International Journal of Human Capital Management, Vol. 2 (2), December 2018 International Journal of Human Capital Management, Vol. 7 (1), June 2023 38 | P a g e International Journal of Human Capital Available online at Management http://journal.unj.ac.id/unj/index.php/ijhcm E-ISSN 2580-9164 Vol. 7, No. 1, June 2023, p 38-51 INSTITUTIONAL CONFLICT ON EMPLOYEE OUTPUT, ABSENTEEISM AND TURNOVER Joseph Antwi University of Cape Coast Joseph.antwi@ucc.edu.gh Eugene Owusu-Acheampong Cape Coast Technical University e.owusu-acheampong@cctu.edu.gh ABSTRACT This study examined the effect of conflict on employee output, absenteeism and turnover. The study was quantitative, and the design was a descriptive survey. The population for the study was stratified, and the study participants were selected randomly. The instrument was a questionnaire, and the IBM SPSS version 22 was used to generate the results for discussion. The study revealed that conflict adversely influences employee performance and accounts for frequent absenteeism, low output and turnover. One implication for leadership from the study is that workplace conflicts significantly affect employee output, absenteeism and turnover. Each employee faces different conflicts that must be understood and resolved. By implication, organisational leaders must design jobs appropriately for employees to prevent duplications and foster peaceful collaboration among employees. This will help them build trust among themselves at the workplace. This will reduce interpersonal, relationship and task-related conflicts within the organisation. This will also minimise conflict and its dysfunctional consequences on the employees and the organisation. Literature on the conflict in higher institutions appears to be scarce in Ghana. This study is different as it examines the relationship between conflict and employee performance using work output, absenteeism and turnover in technical universities in Ghana. Keywords: output; conflict; performance; absenteeism, turnover Received: 30 September 2022 Accepted: 10 April 2023 Publish: June 2023 How to Cite: Owusu-Acheampong, E, & Antwi, J. (2023). Institutional Conflict on Employee Output, Absenteeism and Turnover. International Journal of Human Capital Management, 7 (1), 38- 51. https://doi.org/10.21009/IJHCM.07.01.3 http://journal.unj.ac.id/unj/index.php/ mailto:Joseph.antwi@ucc.edu.gh mailto:e.owusu-acheampong@cctu.edu.gh International Journal of Human Capital Management, Vol. 7 (1), June 2023 39 | P a g e INTRODUCTION In the 21st-century workplace, conflict is continually increasing and becoming a significant issue in the business environment. Conflict occurs everywhere within organizations, and the retail industry is no exception. Conflict in organizations is defined as a disagreement between people working for the organization to perform organizational aims and goals. In simple terms, conflict happens due to different personalities working together with different backgrounds, cultures, views, thoughts, expectations, and purposes (Yarbag, 2015). Working in a team, each person is an individual and has different opinions, ideas, attitudes, and backgrounds. Employees generally have disagreements regarding their opinions and/ or behaviours. Therefore, the study of conflict in organizations is not new and has been researched in detail from different perspectives over many decades (Robbin, 1978). As discussed in the literature, conflict can be described as having two main forms, namely task and relationship conflicts. For instance, task conflicts are about distribution and resources, procedures and policies, and interpretation of fact. An example of relationship conflicts is conflicts concerning values, personal taste and interpersonal style (De Dreu & Weingart, 2003). Also, conflict can have both positive and negative outcomes. It leads to seeking and getting better ideas, and employees can look for different approaches to conflict situations, which creates a good approach for team-based settings. On the other hand, negative outcomes of conflict in an organization indicate unhealthy relations and can lead to certain consequences for the employee’s performance. It becomes a significant issue in the workplace, which can be a significant variable in workplace productivity, effectiveness, and overall success. Conflict at work can destroy people’s performance and productivity (CIPD, 2020). Conflicts are inevitable at all stages of life and in all spheres of human existence (Folger et al., 2021). When an organisation has increasing levels of conflict among its human resource, it wastes organisational resources. Regardless of nature, level or magnitude, conflicts in higher institutions have significant dysfunctional consequences on employees' performance. Conflicts are most often drastic because many individuals and groups have different interests, which makes conflict inevitable and results in events where employees’ performance suffers and subsequently affects the organisation's performance (De Clercq et al., 2019; Nwokorie, 2017). Conflict as a concept is dated back as far as human civilisation. Mukoro (2013) posits that understanding organisational conflict and how it influences employees' behaviour and performance has evolved more recently than in previous years. Maqsood et al. (2012) expound on conflict as an