English abstract
This study aimed at identifying the conflicts that information institutions in the Omani universities face and identifying the factors that cause such conflicts. It also aimed at highlighting the strategies used to deal with such conflicts and proposing a model that helps deal with them in the Omani universities.
This study adopted a mixed method; which mix between qualitative and a qualitative method. The quantitative method was utilized by distributing 108 questionnaires to staff working in various information institutions in Omani universities. On the other hand, the qualitative method was implemented by making 11 semi-structured interviews with directors and heads of departments in the universities to get more depth and credibility in the study.
The study found out that the information institutions in the Omani universities face several conflicts, on the top of which are the conflicts that happen between the administrations of these institutions and the staff who work in them from one side and the administration and the users from another side. The most obvious reasons that causes such conflicts is the wrong behaviors of some users like making noise in the library, rejecting to pay fines for being late in returning books and not respecting the regulations of libraries. The study has also showed that the staff resistance towards making changes and the differences in the goals and values between the libraries staff are the most prominent factors that lead to conflicts. The study has also revealed that the most common strategy used to manage the conflicts is the cooperation strategy and the least used is the competition strategy.
The study set group of recommendations, one of which is offering courses of organizational behaviours and conflicts management in the BA program of Information Studies major. Organizing workshops and training courses on how to manage conflicts is an important suggestion this study has stressed. A third suggestion is setting up a committee whose job is to discover the different types of conflicts, especially the negative ones that might happen and to identify the problems that could happen between the workers, so they can be managed effectively to achieve the overall goals of the institution.
