Perspectives of Business Education Lecturers on Conflict Management Strategies in Public Tertiary Institutions in Edo and Delta States, Nigeria

The research assessed the views of business education lecturers regarding conflict management strategies within public tertiary institutions located in Edo and Delta states, Nigeria. This investigation employed a descriptive survey design. A sample size of 152 respondents was gathered through the use of a questionnaire, and due to the manageable size of the population, no sampling was necessary. The data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation, with a decision rule indicating that a mean of 2.5 and above was considered as agreement, while a mean below 2.5 was deemed as disagreement. Additionally, a t-test was utilized to analyze the three null hypotheses formulated at a significance level of 0.05. The positive effects of conflicts led to the emergence of new ideas or approaches, enhanced decision quality, and the alleviation of tension, among other outcomes. The conflict resolution strategies implemented included suitable leadership styles, organizational structuring, addressing the causes of conflict, and diagnosing and rectifying issues. The most frequently employed conflict resolution strategies were arbitration, mediation, and smoothing, among others. The results of the hypothesis testing revealed that the calculated t-values were lower than the critical t-values at a significance level of 0.05 with 150 degrees of freedom, thereby leading to the acceptance of the null hypotheses. The study recommends that relevant authorities should adopt arbitration, smoothing, and mediation techniques as conflict resolution strategies among business education lecturers in public tertiary institutions.