The influence of culture on conflict management in the Ghanaian construction industry: the project managers perspective
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Date
2021-07-06
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Abstract
Globalization has led to an increased emphasis on cultural diversity and its influence
on personal, social, and organizational practices. As the world becomes a smaller
place, the potential for conflict in our daily interactions is increasing. Therefore, the
study was aimed at assessing the influence of Culture on Conflict Management in the
Ghanaian Construction Industry from the perspective of the project manager. To
achieve this aim, the following objectives aided in the realisation of the aim; to
explore the cultural characteristics on construction projects in Ghana, to identify the
conflict management styles on construction sites in Ghana and to identify the key
effect of culture on the management of conflict in the Ghanaian Construction
Industry. Using a purposive sampling, project managers were identified to aid in the
collection of data for the research. The study used analytical tools such as relative
importance index, one sample t-test and mean score ranking. After analysing the
data, it was revealed that, I want to have all issues openly discussed was the only
cultural characteristics that was not familiar to Ghanaian project managers. It meant
that all the other cultural characteristics one way or the other was familiar to them.
Again, emotional expression, avoiding and compromising were somehow not a good
conflict management style used by project managers in Ghana. Notwithstanding, the
relative importance proved that they were important as conflict management styles as
they ranked from fourth to sixth on the table. The study also identified five
challenging effects which are predicting the outcome of the conflict, communication
problems, concern for self, prejudice in solving cases and decrease in productivity.
The study recommended that; project managers treat every worker right devoid of
the cultural background of the person. a recommendation also goes to project
managers who dominate and neglect conflicts to desist from it as it does not bring
any good results.
Description
A thesis submitted to the Department of Construction Technology and Management,
College of Art and Built Environment
in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the Degree of
Master of Science.
Keywords
Culture, Conflict, Influence, Ghana.