CHAPTER 7 DON’T DRAW A LINE IN THE SAND! I don’t know exactly where ideas come from, but when I’m working well, ideas just appear. I’ve heard other people say similar things—so it’s one of the ways I know there’s help and guidance out there. It’s just a matter of figuring out how to receive the ideas or information that are waiting to be heard. —Jim Henson Copyright © 2015. Career Press. All rights reserved. It’s time for performance appraisals and salary decisions. Ron, the manager, comes to talk to Celine, the HR director, about one of his employees, Megan, whom he describes as an outstanding performer. Ron proposes giving her a 7-percent increase because she’s a “hard worker.” Celine responds that the salary increase budget is 3 percent this year and that if he exceeds that for one employee, he’ll have to take it away from someone else, assuming he wants to give everyone a 3-percent increase. Ron proposes that Celine meet him halfway, split the difference, and give Megan a 5-percent increase, thinking to himself that if Celine agrees, that’s more than the 4.5 percent he originally was going to propose. He sits back in the chair thinking that he’s done a good job negotiating this deal. Was what Ron doing negotiating, or was he merely bargaining from a position? Was he solving the issue of recognizing his outstanding performer? In their book, Getting to Yes, Roger Fisher and William Ury present a four-step process for negotiating issues: “Separate the people from the problem. Focus on interests, not positions. Create options. Insist on using objective criteria.”1 When you’re in a conflict, you’re problem solving. You’re identifying, addressing, and resolving issues just as you are in a negotiation. The same four-step process applies. The people issues involved in conflict and problem solving have been explored in earlier chapters. We’re going to take a look at the rest of the steps in the process in this chapter. Focus on Interests, Not Positions A position is a stand we take in an argument, negotiation, or conflict. It is what we demand from the other person(s). Interests are what we really want: our needs, desires, and concerns. When positions become the focus of the conflict, the problem can get covered up along with any useful solution. Consider the following: Mitchell, Barbara, and Cornelia Gamlem. The Essential Workplace Conflict Handbook : A Quick and Handy Resource for Any Manager, Team Leader, HR Professional, or Anyone Who Wants to Resolve Disputes and Increase Productivity, Career Press, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/snhu-ebooks/detail.action?docID=4722739. Created from snhu-ebooks on 2019-01-20 17:03:26. Copyright © 2015. Career Press. All rights reserved. Dale’s boss makes the following statement to him: “This is not the type of work I’m used to seeing from you. Maybe the project needs to be assigned to someone else.”2 Dale’s boss is obviously not pleased, but what is his true interest? Does he really want to take the project from Dale, or is that the position he is taking? Isn’t what he needs Dale to do—his interest—is to improve his work? Lenora is feeling a great deal of pressure now that her daughter is in grade school and becoming more involved in activities. Lenora’s husband travels frequently for his job, leaving her with the primary responsibility of getting their daughter to and from child care before and after school. She enjoys her job and the company she works for, but she’s considering leaving and looking for part-time work. That’s the position she’s leaning toward, but her underlying interest is to have more flexibility and strike a good work-life balance. Lixin is a Web developer whose performance has been good, but she needs more growth opportunity. She is placed onto a new project that gives her the chance to develop new skills necessary to advance. Brad, her supervisor, has received feedback from Arne, the project leader, about Lixin’s interaction with the new client. Arne indicated that Lixin’s communication skills are poor and that she doesn’t come to meetings prepared to discuss items on the agenda. He’s hinting that he wants her off the project because she’s a poor reflection on the team. Brad is adamant that he wants Lixin to stay. From past experience, he knows she’s always prepared and has no trouble communicating. In any conflict, think about what your interest is and then separate your position from your interest. In other words, don’t draw a line in the sand! Be able to articulate your interest or interests to yourself and to the others involved, and to explain why it’s important to you. Be excited about your interests and make them come alive. When you discuss them with the others, be specific and give good information. Making your interests come alive will increase the likelihood that the other side will agree that your interests are important. It will help to move the discussion away from positions. Trying to determine and articulate your interests to yourself is often the first battle you have in a conflict. This may be a good time for you to go to the balcony. In negotiations, the balcony is often used as a metaphor for a detached state of mind where you can see a scene clearly from afar. It’s a place of perspective, calm, and clarity.3 Going to the balcony is a technique often used when you need to take time out, for example, when you’re in a heated argument. Remember Victor from Chapter 4. He wanted to take a break, cool off, and have some time to reflect. The balcony can