ABSTRACT

This study was undertaken to examine conflict management and resolutions in health institutions in Nigeria using Imo State University Teaching Hospital (IMSUTH) and Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Umuahia as study area. Data for the study was collected from the Imo State University Teaching Hospital (IMSUTH) and Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Umuahia, Abia state. The total populations of 6,200 workers are in the services of the sampled two health institutions payroll voucher, 2014.The senior staff which has entire population of 2,886 was sampled. The study employed both primary and secondary sources of data. The primary sources of data include questionnaire and interview while the secondary data was obtained from internet, textbooks, journals, past student’s dissertations and other relevant studies .A normal confidence level of 95% and error tolerance of 5% were used while sample size was determined by using Taro Yamane’s formular. To ensure the validity of the instruments applied in this work, the researcher ensured that the appropriate measurement was followed. A proper structuring of the questionnaire and the conduct of a pre-test of every question contained in the questionnaire were carried out to ensure that they are valid. Descriptive statistics, T-tests and correlation analysis was adopted for the analysis. The study found that the major cause of organisational conflicts is sharing of limited resources. Employees always compete for the scarce resources. Therefore it`s the prime responsibility of the management to ensure that the available scarce resources are utilized properly for the benefit of the organisation and other stakeholders. This approach to a certain degree will minimize chances of conflicts arising in organisation. Employee`s performance evaluation criteria should be clearly stated and communicated to all employees. Employees should be evaluated impartially considering the performance standard set. Therefore, to avoid the situation of conflicts to arise in organisations related to performance evaluation, the standards set by management should be specific, measurable, achievable and realistic and should have time limit (SMART).