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INTRODUCTION AND ITS BACKGROUND

An organization is defined as an entity composed of individuals or multiple people that

has a collective objective of targeted goals which brings forth a harmonious yet dynamic

relationships within and to the external environment, with this premise, it is understood

that in every known organization or association due to globalization and an increase in

technology and innovation that creates communication evolve in so many ways that

profligates from simple thought of ideas to extemporaneous thinking links every single

person and with a degree of diversity that these organization co-exists with, which

eventually creates, conflicts in the organization which maybe of work related, peer

groups and also within families.

According to Johnson (1976) he expounded the meaning of organizational conflict, he

said that “Organizational Conflict is a state of discord caused by the actual or perceived

opposition of needs, values and interests between people working together. Conflict

takes many forms in organizations. There is the inevitable clash between formal

authority and power and those individuals and groups affected. There are disputes over

how revenues should be divided, how the work should be done and how long and hard

people should work. There are jurisdictional disagreements among individuals,

departments, and between unions and management. There are subtler forms of conflict

involving rivalries, jealousies, personality clashes, role definitions, and struggles for

power and favor. There is also conflict within individuals – between competing needs

and demands – to which individuals respond in different ways.”1

1Richard
Arvid Johnson (1976). Management, systems, and society : an introduction. Pacific Palisades, Calif.:
Goodyear Pub. Co. pp. 148–142.
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For most organizations due to individual differences brings about contradicting ideas

from processes, procedures and methodologies and even ideologies thus bringing

endless struggles and battles in the office, of work or at home. These conflicts may

result to attaining the goals of the organization because the clashes would result to a

better understanding of the work at hand as a positive note however the worst case

scenario may bring the eventual collapse of the entirety of an organization and the

death of the vision, mission, goals and objectives of that entity. Stakeholders are the

ones suffering in the event of dissolution within the organization and of course the

external environment as well, such collapse may most likely happen, from within the

heart of the organization.

Since the time of the industrial evolution, management has been coping with the

conflicts that arises in every associations and organizations, studying the behavior of

every individuals belonging to a work group, and trying to find out how to balance

everything, creating variety of behavioral theories and concepts that may be of helpful in

understanding the phenomena of conflicts , even social scientist have develop different

ways of handling conflicts in the society and yet, there is no exact concept that a

behavioral scientist may have come up to, to reduce conflicts resulting to pressure,

tensions, aggravated behaviors thus may result to the reduction or much worst the

stoppage of productivity of the organization or associations.

Conflict in an organization may start from top to bottom, difficult bosses and managers

would produce misunderstanding to subordinates, unruly peers laterally disrupts

procedures that results to encounters. For some organization or group of people, culture

may provide clues in understanding conflicts, for ethical considerations, different

upbringing and varied natives of domicile would establish individual differences and may

also arises the battles of ideas in the organization and such diversity is the outcome of

globalization and integration.

With the following premises stated, it is a predicament that most companies would

adopt a particular set of management styles and may even be part of the organizational

policy if conflicts arises, if grievances exceeds and result to poor performance and loss

on the part of the company, thus this study is focused on the understanding what does a

multinational companies do and work on the employee conflicts that arises in the midst

of every offices of seemingly very profitable company of multinational in nature of its

operation and the question would be how do the managers or key players in conflict

handling do the task of meddling with the complex behavior, process, behavior,

methodologies and ideologies within the organization of a very large group, and this

study brings forth the opportunity of studying the managers of DB Schenker, a DB

Schenker is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Deutsche Bahn (DB) Group focusing on

rail, cargo, transportation and logistics. The logistics division encompasses air, land,

and sea freight, while the rail division comprises various European rail freight

companies. DB is one of the world’s leading mobility and logistics companies, with nine

business units active in all segments of the transport market. In 2015, DB Schenker

launched its Global Accounting Shared Service Center (GASSC) in the Philippines,

located in Bonifacio Global City. As a highly prioritized initiative in the DB finance

functions, the GASSC aims to provide excellent accounting services in the areas of

General Ledger, Asset Accounting, Accounts Payable, and Accounts Receivable. By

delivering these services in respect to quality, costs and efficiency, the GASSC shall
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significantly contribute to the group target to be the leading Mobility and Logistics

Company worldwide. The GASSC, officially named DB Schenker Global Services Asia

Pacific Inc., is part of a network of Finance and Accounting Shared Service Centers,

with over 1,200 employees in Romania and Germany.

