Costing conflict : a multiple case study approach to quantifying conflict in the mining industry in South Africa

• Main Author: Burger, Dore Gertel
• Other Authors: Cillie, G.
• Format: Others
• Language: en_ZA
• Published: Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University 2013
• Subjects: Conflict; Conflict theories; Quantifying conflict; HR metrics; Dissertations > Industrial psychology; Theses > Industrial psychology; Industrial relations > South Africa > Costs; Interpersonal conflict > South Africa > Costs; Labor disputes > South Africa > Costs; Mineral industries > South Africa
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/80236

Thesis (MComm)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. === This study will focus on conflict within organisations in the attempt to gain clarity on this very common phenomenon and to link conflict to financial cost. By gaining a financial grip on conflict this study attempts to give the reader the tools with which to estimate parameters and calculate financial costs within their own conflict situations. The reader will also be able to motivate the need for management to invest in pre-emptive conflict resolution structures. The study will focus on a sample population from the mining sector in South Africa. A multiple case study approach is used in order to understand the intricacies that make conflict a variable, situation-dependant occurrence after which data is collected to calculate a preliminary estimate of the financial costs incurred by the organisation due to hostilities within the sample population. The results of the study indicate that the samples chosen experience different types of conflict and also manage the conflict in different ways. The calculations reflect that conflict impacts on the organisation in a fiscally prominent way. Each case has its own unique major contributors to monetary costs incurred due to conflict depending on case specific attributes. The results clearly show that the financial cost of conflict has a severe impact on an organisation. The structured analysis provided by the study gives the reader a method with which to calculate the costs of conflict within other cases where conflict is assumed to have a negative impact on performance. In this way it becomes easier for the practitioner to effectively motivate for preventative action.