School leaders who realize that conflict is not necessarily negative or positive can learn to manage conflict by understanding the five steps of the conflict process. They are the antecedent conditions, perception and conceptualization, behaviors, resolution and management, and the aftermath or outcome. A review of the literature indicates that successful management of conflict can result in desired coordination and efficiency of the school as well as innovation and adaptation.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BinsoH.1988. Managing Conflict.Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
2.
BlakeR., and MoutonJ.1964. The Managerial Grid.Houston, TX: Gulf Publishing.
3.
BurkeR. J.1970. “Methods of Resolving Superior-Subordinate Conflict: The Constructive Use of Subordinate Differences and Disagreements,”Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 5: 393–411.
4.
CoombsC. H.1987. “The Structure of Conflict,”American Psychologist, 42: 355–363.
5.
DavesW. F., and HollandC. L.1989. “The Structure of Conflict Behavior of Managers Assessed with Self-and Subordinate Ratings,”Human Relations, 42: 741–756.
6.
DeutschM.1969. “Conflict: Productive and Destructive,”Journal of Social Issues, 25: 7–41.
7.
DeutschM.1973. The Resolution of Conflict: Constructive and Destructive Processes.New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
8.
EpsteinS.1982. “Conflict and Stress,” In GoldbergerL., & BreznitsS., eds., Handbook of Stress.New York: Free Press.
9.
FairmanM., and ClarkE. A.1983. “Common Sense Strategies for Managing Conflicts,”National Association of Secondary School Principals Bulletin, 67: 93–102.
10.
FiedlerF. E.1967. A Theory of Leadership Effectiveness.New York: McGraw-Hill.
11.
FilleyA. C.1975. Interpersonal Conflict Resolution.Glenview, IL: Scott Foresman.
12.
JohnsonP. E.1989. Conflict Perceptions of Selected School Principals. Unpublished manuscript.
13.
KilmannR. H., and ThomasK. W.1975. “Interpersonal Conflict-Handling Behaviors as Reflections of Jungian Personality Dimensions,”Psychological Reports, 37: 971–980.
14.
KilmannR. H., and ThomasK. W.1978. “Four Perspectives on Conflict Management: An Attributional Framework for Organizing Descriptive and Normative Theory,”Academy of Management Review, 3: 59–68.
15.
KoffR. H., LaffeyJ. M., OlsonG. E., and CichonD. J.1981. “Coping with Conflict: Executive Stress and the School Administrator,”National Association of Secondary School Principals Bulletin, 65(449): 1–9.
LawrenceP. R., and LorschJ. W.1967. Organization and Environment—Managing Differentiation and Integration.Boston: Harvard University, Graduate School of Business Administration.
18.
LippittG. L.1983. “Can Conflict Resolution be Win-Win?”The School Administrator, 40(3): 20–22.
19.
OsborneW. D., and WigginsT.1988. Comparing Actual and Desired Tasks in the School Principalship.New Orleans: Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Education Research Association. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 297 448)
PutnamL. L., and WilsonC. E.1983. “Communicative Strategies in Organizational Conflict: Reliability and Validity of a Measurement Scale,” in BurgoonM., ed., Communications Yearbook 6.Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, pp. 629–652.
22.
RahimM. A.1983. Rahim Organization Conflict Inventories: Professional Manual (experimental ed.), Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
23.
RahimM. A.1986. Managing Conflict in Organizations.New York: Praeger.
24.
RahimM. A., and BonomaT. V.1979. “Managing Organization Task Conflict: A Model for Diagnosis and Intervention,”Psychological Reports, 44: 1323–1344.
25.
ReismanJ.1982. Technocracy of Politics? Conflict Management Behavior in Public Professions.Eugene, OR: University of Oregon, College of Education, Publications Center for Educational Policy and Management. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 222 975)
26.
RenwickP. A.1977. “Effects of Sex-Differences on the Perception and Management of Conflict: An Exploratory Study,”Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 19: 403–415.
27.
RouecheJ. E., and BakerG. A.III1986. Profiling Excellence in America's Schools.Arlington, VA: American Association of School Administrators.
28.
RubleT. L., and ThomasK. W.1976. “Support for a Two-dimensional Model of Conflict Behavior,”Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 16: 143–155.
29.
SmythR.1977. “Sources and Resolution of Conflict in Management,”Personnel Journal, 55: 225–226.
30.
ThomasK. W.1976. “Conflict and Conflict Management,” in DunnetteM. D., ed., Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology.Chicago: Rand McNally, pp. 889–935.
31.
van de VliertE.1985. “Escalative Intervention in Small-group Conflicts,”Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 21: 19–36.
32.
van de VliertE.1990. “Small Group Conflicts,” in GittlerJ. B., ed., the Annual Review of Conflict Knowledge and Conflict Resolution, Volume 2.New York: Garland, pp. 83–118.
33.
WaltonR. E.1969. Interpersonal Peacemaking: Confrontations and Third Party Consultation.Boston: Addison-Wesley.
34.
WaltonR. E., and DuttonJ. M.1969. “The Management of Interorganizational Conflict: A Model and Review,”Administrative Science Quarterly, 14: 73–84.
35.
YuklG.1982. “Managerial Leadership and the Effective Principal,”The Effective Principal: A Research Summary.Reston, VA: National Association of Secondary School Principals.
36.
ZammutoR. F., LondonM., and RowlandK. W.1979. “Effects of Sex on Commitment and Conflict Resolution,”Journal of Applied Psychology, 64: 227–231.
37.
ZuelkeD. C., and WillermanM.1992. Conflict and Decision Making in Elementary Schools: Contemporary Vignettes and Cases for School Administrators.Dubuque, IA: Wm. C. Brown.