The organizational conflict and ways to address it by the administrative and training bodies in the sports clubs of the Middle Euphrates region

Ali Mohammed Jawad Ahmed Al-Saegh1^1*, Mazin Abdulhadi Ahmed² and Mazin Hadi Kzar^3
*Correspondence: Ali Mohammed Jawad Ahmed Al-Saegh1, Department of Physical Education and Sports Sciences, Faculty of Education for girls, University of Kufa, Iraq, Email:

Keywords

Organizational conflict. Administrative bodies. Coaches. Gender equality. Quality education.

Introduction and Importance of the Research

The human being constitutes the basic element of the various sports institutions to which he finds in his belonging to and his presence in them a humanitarian necessity that stems from the nature of his normal social behaviour based on the permanence of the individual’s presence in the group so that he can reach some of his goals that he is unable to achieve on his own, and he can do so in light of his cooperation and interaction with the rest of the members of this institution. The researchers believe that the most of these institutions that have a positive impact on individuals and society are sports clubs, as “the sports field represents the most important realm of investment in human wealth, as it is distinguished from all other fields. The appropriate climate for work and the formation of positive attitudes among individuals” (Hossam El-Din and Matar, 1997, 25).

Sports clubs are among the most important of these sports institutions because they are basic tributaries to higher-level sports, as well as social institutions that aim to meet human needs for various services as educational, instructional and sports institutions.

In order to carry out its tasks successfully, it needs leaders qualified to work with diverse and intertwined human groups, including administrators, coaches, assistant coaches, players, and the public. For differences or conflicts that are one of the types of social interactions such as cooperation and coordination, which are practiced openly or implicitly in order to achieve certain goals, so the conflict expresses some of the problems of organizational behavior that sports management faces the responsibility of treating, and then conflict management becomes an essential part of the managers’ jobs (Hassan, 1989, 306).

Therefore, the management of the clubs must confront the conflict in ways capable of adapting it for the benefit of the club as it seeks to achieve its goals. Therefore ,the important role played by the management of these sports clubs by virtue of its responsibilities to manage these conflicts and address them in their early stages and prevent them from aggravating and transforming them from destructive conflicts through selfish, hostile or sabotage practices that drain energies, efforts, time and money into constructive conflicts through cooperation, integration and honest competition To lead positive results on the way to promoting positive behaviour and avoiding behavioural negatives before they occur or treating them before they escalate in order for the sports organization to be more capable of continuity and creativity. The Middle Euphrates in the methods of dealing with the sports organizational conflict in order to help them in carrying out some of the burdens and tasks assigned to them and what the organizational development processes impose by emphasizing their use of the required situation in dealing with these conflicts.

The challenges that face our sports clubs at the present time have become great and require our sports leaders to reconsider all their issues in order to seek tangible development by providing scientific leaders, as “sports is a social movement that comes at the top of social organizations in need of providing qualified leaders scientifically, behaviourally, intellectually and socially. The need is intensified by noting the growing role of sport in the affairs of society and the nation’s issues in addition to its prominent role in the international arena” (Qutb et al., 1986, 186), and researchers believe that this role revolves around the leaders, coaches and assistants of sports clubs who are supposed to form the backbone in performing the message of these clubs, they must play behavioural roles required by the work in order to implement and develop it to determine its paths and control the behavioural trends of the members and create a state of interaction and influence among them, especially since the sports field is one of the fertile areas for interaction and collective interaction between different groups and it is natural that this disparity results in cases of the differences and quarrels, the so-called phenomenon of conflict is formed, and the abnormal thing lies in its transformation into confrontations harmful to the organization. Its rival is one of the errors calculated on the coaches, their assistants and administrators, either rushing to strike and extinguishing conflicts, as well as limiting them, or it is wrong for them to remain silent about them and be negligent in limiting their negative effects.

Accordingly, the phenomenon of conflict is one of the practices facing officials in sports organizations, which can adopt different ways to manage it, but the sports administrative sources have been devoid of these treatments, as well as the scarcity of addressing the phenomenon of sports organizational conflicts.

The researchers believe that avoiding confrontation of the conflict and managing it, or managing it in an ineffective way without responding to the vocabulary of sports reality and its peculiarities stemming from the different needs of groups and individuals and the developments imposed by work situations in the sports organization allow negative conflicts to escalate into an intractable crisis that can have severe negative consequences. Including the creation of a tense administrative, technical and educational work climate that leads to lack of cooperation, absenteeism, many quarrels, and perhaps hostile public behaviour, and due to the presence of several methods in dealing with organizational conflict, including (calming , confrontation, bargaining, coercion, avoidance) that differ in their characteristics and productivity in deepening the strength of the existing conflict between individuals, reducing it or turning it into a positive constructive conflict. Therefore, the research problem focuses on the following two questions:

What are the methods of dealing with organizational conflict common to the administrative bodies in sports clubs in the Middle Euphrates region?

Do the administrative and training staffs in the sports clubs of the Middle Euphrates region have impact of addressing the sports organizational conflicts?

