چشم انداز های اسلامی در مورد مدیریت تضاد در محیط های تحت مدیریت پروژه

The purpose of this paper is to examine Islamic perspectives on conflict management within project managed environments. Existing research does not reveal any study that examines empirically the Islamic viewpoint on conflict management in contemporary organisational contexts but does indicate that conflict in Islam is considered to be inevitable and a part of human nature, and, if managed properly, is positive and constructive. This paper aims to address this gap, by presenting an empirical analysis of Islamic models of conflict management. It is argued that the three Islamic models discussed, are partially and covertly in existence in environments not traditional to their own. Consequently, the paper finds that there is scope for investigating explicit applied aspects to these Islamic models. The paper concludes that existence of Islamic models for conflict management is visible and has potential for application by project managers without limitation.

The aim of this paper is to expand research of Islamic perspectives on conflict management relevant to project managed environments, and to address questions pertaining to the potential of applying Islamic models for conflict management in functionally and demographically diverse work settings. The study appraises literature concerning conflict management in Islam and outlines three models. Existing research indicates that conflict in Islam is considered to be inevitable and a part of human nature, and, if managed properly, is a positive force, as it can enrich discussion, facilitate problem solving and encourage constructive debate (Abdalla, 2001, Ahmad, 2007, Al-Buraey, 2001, Khadra, 1990 and Yousef, 2000). Western models, which tend to focus on formal (strategic) and informal (behavioral) mechanisms for conflict management, are also discussed. The study further draws on collated survey data to evaluate the research question of whether there is possibility for project managers of non-Islamic orientation to apply Islamic models for conflict management.

The research study set out with the objectives to address questions proposed: (a) Is there is an Islamic conflict intervention model available for project managers to implement in their workplace? (b) Is such a model beneficial and can it be implemented by project managers and individuals with non-Islamic backgrounds? The literature review has indicated existence of pervasive Islamic style conflict management models with potential for application by project managers. The Islamic models as the proactive, S.N.T and SALAM are pure Islamic approaches to handle conflict. In addition, the research results suggest that there is a positive correlation between Islamic conflict management styles and Cooperative Conflict Handling. Thus, Islamic conflict management styles can be considered as a constructive conflict handling style. In addressing the second research question, the results suggest that the nationality and/or gender of individuals have no significant influence on implementing Islamic conflict management styles. Therefore, western project managers will not feel uncomfortable if they decided to implement the Islamic approach inside their workplace. General conclusions can be made with regard to the Islamic conflict management styles to manage interpersonal and intergroup conflict. Islamic conflict management styles are closely related to the mechanisms shown to reduce intergroup and interpersonal conflicts. For example, the Proactive model appraises activities that enhance communication between multiple groups through relationship building. In addition, activities that increase the exchange of understanding and information of others’ interests can support Islamic conflict management styles. Results reflect that Islamic conflict management styles related to cooperating style, and those styles are related to the position and age of the individuals. These findings reflect that older and high managerial level employees show higher level of preference towards Islamic conflict management styles as compared to low managerial level employees. Inference here is also that nationality and education do not have a significant influence on implementing Islamic conflict management styles. Nevertheless, 25% of the European and North American, and 38% of Master degree holder participants prefer Islamic conflict management styles. These findings support the argument that an Islamic approach can be implemented successfully by project managers outside the Muslim world. This paper elaborates the concept of the Islamic conflict management styles and its relationship with constructive conflict-handling methods. In addition, the study examines the correlation between individuals’ demographic characteristics and Islamic conflict management styles. The study outcomes reveal considerable distinctions between participants – depending on their demographic backgrounds, across gender, age, educational level and managerial position – on their respective perception of implementing Islamic conflict management styles. Employees with higher managerial positions tend to prefer Islamic conflict management styles, as depicted by the findings. The age of employees has a significant effect on preference towards Islamic styles. All of the significant correlations reported in this research study were low and thus each coefficient explains all but a small amount of the variance in conflict management style preference. These low correlation coefficients, on the other hand, should be considered with concern. Personal attitudes and behaviors are multifaceted human phenomena which have usually rejected either complex or simple explanations. Accordingly, these research results, similar to most research studies using personality variables, enhance the understanding of attitudes and behavior by a small amount. The results, nevertheless, are preservative.