The Relationship between Cultural Intelligence and Conflict Management

Transcription

1 International Research Journal of Management Sciences. Vol., 4 (1), 31-35, 2016 Available online at ISSN X 2016 The Relationship between Intelligence and Conflict Management (Case study: Institute of Intellectual Development for Children and Young Adults in Northern Khorasan and Razavi Khorasan, Iran) Davood Yaghobi 1, Fereydoon Azma 2* Department of Management, Aliabad Katoul Branch, Islamic Azad University, Aliabad Katoul, Iran * Corresponding Author Azmafereydoon@yahoo.com ABSTRACT: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between cultural intelligence and conflict management at the institute of intellectual development for children and young adults in Northern Khorasan and Razavi Khorasan, Iran. The population of the investigation was all the employees of the institute of intellectual development for children and young adults in Northern and Razavi Khorasan, Iran that 162 individuals were randomly chosen according to Krejcie and Morgan Table. Questionnaires were used for collecting data. Data were analyzed by using Pearson correlation and regression analysis. Results showed that there was a significant and positive relationship between the cultural intelligence and conflict management. Other results also showed that there was a significant and positive relationship between all aspects of cultural intelligence and conflict management. Keywords: Intelligence, Conflict Management, Social Interaction. INTRODUCTION A prominent feature of globalization that has deeply affected today organization is the major tendency toward the greater cultural diversity. Globalization involves the processes of social interaction on a global scale, where people of many nationalities are linked together and they work in a culturally different environment, both inside and outside of their organizations. Organizations, significantly along with more interaction are engaged in social action among a diverse range of cultures and perspectives (Thomas, 2006). Accordingly, many of the twenty-first century organizations can be considered multi-cultural organizations. This fact, in addition to being a great relationships dynamics in the enterprise environments, also due to the differences in language, ethnicity, politics and many other properties it can emerged as a sources of potential conflict, and makes it difficult by the absence of proper understanding and appropriate working development in a relationship of the workplace (Triandis, 2006). The extent of the territory of the organization's activities also led the organization to face with cultural diversity, both in their workforce and for those who refer to them as customers and clients. In fact, diversity is a fact of today life, and no organizational could ignore it. Organizations are dealing with employees and clients who have a different cultural and functional background, as well as assumptions about how to communicate and how to make decisions. intelligence is one of the most efficient tools to perform effective tasks in heterogeneous diverse environments and workforce. This type of intelligence is the ability and special skills that allow an individual to be able to serve in multicultural situations effectively (Poursadegh et al., 2012). Today, management experts believe that human resources is the most important organizational asset and a competitive advantage, and a healthy relationship based on cooperation and collaboration between these valuable resources are the most important fundamental factors for the success in all organizations including 31

2 industrial, administrative, servicing, educational, and etc. On the other hand, due to the increasing complexity of organizations and differences in thoughts, attitudes and beliefs of individuals, conflict is an inevitable part of today organizational life. The important point is that the inevitability of conflict is not negative; perhaps it will be beneficial for the organization if the conflict being managed well. In other words, conflict is like a coin with two sides of positive and negative and how to deal with it is what that determines its effectiveness for organizations. Therefore, undoubtedly the ability to manage and control the phenomenon of conflict in organizations is the most important management skills that managers need (Moharramzadeh et al., 2012). Hence, this study seeks to answer the question whether there is a significant relationship between the cultural intelligence and conflict management at the institute of intellectual development for children and young adults in Northern Khorasan and Razavi Khorasan, Iran. METHODOLOGY The research method was descriptive and correlation type. Statistical population were all 280 employees of Institute of Intellectual Development for Children and Young Adults in Northern Khorasan and Razavi Khorasan, Iran, which according to Morgan table 162 subjects were selected randomly. The independent variable was the cultural intelligence and the dependent variable was conflict management. At the stage of performing the study, after the presentation of introductory remarks on measuring and purpose of the test, how to respond to tests were described in detail for participants. Regarding the ethical considerations, after obtaining the consent of the individuals and giving them the necessary knowledge, they were assured that the received information will be used just in this research and it will be protected from any misuse. Questionnaires were used for measuring the variables. The questionnaire of the cultural intelligence contained 19 questions and the questionnaire of the conflict management contained 30 questions. The whole five-point of Likert was the scale to answer the questions. The scales of the cultural intelligence have been provided in the following Table 1. Table 1. Dimensions and questions of the cultural intelligence questionnaire. Dimensions Intelligence The questions metacognition cognition behavior motivation Validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by professors and experts. Cronbach's alpha was used to estimate the reliability of the method. Results of alpha showed and for cultural intelligence and conflict management which indicates good reliability of the measuring tool. Correlation was used for data analysis. In all analyzes, the significance level was considered p <0.05. RESULTS Results of the Kolmogorov - Smirnov test showed normal distribution of the data (p>0.05). The relationship between cultural intelligence and conflict management were analyzed by using Pearson's correlation. Results are presented in Table 2. According to the Pearson correlation, there was a significant and direct relationship between cultural intelligence and conflict management at the level of 95% (Sig. < 0.05). Table 2. Results of Pearson test on cultural intelligence and conflict management. Dependent variable Independent variable intelligence Pearson correlation coefficient Conflict management Sig. Sample size * * Correlation is significant at the error level of