also be a place you go to in order to prepare before you even enter a discussion or bring up an issue that could lead to conflict. It gives you the opportunity to assess and evaluate the situation objectively, just like an outside party might do. When you give yourself the time to reflect on your interests, you also want to be thinking about the interests of the other side. In Chapter 2 we discussed learning more about the other person so we can better understand their story. Chapter 2: Why Can’t Everyone Be Like Me? If you take the time to look at the situation from their perspective, to stand in their shoes, it Mitchell, Barbara, and Cornelia Gamlem. The Essential Workplace Conflict Handbook : A Quick and Handy Resource for Any Manager, Team Leader, HR Professional, or Anyone Who Wants to Resolve Disputes and Increase Productivity, Career Press, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/snhu-ebooks/detail.action?docID=4722739. Created from snhu-ebooks on 2019-01-20 17:03:26. will give you the opportunity to contemplate what they really want; that is, their interests. Think about the position they’ve taken and then ask yourself why they might be making this demand. What might it be that they really want? Underlying your interests and their interests are both individuals’ needs and values. If you can gain a mutual understanding of those interests, a better understanding of each other’s story, you can begin to make informed decisions and be better equipped to create options to resolve the conflict. Remember Jack and Kate from Chapter 2? They were part of a team that develops products. Jack will promise anything to make the client happy and Kate is most concerned with product excellence. They usually argue from their positions: relationships vs. quality. Beyond their positions, their shared interest is customer satisfaction. When Brad sits down to talk with Lixin to discuss the feedback he received from Arne, he learns that she’s upset, but not surprised at the feedback. She recognizes that the assignment is a stretch for her and it’s the first time she’s had the opportunity to interact directly with a client. However, she’s receiving little guidance from Arne and often hears about client meetings at the last minute, giving her no time to prepare. That’s why she’s communicating so poorly, and she knows it’s a bad reflection on the team and the project. She’s frustrated that she’s not being given the visibility or level of technical responsibility she expected. She can’t work with Arne and wants to be reassigned. Brad quickly realizes that there are a number of issues involved in this situation. He has to separate them and then determine what everyone may want. Both he and Lixin are interested in developing her technical skills—one mutual interest. Brad, Lixin, and Arne all want the project to be a success—another mutual interest. However, Brad is not certain if Arne has a more primary interest, namely using this assignment to advance his own career. If that’s the case, he’ll have to deal with that issue separately. Isolating the issues and the interests associated with each will help Brad address these conflicts. Copyright © 2015. Career Press. All rights reserved. Appendix: Position vs. Interest—An Exercise Let’s go back and see how Ron and Celine are doing. As Ron sits back smugly in his chair, Celine is thinking that there are budget constraints and published guidelines for managers to adhere to in making salary decisions. She wants to be fair to everyone—that’s her interest. Ron has already made it clear that he wants to give Megan a much larger raise and not take money away from other employees in order to do so—that’s his position. Celine can’t help but wonder why. What’s the underlying reason that he’s taking this stance? “Ron,” she says, “I know that you want to be fair to everyone; so do I. If I agreed to let every manager do what you’re proposing, it would bankrupt us. I know Megan’s a hard worker, but so are your other employees. What’s really going on?” Ron confesses he’s concerned that Megan may be looking for another job and he doesn’t want to lose her. She’s got very strong skills, takes the lead on tackling tough tasks, and gets along so well with everyone. Now Ron and Celine are on the Mitchell, Barbara, and Cornelia Gamlem. The Essential Workplace Conflict Handbook : A Quick and Handy Resource for Any Manager, Team Leader, HR Professional, or Anyone Who Wants to Resolve Disputes and Increase Productivity, Career Press, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/snhu-ebooks/detail.action?docID=4722739. Created from snhu-ebooks on 2019-01-20 17:03:26. same page—their mutual interests are employee recognition and retention. Realizing that neither wants to lose Megan, they are ready to move to the next step: creating options for mutual gain. Create Options Copyright © 2015. Career Press. All rights reserved. Ron may have thought he was “negotiating” with Celine when he suggested that she meet him halfway in determining the raise to give Megan. However, problem solving is not meeting someone halfway, nor is it making an either/or proposition. When the people involved in a conflict stay locked in their positions, they tend to think that there are only two solutions to the problem: the one that’s good for them and the one that’s good for the other person. This stifles any creative thinking. If you take the approach that Ron did, splitting the difference, people are then encouraged to ask for more than they really