engaging process evidenced in disagreement, incompatibility or variation between interpersonal entities. Conflict is explained as two or more parties in a relationship having incompatible objectives or beliefs (Kazimoto, 2013). Before the 1990s, predominant conflict theorists showcased conflict in an opposing view and considered it counterproductive (Kelly et al., 2014). Conflict philosophers opposed this perception suggesting that conflict could produce positive outcomes under a specific condition (Longe, 2015). Adebile and Ojo (2012) submit that conflict exists everywhere, not essentially dysfunctional but needed to challenge individuals and propel them for progress. Conflict in higher institutions takes different shapes between lecturers and office holders, lecturers and students, among lecturers, and between students. Nwokorie (2017) argues that institutional conflicts can devastate teaching and learning, primarily when it emanates between lecturers and students. It has been argued that, conflict could be productive in some levels but can be destructive where it deters productivity and performance such as quality, creativity or innovation and can continue to produce tension and clashes in educational institutions due to human dynamism (Alok, Raveendran & Shaheen, 2014). According to Oresajo (2015), it is perceived that school organisation is vulnerable and may experience conflict among stakeholders working directly in the organisation. The differences may result from resource allocation, classroom allocation or subject allocation. It must be emphasized that conflict is not restricted to schools alone. It can ensue at International Journal of Human Capital Management, Vol. 7 (1), June 2023 40 | P a g e home or elsewhere. The baseline is that conflict is inevitable where human beings exist. It cannot be ruled out. Frimpong, Agezo and Koomson (2005) underscored an important point that educational institutions are social institutions established to transmit knowledge, skills, attitudes, beliefs and norms that are relevant or current to the learner, which will help participate efficiently in the activities of the community to bring about better standards of living for the people, and conflict cannot be ruled out in this system. For example, Nwokori (2017) and Hossain (2017) assessed conflict in employee performance in Asia and Europe, respectively. Studies on the phenomenon in Ghana hardly focus on the relationship between conflict and its connection with employee performance, especially within the technical university’s context. Therefore, there exists a literature gap in the context of the study. This study examined the relationship between conflict and employees' work output, absenteeism and turnover. The findings of this study would have implications for institutional leaders as the study will assist leaders in encouraging healthy working relationships for the peaceful co-existence of employees. The following hypothesis guided the study. H1: Conflict has no statistically significant effect on employee output. H2: Conflict has no statistically significant effect on employee absenteeism. H3: Conflict has no statistically significant effect on employee turnover. LITERATURE REVIEW The Social Conflict Theory (Marx, 1913) and structural conflict influenced this study. Social conflict theory is a Marxist-based social theory arguing that individuals and groups interact based on conflict rather than consensus. The theory states that society is in perpetual conflict because of competition for limited resources. The theory asserts that the roles of conflict are the stages of social change within the social system, more explicitly with its association with technical progress, institutional rigidities and productivity. Al Hourani (2019) states that conflict theory seeks to explain the general forms of conflict within an institution, how conflict emanates, and its effects on employees' performance. The theory further proposes that conflict is in internal and external states, affecting group work. Conflicts in groups are not unmanageable or dysfunctional to an institution's development. Conflict is a normal and functional part of humans and has its consequences. Through various forms of conflict, groups will tend to attain differing material and non-material resources. More powerful groups will use their power to retain power and exploit groups with less power. The structural conflict theory is a long-term or systemic cause of violent conflict that has become built into the norms, structures and policies of a society. Many issues result in conflict in organisations. This is advertently or inadvertently derived to satisfy one's desire, parochial interest, or position. Nwokorie (2017) posits several common conflict antecedent conditions in the literature. Donkor et al. (2015) state that conflict occurs in the workplace due to the type or amount of work an employee has to perform. Hussein and Al- Mamary (2019) found that power, status, and goals are sources of conflict. Causes of conflict in institutions include obstacles in communication, limited resources, role ambiguity, task interdependence, status and power differences (Matta & Fares, 2021; Pitsillidou et al., 2018; Matta & Fares., 2021; Overall & McNulty, 2017). The study focused on interpersonal, task, relationship, and co-worker