Journal of Educational Administration

Conflict management strategies of principals in site-based managed schools

Alan B. Henkin Peter J. Cistone Jay R. Dee

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Journal of
Educational
Administration
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142
Received Febuary 1999
Revised July 1999
Accepted August 1999

Conflict management
strategies of principals in
site-based managed schools
Alan B. Henkin

College of Education, University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA

Peter J. Cistone

College of Education, Florida International University, Miami, USA

Jay R. Dee

Graduate College of Education, University of Massachusetts,

Boston, USA
Keywords Management, Communications, Schools, Conflict
Abstract Site-based management depends on collaboration and teamwork among teachers,
administrators, and parents. Collaborative decision making in educational systems is frequently
characterized by conflict and disagreement, given differing perspectives and opinions among
participants, and differing interests in the status quo. School principals, charged with facilitator
roles in locally managed schools, are challenged to address resulting conflicts in ways that yield
functional synergies and constructive outcomes which enable schools to respond to community
needs. The purpose of this study is to develop a profile of preferred conflict management
behaviors and strategies of a sample of principals in a large, urban school district who work in
site-based managed schools. Results reflect these principals' preference for solution-oriented
conflict strategies. Findings are discussed in terms of the changing leadership responsibilities of
principals in site-based managed schools.

Journal of Educational
Administration,
Vol. 38 No. 2, 2000, pp. 142-158.
# MCB University Press, 0957-8234

Conflicts, emanating from interactions of interdependent people who perceive

incompatible goals and interference from each other in achieving those goals
(Frost and Wilmot, 1978), are inevitable in restructured schools where varied
interests in education converge (Collins, 1975; Etzioni, 1969; Smith, 1997;
Stelzer, 1975). Appropriately managed conflict may serve as an important
organizational utility when it is constructively regulated (Coser, 1956). The
process of managing conflict to achieve constructive results is both complex
and essential to organizational success in open systems of reformed school
environments distinguished by local autonomy.
Extensive research on conflict in organizations focuses on functional and
dysfunctional dimensions of the phenomenon and related implications for
organizational performance (Bisno, 1988; Johnson and Evans, 1997; Kriesberg,
1973; Morse and Ivey, 1996; Perrow, 1986). Models of functional conflict reflect
the belief that all factions can achieve important goals (Deutsch, 1973), while
destructive conflict perspectives assume interactions where one side must win
and the other must lose (Burke, 1970). The extent to which organizational
conflict may be channeled in constructive directions depends, in part, on how it
is managed or regulated (Blake and Mouton, 1964; Johnson, 1996; Johnson and
Evans, 1997). The conflict management skills and strategies of organizational

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executives, including principals of restructured schools, are important elements Principals in sitein the conflict regulation equation (Henkin and Singleton, 1984; Morse and Ivey, based managed
1996; Robbins, 1974; Walton and Dutton, 1969).
schools
Site-based management
Site-based management is a form of school restructuring that involves shifting
certain authorities from central offices to local schools. Central administrators
share power with school-based teams often called ``site councils'' where
teachers, principals, parents, and community members collectively serve as
decision makers. Authentic site-based management has been cited as a vehicle
for creating communities of inquiry where leaders with vision and educational
professionals, in partnerships with community people, re-examine and reform
their practices and ideas about education (Cotton, 1992; Murphy, 1990; Wallner,
1998).
Site-based management involves ``a critical rethinking of traditional power
structures and allegiances'' in restructured schools (Chion-Kenney, 1994, p. 4).
Hierarchical relationships based on position and status are deemed to be
inappropriate to sustain improvements generated in systems with
redistributed authorities. Emphasis on participatory decision making in
flattened organizational structures, alternatively, suggests that site-based
management depends on collaboration and open communication among school
personnel and external stakeholders.
Site-based management is supported by the belief that those persons who
work closely with students are in the best position to make decisions that are
responsive to their needs (Ellis and Fouts, 1994; Glickman, 1993). Teachers and
other school personnel are primary participants in decision making related to
teaching and learning (Chion-Kenney, 1994). School-based decision-making
processes also involve parents and community members with significant
interests in education. Related benefits of site-based management include
improved student achievement (Mojkowski and Fleming, 1988), the
development of new leadership (National Association of Secondary School
Principals, 1992), the capacity to modify the curriculum (David, 1989), and the
ability to redirect resources to support goals developed by the local school
community (Myers and Stonehill, 1993).
More than one-third of all schools in the USA utilize some form of site-based
management (Ogawa and White, 1994). The amount of authority exercised by
individual schools, however, varies substantially (Ellis and Fouts, 1994).
Districts may delegate responsibilities associated with instructional
techniques, staffing patterns, and program development, yet retain authorities
related to budgets, academic standards, and student assessment (ChionKenney, 1994). In some school districts, tactical decisions that reflect unique
local circumstances are made at the school site, while strategic decisions that
impact the entire district remain centralized (Bryk, 1999). Parameters of district
and local responsibilities may remain in flux, and domains of local authority
may vary from extensive to marginal (Malen et al., 1990).