3 According to Table 3, adjusted coefficient was and statistics of the Durbin-Watson was within 1.5 to 2.5, so, the hypothesis of errors independency was confirmed (regression analysis can be used), and according to the adjusted coefficient, cultural intelligence aspects can predict 84.9% of changes in conflict management at institute of intellectual development for children and young adults Northern Khorasan and Razavi Khorasan, Iran. Table 3. The results of multiple regressions between dimensions of cultural intelligence with conflict management. Correlation coefficient Coefficients of determination Adjusted coefficient of determination SD Durbin-Watson test a According to Table 4, the F value which is obtained by dividing the regression mean square by residual mean square is equal to , that this value with 7 degrees of freedom has become significant at the level of 0.000; the level was less than Therefore, we conclude that the cultural intelligence affected the conflict management of institute of intellectual development for children and young adults in Northern Khorasan and Razavi Khorasan, Iran. Table 4. Test results variance between the dimensions of cultural intelligence and conflict management. Model Total square df MS F Sig. Regression Remains a total In Table 5, the first row is the values of a significant test of the width of the origin (regression coefficient value) β0 and the second line is the regression slope coefficient β1. Here, the dimensions of cultural intelligence are the independent variable (X) and the conflict management component is the dependent variable (Y), that according to the formula of Y=a+b1x1+b2x2+b3x3+b4x4 the value is a= و b 1 =.744 b 2 =.784 b 3 =.319 b 4 =.479 so, the obtained regression equation was as follows: Conflict management= ( meta-cognition) ( cognition) ( behavior) ( motivation) Table 5. The regression coefficients between dimensions of cultural intelligence and conflict management. Predictor variables Index Coefficient B Standard error t Sig. Statistic Constant coefficient meta-cognition cognition behavior motivation

