THE ROLE OF STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP IN MANAGING ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICTS: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY ON POST-PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN THE SULTANATE OF OMAN

This quantitative study aimed to know the role of strategic leadership in managing organizational conflict in schools of post-basic education in the Governorate of North Al Batinah in the Sultanate of Oman. The study adopted the descriptive analytical approach, and the study population consisted of all the teachers and their number was (1631) teachers. The researcher chose a random sample of (311) teachers, according to the table of Gresty and Morgan. A questionnaire was designed consisting of (24) phrases, distributed in two main variables: strategic leadership, and the level of organizational conflict. Statistical methods: descriptive analysis, Pearson correlation coefficient, Alpha stability coefficient, Confirmatory Factor Analysis, (T) analysis. The study reached the following results: There is a tendency to agree with the existence of a strategic vision in the school administration, and there is a tendency to lead change in a strongly agreeable direction. A tendency to adopt a soft skills perspective towards the opinion strongly agrees. There is also a tendency to agree that the school administration adopts the concept of strategic leadership. The results of the statistical analysis indicate that the sample of respondents strongly rejected the presence of an organizational conflict. The existence of substantial differences with statistical significance between the independent variables included in the hypothesis (strategic leadership) explain a large percentage of the change in the dependent variable of organizational conflict management. The study recommends that the school administration possess the will and the ability to take initiative and take sound decisions in light of the desired goals. And that the school administration is keen to form contact circles with teachers to discuss teachers’ problems, and that the school administration provides periodic training that meets the teachers’ problems.