CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION

1.1       Background to the study

In every aspect of human society and endeavor, conflict is seen as a natural phenomenon that is,

inevitable as long as human relationships are involved. It is a process that begins when one party

perceives that another party has negatively affected or is about to negatively affect something

that the first party cares about (Robbins, Judge & Vohra, 2012). At home and at work,conflict is

very common and in some cases unavoidable (Mughal & Khan, 2013). As a result of people

interacting with each other, friction, disagreements or arguments may arise resulting from actual

or perceived differences or incompatibilities, thereby escalating to conflict. Thus, conflicts in

organisations can take many formssuch as interpersonal conflict, task conflict and process

conflict which give rise to diverse approaches to conflict management (Budd & colvin, 2013).

Nigerian Government over the years however has set up various techniques that will guide

organisations in the management of conflicts. Some of these management techniques are

available in the provision of Labour/Employment Act, 1971; Workmen's Compensation Act,

2010, Trade Dispute Amendment Decree, 1988, No 39 and Trade Dispute Act 18, 2004 which

provided five steps for legal management of conflict in organisations in the country (Akinwale,

2011). According to Akinwale, 2011, these policies are voluntary settlements of conflict with the

use of internal machinery of grievance procedures and also with the use of external machinery

comprising of mediator, conciliator, and reference of disputes to industrial arbitration panel,

national industrial court and the constitution of a board of enquiry. In the resolution of conflict,

the judgment of the national industrial court is final and binding on the employers and employees

from the date of the judgment in the country. Longe (2015) identified that the Trade Union Act,

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2005 is also used for managing union-management conflict in organisations and has been

adopted by some multinational firms in the country.

Sunseed Nigeria Limited, Zaria is a multinational organisation involved in the production of

vegetable oil and sale of poultry feeds for export. The organisation is often faced with the issue

of employees‟ welfare. Employee welfare is an important source of motivation to employees and

the lack of it has led to employees having grievances against management which has most times

resulted into conflict between both parties and the resulting effect has