A constructive Approach to Managing Faculty Conflict: An Action Research Study

IRB Application Process

The research was approved by the University of Kentucky’s institutional review board and the researcher received permission by Morehead State University’s institutional review board to utilize the campus as the research study site.

Chapter 3

Introduction

Few organizations have designed adequate structures, systems, processes, or cultures to encourage prevention in resolving disputes. As a result, conflicts become chronic and return to generate new problems. What is needed instead are conflict resolution structures, systems, processes and cultures that are designed to prevent and resolve all disputes within the organization and offer a rich array of diverse alternatives that motivate prevention and resolve disputes, and to learn from them (Cloke & Goldsmith, 2011).

The purpose of this mixed methods action research study was to examine the effectiveness of a conflict management strategies workshop implemented as an intervention to managing conflict between faculty and administrators. This chapter will

discuss the acting phase of the study providing details of the implemented study, results from the evaluation phase of the study, recommendations for informed action, and reflections by the researcher in regard to the implications of the study’s findings for organizational leadership and educational policy. Results of the data collected and analyzed will report on the effectiveness of the implemented conflict management strategies workshop. Recommendations provided will inform any future action the university could take in regards to managing conflict. And in conclusion, the researcher will provide her reflection of lessons learned as an organizational leader, participant- leader and participant-researcher.

Acting Phase

After the planning phase, the next step in action research cycle is the ‘acting’ phase (Ivankova, 2015). The acting phase of the study took place from January to February 2021, over the course of three weeks, to conduct both workshops and interviews with selected participants. The workshops and interviews occurred one week after completion of each other. During this phase, the conflict management strategies workshop designed in the reconnaissance phase and developed in the planning phase was implemented in the acting phase, and the results evaluated in the evaluation phase. The purpose of the conflict management strategies workshop was to support the use of conflict management strategies to reduce the level of conflict between faculty and administrators on the campus of Morehead State University. Table 2 outlines the agenda and timeline of the intervention.

Table 2- Conflict Management Strategies Timeline