A Study on the Conflict Management Skills and Experiences of Employees within the Retail Sector in London

Abstract

In the dynamic 21st century workplace, conflict is on the rise and becomes a very important issue in the business environment. Conflict is everywhere within an organization, and retail is no exception. A survey by the Center for Creative Leadership and Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida found that managers spend 20 to 40 percent of their work time dealing with and responding to conflict. This means that spending one to two days a week working to resolve workplace issues and the relationship between manager productivity and organizational profitability when managing workplace conflicts can be prohibitively expensive. Thus, the conflict process affects employee behavior and organizational financial resources. The objectives of this study were 1). To investigate the causes of conflict among London retail staff. 2). To identify appropriate conflict management skills for the London retail industry. 3). To identify the role of conflict management in the London retail industry. 4). To suggestions for overcoming conflict in retail industry.

This study aimed to investigate the conflict management skills and experiences of London retail workers based on conflict management theory. The research employed a secondary research design whereby data was collected from reputable websites, industry reports, and peer-reviewed journals, among others. The research employed a qualitative research method, and as such, the data analysis process was content analysis. The findings of the research indicated that causes of conflict in the organization include poor communication, divergent interests and poor recruitment and selection process. Crucial conflict management skills include effective communication and being open-minded and accommodative of others’ views. The research also sought to establish that conflicts are important in an organization because they bring to light issues affecting the organization’s performance which, when addressed, improve the overall performance. The research recommendations include being open to conflicts in the organization, adopting an open-minded approach towards conflict resolution and using effective communication in resolving conflicts.

Keywords: retail, conflict, conflict management, communication.

A Study on the Conflict Management Skills and Experiences of Employees within the Retail Sector in London

Master of Business Administration (International Program), Siam University, Bangkok, Thailand