conflicts. Interpersonal conflict is thought of as opposed to parties having negative perceptions due to social differences. There is a likelihood of relationship conflict should there be incongruousness between individuals due to religion, gender, personal liking or disliking, sect, and political affiliation (Church, 2016). Aronsson et al. (2021) argue that relationship conflict is injurious regarding the performance of persons in their jobs. Task conflict is regarded as affective conflict, while relationship conflict is viewed as emotional conflict (Putnam et al., 2014). Kossek et al. (2014) define task conflict as group members’ disagreements about the actual duties being executed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marxist https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_conflict International Journal of Human Capital Management, Vol. 7 (1), June 2023 41 | P a g e Effect of the forms of conflicts on output, absenteeism and turnover based on the hypothesis of the study Donkor et al. (2015) indicate a weak negative link between relationship conflict and workers' performance. Furthermore, the intensity of the relationship between task and process conflict and workers’ output is not different from what exists between workers’ output and relationship conflict. The evidence shows that, like relationship conflict, there is a weak correlation between task and process conflict and the performance of employees. Nevertheless, the direction is not the same. Unlike relationship conflict, the results revealed a positive correlation between task and process conflicts and employee performance. Role conflict positively and significantly affects turnover intention (Mochamad et al., 2019). Hossain (2017) asserts that conflict avoids the ossification of the social system by imparting pressure for creativity and innovation, which may result in improved organisational performance. Although conflict often presents itself as dysfunctional in highly rationalised systems, it has relevant latent functional outcomes such as creativity and innovation, satisfaction and inventions and influences organisational changes. Conflict is linked to an organisation's political, technical, and social conditions. When positive intentions are structured, actual behaviour is impacted positively. Conflict helps institutions understand how and why stability and instability occur within group and organisational contexts (Rothman, 2014). An accorded level of conflict in an organisation is healthy because it deters stagnation and myopic choices. People in an organisation are aware that conflict exists and that it can damage the organisation and individual members' activities. The organisational conflict has a damaging impact on the behaviour of employees in an organisation and degenerates into hostility that causes people to withdraw psychologically and physically (Donkor et al., 2015). Conflict also leads to immediate hostile behaviour, such as property damage, mob action and minor property theft. In some circumstances, the frustrated person may channel aggression against the individual or object perceived as the reason for the conflict. Conflict in the organisation is a drain on leadership time, higher absenteeism, mistakes, worker exhaustion, low output and morale, as some employees may be worn down by the tension (Mamary, 2019). Zakari et al. (2021) found that conflicts in organisations bring about waste of time and money, change in how people work with each other, a divided organisation, ruin of business and personal relationships, a downward spiral of organisation, absenteeism and employee turnover and stifles employee performance. In an instance where conflict spirals out of control, it takes on a destructive dimension. Employee absenteeism increases when employees cannot deal with a conflict situation. It can be disastrousin that it can halt group functioning, threaten group survival, and lead to the demise of an organisation. Ndulue and Ekechhukwu (2016) revealed that conflict not solved constructively results in low employee morale, reduces employee productivity, increases employee absenteeism, increases the chances of losing skilled personnel and lacks employee commitment to work. Greg (2010) revealed that workplace conflict affects employee morale, job satisfaction and motivation regardless of type. It also brings about stress, drains emotionally, increases staff turnover and absenteeism, brings about hostility in the work environment, illnesses, feeling of depression, anxiety, poor sleep, back pain, and/ or migraines. The result from Shaukatet al. (2017) showed that relationship conflict is negatively associated with task performance and positively related to turnover intentions and eventual workforce turnover. The study further indicates that exhaustion, cynicism and interpersonal strain at work distinctively intervene in the relationship between task, relat ionship and turnover. Ajala (2017) found that work conflict positively affects employee performance, and the study established a significant positive relationship between work conflict and employee performance. Aronsson et al. (2021) found that conflicts reduce employees' output and account for employee absenteeism and a high turnover rate. Obrenovic et al. (2020), Longe (2015), and Einarsen et al. (2018) underscore that conflict makes