4 Table 6. The correlation between the variables. Table 6. The correlation between the variables metacognition cognition behavior motivation Conflict Management r p The relationship between the scales of cultural intelligence and conflict management was examined. Results are presented in Table 6. The results showed that there was a significant positive relationship among all aspects of cultural intelligence and conflict management. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between cultural intelligence with conflict management at the institute of intellectual development for children and young adults in Northern Khorasan and Razavi Khorasan, Iran. Results showed that there was a significant positive relationship between the cultural intelligence and conflict management. Other results also showed that there was a significant positive relationship between all aspects of cultural intelligence and conflict management. In today's business environment and the global market, "cultural intelligence" was considered as a required lever for leaders and managers. Organizations and managers, who understand the strategic value of cultural intelligence, can use differences and cultural diversity in order to create competitive advantage and excellence in the global market. intelligence was a way of thinking and practice that teach managers and employees, so, they can act effectively in any cultural context. Due to the turbulent and competitive environment of today, many organizations are being multicultural. " intelligence" is the most important tool that can be used for appropriate encountering of multi-cultural situations. This intelligence to express the appropriate behavior helps with quick and accurate understanding of the different cultural components. People with high cultural intelligence can have a significant effect on their product development. These people are counted as valuable organization assets, especially in times of crisis. Someone who has a high cultural intelligence, understands the cultural barriers, and knows that these barriers can Format our behavior and that of others, and accordingly, they can determine how to think and react in different situations, and also be able to reduce these restrictions and barriers in critical situations in the direction of their organization's goals. Organizational Intelligence enables us to make organizational decisions. Organizational Intelligence means having a comprehensive knowledge of all the factors that affect the organization. Dispute or conflict is a phenomenon which has positive and negative effects on the performance of individuals and organizations. Correct and effective use of conflict will enhance the performance and promote the health of the organization, and ineffective use of it will reduce the performance and create conflict and tension in the organization. Effective use of conflict requires recognition and fully understands of its nature and the cause of its creation, and also acquiring skills to manage and control it, which are the most important management skills today. Ability to deal with conflicts and to manage it has a crucial role in the success of organization directors. If the conflicts are constructive, it will cause fresh and creative ideas and will provide innovation and productive transformation in the organization, and ultimately it will help management to achieve their organizational goals. Some scholars believe that the diversity of working will affect the performance through conflicts. Two major types of conflict were mentioned in ethical texts: One is emotional conflict and the other is conflicts of duty. Managers, who can reduce emotional conflict and properly manage the conflicts of duty, will be more successful. In this way, managers should be aware of the origin of conflicts and the impact of diversity on conflicts and they should know appropriate ways of dealing with it. These findings are compatible with the findings of Ahmadi et al (2013), Kord Noghabi et al (2011), Tang et al. (2010) and Garner and Magadley (2012). For example, Ahmadi et al (2013) conducted a study as the role of cultural intelligence of managers to resolve the conflicts of employees, and the results showed that the cultural intelligence of managers with its three dimensions have statistically meaningful positive impact to resolve the conflicts of the employees. Kord Noghabi et al (2011) conducted a study to examine the relationship between cultural intelligence and the style of conflict management in middle and secondary schools in the province of North and South and Razavi Khorasan, Iran, and the results showed that there was a significant relationship between cultural intelligence and conflict management style in middle and secondary schools in the province of North and South and Razavi Khorasan, Iran. Garner and Magadley (2012) conducted a research as the relationship between cultural intelligence and conflict management among the police personnel in Germany, 34

5 and the results showed that there was a significant relationship between cultural intelligence and conflict management among police personnel in Germany. Tang et al (2010) conducted a study to examine the relationship between cultural intelligence and conflict management among the administrators in Taiwan and America, and the results showed that there was a significant relationship between cultural intelligence and conflict management among the administrators of Taiwan and America. According to the research findings it can be said that high cultural intelligence among staff will enhance the organizational culture, investment in human resources, employee satisfaction and will improve conflict management which is one of the main factors that increase efficiency and effectiveness in organizations. However, employees should improve their knowledge of cultural intelligence by understanding the similarities and differences in cultures, self- knowledge and understanding the culture and their country, participating in seminars inside the country and abroad, Accordingly their conflict management will improve, and we will see the prosperity and greater efficiency among the employees of the institute for the intellectual development for children and young adults in Northern Khorasan and Razavi Khorasan, Iran. Conflict of interest The authors declare no conflict of interest REFERENCES Ahmadi AA et al, The role of managers' cultural intelligence to resolve conflicts of employees, Scientific- Research Journal of social cognition, No 3. Garner I, Magadley W, An exploration of the relationship between Intelligence and Conflict Management in police organizations Garmany. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology. 27 (1). Kord Noghabi R, Ashkan M, Mirzaee Rafe M, The relationship between cultural intelligence and conflict management style in middle and secondary schools of the province of North and South and Razavi Khorasan, Iran, New Thoughts on Education. 7(2). Moharramzadeh M, Seyyed Ameri MH, Saidi S, The Relationship of five components of emotional intelligence and conflict management strategies in West Azarbaijan, Iran, among administrative director of Physical Education, Sport Management Journal, No.15. Poursadegh N, et al,2012. The relationship between cultural intelligence and task performance of traffic managers, journal of traffic research studies, the first year, No. 2. Tang HWV, Yin MS, Nelson DB, The relationship between Intelligence and Conflict Management: A cross-cultural study of academic leaders in Taiwan and the USA. Journal of Managerial Psychology. 25(8). Thomas DC, Domain and Development of cultural intelligence: The importance of mindfulness. Group and Organization Management. 31 (1). Triandis HC, Intelligence in Organizations. Group Organization Management. 31(1). 35