The nature of conflict within an engineering company in the North West Province

Abstract

There is a need to determine the real reasons for conflict in the South African context. because it seems that the transformation process brought forth a reduction in work opportunities, workers losing their jobs, an increase in workplace violence, increasing dissatisfaction amongst workers, more strikes occuring, affirmative action, discrimination, recruitment of workers without the appropriate skills, corruption, workers who are too lazy to work, and professionals going overseas, etcetera. Personnel in the companies must be adequately informed about the nature of conflict, the causes of conflict, the types of conflict and the management of conflict, because conflict is increasing and it must be managed correctly otherwise it will be destructive and inhibit the functioning of a company. The objectives of the research study are as follows: a) To determine how conflict dynamics are conceptualised in literature through the application of industrial sociological theories, organizational principles and general management theories. b) To determine the main sources of conflict within the Engineering Company. c) To determine if personnel on the horizontal and vertical levels in the Engineering Company are influenced differently by conflict. d) To determine if there is a significant difference between the personnel in the Engineering Company in the manner in which they handle conflict with their superior and subordinates. The research study consists of a theoretical and an empirical framework. Chapter 1 covers the introduction, problem statement, the method and purpose of the research, and the description of relevant terms. In Chapter 2, the philosophies of Georg Friedrich Hegel and Immanuel Kant, and the theories of Karl Marx and Max Weber are used to serve as a basis on which the study can be built. In Chapter 3, the nature of conflict is discussed in terms of the following types of conflict: interpersonal conflict, intrapersonal conflict, intergroup conflict, and intragroup conflict. The management of the different types of conflict is also discussed. Chapter 3 covers the empirical data of the research, and the empirical research results of the study. The most important results of this study and recommendations are given in Chapter 5.