employees lose their cherished roles to the organisation's detriment and suffers social and psychological problems. The studies posit that various types of conflict International Journal of Human Capital Management, Vol. 7 (1), June 2023 42 | P a g e occur in an organisation, and therefore, organisation management must thoroughly prepare to curb such issues. Mwangi and Ragui. (2013) indicate that poor management and conflict adversely affect employees’ performance at the workplace. Contrary, Min et al. (2020) found that conflict inspires productivity, improves communication, brings new members on board, and improves relationships. Soomro et al. (2018) revealed that conflict benefits the organisation by generating fresh ideas, enhancing the competitive spirit and team cohesiveness, and bringing a sense of brotherhood. This can be realised when thoughts are correctly channelled and authority, empowerment, and autonomy are appropriately delegated. Conflict is not always a bad thing, and it has the potential to be beneficial if properly managed. It can be an energising and vitalising force in groups and organisations. Conflict could be viewed as a "constructive" force and welcomed or tolerated under certain conditions (Rothman, 2014). Van den and Beerens (2021) found that task-related conflict is advantageous to the organisation since it permits the reciprocation of ideas and supports better performance between group members. Other advantages include enhanced group learning and accuracy in situation evaluation, promoting the generation of new ideas and improving quality choices. It is noteworthy that interpersonal, relationship, co-worker and task-related conflicts affect organisational performance. Conceptual Framework The conceptual framework for the study is developed from the literature. The independent variables for measuring the influence of conflict on employee performance include interpersonal, task, relationship, and co-worker conflict. Figure 1 depicts the conceptual framework for the study. A conceptual framework for the effect of conflict on employees Independent variables Dependent variable Figure 1: A conceptual framework for the effect of conflict on employees Source: Author’s construct (2021) As demonstrated in Figure 1, the independent variables are interpersonal, task, relationship and co-worker conflicts. Accordingly, these conflicts were regarded as the dimensions of the independent variables in the research expected to influence employees' output and absenteeism. Co-worker conflict Performance Turnover Relationship conflict Task conflict Interpersonal conflict Absenteeism Output International Journal of Human Capital Management, Vol. 7 (1), June 2023 43 | P a g e METHODOLOGY This study employed the quantitative research approach. The quantitative approach enabled the study to examine the relationship between variables (Creswell & Creswell., 2017). The quantitative research approach helps to measure variables to ascertain their differences and relationship. Quantitative research enabled this study to examine the relationship between conflicts, employee output, and absenteeism. The research design was a descriptive survey. Creswell and Creswell (2017) state that a descriptive study helps to predict outcomes and clarify the relation between studied variables. The study's population was the teaching and non-teaching staff of two selected technical universities in Ghana. The sample size for the study was 470. The Krejcie and Morgan (1970) table determined the sample size. Stratified and simple random sampling techniques were used to choose the universities and participants for the study. A questionnaire was used to collect data from research participants. Questionnaires provide a relatively inexpensive, cheap, quick and efficient means of collecting large amounts of data from broad participants. The questionnaire was made of a 5-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree, represented as 1, to agree strongly, which is 5. The instrument focused on the various constructs of the study variables. The variables include interpersonal, task, relationship, and co-worker conflict. The questionnaire administration was first done with the staff of Cape Coast Technical University and later with Takoradi Technical University. Data collection was done from August to November 2021. Pre-testing was conducted to ensure that the instruments were reliable. Inconsistencies and ambiguities found in the tool were corrected. The study used the Cronbach alpha coefficient to test the reliability of the quantitative characteristics of the instrument. The reliability coefficient of the instrument was .82. The data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study employs two diagnostic methods (composite reliability and Cronbach's alpha) to check for internal consistency reliability. Cronbach's alpha (α) tests the averages and correlation between every possible combination of split halves and permits multi-level response. This test often produces a score between zero and one. The general rule is to accept .75 as an indicator of acceptable reliability. In addition to the Cronbach alpha, Composite reliability – which is regarded as a more accurate measure of reliability in a PLS-SEM environment – was also reported as an additional check on construct dependability (Hair et