143

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The level of authority delegated to site councils impacts the implementation

of site-based management. Some councils have policy-making authority, while
others are authorized only to make recommendations which school
administrators may or may not adopt (Wallner, 1998). Discrepancies between
mandated authority and real authority are often evident where site councils
function as pro forma endorsers of ideas and plans previously developed by
school administrators (James, 1998).
The extent to which site-based management varies along these dimensions
can affect organizational performance in schools. Wohlstetter (1995) examined
schools in the USA, Canada, and Australia to identify factors associated with
effective implementation of site-based management. Where site-based
management was associated with improvements in teaching and learning,
school principals shared power with teachers and other school personnel.
Similarly, Malen and Ogawa (1988) found that site-based management was
more effective when parity in decision-making authority was maintained; that
is, principals treated teachers, parents, and other site council members as equal
partners with equal power.
The performance of the principal appears to be a significant mediating
factor in terms of the level of success of site-based management (Chapman and
Boyd, 1986; Hoyle, 1992). How the principal manages differences and
disagreements in the context of shared authority can determine, in part,
whether site-based management is associated with real school improvement, or
is merely the latest in a long series of management fads.
Conflict and site-based management
Research on school reform acknowledges the conflict potential in structures
and processes of restructured schools with organizational arrangements that
reflect the trend toward devolution of a range of authorities to school sites (Ellis
and Fouts, 1994; Murphy, 1991). School districts that have implemented sitebased management have weighed the risks of distributed authorities and
responsibilities, and have decided in favor of turning major decision-making
processes over to local control. They have subscribed to the premise that
schools can ``respond more quickly and more realistically to the needs of
students under the direction of those most closely associated with a particular
school'' (Ellis and Fouts, 1994, p. 72).
The actions of several major urban school districts in the USA that have
begun to implement site-based management (Chicago Public Schools, 1993;
Cistone et al., 1989) have given visibility to a plethora of issues and conflictladen incompatibilities among key interests and constituencies at local school
sites (Ellis and Fouts, 1994; Lange, 1993). Incompatibilities among
professionals with expert orientations, administrators with bureaucratic
orientations, and students, parents, and referent publics with varying
expectations for schools as educational and social institutions suggest
continuities in terms of intensity and extent of conflict at school sites. New
participatory realities of site-based managed schools may manifest benefits