The research aims to identify the common method of addressing organizational conflict by the administrative and training staff in n the sports clubs of the Middle Euphrates region in Iraq.

Research Methodology and Field Procedures

The researchers used the descriptive approach in the survey method for its relevance with the nature of the research:

The research community and its samples:

Research community: The research community consisted of (641) members of the administrative staff (chairman, member of the administrative body, coach) working in administrative and training for at least one year.

This community was formed from (179) (a club president and a member of an administrative body) who constituted (53.11%) of the research community, while the number of coaches in these clubs and for most of the sports activities approved by these clubs was (92) coaches and they constitute a percentage (27.29%) of the research community, while the number of assistant trainers was (66) making up (19.58) as shown in Table 1)) (Table 1).

Research tools: For the purpose of solving the research problem, the researcher relied on the following means

1. Arabic and foreign references and sources.

2. Questionnaire.

3. Organizational Conflict Scale.

The Measure of Organizational Conflict

To achieve the requirements of the study, the researchers used the scale of organizational conflict, which was designed by Abdel Qader Mahmoud Qader. (Abdul Qadir Mahmoud Qader: 2005, 90) (Appendix 1).

Description of the scale in its final form

The final version of the scale consisted of (50) items as shown in Appendix (1) distributed over five domains and by (10) items for the domain of avoidance and (13) items for the domain of compulsion, while the domain of pacification included (11) items and the domain of bargaining included (7) items. Finally, the confrontation area included (9) items, and the answer to the items is similar to the multiple-choice method. The respondent is presented with items and asked to specify his answer by choosing one of five alternatives that have different weights adopted by the researchers (Table 2).

It is clear from the above table, for example, that if the respondent answers to one of the special items in the field of pacification using the pacification treatment method, he receives (5) degrees, while if he answers using the confrontation method, he receives (4) degrees, but if he uses the bargaining method, he takes (3) ) degrees, while if he uses the avoidance method, he takes (2) two degrees, and finally if he responds with the compulsion method, he takes (1) one degree, and so on in all items of the pacification field.

Accordingly, the extent of the final degree of the scale ranges between (50-250) degrees, and the extent of the final degree in the avoidance domain ranges between (10-50) degrees, while the final degree range of the compulsion domain is between (13-65) degrees, and the pacification range ranges in the range of its final degree ranges between (11-55) degrees, while the final degree range for the field of bargaining ranges between (7-35) degrees, and finally the extent of the final degree of the confrontation field is between (9-45) degrees.

Pilot Study

• The researchers conducted a pilot study to apply the scale of organizational conflict on a group of administrators, coaches and assistant coaches without a sample of 15 members, on 15/7/2021. The researchers concluded the following:

• A statement whether the items and their meanings are clears to the sample.

• Fixing the answer time on the scale for administrators, coaches and assistant coaches.

• Training the work team on distributing the scale and how to respond to inquiries and collecting the scale after completing the answer.

• Explain the main objective of the scale to all participants and clarify its paragraphs to facilitate answering process.

• Providing suitable rooms for those covered to answer the scale.

Main Experience

The researchers cooperated with the administrations of clubs in the central Euphrates provinces, which are the clubs (Babylon, Hilla, Al-Mahawil, Nile, Al-Kifl, Hittin, Al-Mashr`, Al-Musayyab, Al-Siddah, Al-Qasim, Hashemite, Al- Diwaniyah, Afak, Al-Shamiya, Al-Daghara, Sumer, Karbala, Imam Al-Mutaqeen, Al-Hurr, Al-Hindia, Al-Masher, Al-Taf, Najaf, Kufa, Al-Tadamon) distributed the scale with the work team to the members of the administrative body, the coaches and the assistant coach in these clubs for the days 8, 9, 10, 11/ 7/ 2021. The scale was distributed at four o'clock in the afternoon in agreement with the work team and the provision of appropriate conditions for the testers in all clubs.

Statistical means:

The researchers used the statistical package (SPSS) to process the statistical results of the research.

Presentation and Discussion of Results

In order to achieve the objectives of the research, the results were presented and discussed in the order of these objectives as follows:

First: To achieve the first goal, which states: “to identify the common method of dealing with organizational conflict in sports clubs in the middle Euphrates region of Iraq,” the researchers obtained the following results?

Table 3 represents the number and percentage of the methods of dealing with organizational conflict by the administrative bodies, coaches and assistants in the middle Euphrates clubs (Table 3).

Table 3: Represents the number and percentage of the methods of dealing with organizational conflict by the administrative bodies, coaches and assistants in the middle Euphrates clubs.

It is clear from Table 3 the prevalence of confrontational treatment among administrators and coaches of the sports clubs in question, as the confrontation method provides cooperation between the conflicting parties, which facilitates the definition, clarification and identification of the problem. The development and evaluation of alternative solutions and the selection of the best and appropriate alternative for the situation. Sources have indicated that the confrontation method brings satisfaction to all conflicting parties (Harem, 252-253, 2000).

