Conflict Management and Organizational Behavior: Principal Strategies

Abstract

school principals and exploring innovative approaches to conflict resolution, the research offers practical implications for enhancing organizational dynamics in schools.Future research could further explore the impact of cultural and contextual factors on conflict management strategies and investigate novel approaches to mitigate conflict in diverse educational contexts.
Conflict is a situation where there is a difference between two or more individuals or groups in perception, values, interests, or goals.Conflict can occur at various levels, from interpersonal to intergroup conflicts or even conflicts involving nations.Conflict can arise in multiple contexts, including social, political, organizational, and personal environments (Mahesa & Hadijah, 2024).In organizational settings, conflict often occurs for various reasons, such as differences in interpreting rules or policies, competition among individuals or departments, differing needs, or disagreements about the appropriate ways to achieve common goals.Organizational conflict can arise among employees, between employees and management, or among various organisational units or departments (Nurjanah & Hanifuddin, 2022;Safitri, 2023).
Conflict can have multiple impacts depending on how the conflict is handled and responded to.The adverse effects of poorly managed conflict include decreased productivity, interpersonal tension, morale decline, disruption in workflow, increased absenteeism, and even team member termination.However, conflict can also have a positive impact if handled constructively, such as fostering innovation, strengthening interpersonal relationships, and generating new solutions to existing problems (Gintulangi & Arsana, 2021;Zhafran & Fiernaningsih, 2023).Organizations need to develop skills in managing conflict effectively.This involves a good understanding of the sources of conflict, identifying and resolving conflicts that promote fairness and satisfaction for all involved parties, and building open communication and collaboration among individuals and units within the organization (Siregar & Usriyah, 2021).
In sociology research, conflict does not always refer to hostility or confrontation; it can also be related to competition, tension, or disagreements (Hasan & Sukimi, 2023;Muhajirin, 2024).This is why the existence of conflict does not necessarily have to be interpreted as a destructive force, as in many cases, conflict is positive, even constructive because it is functional (As'ad & Mujib, 2020).Indeed, dynamism arises from conflict, creativity is born from conflict, and productivity, as the driving force and source of change from conflict, brings achieving goals closer to fruition.In educational institutions, school principals as the highest leaders must manage conflicts effectively to bring positive benefits and avoid negative impacts (Suncaka, 2023).Conflict management can be introduced in education by accurately identifying the forms of conflict that occur.Recognizing these forms of conflict allows for easy and accurate determination of the best solutions to address them (Wirawan, 2016).Accuracy in conflict management can have a positive impact on organizational productivity.
Conversely, consistently avoiding conflict as an adverse event can decrease individual and group productivity and organizational productivity in educational institutions (A.Alwy, 2022).Conflicts between teachers and staff arise due to misleading communication, language barriers, or disagreements where teachers magnify their egos (Wursanto, 2015).Therefore, discussing the strategies of school principals in addressing these conflicts, considering that conflicts can have a significant impact on the implementation of educational activities in schools, it is also necessary for school principals to address and resolve emerging conflicts, which is an urgent necessity (Anita et al., 2022).

Conflict Management and Organizational Behavior in Schools
Conflict often starts from small matters, wherein the school principal is responsible for identifying the causes of conflict from the beginning (Samsudin & Setyowati, 2022).Therefore, although conflict is seen as beneficial, it can also result in losses if used in battle (Pane, 2023).The analysis of conflicts experienced by individuals in schools can take various forms, such as being easily offended, differences of opinion, feelings of social jealousy, high ego, external issues brought into the school environment, interpersonal dissatisfaction, and discomfort with a decision (Suryani & FoEh, 2018).This can happen for various reasons.At SMPN 05 Jember, various conflicts occur between teachers and educational staff.