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resulting from change and, concurrently, contribute to the conflict Principals in siteaccompanying change (Coser, 1967). In essence, the participatory model of based managed
management is, at once, the solution to problems and the source of new
schools
problems.
Leaders in local schools can no longer rely on models of management
which assume that it is desirable (and possible) to rationally order the
145
behavior of personnel viewed as subordinates (Tushman and Romanelli,
1985). Site-based management re-forms systems with extended internal
variety; internal variety represented by individuals and groups with interests
and capabilities which may combine to form synergies that enable schools to
respond to demands for internal and external change, and to generate
innovative responses to complex problems (Quinn and Cameron, 1988).
Organizational options are extended through internal variety (Kimberly, 1980;
1984). Concurrently, divergences in points of view inherent in internal variety
may be expected to punctuate the equilibrium of traditional schools (Argyris,
1993; Baumgartner and Jones, 1993), and raise contentions with potential for
organizational destabilization.
It is important to recognize the utilities of contention and related functional
attributes of regulated conflict including its unifying, socializing, and
integrative effects (Coser, 1967). It is equally important to acknowledge that
decision-making processes in site-based managed schools are likely to be
characterized by perspectives and realities which challenge each other, and
may promote disequilibrium (Cotton, 1992). Site-based managed schools, under
such circumstances, depend on leaders who can enable constructive
interactions and debate, can encourage constituencies to accept responsibility
and contribute to the changes sought, and, concurrently, support necessary
levels of cooperation and organizational stability to facilitate transitions
toward an entirely new order of things.
The structural-functional realities of restructured schools, as we have noted,
suggest the potential for contention and conflict, and the need for
reconceptualization of traditional principles of school leadership in the context
of highly interdependent school environments where problem solving and
micro- and macro-level decision making depend on collaboration and teamwork
(Henkin and Wanat, 1994; Lindner, 1984; National Association of Secondary
School Principals, 1992). Interdependence implies the potential to assist or
interfere, and suggests the likelihood of constant levels of tension, which may
yield productive or destructive outcomes (Lindelow et al., 1989; Sundstrom et al.,
1990).
Local school councils may function, for example, as real teams where
members acknowledge the benefits of interdependence, identify with their
teams, and de-emphasize power differences (Donnellon, 1996). Alternatively,
they may be no more than loose assemblages of people with different purposes,
priorities, and preferred modes of operation (Yatvin, 1992). The success or
failure of collaborative efforts within flat organizational structures of site-based
managed schools may depend, in part, on the extent to which collaboration

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involves people willing to collectively direct their effort toward the same set of
goals (Isagar and Isagar, 1993), and the capacities of school executives to
manage inevitable conflicts using win/win strategies.
Changes brought to the fore with site-based management mediate core
features of schools as organizations. Such changes ``tend to `reset the clock',
exposing these organizations, once again, to the liability of newness''
(Swaminathan and Delacroix, 1991, p. 681). Principals, as leaders in schools
with site-based educational decision making, manage conflict at the confluence
of interpersonal interaction where flexibility provided to schools in terms of
building level decision making converges with the consequences of changing
the core features of an organization; essentially equivalent to creating a new
organization.
Study purpose and rationale
The purpose of this study is to develop a profile of the conflict management
behaviors and strategies of a sample of building principals who work in sitebased managed schools in an urban school district in the USA. The focus, here,
is on communication-based conflict strategies. Conflict management is viewed
as communicative behavior. Communication is recognized as the instrument
through which influence is exercised (Simon, 1976), and as the means through
which the work of schools gets done (Maeroff, 1993). There is no assumption of
a ``best way'' to handle conflict. This initial study is designed to delineate
choices about conflict strategies within the context of the site-based
management paradigm. Future research may extend to consideration of
situational congruence.
Communicative strategies in conflict management and conflict regulation in
social institutions have received only marginal attention in the organizational
and theoretical literatures (Blake and Mouton, 1964; Cooper and Conley, 1991;
Dawson, 1984; Kilman and Thomas, 1977). Few studies target conflict
management strategies of urban principals, and minimal research is available
on the role of communication behaviors vis-a-vis orientations to conflict
management. The practical dimensions of this inquiry are suggested,
furthermore, when the potential impact of managerial strategy is considered in
the context of urban school work environments; venues where communication
skills and strategies of leaders mediate, to a large extent, organizational
performance, as well as reactions and actions of referent publics on whom these
social institutions depend for resources and survival.
We focus on the following research questions: What strategies do principals
use to manage conflict in site-based managed schools? Do principals' conflict
management strategies vary by individual characteristics (gender, age,
education, positional incumbency)? Do principals' conflict management
strategies vary in terms of the school governance context? Governance context
is considered, here, in terms of associations between principals' conflict
management strategies and constituent group involvement in, and satisfaction
with, site-based management.