al, 2018). It is the overall value of the real score variance to the entire scale score variance (Brunner & SÜ, 2005). It is an indicator of the shared variation among the observed variables used to indicate a latent construct (Fornell & Larcker, 1981). The decision rule in applying this test is that there should be a composite reliability score (C.R.) > 0.708. In the case of an exploratory study, a C.R. of 0.60 to 0.70 is acceptable. All participants were assured of their privacy and how confidential the data were kept. In addition, the anonymity of the study was highlighted. It also informed the participants of the secrecy of the data they provided for the study. The study also fulfils ethical requirements regarding reporting. Under no situation did the researchers formulate data to support the conclusions made. RESULT AND DISCUSSION PLS-SEM Assessment This section explains the measurement models employed in this investigation. Indicator loadings, internal consistency reliability (Composite reliability, construct reliability, Cronbach's Alpha), discriminant validity (Fornell-Lacker), collinearity (VIF), and convergent validity were used to evaluate the model measurement (AVE-Average variance extracted). An effective PLS method was employed to provide cues for evaluating the measurement model. The results are presented in the following tables. International Journal of Human Capital Management, Vol. 7 (1), June 2023 44 | P a g e The measurement model shows how constructs and their indicators relate to one another. By minimising the residual variances of the endogenous constructs, the partial least squares- structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) analytical approach combines factor analysis with multiple regression (Hair et al., 2011). Because the PLS method calculates latent variable scores as linear combinations of the observed variables, which serve as proxies for latent variables, to estimate model relationships, the technique produces more accurate estimates of factor scores (Lowry & Gaskin, 2014). PLS-SEM is suitable for estimating complicated models, including higher-order construct modelling, because latent variable scores are used in later analyses. In more detail, the PLS-SEM algorithm initially optimises the measurement model parameters before estimating the path coefficients in the structural model in a subsequent step. The proposed methodologies that should direct the evaluation of measurement model quality for reflectively measurement models include indicator reliability, internal consistency reliability, and convergent and discriminant validity. Table 2 displays indicator reliability and internal consistency dependability. Table 2 Reliability and Validity Assessment Cronbach's Alpha rho_A Composite Reliability Average Variance Extracted (AVE) conf 0.923 0.941 0.933 0.541 Employee Absenteeism 0.887 0.892 0.922 0.747 Employee Output 0.829 0.864 0.884 0.659 Employee Turnover 0.829 0.853 0.879 0.593 Source: (Author, 2023) Table 2 presents the results of the reliability and convergent validity of the model. The reliability of indicators is examined from the factor loadings, where items with loadings above 0.7 were retained. Factor loadings show how well items represent the conceptual domain of a construct. Since Factor loadings above 0.7 are recommended (Becker et al., 2018), as part of the measurement model evaluation, items with low factor loadings (< 0.60) were removed. Internal consistency as a reliability measure estimates how well items on a test that one proposes to measure the same construct yield similar results. It focuses on the consistency of results delivered by a test of various items measuring the different constructs to deliver a consistent result. Test of convergent and discriminant validity The percentage of the indicator variables that the latent variable could account for was examined in the test of indicator reliability. According to Hulland (1999), the general rule was to eliminate reflected indicators with loadings of less than 0.708 from the measurement model, even though relaxed criterion authors advise factor loadings over 0.6. A test of convergent and discriminant validity was performed in addition to indicator reliability. This test assisted in analysing the extent to which indicators of the same construct had positive correlations. The process involved analysing the indicators' outer loadings and the average extracted variance. The latent variable must account for at least 50% of the variance in each indicator for the choice to be made. An indicative outer loading of higher than.708 or.5 squared was anticipated. Convergent validity demonstrates how scale items connect to analogous scale items for the same construct. How trustworthy factor loadings are influences the AVE's ultimate score because it is determined by the average variance extracted (AVE) method. Therefore, the likelihood that the measurement model would not achieve convergent validity increases as more factor loadings drop International Journal of Human Capital Management, Vol. 7 (1), June 2023 45 | P a g e below 0.708. From Table 2 all the constructs possess convergent validity because the AVE score is above 0.5. The diagnostic test of discriminant validity was conducted. The measurement criteria were the cross-loading, Fornell-Larcker criterion (FLC) and