It is undoubtedly that for managers, leaders and heads of an organization, peers or

association, the need for a scientific management as a skill to better face conflicts is a

requisite and an adaptive style of conflict management should be in place.

In the conflict process formulated by Thomas and Kilman, the behaviorists stated that

there are five stages that an event in an organization may be called conflict and the first

stage is the potential opposition or incompatibility of the ideas, concepts, understanding,

process, procedures, methods and or any other topic that may cause to be included in

the first step whether it maybe in the form of communication, structure or personal

indifference, second the cognition or personalization, in this step, the party may have

perceived or felt a conflict or such an occurrence may have conflicting or opposing or

contradicting ideology, thus it already been in the second stage, third the intention, or

purpose or to what or why such a conflict occur, and needed the intention handling

conflict style that the manager or supervisor to be used, and from the theorists

formulated at least five intention-handling-conflict styles may be used such as

competing, collaborating, compromising, avoiding and accommodation. The fourth

process is known as the behavior or the party’s reaction and behavior brought about

from the intention-handling-conflict applied by the management and the fifth stage is the
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outcome, which may increase the group’s performance or decrease the group’s

performance.

From the preceding statements, the curiosity of conflict management is of the essence

that gives to an in-depth interest to the proponents of this study.

Statement of the Problem

This study sought to find out the conflict management style of the department heads of

DB Schenker Global Services Asia Pacific Inc. More specifically, it seeks to answer to

the following sub-questions:

1. How may the demographic profile of the respondents be described in terms of

the following:

a. Age

b. Gender

c. Social Status

d. Ethnicity

e. Religion

f. Length of Stay in the Organization

2. What level of the application of styles in managing conflict does the Department

Heads of DB Schenker Global Services Asia Pacific Inc have in terms of the

following:

a. Competing

b. Collaborating

c. Compromising
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d. Accommodating

e. Avoiding

3. What is the relationship between the demographic profile and conflict-

management styles of the Department Heads of DB Schenker Global Services

Asia Pacific Inc?

Hypothesis of the Study

There is no significant relationship between the demographic profile of the respondents

and the conflict-management styles of the Department Heads of DB Schenker Global

Services Asia Pacific Inc.

Objectives of the Study

The following are the objectives of this study:

1. To produce a research based in the conflict management styles of the

Department Heads of DB Schenker Global Services Asia Pacific Inc.

2. To recommend policy measures/programs towards the conflict-management of

the Department Heads of DB Schenker Global Services Asia Pacific Inc.

Significance of the Study

The proposed study will have impact on the respondents-department heads and leaders

in the field of conflict management styles that the respondents may have.
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Respondents. To be awaken and to conduct periodic behavioral assessment

towards the respondents style in handling and managing conflict in the organization.

Organization. This study will aid the organization to review existing policies and

practices in conflict management that will foster professional growth amongst the

employees or subordinates.

Government. It will also help the management of government institutions to

identify the factors that results to conflicts within the ranks of government employees

and officials.

Proponents. Through this study, the researchers would be adaptive to a

particular set of conflict management style/s that will be used for any conflict that

may arise. And maybe able to use the bases of enhanced conflict management

style.

Future Researchers. Future researchers may avail the information reflected in

this study in conducting their respective undertakings and to be used for future

studies of similar in nature.

Moreover this study aims to contribute to the course-program Organization Behavior

Management (MBA112) providing the students of substantiated information that may

guide the working individuals to perform with a healthier working relations in the

industry and of the general public through a much improved lives of every individual

in the society.
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Theoretical Framework of the Study

COMPETING COLLABORATING

COMPROMISING

AVOIDING ACCOMODATING

Figure 1

The theoretical basis (Figure 1) of this study is from the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict

Mode Instrument (TKI) which provides the best possible intention-handling-conflict

styles of the management. From accommodating to avoiding and from avoiding to

competing which may provide the level of cooperativeness and may as well arise to

the level of assertiveness and in the middle is the compromising style.

