ASIAN JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT CASES, 3(1), 2006

SAGE PUBLICATIONS NEW DELHI/THOUSAND OAKS/LONDON

DOI: 10.1177/097282010500300103

Lead Article
CONFLICT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES OF ADMINISTRATORS AND TEACHERS
Refik Balay

This study was conducted to understand the conflict management strategies of admin-
istrators and teachers. Data was collected from a sample of randomly selected 250
school administrators and teachers working in seventeen primary schools, public and
private, in the Van province of East Anatolia, Turkey. Three conflict management strat-
egies (competing, avoiding, and compromising) were examined in terms of task and
school type. Results indicated that administrators are more likely to use avoiding and
compromising strategies than teachers. Moreover, both administrators and teachers
at private primary schools tend to use compromising, avoiding and competing behav-
iours than their colleagues at public schools.
Keywords: Conflict management strategies, Administrators and teachers, Private and
public primary schools

INTRODUCTION

Conflict within organizations has become a major point of interest for researchers.
Bursalioglu (1974) quoted that Follett (1924) was the first author in the management
sciences who paid attention to the concept of conflict in organizations. She argued that
collaborative problem-solving frequently results in disagreements among individuals
or groups, which can lead to conflicts within an organization. It is not the conflict itself
that effects relationships, but the inability to cope with it directly and constructively.
She also stated that managers mostly use three distinct alternatives to solve problems in
organizations:

• Power
• Compromise
• Integration
 The conflict lies partly in the specialization and routinization of mass production and
partly in the worker’s lack of control over his work or over his destiny in the organization.
Howthorne research has become one of the corner stones of the ‘human-relations move-
ment’ in large organizations. It demonstrates that conflict in organizations is a symptom
of ‘social disease’; whereas, cooperation is the more ‘healthy’ state of affairs (Tannenbaum
1966).
The literature on conflict management is extremely broad. Indeed, almost all social
disciplines such as sociology, psychology, management and business have discussed
this issue. Chen and Tjosvold (2002) defined conflict as incompatible activities, behaviours,
or actions. Dessler (1986) suggested that conflict is an important feature of working life.
Nowadays, conflict is seen as a natural phenomenon and is inevitable in any dynamic
and changing organization. Management of conflict is especially important not only for
the effective functioning of any organization but also for the personal, cultural and social
development of human beings (Kunaviktikul et al. 2000). Individuals who possess high-
level conflict management skills can create an effective problem-solving process, both
within and outside of their organizations.
Much of the discussion in conflict management literature implies that conflict can be
effectively managed to produce positive outcomes for an organization. Rahim (1986), for
example, pointed out that effective conflict management encourages motivation, enhances
morale and promotes individual and organizational growth. Tjosvold et al. (2001) stated
that managers and employees can use conflict to solve problems, improve their effect-
iveness and strengthen their relationships. Ineffective conflict management, in contrast,
generates more conflict and negatively affects the organization as a whole.
Educational institutions are extremely vulnerable to conflict due to the stresses of the
environment, nature of work and the diversity of interactions, members and tasks. Con-
structive and creative conflict management is essential to accomplish the educational,
administrative and organizational goals of the schools. Administrators and teachers shoulder
the highest responsibility in this process. In other words, they must be more sensitive in
their relations with others, in order to solve problems and create a constructive conflict
management process.
Many school administrators spend a lot of their time finding solutions for teachers and
students. Administrators and teachers should assist each other in creating a positive,
cooperative and peaceful environment in schools. In this respect, they must acquire
conflict management skills and apply them to the educational process. Constructive con-
flict management will help the conflicting parties to acquire excellent results. Admin-
istrators and teachers should encourage and initiate constructive behaviour in schools in
order to provide a good model not only for the students, but also for other members of
the society. Destructive behaviour may otherwise harm human relations and cause a