Heterotrait-Monotrait Correlation ratio (HTMT). Indicator outer loadings on a construct were supposed to be higher than all of its cross- loadings with other constructs, according to the cross-loading criterion. Henseler et al. (2014) state that the cross-loading approach to discriminant validity is established when a construct indicator exhibits a poor correlation with all other constructs other than the one to which it is supposedly related. The PLS algorithm technique generates cross-loadings (Table 3) which can be checked for the presence of discriminant validity. Based on the results in Table 3 indicators loaded more highly on their parent constructs than the cross-loadings on other constructs, hence discriminant validity using cross-loadings. Table 3 Cross Loadings Conflict Employee absenteeism Employee output Employee turnover CONFLICT 1 0.794 0.410 0.431 0.393 CONFLICT 10 0.614 0.170 0.222 0.319 CONFLICT 11 0.659 0.120 0.276 0.162 CONFLICT 13 0.823 0.531 0.628 0.575 CONFLICT 14 0.845 0.505 0.577 0.487 CONFLICT 15 0.853 0.496 0.569 0.450 CONFLICT 2 0.766 0.458 0.461 0.534 CONFLICT 3 0.710 0.503 0.587 0.460 CONFLICT 4 0.624 0.362 0.340 0.342 CONFLICT 5 0.808 0.378 0.483 0.316 CONFLICT 6 0.654 0.249 0.331 0.265 CONFLICT 8 0.613 0.128 0.328 0.396 EMPABS1 0.510 0.894 0.533 0.583 EMPABS2 0.471 0.852 0.524 0.409 EMPABS3 0.416 0.865 0.532 0.505 EMPABS5 0.445 0.844 0.515 0.690 EMPOUT1 0.562 0.441 0.842 0.410 EMPOUT2 0.585 0.373 0.875 0.448 EMPOUT3 0.279 0.487 0.670 0.378 EMPOUT5 0.538 0.720 0.843 0.564 EMPTURN1 0.408 0.588 0.486 0.679 EMPTURN2 0.505 0.448 0.464 0.836 EMPTURN3 0.363 0.374 0.394 0.760 EMPTURN4 0.295 0.549 0.377 0.708 EMPTURN5 0.526 0.509 0.415 0.852 Source: (Author, 2023) The Fornell-Larcker criterion claims that if a construct achieves a higher square root of the AVE than the correlations with other indicators, then the construct is considered discriminant valid (Fornell & Larcker, 1981). Values in bold indicate the AVE's squared root (Table 4, See Appendix). The correlations between the latent constructs are listed below the squared root of the International Journal of Human Capital Management, Vol. 7 (1), June 2023 46 | P a g e AVE. Any construct for which the squared root of the AVE is larger than the highest correlation with other constructs suggests discriminant validity. Table 4 Fornell-lacker Criterion Conflict Employee absenteeism Employee output Employee turnover Conflict 0.736 Employee absenteeism 0.535 0.864 Employee output 0.631 0.609 0.812 Employee turnover 0.562 0.632 0.554 0.770 Source: (Author, 2023) The Heterotrait-Monotrait ratio of correlations and cross-loadings and Fornell-Larcker criteria were used to assess if an indicator is discriminant valid (HTMT) (Table 5). It is recommended as a more robust approach to assessing discriminant validity in variance-based SEM (Henseler et al., 2014). In the HTMT, which is considered more robust, a final value close to one shows a lack of discriminant validity. In effect, discriminant validity exists if latent ratios are below the threshold value of 0.85 (Kline, 2011) or 0.9 (Gold, Malhotra & Segars, 2001). Thus, the smaller the HTMT ratio, the better indicators perform in discriminating among constructs that were not theoretically associated. In Table 5, all the HTMT values are below the threshold of 0.9 (Gold, Malhotra & Segars, 2001), with most meeting the more stringent threshold of 0.85 (Kline, 2011). Based on HTMT, it suggests that indicators significantly perform well in discriminating against unrelated constructs and loading high on the parent constructs. After the quality of the measurement model is established, the structural model is further evaluated based on collinearity diagnostics, significance test of hypothesised relationships, and explanatory and predictive po wer of the model. Table 5 Heterotrait-Monotrait Ratio (HTMT) Conflict Employee absenteeism Employee output Employee turnover Conflict Employee Absenteeism 0.537 Employee output 0.648 0.726 Employee turnover 0.592 0.748 0.675 Source: (Author, 2023) Collinearity diagnostics In analysing the structural model, further model fit issues were first addressed. These included collinearity, structural model relevance and significance, effect size, the combined effect of the exogenous variables, and the predictive relevance of the path model. A basic test conducted before estimating the path model was for checking collinearity and spurious outcome in estimating path coefficients in the structural model. According to Hair et al. (2017, 2019), many VIF (variance inflation factors) values of 5 and above indicates a collinearity problem. Sarstedt et al. (2019). suggest a more stringent criterion, where VIF values close to 3 and lower are preferred. The examination of the VIFs shows almost all values are below 3, as recommended by Becker et al. (2015), except for the VIF between Circular Economy Finance and Investment Supply and International Journal of Human Capital Management, Vol. 7 (1), June 2023 47 | P a g e Financial Readiness (5.515). Table 2 (Appendix) displays the measurement model's indicator reliability and internal consistency dependability. Table 6 Collinearity statistics (VIF) Conflict Employee absenteeism Employee output Employee turnover Conflict 1.000 1.000 1.000 Employee absenteeism Employee output Employee turnover Source: (Author, 