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Method
Principals in siteThe study site is a large, urban school district in the south-eastern USA, which based managed
has implemented site-based management programs in each of its schools. All
schools
building principals (N = 300) in the district were invited to participate.
Analyses are based on responses from 34.3 per cent (N = 103) of the invited
sample. The response rate is comparable with those of related studies of school
147
principals (Din, 1996; Goddard, 1997; Portin, 1997; Williams and Portin, 1997).
Respondent distributions in terms of gender and racial identification parallel
those reported in district records; no gender or racial group appears to be
disproportionately represented in the sample.
Conflict instrument
Respondents completed the Organizational Communication Conflict
Instrument (Putnam and Wilson, 1982; OCCI); a 29-item scale that provides selfreports of behaviors and strategies used to define, participate in, and manage
conflict. Respondents indicate how frequently they engage in various
communicative behaviors related to organizational conflict. The Likert-type
response continuum ranges from 1 = always to 7 = never. Low scores indicate
frequent use of the strategy/behavior.
In item development and analysis of the OCCI, factor analysis using an
orthogonal varimax rotation revealed a three factor structure, as determined by
the scree test for number of factors (Cattell, 1966). The factors
(nonconfrontation, solution-orientation, and control) accounted for 58 per cent
of the variance in the 29 items which loaded at 0.50 or above on one of the three
factors. Checks for internal consistency revealed alpha coefficients of 0.93 for
nonconfrontation, 0.88 for solution-orientation, and 0.82 for control (Putnam
and Wilson, 1982). Test-retest reliability and assessments of content validity
concluded that the OCCI was superior to most related instruments, and that it
provided more information about communication strategies than any other
available instrument (Wilson and Waltman, 1988).
For scoring purposes, the three factors identified through factor analysis
as behavioral dimensions of conflict management are represented as scales of
the OCCI. The nonconfrontation scale refers to the extent to which
respondents seek to avoid or downplay the significance of conflict scenarios.
The solution-orientation scale measures tendencies toward collaboration and
integrative problem solving. The control scale is associated with direct
confrontation, argument, and nonverbal forcing (Putnam and Wilson, 1982).
Sample items from each of the scales are included in the following OCCI
sample items:
Nonconfrontation
I withdraw when someone confronts me about a controversial issue.
I downplay the importance of a disagreement.

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Solution-orientation
I suggest solutions that combine a variety of viewpoints.
I suggest that we work together to create solutions to disagreements.
Control
I dominate arguments until the other person understands my position.
I stand firm in my views during a conflict.
The behavioral perspective of the OCCI may be contrasted with instruments
that assess conflict management ``styles'' (Blake and Mouton, 1964; Hall, 1969;
Lawrence and Lorsch, 1967). Style refers to an individual's predispositions,
habits, or preferences. Linkages between style and individual behavior may be
marginal where the selection of conflict management strategies is context- or
role-specific. Measures of conflict management style frequently mask
situational effects, and provide only limited insights about enacted strategies
(Wilson and Waltman, 1988). The OCCI, in contrast, is sensitive to differences
in organizational environments, and provides context-specific measures of
conflict management behaviors.
Style, moreover, is a unitary construct; individuals have one predominant
conflict management style. Behavioral measures of conflict, however, can elicit
information related to a range of tendencies and actions. OCCI respondents
may indicate high (or low) levels on multiple behavioral dimensions.
Emphases on communicative behaviors and interpersonal interactions also
commend the OCCI for use in this study. The work of community schools
teaching, counseling, and problem solving occurs through communication.
The work of site councils, in particular, depends on extensive communication
and high-level social skills among educators, parents, and community
members, who seek to manage differences of opinion that arise in the context of
collaborative decision making (Donaldson and Sanderson, 1996; Maeroff, 1993).
Researchers who utilize the OCCI frequently specify a context that
respondents are to consider as they complete the instrument. Study
participants school principals were asked to consider disagreements they
have encountered in site-based management activities, and indicate how
frequently they engage in each of the behaviors described in the OCCI.
Involvement and satisfaction
Effective site-based management is characterized by participative decisionmaking structures and consultative approaches to school leadership (Chapman
and Boyd, 1986; Malen and Ogawa, 1988). Parents formerly ``outsiders''
confined to an advisory role for example, transition to assume new
authorities in relationships with principals, teachers, and staff members.
Levels, or extent, of involvement among key constituency groups, we posited,
may condition administrative responses to disagreements and influence the
selection of conflict management strategies (Brown, 1983; Robbins, 1987;
Schermerhorn et al., 1994). Principals were asked to indicate the extent to which