6 REFIK BALAY
decrease in the levels of motivation and performance of the individuals. Karip (2000), for
instance, suggested that 68 per cent of teachers state that the conflict they experience
with administrators on school affairs negatively effects their performance and motivation.
Numerous studies have investigated conflict in organizations. However, a very limited
number have been devoted to educational organizations. Previous findings related to
conflict management in schools need to be reviewed to improve school management.
This is because the empirical research results may vary from study to study. Monchak
(1994), for instance, found that primary school administrators as compared to primary
school teachers are more likely to use the strategy of compromise. Karip’s (2000) research
supported studies which revealed that administrators who are bureaucratic in disposition
are more likely to apply strategies that avoid conflict resolution. His research reinforced
that school administrators prefer using a strategy of compromise in their conflict
resolutions. However, a study by Tulunay (1990) revealed that, when faced with conflict,
administrators are more likely to use not only the compromising strategy, but also smooth-
ing and forcing conflict strategies.
Moreover, in some previous studies, public and private schools have been compared
in terms of stress, organizational culture and commitment. Ozdayi (1993), for example,
found that employees who work in public schools experience a higher level of stress
than those who work in private schools. Ipek (1999) revealed that private schools are
more likely to depend on a supportive and successful organizational culture than pub-
lic schools. In addition to this, Balay (2000) found that administrators and teachers
who work in private schools are more committed to their jobs than their counterparts in
public schools.
Since there have been no studies in Turkey, that investigate the conflict management
strategies of public and private schools, this study has been designed to describe the con-
flict management strategies of administrators and teachers in private and public primary
schools. Our study must be considered as complementary to the previous studies in
conflict and school management. The implications of this research can be used to develop
conflict management skills of administrators and teachers. The findings can also have
implications for practitioners in Turkey and other countries throughout the world.

CONFLICT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

Conflict management strategy refers to the behaviour participants display when in con-
flict. People react to and cope with conflict in a variety of ways. Morrison (1998), for
instance, suggested that people will react to potential conflict in one of four main ways:
fight, flight, freeze and assertiveness. Some studies report that the five methods of con-
flict resolution are avoiding, smoothing, forcing, compromising, and confrontation

CONFLICT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES OF ADMINISTRATORS AND TEACHERS 7

(Skjorshammer 2001; Cheung and Chuah 1999). Schermerhon et al. (2000) described the
approaches of conflict management as:

• Avoidance: Individuals simply pretend that the conflict does not really exist, and
hope that it will go away.
• Smoothing: Individuals emphasize the common points, and de-emphasize or even
suppress any differences in viewpoints among themselves.
• Compromise: Individuals try to solve the conflict cooperatively.
• Forcing: Individuals use the conflict to promote their goals at the expense of others.
• Collaboration: Individuals directly confront conflict with a favourable attitude, which
encourages solving the problem at hand and generating the best possible solution.

According to Chen and Tjosvold (2002), professionals use three major behavioural
strategies; Avoidance, Competition, and Compromise; during a fight. Based on these theor-
etical arguments, literature shows that conflict management can take different forms,
and each group of classification may differ from one author to another. In the light of
these findings, it can be said that in all of the above-mentioned classifications of conflict
management strategies, three major approaches are promoted: Competing, Comprom-
ising and Avoiding. Therefore, this study has been based on these three common
approaches.

Competing
If avoidance behaviour does not provide a mutual solution, an alternative conflict strat-
egy is to use forcing, which involves the use of formal or informal positional power
(Skjorshammer 2001). In this form of conflict, victory is achieved through force
(Schermerhorn et al. 2000). People use this kind of conflict to promote their goals at the
expense of others (Cheung and Chuah 1999; Chen and Tjosvold 2002; Tjosvold et al.
2001). Forcing or competitive conflict frustrates communication and imposes a solution
that undermines problem-solving processes and relationships (Tjosvold et al. 2001). In
competing, a solution may temporarily be found. However, the conflict may still be un-
resolved and, most likely, repressed (Skjorshammer 2001; Chen and Tjosvold 2002).

Compromising
In compromising, conflicting parties may have acceptable solutions that provide a certain
degree of satisfaction with a ‘give-and-take’ attitude (Cheung and Chuah 1999). This occurs
when each party gives up some of their assertions. As a result, no one fully achieves his
or her desires (Schermerhorn et al. 2000). In this strategy, conflicting parties try to solve

8 REFIK BALAY
the conflict cooperatively. Studies indicate that when individuals discuss their opposing
views openly and cooperatively, their relationship and commitment to the organization
may be strengthened (Tjosvold et al. 2001). In compromise, the individuals concerned
ask questions and understand the position of the opposing party (Chen and Tjosvold
2002). In this strategy, conflict is considered as a mutual problem-solving process. Thus,
conflicting parties use conflict to promote mutual goals for mutual benefits (Chen and
Tjosvold 2002; Tjosvold et al. 2001).

