The Role of Conflict Management in Improving Relationships at Work: The Moderating Effect of Communication

Conflicts in organisations occur when interests and activities of individuals or groups within an organization confront each other and prevent attainment of one party‟s objectives. When conflicts are not well managed, employees become aggrieved and tend to behave in a way that does not promote good relationships among employees for the attainment of organisational goals. By means of providing empirical justification for these assertions, the study sought to establish the relationships that exist among conflict management, communication and relationships at work. Employing the cross-sectional survey approach, 132 employees were sampled from two major manufacturing companies in Ghana namely, Interplast Company Limited and Duraplast Company Limited. The study variables (Conflict management, communication and relationships at work) were measured using scales from the fourteen dimensions of the Organisational Climate Questionnaire (OCQ) developed by Furnham and Godstein (2007). The Karl Pearson‟s Product moment correlation analysis was used to establish the relationships among the study variables whereas the hierarchical regression analysis was used to find the causal and moderating effects of the independent variables on the dependent variable. The results confirmed that there exist a significant positive relationship between conflict management and communication at the workplace (r = .469, p< .01). The findings of the study supported the assertion that there is a significant positive relationship between communication and relationships at work (r = .369, p< .01). The study also revealed that there is significant positive relationship between conflict management and relationships at work (r = .582, p< .01). Finally, the findings supports the assertion that communication will moderate the relationship between conflict management and relationships at work. Management within the manufacturing companies must acknowledge the fact that when conflict are properly managed using appropriate communication channels, there is always trust between them and employees which further helps to save time on misunderstanding and improve upon relationships at work. The findings of this study will provide guidelines for policy, best practice and strategies for managing conflicts and improving relationships among employees. Additionally, the findings will provide feedback which will be necessary for improvement and development of employees in the manufacturing and other sectors of the economy.