CONFLICT MANAGEMENT AND ORGANISATIONAL PERFORMANCE (A STUDY OF IMO STATE POLYTECHNIC OMUMA, IMO STATE)

Abstract Man's interaction with his fellow in the pursuit of his goals, dreams and aspirations is prone to result in conflict. This is because human goals are varied and in most cases, at variance with one another. Whether at individual or group level, conflict is an inevitable part of human relationships. Organizations are made up of people from different backgrounds that interact daily in their collective effort towards achieving a common goal. In the course of their daily interaction, there is bound to be conflict one way or the other. This is because individual members of the organization have their personal goals and ambitions aside from the common organizational goals. The employees thus, collectively work towards the attainment of the common organizational goals, while still pursuing their personal goals, which may not necessarily be compatible with that of other members. Also a result, where there is a clash of interest, conflict will definitely ensue. The interest of the employer, for instance, is in most cases, different from that of the workers. While employers seek to maximize profit and minimize cost, the workers are mainly concerned with how to maximize their share of the organizational cake through wage increases, additional incentives, bonuses and other fringe benefits. Employees' demands, if implemented to the letter, will, no doubt, lead to additional costs and 1 decline in organizational profit margin. Amusan, (2016) opined that industrial conflict is a situation of disagreement between two parties. This situation is characterized by the inability of those concerned to iron out their differences and reach an agreement on issues of common interest. Meanwhile, the task of managing conflict is the major preoccupation of organizational managers administrators who has the ability to balance the primary interest of the employers with those of the employees such that tensions are deescalated and disharmony in industrial relations voided. In the same vein, Anugwom (2015) views conflict as a clash of two motives. According to him, when two motives conflicts, the satisfaction of one leads to the frustration of the other. Thus, conflict, in the views of Anugwom (2015) is based on the incompatibility of goals and arises from opposing behaviours. Organizational conflicts according to Anugwom (2015) is a disagreement between two or more individuals within an organization as a result of difference in status, scarce economic resources, goals and interdependent nature of work activities, etc. Put succinctly, industrial conflict is a disagreement between or among actors in industrial relations mostly over issues of divergent interest. It is proper to document and underline the fact that conflict in most cases does not connote negativism. Conflict could contain dysfunctional properties that could damage the corporate image and reputation of an organization. But this dysfunctional syndrome could be managed and transformed to useful function if properly managed. On the other hand, crisis would have functional properties that would propel the 2 organization's image to remarkable success and enhance the organization's goodwill (Grunig. 2011). The bottom line of our submission in this section is that conflict can be likened to an electric current that if properly channeled and utilized, will yield maximum benefit. On the contrary, if not properly channeled, could be disastrous. With respect to our institution of study, there are various labour unions that pursue the interest of their members and where their various interests are not properly harnessed, could be detrimental to organization performance and productivity. It is on this basis that this study seeks to investigate conflict management and its effect on organizational performance, in Federal Polytechnic Oko, Anambra state.