Avoiding
In avoidance, an actual or potential disagreement is ignored or denied (Cheung and
Chuah 1999). People simply pretend that the conflict does not really exist and hope that
it will disappear on its own (Schermerhorn et al. 2000). Avoidance means to avoid dis-
cussing an issue or problem explicitly (Skjorshammer 2001). The problem is not openly
dealt with and discussed (Chen and Tjosvold 2002).

CONFLICT MANAGEMENT: ADMINISTRATORS AND TEACHERS

The daily work of people in organizations is based on interpersonal relationships. Admin-

istrators must, therefore, have the interpersonal skills to solve complicated and stressful
problems that they may encounter. Interpersonal relationships frequently open doors
for disagreements and these may create difficulties in organizations. Hence, success in
today’s well-functioning organizations increasingly requires good understanding and
effective conflict management (Schermerhorn et al. 2000).
Recent studies have come to recognize the significance of conflict management and
its influence within educational organizations. These studies consider conflict manage-
ment from different points of view and interest. Wanasiri (1996), for instance, examined
the conflict management behaviour of administrators in private vocational schools. He
argued that administrators tend to apply integrative and compromising behaviours rather
than competing and avoiding behaviours. Tankersley (1991) also pointed out that
administrators who work in elementary schools are more likely to use integrative ap-
proaches. Barnett (1990) investigated the relation between conflict management pre-
ferences and personality types. He did not find any significant relation between personality
types and the conflict management preferences of the respondents. Adams (1990)
examined the conflict and commitment behaviour of administrators in schools. He argued
that a significant relation was found between the conflict and commitment behaviours
of participants. He found that administrators who use competing and avoiding strategies
are more likely to cause high levels of conflict in their schools. Erickson (1984) focused
on how female administrators perceive and manage conflict in public schools. She argued

CONFLICT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES OF ADMINISTRATORS AND TEACHERS 9

that female administrators solve their conflicts compromisingly. Elma (1998) studied the
conflict management competences of elementary school principals. He found that there
are no significant differences between the opinions of principals and teachers related to
the conflict concept. However, the opinions of respondents related to conflict management
competences of the principals were different from each other. Although the principals
considered themselves fully competent in conflict management the teachers found them
less competent.
On the other hand, as described earlier, findings related to the conflict management
behaviour of administrators are diverse. Huffstutter et al. (1997), for example, stated that
the authoritative command of the principal can immediately solve conflict. Force may
be applied to settle disputes, when the parties have little chance of compromise. In con-
trast, Lukasavich’s (1994) study revealed that school administrators are, to a considerable
extent, more likely to choose compromising behaviours in conflict resolution strategies.
Thus, the administrator, as the chief of the school, can act as a mediator, clarifying and
facilitating communication between the two parties, or act as an arbitrator, making the
final decision after both sides have presented their claims.
Some other studies suggest that administrators tend to use avoidance strategies to
manage conflicts. Administrators who cannot handle anxiety may well put more effort
into avoiding conflict (Huffstutter et al. 1997). Monchak (1994) and Lukasavich (1994)
argued that administrators who possess bureaucratic dispositions are more likely to apply
avoidance strategies. Meanwhile, avoiding conflict, as the ‘deciding not to decide’ approach,
may also be a valuable short-term management strategy. The administrators may need
more information or time to understand a situation. Low levels of communication, limited
problem-solving skills and lack of trust may engender destructive outcomes. Under such
conditions, an administrator can strategically avoid conflict (Huffstutter et al. 1997).
Based on these findings, we predict:
H1: School administrators are more likely to use avoiding and compromising strategies
than teachers.

CONFLICT MANAGEMENT: PRIVATE AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Education is a process used for the change and development of society. These goals may
be accomplished either through the educational services of public schools or schools
conducted by private initiatives. In Turkey as well, educational services are provided
either by the state or through private initiatives. The proportion of private primary schools
in the Turkish educational system constitutes about 2 per cent of the total rate of schooling
(Statistical Yearbook of Turkey 2002).
Schools are complex entities where the cost and quality of educational services depend
upon constructive conflict management. Educational organizations are especially open