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parents, teachers, school staff members, and members of the site council were Principals in siteinvolved in site-based management activities in their school. The Likert-type based managed
response continuum ranges from 1 = no involvement to 5 = high involvement.
schools
Satisfaction with work may be viewed as a specific attitude encompassing
positive or negative feelings and perceptions about tasks or work dimensions.
Satisfaction with dimensions of work can mediate individual behaviors in
149
organizations, including the selection of conflict management strategies.
Principals come to know their work environments, in part, through these
feelings and perceptions which serve as lenses for interpretation and
understanding, and, by extension, provide structures of thought affecting both
choices and actions (Robbins, 1988; Wallace and Wolf, 1986). How principals
feel about important collaborative dimensions of their work, and their
perceptions of constituents' satisfaction with participatory management, we
posited, would be reflected in respondents' assessments of levels of satisfaction
with site-based management among key referents including parents, teachers,
school staff, and site council members (Iaffaldano and Muchinsky, 1985; Porter
and Lawler, 1968). Principals were also asked to indicate their own level of
satisfaction with site-based management. The Likert-type response continuum
ranges from 1 = very dissatisfied to 5 = very satisfied.
Results
A majority (60.8 per cent) of respondents were female. Most respondents were
in their 40s (31.7 per cent) or 50s (44.6 per cent). Others were in their 30s (12.9
per cent) or 60s+ (10.9 per cent). Racial identification data showed that 38.5 per
cent of respondents were white, 34.4 per cent were Hispanic, and 27.1 per cent
were African American. Education levels were considered in terms of highest
degree earned. Most held master's (55.9 per cent) or specialist (28.4 per cent)
degrees. Others (15.7 per cent) held doctorate degrees.
In terms of professional experience in the principalship, nearly one-third
(32.0 per cent) of respondents had 11 years or more experience as a building
principal. Others had two to four (35.0 per cent), five to seven (22.0 per cent), or
eight to ten (8.0 per cent) years of experience. Only 3 per cent of respondents
were first-year principals.
Tenure in current position data showed that a majority (57.8 per cent) of
respondents held their current principalship for two to four years. Others had
been employed in their current position for five to seven (10.8 per cent), eight to
ten (10.8 per cent), or 11 or more (13.7 per cent) years. Only 6.9 per cent of
respondents were in their first year in their current principalship.
A majority (57.6 per cent) of respondents were elementary school principals.
Others were principals in middle (22.2 per cent) or senior high (20.2 per cent)
schools.
Conflict scores
OCCI means and standard deviations are included in Table I. (Recall that high
scores represent infrequent use of the behavior, and low scores represent

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frequent use of the behavior.) Scores on the non-confrontation scale were high,
indicating that respondents seldom utilize avoidance as a means to deal with
conflict. Respondents' mean score was significantly higher than the baseline
mean established by Putnam and Wilson (1982) in their instrument
development and validation studies. Scores on the solution-orientation scale
were lower than Putnam and Wilson's baseline mean. Respondents indicated
tendencies toward collaborative, consultative modes of problem solving.
Control scores were moderate, but the mean was significantly lower than that
found by Putnam and Wilson. Respondents' behavioral orientations toward
conflict associated with site-based management activities may be described as
collaborative with moderate tendencies toward control.
Involvement and satisfaction levels
Respondents indicated that teachers (M = 4.22), site council members (M =
4.12), and school staff (M=3.99) were actively involved in site-based
management activities. Involvement of parents (M = 3.37) was moderate.
Respondents were generally satisfied with site-based management.
Principals' mean satisfaction score (4.30) was higher than scores of
constituency groups. Respondents perceived that site council members (M =
4.14), teachers (M = 4.07), and school staff (M = 4.07) were satisfied with sitebased management in their schools. Satisfaction scores for parents (M = 3.86)
were somewhat lower than those of other constituency groups.
Conflict strategy findings
Findings of normality of distributions and linearity of relationships among
variables suggested the need for additional data analysis (Kuehl, 1994).
Statistics computed include t-tests, ANOVA, and multiple regression
coefficients. An alpha of 0.05 was chosen as the critical level for testing.
Demographic and work experience variables were not associated with OCCI
scores. Nonconfrontation, solution-orientation, and control scores did not differ
in terms of gender, age, racial identification, education level, years of
administrative experience, or years in current principalship. Conflict
management behaviors were not significantly different among elementary,
middle, or high school principals.