Conceptual Framework

INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT

DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE INTENTION HANDLING

AGE COMPETING
CONFLICT
GENDER COLLABORATING
MANAGEMENT
SOCIAL STATUS COMPROMISING
STYLES
ETHNICITY
AVOIDING
LENGTH OF STAY IN THE
ACCOMMODATION
ORGANIZATION

RELIGION

Figure 2

The conceptual framework (Figure 2) shows the relationship of the demographic profile

of the repondents with regards to the conflict management styles applied and into what

degree to the following intention-handling conflicts; competing, collaborating,

compromising, avoiding and accommodation.

Scope and Delimitation of the Study

This study is limited to the application of conflict management styles of the Department

Heads of DB Schenker Global Services Asia Pacific Inc in terms of the following:

a. Competing

b. Compromising
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c. Collaborating

d. Accommodating

e. Avoiding

The population of the study is composed of the Department Heads of DB Schenker

Global Services Asia Pacific Inc located in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, Philippines, in

an absolute 100 percent of the population to go through to the survey questionnaire.

The findings of the study are true for the subject concerned and for the given period of

time.

The time frame for the survey will be within a week.

The scope of the study is reflected in the variables enumerated in the statement of the

problem and sub-problems.

The questionnaire used is a survey-questionnaire developed for conflict-management

style, a guide survey designed by Jay Hall of Telemetrics International from Washington

University, USA that has been patterned to the Thomas-Kilman Instrument of conflict

management. This study maybe critiqued and replicated in the future studies of similar

nature.
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Operational Definition of Terms

Accommodating - (unassertive and cooperative) When a party who seeks to appease

an opponent may be willing to place the opponent’s interests above his or her own,

sacrificing to maintain the relationship. We refer to this intention as accommodating.

Supporting someone else’s opinion despite your reservations about it, for example, is

accommodating. Include trying to ignore a conflict and avoiding others with whom you

disagree.

Assertiveness – One of the dimensions of intention-conflict-handling that shows the

degree to which one party attempts to satisfy his or her own concerns.

Avoiding - (unassertive and uncooperative) When a person may recognize a conflict

exists and want to withdraw from or suppress it.

Collaborating - (assertive and cooperative) When parties in conflict each desire to fully

satisfy the concerns of all parties, there is cooperation and a search for a mutually

beneficial outcome. In collaborating, the parties intend to solve a problem by clarifying

differences rather than by accommodating various points of view. If you attempt to find a

win–win solution that allows both parties’ goals to be completely achieved, that’s

collaborating.

Competing - (assertive and uncooperative) When one person seeks to satisfy his or her

own interests regardless of the impact on the other parties to the conflict, that person is

competing. You compete when you place a bet that only one person can win, for

example.
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Compromising - (midrange on both assertiveness and cooperativeness) In

compromising, there is no clear winner or loser. Rather, there is a willingness to ration

the object of the conflict and accept a solution that provides incomplete satisfaction of

both parties’ concerns. The distinguishing characteristic of compromising, therefore, is

that each party intends to give up something.

Conflict - incompatibility of goals, differences over interpretations of facts,

disagreements based on behavioral expectations, and the like. Finally, our definition is

flexible enough to cover the full range of conflict levels—from overt and violent acts to

subtle forms of disagreement.

Cooperativeness - one of the dimensions of intention-conflict-handling that shows the

degree to which one party attempts to satisfy the other party’s concerns.

Intentions – the purpose of the actuation that intervene between people’s perceptions

and emotions and their overt behavior.

Dysfunctional Conflict - Conflict that hinders group performance.

Functional Conflict - Conflict that supports the goals of the group and improves its

performance.

Interactionist View of Conflict -The belief that conflict is not only a positive force in a

group but also an absolute necessity for a group to perform effectively.

Process Conflict - Conflict of how work gets done.

Proponents – post graduate students of Organizational Behavior Management

(MBA122) of New Era University - Graduate Studies for the school year 2018-2019.
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Relationship Conflict - Conflict based on interpersonal relationship.

Respondents – Department Heads/Managers/Supervisors of DB Schenker Global

Services Asia Pacific Inc located in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, Philippines.

Task Conflict - Conflict over content and goals of the work.

Traditional View of Conflict -The belief that conflict is harmful and must be avoided.