10 REFIK BALAY
and vulnerable to conflict due to the nature of their work, diversity of interactions and
stresses of the environment. In such a complex and diverse environment, decisions must
often be made quickly with limited and unclear information (Firestone and Pennell 1993;
Carnall 1999). From this perspective, educational organizations can be considered as
coalitions of individuals and interest groups, each of which trying to accomplish a unique
set of goals and values that may be in conflict with the goals and values of other organ-
izational groups (Reichers 1985; Dalin 1998).
As educational organizations, private and public schools are distinct in terms of their
functioning. Private schools are more likely to move freely in some of their activities.
This permits them to have a certain degree of autonomy, which, in turn, gives man-
agers considerable freedom to select their students and appoint their educational
employees as they wish. The autonomous characteristic of private schools makes them
more homogeneous, which means lower levels of incompatibilities. Moreover, these
schools function according to the free market conditions in the society. Unlike public
schools, private schools are always under pressure to meet the educational demands of
their customers. In fact, their existence depends on their efforts and successes. These
characteristics create distinct modes of working conditions, such as communication,
organizational culture and commitment in these schools. These conditions obviously
influence the school’s attitude towards conflict management. Thus, the characteristics
and working conditions of both school types have led us to examine the relationship be-
tween the conflict management strategies in private and public primary schools. Further-
more, as we have said above, results of previous studies concerning the stress (Ozdayi
1993), organizational culture (Ipek 1999) and commitment (Balay 2000) in private and
public schools motivated us to examine the conflict management strategies in these
schools. Based on these findings, we predict:
H2: Employees who work in private primary schools are more likely to use compro-
mising strategies than employees who work in public ones.

METHODS

Sample
The data has been collected from administrators and teachers employed in seventeen
primary schools in the city of Van, Turkey. Out of seventeen schools, thirteen are pub-
lic and four are private. Questionnaires were distributed to respondents by the assistant
administrator of the participating schools. Accompanying each questionnaire, was a letter
explaining the general purpose of the study and a stamped envelope addressed to the
administrators of the school. Out of 450 questionnaires, 250 usable ones were returned.

CONFLICT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES OF ADMINISTRATORS AND TEACHERS 11

This represented a response rate of 55.5 per cent. Most of the respondents were from
public primary schools (76 per cent). 70 per cent of the respondents were men, 88 per
cent were teachers and 12 per cent were administrators. More than half of the respondents
(51 per cent) had a tenure of five years or below.

Measurement
Dependent Variables (Conflict Management)

A pool of forty-eight items was generated for purposes of scale construction. Some of
these items were modified versions of Holton and Holton (1992) ‘Conflict Management
Strategies Scale’. Others were written by the author. Responses to all forty-eight items
were made on a 5-point scale (1=never agree to 5=always agree). Factor analysis was
used to determine the discriminant validity of scale. A minimum factor loading of 0.30
(Buyukozturk 2002) was used as a guideline for considering an item to be part of a factor.
Based upon this factor analysis, sixteen items were omitted because their factor loadings
were under 0.30. A thirty-two-item measure of conflict management was constructed
and used in the subsequent data analysis: mean score and t-test.
Using principal component analysis with a varimax rotation, three clear factors emerged.
Results are shown in Table 1. The first factor, clearly defined by ten items, is based on
an effort to exert one’s point of view at the expense of another and often leads to a win-
lose situation (for example, ‘I try to win my position’). The second factor has nine items,
based on an attempt to smooth over conflicts and minimize their discussions (for example,
‘I sometimes avoid taking positions that would create controversy’). The third factor has
thirteen items based on acceptable solutions in which conflicting parties have some
degree of satisfaction with a ‘give-and-take’ attitude (for example, ‘In approaching nego-
tiations, I try to be considerate of the other person’s wishes’). The Cronbach Alpha meas-
ures for competing strategy were 0.63, for avoiding strategy they were 0.60, and for
compromising startegy they were 0.54.