While the researchers noted from the same table the prevalence of calming treatment method among the assistant coaches in the sports clubs under discussion, and this may be due to the nature of their position and work, which requires gaining the affection and sympathy of all parties by using the calming method, which includes minimizing differences and focusing on the common things between the parties (Harem , 2000, 252).

Second: To achieve the second objective, which states “to identify the effectiveness of dealing with organizational conflict by the administrative bodies, trainers and assistants for the Middle Euphrates Clubs?” The total degree of effectiveness of each method and of the combined methods was calculated. The researchers obtained results in the following tables:

It is evident from the tables (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) that most of the administrative bodies, coaches and assistants in sports clubs were able to obtain arithmetic averages in dealing with organizational conflict with its approved methods under study, which exceeds the hypothesis averages for the effectiveness of conflict treatment in each method separately and this in the opinion of the researchers, it has positive connotations, all of which confirm that sports activity and the impurities and differences that occur in it can be put under control by the administrative bodies, coaches and assistants in sports clubs. Experiences and personal experiences play a major role in deepening and reducing the intensity of the conflict between individuals” (Al-Shamma’ and Hammoud, 2000, 305).

This experience, in the opinion of the researchers, may lead to positive effects beyond conflict control, as managing the conflict in correct and effective ways would lead to an increase in cooperation between individuals. It increases the intensity of the conflict, and the correct management of the conflict transforms the energy generated by the conflict into a force and an impact that takes a positive character instead of a negative one (Alamayan , 2004, 277-379).

The researchers believe that no matter how many ways of managing and dealing with the conflict, it must be concerned with achieving the effectiveness of this solution, because the repetition and intensity of the conflict and its transformation into a crisis (as a result of suppressing and treating it in an ineffective manner) can generate devastating effects on the behaviour of the players, for example psychological withdrawal such as isolation or disengagement from the sports group. A feeling of indifference, a sense of insignificance, or physical withdrawal, such as absenteeism, delay, delay or fluctuation in work. Some individuals, as a result of the conflict they are experiencing, may resort to showing an aggressive attitude and behaviour such as neglecting work, sabotaging their property, or stealing some of them (Al Taweel, 1998, 307-308).

Through this result, the researchers believe that the administrative bodies, coaches and assistants in sports clubs in the middle Euphrates region realize the inevitability of conflict through their effective use of the correct and diverse methods of treatment, not curbing the conflict and using force and authority to treat it constantly, and this truly constitutes a positive force in sports groups and then increases its effectiveness and their interaction, effective conflict management can lead to positive and productive outcomes that increase the system’s sense of health and its ability to successfully deal with its goals and objectives (Al Taweel, 1998, 308).

Conclusions

The researchers concluded that:

1. The confrontational method is the most used method by the administrative bodies in sports clubs, their coaches and assistants in the Middle Euphrates region when dealing with organizational conflict.

2. The calming method is the most used method by the assistant coaches of sports clubs in the middle Euphrates region when dealing with organizational conflict.

3. The effectiveness of administrative and training bodies in dealing with organizational conflict.

4. The superiority of the administrative bodies in sports clubs in dealing with organizational conflict.

Recommendations

The researchers recommended several recommendations in the hope of increasing the scientific treatment of the organizational conflict and transforming it from a destructive conflict to a constructive one

1. Establishing administrative courses to explain and clarify how to address the problems that sports clubs suffer from.

2. Benefiting from the experiences of some members of the General Assembly who have accumulated experience in managing the club.

3. Strengthening the bonds of cooperation between the administrative body, coaches, assistants and players for the success of the club's work and achieving results.

4. Forming committees to resolve administrative disputes from members of the General Assembly with full experience and knowledge in the work of clubs.

Acknowledgment

We would like to thanks all the team that works on this research and especially the Dean of Al-Mustaqbal University College represented by. Prof. Dr.Hassan Shakir Majdy for the financial support provided to complete this research.

References

Harem, Hussein (1997): Organizational Behavior, Individual Behavior in Organizations, Zahran Publishing and Distribution House, Amman, Jordan

Hossam El-Din, Talha and Matar, Adla Issa (1997): Introduction to Sports Management, Al-Kitab Center for Publishing, Cairo

Hassan, Zaki Mohamed, 1997, Sports Coach (Basics of Work in the Training Profession), Alexandria, Mansha’at Al Maaref, Egypt.

Al-Shama`a, Khalil Muhammad Hassan and Hammoud, Khudair Kazem (2000) The Theory of Organization, Dar Al-Sira, Amman

Al-Taweel, Hani Abdel-Rahman Saleh (1998): Educational Administration and Organizational Behavior, Individual and Group Behavior in Systems, Wael Publishing House, Amman, Jordan

Al-Amyan, Mahmoud Salman (2004): Organizational Behavior in Business Organizations, 2nd Edition, Wael Publishing House, Amman, Jordan.

Qutb, Saad Muhammad and others (1984): Management and Organization in the Field of Physical Education, Mosul University Press

Abdel Qader Mahmoud Qader (2005): Methods of dealing with organizational conflict by the administrative and training staff in Iraqi sports organizations, an unpublished master's thesis, submitted to the College of Physical Education, University of Mosul.