Conflict strategy
Non-confrontation
(12 items)
Solution-oriented
Table I.
Comparisons of conflict (11 items)
Control (6 items)
management scores

Baseline means
(Putnam and
Wilson)

Principals'
means

Standard
deviation

55

60.04

9.20

5.57

0.000

36
32

30.04
28.22

6.51
4.60

9.30
8.34

0.000
0.000

p-value

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Contextual variables, rather than individual characteristics, accounted for Principals in sitevariance in respondents' conflict management behaviors. OCCI scores were based managed
associated with levels of involvement in, and satisfaction with site-based
schools
management.
High levels of constituent group involvement in site-based management
appear to increase the likelihood that principals will manage conflict through
151
collaboration, and decrease the use of controlling behaviors. Principals in
schools with extensive teacher, parent, and staff involvement were less likely to
report using controlling behaviors to manage conflict. High-level teacher and
site council involvement were associated with higher levels of agreement with
the solution-orientation scale.
Similar results were found when the satisfaction variables were considered.
Respondents were more likely to report tendencies toward solution-orientation
when teacher, site council, and school staff satisfaction were high. Principals
who were highly satisfied with site-based management indicated more
agreement with the solution-orientation scale than those who were moderately
satisfied or dissatisfied. Respondents were less likely to indicate tendencies
toward control when teacher, parent, and site council satisfaction were high.
Principals who were highly satisfied with site-based management reported less
agreement with the control scale than those who were moderately satisfied or
dissatisfied.
Involvement and satisfaction did not appear to be related to nonconfrontation (avoidance) behaviors. Non-confrontation scores did not differ in
terms of levels of involvement or satisfaction. Results of ANOVA tests using
involvement and satisfaction as independent variables are included in Table II.
Principals appeared to be more inclined to utilize consultative, mutualmeans oriented approaches to conflict management when constituent groups
were involved in, and satisfied with, site-based management in their school.
Tendencies toward controlling dissent and dominating arguments may have
been mediated, in this instance, by high level participation and satisfaction;
conditions which appear to facilitate the realization of functional benefits of
conflict.
Nonconfrontation
Involvement/parents
Involvement/teachers
Involvement/site council
Involvement/school staff
Satisfaction/parents
Satisfaction/teachers
Satisfaction/site council
Satisfaction/school staff
Satisfaction/principal

0.14
1.45
0.36
1.53
0.05
0.57
1.19
1.75
2.38

(0.938)
(0.240)
(0.699)
(0.223)
(0.948)
(0.569)
(0.310)
(0.179)
(0.099)

Solution-orientation
0.14
4.12
4.98
1.57
0.92
5.46
10.70
8.02
5.93

(0.939)
(0.019)
(0.009)
(0.213)
(0.400)
(0.006)
(0.000)
(0.001)
(0.004)

Control
5.81
5.59
1.05
4.28
5.33
5.48
6.46
3.01
6.76

(0.001)
(0.005)
(0.355)
(0.017)
(0.006)
(0.006)
(0.002)
(0.054)
(0.002)

Table II.
Conflict management
and context of school
governance ANOVA
F-scores (p-values in
parentheses)

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The relative importance of involvement and satisfaction in terms of their

association with principals' conflict management strategies was examined.
Involvement and satisfaction were considered as single factors for the purpose
of this analysis. Factor analysis of the four involvement variables revealed a
single-factor structure which accounted for 64 per cent of the score variance. A
similar analysis of the five satisfaction variables indicated that a single factor
could account for 60 per cent of the score variance.
Both the involvement and satisfaction factors accounted for significant
amounts of variance in solution-orientation when entered into separate
regression models (Table III, Models 1 and 2). The factors were then entered
into the model simultaneously in order to determine their unique contribution
to the variance in solution-orientation. The satisfaction factor uniquely
accounted for a significant amount of variance, controlling for involvement
level (Table III, Model 3). Among schools with similar levels of constituent
involvement, higher satisfaction levels were more often associated with
principals selecting solution-oriented strategies.
Similar results were obtained when the control scale of the OCCI was used as
the dependent variable. Involvement and satisfaction accounted for significant
amounts of variance in principals' control scores (Table IV, Models 1 and 2).
The unique contribution of satisfaction was again significant (Table IV,
Model 3). Among schools with similar levels of constituent involvement, higher
satisfaction levels were associated with minimal use of controlling behaviors
by principals.
The involvement factor did not account for significant amounts of variance
in either the solution-orientation variable or the control variable, when
satisfaction level was held constant (Table III, Model 3; Table IV, Model 3).
Findings suggest that involvement alone may be insufficient to realize
functional benefits of conflict in site-based managed schools. Site council
members, for example, may participate extensively in decision-making
processes, yet they may be dissatisfied if their suggestions and concerns are
not addressed. Both involvement in, and satisfaction with the processes of sitebased management appear to be requisites for the development of potentially
productive collaborative models of problem solving.
Model 1