RESULTS

Conflict Management: Administrators and Teachers

Table 2 provides t-test results of the conflict management strategies used by the par-
ticipants when they are in conflict. Hypothesis I predicted that employees who are admin-
istrators would more likely use strategies of avoidance and compromise than employees
who are teachers. The results in Table 2 support the hypothesis.
12 REFIK BALAY
 Table 1
Varimax Factor Loadings for Conflict Management Factors
Rotated Component
Factors Items Factor Loadings Item Total Correlations
01 0.93 0.88
02 0.88 0.78
03 0.86 0.82
04 0.88 0.78
Competing 05 0.70 0.57
(First Factor) 06 0.82 0.70
07 0.61 0.53
08 0.94 0.91
09 0.59 0.69
10 0.71 0.55
11 0.91 0.85
12 0.69 0.58
13 0.63 0.43
Avoiding 14 0.61 0.45
(Second Factor) 15 0.62 0.44
16 0.68 0.68
17 0.66 0.62
18 0.78 0.69
19 0.67 0.62
20 0.58 0.36
21 0.54 0.39
22 0.68 0.54
23 0.85 0.73
24 0.50 0.62
Compromising 25 0.66 0.44
(Third Factor) 26 0.70 0.63
27 0.69 0.53
28 0.58 0.34
29 0.70 0.59
30 0.64 0.51
31 0.66 0.69
32 0.76 0.64
Source: Buyukozturk 2002.
Notes: Percentage of Variance Explained Alpha
Total: 97.4% –
Factor-1: 42.1% 0.63
Factor-2: 23.5% 0.60
Factor-3: 31.8% 0.54

CONFLICT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES OF ADMINISTRATORS AND TEACHERS 13

 Table 2
T-Test Results: Conflict Management and Task
Factors Task N X– Sd Df T P
Competing Administrator 28 3.11 .826 222 1.705 .090ns
Teacher 196 2.87 .686 222
Compromising Administrator 27 3.43 .930 224 2.595 .010*
Teacher 199 2.92 .973 224
Avoiding Administrator 30 3.22 .762 227 2.719 .007**
Teacher 199 2.85 .672 227
Source: Buyukozturk 2002.
Notes: ns: P>0,05
*: P<0,05
**: P<0,01
N = Number of subjects in a group
–= Mean
X
Sd = Standard deviation
Df = Degree of freedom
T = t value
P = Significant value

It seems that the participants who are administrators are more likely to use avoiding
and compromising strategies than teachers. The conducted t-test analysis indicated that
perceptions of participants concerning their tasks and their likelihood to solve problems
were statistically differentiated in avoiding (t = 2.719; p = 0.007**) and compromising
(t = 2.595; p = 0.10*) factors but not in the competing (t = 1.705; p = 0.90090ns) factor. Stat-
istically, significant findings were made in avoiding and compromising factors. It means
that the administrator participants are more likely to use avoiding and compromising
behaviours than teachers. The reported mean scores related to responses in the avoiding
–
factor for those who are administrators were found to be higher (X= 3.22) than those
–
who are teachers (X = 2.85). Statistically, the second significant finding was in the comprom-
ising factor. The mean scores concerning administrators were also higher (X –= 3.43) than
–
the scores of the teachers (X = 2.92).

Conflict Management: Private and Public Schools

Hypothesis 2 predicted that employees (administrators and teachers) who work in private
primary schools are more likely to use compromising strategies than employees who
work in public schools. This hypothesis has been partially supported. This is because
t-test results in Table 3 indicate that employees who work in private primary schools are
also more likely to use avoiding, and competing strategies than their colleagues working
in public schools.

14 REFIK BALAY
 Table 3
T-Test Results: Conflict Management and School Type
–
Factors School Type N X Sd Df T P
Competing Private Primary School 53 3.11 .722 222 2.497 .013*
Public Primary School 171 2.84 .692 222
Compromising Private Primary School 49 4.44 .697 224 3.812 .000***
Public Primary School 177 2.85 1.01 224
Avoiding Private Primary School 56 3.29 .544 227 5.098 .000***
Public Primary School 173 2.77 .691 227
Source: Buyukozturk 2002.
Notes: *: P<0,05
***: P<0,001
N = Number of subjects in a group
–
X = Mean
Sd = Standard deviation
Df = Degree of freedom
T = t value
P = Significant value

The conducted t-test analysis indicated that the opinions of participants concerning
the schools that they work in and their likelihood to solve problems were statistically
differentiated in factors of compromise (t = 3.812; p = 0.000***), avoidance (t = 5.098;
p = 0.000***) and competition (t = 2.497; p = 0.013*). Related analysis showed that the
results in compromising, avoiding and competing factors were all found to be statistic-
ally significant. This means that private primary school administrators and teachers are
more likely to use compromising, avoiding and competing behaviours. The reported
mean scores related to responses in the compromising factor for those who work in pri-
vate schools were found to be higher (X – = 4.44) than those who work in public schools
–
(X = 2.85). For the avoiding factor, mean scores related to employees who work in pri-
–
vate schools were higher (X = 3.29) than those who work in public schools
–
(X = 2.77), and for the competing factor, mean scores of those who work in private schools
– –
were higher (X = 3.11) than those who work in public schools (X = 2.84).

