Walk, Case 10 -- 1
Michael J. Walk
APPL 647: Training and Organization Development
7 November 2007
Case 10: Steele Enterprises
The recent conflict between Dick and Donna at the party is a good indicator of the problems at Steele. In particular, Dick and Donna, both managers of the two branches within the PR department, have been frequently getting into arguments with eachother. However, their perpetual disagreement is only one of the problems evidenced by the scenario. Other problems include the fact that, although given direct orders by Gene (the director) to follow a strict budget, Donna exceeded it by $4,500. Also, Dick ignored Gene’s orders that Donna was to be the one in charge of the party. Therefore, there seems not only to be a breakdown of communication between Dick and Donna, but also between Gene and his subordinates.
The causes or history behind these problems is somewhat uncertain. What seems to be happening is that there is an absence of clear roles among the three key players: Gene, Dick, and Donna. These ambiguities are leading to conflict as different members are using different methods to accomplish tasks that are perceived to be under the purview of them all. (When everybody does everything, nobody does anything.)
Gene has a couple options in order to deal with the problem at hand. He could try to solve the issues himself—perhaps by having a meeting with Dick and Donna to attempt to discuss the issues at hand and to clear things up. However, given the hot feelings and character conflicts that seem to be present, I would not recommend Gene follow this line of attack.
He could also let things be and hope that the conflict will take care of itself—either through time easing the tempers or by some magic resolution and everyone learns to get along. While a pleasing scenario, this is not very likely to happen. Or, Gene could replace one or both of his bellicose chiefs in order to snuff out the problem from its source. However, even Gene expressed dislike of this option since he does feel that both Dick and Donna are well-qualified for their positions.
I would recommend that Gene contact an external OD consultant to help with the problem. Since his goal is to decrease the conflict while retaining his managers, he needs a way to increase the efficacy of his managers.
The consultant should first conduct separate interviews with Gene, Dick, and Donna in order to get a feel for and an understanding of the interpersonal issues and perceptions among the main players. It may also be a good idea to meet with the PR specialists underneath both managers in order to get their perception of the conflict.
Afterwards, the consultant should sit down with Gene, Dick, and Donna in order to begin the intervention. I would suggest that the consultant use the role analysis technique (RAT) for this intervention. This would entail each individual, in turn, defining and discussing his or her perceived role. After this, the individual would discuss his or her expectations of the other members. Then, the other members would explain their expectations of the individual. After all of this information is on the table for one person’s role, the group will decide on clearly defining that role. After a single individual’s role is completed, the next member will undergo the same process until all members have obtained role clarity. The group can then review each person’s roles in order to ensure that everyone is clear as to who is responsible for what.
With clear roles in place, it is likely that the conflict between managers will be dramatically lessened, and Gene will not have to play referee so often. Instead, the tension in the work environment will be eased, and, as a result, it is likely that overall performance will improve.