmanagementprogramsthrough their human resources departments. However, there is little in the litera-ture about how universities, and more specifically, undergraduate business schools, deal with this knowledge and what steps they are taking to prepare their undergraduate students for the inevitableconflictthatawaitsthem.
If managers spend up to one quar-ter of their time dealing with conflict, then undergraduate business schools should emphasize conflict manage-mentskillsintheircurricula.Aremore courses devoted to the subject or is there an emphasis on conflict manage-ment skills, skills that on the basis of theliteratureareanessentialelementto individual, management, and organiza- tionalsuccess?Onthebasisofthepres-entstudy,theanswerisanunequivocal
no,not much is currently being done. Thepresentstudyrevealsthatlessthan halfoftheU.S.-basedschoolssurveyed clearlyidentifiedconflictaspartoftheir businesscurriculum,andonly14ofthe 97 schools in the survey emphasized it in a required course.Approximately onefifthofthenon-U.S.-basedschools surveyed clearly identified conflict as part of their business curriculum, and only7ofthe69schoolshadarequired course dedicated to the subject. It is apparentthatalargeamountofresearch indicatingtheimportanceandneedfor effective conflict management skills is insufficient to influence a majority
of undergraduate business schools to includeitintheircurriculatoanymean-ingfuldegree.
The prevalence of conflict in orga-nizations, combined with the proven benefits of conflict training and the lackofemphasisforthistraininginthe undergraduate curricula, points to the need for more to be done in this area. There is sufficient evidence to require, ataminimum,conflictresolutiontrain-ingforallbusinessschoolstudentsand, moreappropriately,forallundergradu-ate students. Completion of a required conflictresolutioncourseshouldresult in better group and team performance, improving management effectiveness forgraduatesastheymoveintoorgani-zationsabundantinconflict.
FUTURERESEARCH
I recommended that more data be gathered to identify those undergraduate business programs that emphasize con-flictresolutionskillstraining.Whenthese schoolsareidentified,alongitudinalstudy ofgraduatesshouldtakeplacetocompare the success of students in undergraduate programsthatemphasizeconflictresolu-tion training with those that do not. On thebasisoftheresultsofthepresentlon-gitudinal study, a consortium of subject-matter experts and industry executives shouldconvenetodeveloprecommended standardsforconflictresolutiontraining. This could establish a continuity bridge between foundational conflict education in business schools and more role and task-specific conflict skills training con-ductedinorganizations.
NOTE
MatthewLang isthedeanofContinuingEdu-cationAdministrationattheCommunityCollege ofBaltimoreCountyandiscurrentlyaPhDstu-dentatMorganStateUniversity.Heisresearching howtheuseofonlinesocialnetworksmayaffect the entrepreneurial opportunity-recognition pro-cessforhisdissertation.
Correspondence concerning this article should beaddressedtoMatthewLang,MorganStateUni-versity, Business Management, 1700 East Cold SpringLane,Baltimore,MD21251,USA.
E-mail:mlang@ccbcmd.edu
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