DISCUSSIONS

The purpose of this study is (a) to find out how administrators and teachers manage con-
flicts and (b) to investigate whether the conflict management strategies of employees
who work in private primary schools are different from those who work in public schools.

CONFLICT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES OF ADMINISTRATORS AND TEACHERS 15

The results generally accomplished the objectives and fully support our prediction in H1
and partially support the prediction in H2.

Conflict Management: Administrators and Teachers

Although Huffstutter et al. (1997) have noticed the importance of the authoritative pos-
ition of administrators in competing strategies, results reveal that administrators are more
likely to use avoiding and compromising strategies than teachers. Our study provides
important contributions to conflict management literature since there had been some
inconsistent results concerning the conflict management strategies of administrators. Ad-
ditionally, studies that compared the conflict management behaviour of both teachers
and administrators had been very limited. Thus, the findings that result from our study
corroborate research by Monchak (1994) and Lukasavich (1994), who argue that admin-
istrators who exhibit a high level of bureaucratic disposition are more likely to apply
conflict resolutions of avoidance. In addition, low levels of communication, limited problem-
solving skills and a lack of trust may well lead to a destructive outcome. Under such
conditions, an administrator can strategically avoid conflict. Our results may also be
interpreted in the context of the most ‘natural manner’ of human beings. Huffstutter
et al. (1997) cited that according to Robins (1974), ‘The most natural manner in which
all animals, including man, eliminate conflict is to avoid it’. Administrators who do not
handle anxiety well may put maximum effort into avoiding conflict (Huffstutter et al.
1997). On the other hand, the same authors, who took into account the role that the
administrator of a school plays as mediator or arbitrator, argued that compromise does
not result in clear winners or losers, and that it requires each party to give up something.
As cited in Huffstutter et al. (1997), Mary Nebgen (1978) says, ‘it is better to have half a
loaf than none at all’ (p. 397). Lukasavich (1994) also found that school administrators
are more likely to choose compromise in conflict resolutions. Thus, the administrator, as
the chief of the school, can act as a mediator, clarifying and facilitating communication
between two parties, or as an arbitrator, making the final decision after both sides have
presented their claims.

Conflict Management: Private and Public Schools

Partially consistent with our prediction, we find that private primary school administrators
and teachers are more likely to use compromising, avoiding and competing behaviours
than those who work in public schools. Research by Song et al. (2000) can help to inter-
pret the high compromising behaviours of private primary school employees in terms of
their commitment to the school. High commitment forms a strong tie among members
of staff, motivating them to resolve conflict and cooperate rather than to avoid or ignore

16 REFIK BALAY
disagreements or to seek their own interest at the cost of others. Balay’s (2000) study also
supported this result. The study revealed that employees who work in private secondary
schools are more likely to identify with and emotionally internalize their employment
than those who work in the public education sector. There are other studies in conflict
management literature which contain variables to foster the attachment of employees to
their organizations. One study by Nygaard and Dahlstrom (2002) addressed the relation-
ship between shared goals and values of team members in conjunction with participative
decision-making. They argued that the primary task of managers is to empower employees
and foster their commitment and loyalty to the organization. Furthermore, some other
studies confirmed that participation is in direct proportion to organizational commitment
(Wallace 1995), organizational citizenship behaviour, including displaying qualities of
civic virtue and help, such as altruism, courtesy and peacemaking (MacKenzie et al.
1998), job satisfaction (Firestone and Pennell 1993; Balci 1985), person-organizational
fitness and performance (Chatman 1991; Bretz, Jr and Judge 1994). Johnson (1990) found
that teachers who work in private schools have a higher level of participation in strategic
decisions. Ozdayi (1993) examined the level of stress perceived by employees working
in public and private schools. Her study revealed that employees who work in public
secondary schools experience a higher level of stress than those who work in private
schools. In the framework of these findings, it can be said that private schools promote
creativity, success and dynamism. Those who are employed in private schools work in a
more sincere, open and motivating culture. The organizational climate of private schools
is better equipped to meet the needs of its members. The supportive and motivating
character of these schools increases the job satisfaction of the administrators and teachers,
helps them utilize their creative abilities and fertilizes their feelings of loyalty to their
schools. In short, it is possible to say that, contrary to public schools, private primary
schools are functioning by a combination of the variables mentioned above and the use
of compromise, most likely to be yielded from these supportive conditions.
In this study it has been determined that private primary school administrators and
teachers are also more likely to use avoiding and competing strategies than their colleagues
in public schools. To interpret the avoiding and competing stratgeies of private school
administrators and teachers one must look to the collaborative problem-solving method
of private primary schools. As Follet (1924) pointed out, collaborative problem-solving
frequently opens the door for disagreements among the individuals or groups concerned,
which can then lead to incongruities or incompatibilities in the organization. Since pri-
vate primary schools depend on more collaborative problem-solving, they are more likely
to produce incongruities or incompatibilities. Cox (2003) argued that perceived incom-
patibilities or incongruities frequently occur when an organizational participant is required
to perform a task that does not match his or her expertise, interests or competences.
Song et al. (2000) reported that a high level of incongruity may lead to very little incentive