Behavior
Various factors support conflict management, including cooperation between parties both from the school principal and vice-principal, as well as third parties outside the school such as the community and stakeholders involved, including related issues, they have greater authority over events that contribute to resolving conflicts that have occurred.From the description above, the supporting factors in conflict management are good cooperation among individuals or teams, good communication, and appropriate tasks to manage everything well.
Organizational performance serves as the primary measure to gauge the success and sustainability of a business entity or institution.It reflects how much an organization can achieve its goals and objectives (M.Alwy, 2022).
Organizational performance encompasses several interrelated aspects: productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness.Productivity highlights an organization's ability to generate output using available resources (Nurhasnah et al., 2024).
Meanwhile, efficiency emphasizes the optimal utilization of these resources to achieve desired outcomes.(Ismail, 2022).
The research results by Ernaliza show that 1) conflicts arise due to social jealousy resulting from disparities between civil servant teachers and honorary teachers, the formation of groups among teachers, and some teachers' disapproval if another teacher receives recognition for their success from the school principal or the Education Office; and 2) the managerial role of the school principal in addressing teacher conflicts involves taking several actions such as: (a) striving to remain neutral and objective to avoid appearing biased in conflicts among teachers; (b) always providing opportunities for all teachers to speak up and express their opinions; and (c) consistently motivating teachers to focus on improving their competencies and fulfilling their duties and responsibilities at school (Ernaliza et al., 2020).
The results of Qoyyimah et al., (2022) research show that conflict is not always destructive but can also have a positive impact if managed properly.This is where the role of the madrasah principal is needed to manage conflict in the 421 JIE (Journal ofIslamicEducation) e-ISSN: 2528-0465 (online) | Volume 9, Issue 2 | July-December 2024 p-ISSN: 2503-5363 (print) The school principal is crucial in creating a conducive learning environment and fostering student development.They are responsible for the overall management of the school, including handling conflicts and influencing organizational behaviour (Gutama et al., 2024; Wulandari & Nugroho, 2020).Educational environments often serve as grounds for disputes among students, teachers, parents, and administrative staff.These conflicts may stem from differing values, interests, or perceptions (Anggraeni & Maftuh, 2020).Poorly managed conflicts can disrupt the organisation's overall performance, leading to decreased productivity, interpersonal tensions, and diminished motivation to achieve common goals (Syamsuddin, 2022).Amidst the complexity of the school environment, principals need to have effective strategies for managing conflicts and influencing organizational behaviour.These strategies should encompass proactive, collaborative approaches toward solutions (Hartawan, 2020).The research findings by Tambunan & Degeng indicate that school principals can employ various strategies to resolve conflicts without disrupting teacher performance, student comfort, and parental trust (Tambunan et al., 2017).The study demonstrates that the principal's conflict management is executed through collaboration, accommodation, and compromise.By implementing these three conflict resolution approaches at SMP NU Bululawang, Malang Regency, it is possible to mitigate or prevent the occurrence of social unrest within the school environment (Ismail, 2022).The research results by Ernaliza et al. show that 1) conflicts arise due to social jealousy resulting from disparities between civil servant teachers and honorary teachers, the formation of groups among teachers, and some teachers' disapproval if another teacher receives recognition for their success from the school principal or the Education Office; and 2) the managerial role of the school principal in addressing teacher conflicts involves taking several actions such as: (a) striving to remain neutral and objective to avoid appearing biased in conflicts among teachers; (b) always providing opportunities for all teachers to speak up and express their opinions; and (c) consistently motivating teachers to focus on improving their competencies and fulfilling their duties and responsibilities at school (Ernaliza et al., 2020).Based on the above, the researcher has identified school guidelines for managing conflict and organizational behaviour conducted by school leaders to address one of the causes of school failure in fulfilling the school's vision and mission.Interested in studying these strategies, the researcher chose the title "School Principal's Strategies in Managing Conflict and Organizational Behavior at SMPN 05 Jember."II.METHODS This study employs a qualitative method with field research.This study utilizes tools such as data collection: 1) Observation, which involves direct observation on-site and with careful consideration of the object or activity aimed at developing teacher professionalism; 2) Interviews, where respondents are interviewed directly to ascertain training activities; 3) Documentation, where the researcher gathers physical data such as documentation of face-to-face interviews with respondents who are the main topic of study regarding coaching activities (Darmayanti, 2023).Data analysis techniques in this research include data reduction, data presentation, and concluding.Data validation was carried out using source triangulation (Fitri & Haryanti, 2020; Ikhwan, 2021).
Tambunan et al., (2017)yTambunan et al., (2017)indicate that school principals can employ various strategies to resolve conflicts without disrupting teacher performance, student comfort, and parental trust.The study demonstrates that the principal's conflict management is executed through collaboration, accommodation, and compromise.By implementing these three conflict resolution approaches at SMP NU Bululawang, Malang Regency, it is possible to mitigate or prevent the occurrence of social unrest within the school environment