2023) Empirical Results The study aimed to investigate the influence of conflict on the performance of employees at Cape Coast Technical University. To be able to achieve this purpose, the following specific objectives were pursued; Conflict has a significant relationship with employees’ output in the Cape Coast Technical University; Conflict has a significant relationship with employees’ absenteeism in the Cape Coast Technical University; Conflict has a significant relationship with employees’ turnover in the Cape Coast Technical University; Figures 1 is a path model showing the effect of each exogenous construct on the target construct. Further results, including t-values, p-values and biased-corrected bootstrapped confidence intervals, are shown in Table 7. International Journal of Human Capital Management, Vol. 7 (1), June 2023 48 | P a g e Table 7 T-values, p-values and biased-corrected bootstrapped confidence intervals Original Sample (O) Sample Mean (M) Standard Deviation (STDEV) T Statistics (|O/STDEV|) P Values conf -> employee absenteeism 0.535 0.551 0.141 3.808 0.000 conf -> employee output 0.631 0.656 0.065 9.631 0.000 conf -> employee turnover 0.562 0.586 0.084 6.698 0.000 Source: (Author, 2023) Discussion The first research objective was to investigate the effects of conflicts on employees' output. The study established that all the other types of conflict had adverse effects on employee output except co-worker conflict. The existing literature and theoretical discussions revealed that conflict affects employees' output. The implication is that the leaders or managers of the institution must develop strategies to minimise interpersonal, task-related and relationship conflicts within their organisations since these conflicts impact employee output negatively. Relating the present findings to existing literature, this study support (Einarsen et al., 2018; Greg, 2010; Shaukatet al., 2017; Ajala, 2017), who, in their respective studies, found conflict to have adverse effects on workforce output in organisations. As regards research objective two, which sought to find out the effects of conflict on employee absenteeism. The results showed that apart from co-worker conflict, all the other types of conflicts account for frequent absenteeism of employees at the workplace. The implication is that conflict has a dysfunctional effect on employees and the organisation; therefore, organisational leaders must develop strategies to reduce interpersonal, relationship and task-related conflict. This will reduce the rate of employee absenteeism at the workplace. The result of the first two objectives suggests that using a ratio of 3:1, the study concludes that conflict negatively affects employee output and absenteeism. The findings supported the outcome of Aronsson et al. (2021), Lee & Park (2011) and Chimere-Nwoji’s (2017) study, which reported that conflict had a significant relationship with employees' output and absenteeism. The implication is that increased relationship, task-related and interpersonal conflict within the organisation will decrease production and account for frequent employee absenteeism. However, the findings contradict Min et al. (2020) study, which identified conflict as having functional and dysfunctional effects. Some of the functional effects they identified indicate that conflict improves communication and enhances future relationships, and Van Den and Beerens (2021) found task-related conflict advantageous to organisations. Regarding objective three, co-worker and relationship conflict negatively affected employee turnover. However, task-related and interpersonal conflicts were not necessarily dysfunctional and may not result in employee turnover. This study has indicated that not all the conflict variables adversely affect employee output, absenteeism and turnover. Therefore, the study establishes that minimum conflict may be desirable to enhance employee’s and organisational activities. Notwithstanding, organisational leaders must institute measures to deal with conflicting situations immediately whenever they surface. This is because if conflict degenerates or escalates, it may result in dysfunctional consequences, which will mar the organisation's operations. International Journal of Human Capital Management, Vol. 7 (1), June 2023 49 | P a g e CONCLUSIONS The study concludes that conflicts influence employee absenteeism, output and turnover. Conflicts create a feeling of uncertainty, resulting in frequent employee absenteeism, reduced output, and workforce turnover. The frequent conflict eventually affects an entire organisational performance. Therefore, the study recommends that organisational leaders create systems where grievances can be quickly addressed. Employees should also feel free to report issues in and around the work environment. When problems are presented, management should promptly act to forestall any unforeseen eventualities likely to impact employee performance, absenteeism and turnover negatively. Again, management, from time to time, should organise seminars and training programmes and emphasise the need for peaceful co-existence among organisational members. The training will help minimise conflicts and their adverse consequences on organisational members at the workplace. 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