CONFLICT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES OF ADMINISTRATORS AND TEACHERS 17

to cooperate. Generally, when the incentive to cooperate is low, a lot of avoidance and
competition is expected. On the other hand, public schools are thought to depend upon
more legal obligations and procedures in their problem-solving process. In contrast to
public schools, private schools can choose their teaching staff by taking into account
their expertise and competences, which, in a collaborative problem-solving process,
can open the door for disagreements. This result is similar to the results of a study by
Huffstutter et al. (1997). These authors pointed out that participative decision-making
also has an effect on conflict. As participation increases, the frequency of conflict may
rise. However, major incidents of conflict may decrease. They suggest that participation
in decision-making permits greater opportunity for the expression of existing disputes
and allows more occasions for disagreements to rise. Thus, the avoiding and competing
behaviour of private primary school administrators and teachers might arise because of
the incompatibilities that originate from disagreements in the collaborative problem-
solving process in these schools.
The high competing behaviour of private school administrators and teachers might
also be due to the changes in the Turkish society during the past two decades. People are
becoming aware of their rights and want to do things for themselves. For instance, they
want to take the initiative to accomplish their goals, experience a higher degree of auto-
nomy, and make decisions and take action without the help of others. As proposed by
Kunaviktikul et al. (2000), the competing strategy comes from an assertive and confident
base, from a person who thinks well of himself and his work.
In this study, conflict management is treated as a concept which plays an important
role in the behaviour of the members of an organization and gradually in organizational
effectiveness. Conflict management strategy is understood as the behaviour participants
display when in conflict.
This study is of a descriptive nature. Its main purpose is to draw some results concerning
the conflict management strategies of administrators and teachers, and the conflict man-
agement behaviour in private and public primary schools. As far as we know, there is no
specific study devoted to this issue in Turkey.
The study consists of four parts. The first part of the study is devoted to the introduction
and conceptual framework. The concept of conflict management, its definition, strategies,
its association with school employees (administrators-teachers) and the different school
types (private-public) are discussed. Furthermore, the hypotheses related to the conflict
management strategies of administrators and teachers and conflict handling behaviour
in private and public primary schools are presented along with brief theoretical evaluations.
In the second part, an attempt has been made to draw the methodological framework of
the study. The sample and the measurement of the study are also examined. In the third
part under the heading of ‘Results’ the basic findings are summarized. The fourth and
the last part of the study is devoted to discussion.

18 REFIK BALAY
 The results from our study suggest that administrators are more likely to use avoiding
and compromising strategies than teachers. Furthermore, both administrators and teachers
at private primary schools tend to use compromising, avoiding, and competing behav-
iourial strategies than their colleagues at public schools.

LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH

The implications drawn from this study must be viewed in light of the limitations inherent
to the research. The first limitation of this research is in the selection and measurement
of the conflict management items. Although we have depended upon the conflict man-
agement literature and well-validated measurements from previous research (Holton
and Holton 1992), many items did not pass our statistical test. The framework and the
general design of the questionnaire were changed, items were simplified to make them
more understandable for the participants. Moreover, the questionnaire items were modi-
fied and reorganized in accordance with the context of school management.
The second limitation involves our data analyses. Although it would be better to test
hypotheses through ANOVA technique with some control variables, in this study we
focused on conflict management strategies of administrators and teachers and the conflict
handling behaviour used in private and public primary schools.
A third limitation is our selection of conflict handling behaviour. Literature points out
that conflict management can take different forms such as yielding, compromising,
forcing, problem-solving and avoiding. Therefore, every author classifies conflict man-
agement strategies in different ways. In this study, we depended upon competing, com-
promising, and avoiding strategies. This is because they are the most promoted and
common approaches of all classifications.
The fourth limitation is the size of the sample. Although 250 usable questionnaires
with a 55.5 per cent response rate was achieved, most of the respondents (76 per cent)
were from public primary schools. Moreover, 30 per cent of the female respondents and
12 per cent of the administrators need to be thought of as the other limitation of this
study.
The joint analysis of the administrators and teachers who work in private and public
schools, in terms of their conflict handling strategies, forms the fifth limitation of this
study. Since the sample of private school administrators and teachers was small in size,
we need to analyse the participants’ conflict behaviours on the private and public school
base.
The cultural basis of the subjects may be the final limitation of this study. As pointed
out by Tjosvold et al. (2001), Loosemore and Al Muslmani (1999), Kunaviktikul et al.
(2000) and Song et al. (2000), culture is directly related to the conflict handling behaviour

CONFLICT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES OF ADMINISTRATORS AND TEACHERS 19

of individuals. Furthermore, Tinsley and Brett (2001) reported that culture is the unique
character of a social group. It is reflected in the cognitive structures of individuals such
as members’ norms and values and in the legal, social and economic structures of the
institutions. They add that because norms are an element of culture, norms for conflict
management should vary consistently with the other characteristics of culture. In light
of these findings, results in this study need to be interpreted cautiously by considering
the dynamic nature of culture.
This study complements the previous studies in this area. In this research we focused
on conflict handling strategies of administrators and teachers in private and public primary
schools. The implications of this study can lead top managers and practitioners to enhance
the conflict management skills of administrators and teachers for the management of a
well-functioning organization. It may also enable the employees of private and public
schools to become more competent in their conflict management resolutions for a healthy
education system.
Conflict management seems to be associated with some other concepts such as organ-
izational commitment, stress, social and organizational culture, job satisfaction, organ-
izational fitness, and environmental and structural characteristics. Our research suggests
that further studies need to be conducted to examine such diverse factors and their effect
on the conflict handling behaviours of administrators and teachers of private and public
schools.

Please address all correspondence to Assistant Professor Refik Balay, Harran University,
Faculty of Arts and Science, Department of Educational Science, Osmanbey Campus,
Sanliurfa, Turkey. E-mail address: refikbalay@yahoo.com

Appendix

QUESTIONNAIRE FOR CONFLICT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

When I experience a conflict in the school where I work, I use the following strategies:

Competing
1. I am usually firm in pursuing my goals.
2. I try to win my position.
3. I usually insist on my point of view.
4. I push my own point of view.
5. I always lean towards a direct discussion of the problem.
6. I attempt to get all concerns and issues immediately out into the open.
7. I fight for a good outcome for myself.

20 REFIK BALAY
 8. I put forward and discuss problems for my own gain.
9. I do everything to win.
10. I want to suppress those who oppose me.

Avoiding
11 . I try to please others.
12. I try to avoid a confrontation about differences.
13. I usually postpone conflict until I have enough time to think about it.
14. I sometimes avoid taking controversial positions regarding an issue.
15. I usually avoid pushing my own point of view.
16. I try to avoid upsetting my colleagues.
17. I try to soothe the other person’s feelings and preserve our relationship.
18. I try to avoid creating unpleasentness for myself.
19. I can give up some of my claims for the benefit of the group.

Compromising
20. I try to find a position that is intermediate between my position and that of the other person.
21. In approaching negotiations, I try to be considerate of the other person’s wishes.
22. I try to find a fair combination of gains and losses for both of us.
23. I try to solve problems with mutual agreement.
24. I try to reach a common solution in a quarrel.
25. In order to make a decision, I would prefer to take into account the ideas that others have.
26. I prefer to be in agreement with my colleagues in order to please them.
27. I usually take into account the approaches of others in problem-solving.
28. I strive whenever possible towards a fairly good compromise.
29. I consider to find common and acceptable solutions for problems.
30. I insist we both must give up some of our assertions.
31. I emphasize that I have to come to a compromise.
32. I feel that differences are not always worth worrying about.
Note: Items were answered on a 5-point scale (1=never agree to 5=always agree).

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