Table III.
Multiple regression
with solutionorientation as
dependent variable.
Unstandardized
regression coefficients
(p-values in
parentheses)

Constant
29.80
(0.000)
Involvement factor
1.62
(0.018)

Model 2

Model 3

Constant
29.80
(0.000)
Satisfaction factor
2.26
(0.001)

Constant
29.80
(0.000)
Involvement factor
0.43
(0.597)
Satisfaction factor
2.01
(0.014)

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Discussion
Principals in siteThe study universe was composed of urban school principals with based managed
extensive experience in site-based managed schools. Significant diversity in
schools
terms of gender and ethnic group identification is evident in the study
population.
Solution-oriented conflict management approaches, where differences are
153
resolved through collaborative and integrative problem solving, were generally
preferred by these principals. Inclinations toward solution-oriented conflict
management strategies in self-managed schools appear to be associated with
higher levels of constituent group involvement and principals' satisfaction with
site-based management, as well as administrator perceptions of satisfaction
among teachers, site councils, and school staff. Such circumstances suggest an
increment in the perceived utility of solution-oriented conflict management
strategies where constituent groups are viewed by school administrators as
actively involved, generally satisfied in their roles, and supportive of the sitebased management process. Strategic conflict management choices appear to
be related, in general, to involvement and satisfaction factors which may be
conditioned, in turn, by contextual (community) and operant institutional
circumstances at individual school sites.
Principals' expressions of satisfaction with site-based management seem to
confirm a level of comfort with their new roles as leaders in self-managed
schools. New leadership responsibilities involve facilitation, mediation,
coordination, and collaboration within and among constituent groups in
environments where the collision of actors with differential, sometimes
conflicting interests in education may be assumed.
School site leaders appear to recognize the functional utility in conflict
management strategies emphasizing mutual-means approaches. Findings
suggest a belief that the needs of constituents and the educational processes of
local schools may be served best where differences are resolved through
collaborative and integrative problem solving.
A period of adaptation may be expected as local schools acclimatize to new
modi operandi, and organize to assume new authorities and responsibilities
Model 1
Constant
28.46
(0.000)
Involvement factor
1.47
(0.002)

Model 2

Model 3

Constant
28.46
(0.000)
Satisfaction factor
1.67
(0.000)

Constant
28.46
(0.000)
Involvement factor
0.75
(0.181)
Satisfaction factor
1.23
(0.027)

Table IV.
Multiple regression
with control as
dependent variable.
Unstandardized
regression coefficients
(p-values in
parentheses)

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154

previously assigned to central/district offices. Time may be required to effect

these transitions. School-specific conditions may temporarily temper the extent
to which collaborative outcomes are productive.
Principals' approaches to conflict management should be informed, first and
foremost, by local circumstances including readiness of the school to assume
the burdens of control. The benefits of functional conflict may be realized in
site-based managed schools when, and only when, all constituent and interest
groups understand that collective goals demand collective effort and
cooperation. Principals are challenged to manage conflict using strategies
which induce individuals and constituent groups to contribute to common
causes when self-interested actions would be more immediately beneficial
(Bendor and Mookherjee, 1987; Hardin, 1982; Olson, 1965).
Social models of group cooperation (Carley and Prietula, 1995; Glance and
Huberman, 1994) suggest the likelihood of conflicts within and between
organizational groups with distinct beliefs and/or interests. Related research
suggests practical ways for leaders to mediate these conflicts and encourage
higher levels of intra- and inter-group cooperation (Rost, 1991). Effective
leaders can mediate divisive forces by sharing information, providing
expertise, promoting a sense of security, and by enabling progressive
transitions toward collective action. Solution-oriented approaches to conflict
management may work best where principals serve in mediative roles and
emphasize solution-finding through a consensual, cooperative process which
avoids antagonisms that may endanger future personal and/or professional
relationships (McCarthy, 1981). Such a mediative approach in solution-oriented
conflict management can reinforce belief in the fairness of outcomes and,
simultaneously, allow conflicting parties to feel that they have some control
over the process.
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