want and can make unreasonable demands. In fact, that’s exactly what Ron did. He really wanted to give Megan a 4.5-percent increase, but he started by asking for a 7-percent increase. Problem solving involves finding creative solutions that satisfy all identified interests— mutual or otherwise—of all the parties. When you move the discussion away from positions and start exploring interests, as Celine did, you recognize that there is a mutual problem (not his, not hers), and your collective focus should be solving that problem. Knowing that there was a risk of losing a valued employee, Celine and Ron were able to propose several options that would recognize Megan’s contributions: Celine suggested giving Megan a combination salary increase of 3 percent and an additional bonus of 2 percent. Because the bonus was a one-time event, it wouldn’t escalate her salary beyond the standard. Ron suggested that he could send her to a conference to represent the organization. This would recognize her hard work. A new project was being awarded to the company and Ron could assign Megan to it, which would give her more visibility. As Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander write, invent possibilities by asking yourself: “What assumption am I making,/That I’m not aware I’m making,/That gives me what I see?” And when you have an answer, ask yourself: “What might I now invent,/That I haven’t yet invented,/That would give me other choices?”4 When Jack and Kate stopped bickering and recognized that their shared interest was customer satisfaction, they were better able to focus on the client. They had to determine the client’s interest. Jack believed that the client wanted the product customized or tailored to its needs. Kate pointed out that if they did this, it would result in a substantial cut in the company’s profits and Jack’s commission. She saw two options which she discussed with Jack: If the client wants a customized design, are they willing to pay a higher price for the Mitchell, Barbara, and Cornelia Gamlem. The Essential Workplace Conflict Handbook : A Quick and Handy Resource for Any Manager, Team Leader, HR Professional, or Anyone Who Wants to Resolve Disputes and Increase Productivity, Career Press, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/snhu-ebooks/detail.action?docID=4722739. Created from snhu-ebooks on 2019-01-20 17:03:26. Copyright © 2015. Career Press. All rights reserved. additional costs associated with tailoring the product to their specific needs? Would the customer be willing to explore a solution using off-the-shelf components that would give them a customized product for their needs without incurring the significant cost increase? Too often problem solving is done in an unfocused way. Emotions take over or solutions are offered before interests are clearly identified. Remember the discussions in Chapter 4 about having effective conversations and getting and giving good information? Celine and Kate both took the opportunity to go to the balcony and cleared their heads to gain the perspective they needed to see options from an unbiased viewpoint. When Celine did it and started presenting options to Ron, it sparked his creativity. Her focus brought him into focus. Whether she realized it or not, Celine started a brainstorming session with Ron. Brainstorming is an excellent technique to use to create options and engage in imaginative thinking. In brainstorming, anything goes and any idea is acceptable. For brainstorming to be successful the people involved must agree on the problem to be addressed; multiple problems or interests may require separate brainstorming sessions. Everyone has to agree to the following guidelines: 1. Any and all ideas are encouraged, no matter how unconventional or wild they may appear. The objective is to generate as many ideas as possible. 2. No idea is criticized or evaluated during the process. This is the Golden Rule of brainstorming. Evaluating the ideas comes later. 3. All ideas that are offered are written down. Nothing is discounted or ignored. After the brainstorming session, useful ideas can be highlighted and discussed. This can occur in another meeting. Brad met with both Lixin and Arne separately. Confident that the issue they had in common was client satisfaction, he then brought them together for a brainstorming session. He reviewed the guidelines for the session and asked them to each state the problem as they saw it. They were all in agreement that they wanted to ensure the project’s success and deliver a quality solution to the client. Here are some of the ideas that they generated: More frequent team meetings to provide status updates and briefings regarding information Arne had received from his daily meetings with the client. Daily e-mail updates from Arne to the team. Bi-weekly meetings between Lixin and Arne to discuss technical details and feedback. Weekly meetings between Brad and Arne regarding team performance and individual member performance. Coaching sessions between Brad and Arne to develop his people management skills. Allow Lixin to attend client meetings with Arne so she can have firsthand information and better understand the client’s needs. Meetings between Lixin and Arne prior to client presentations so he can critique her reports and provide feedback. Assign Lixin to work with another team member in a peer-to-peer mentoring Mitchell, Barbara, and Cornelia Gamlem. The Essential Workplace Conflict Handbook : A Quick and Handy Resource for Any Manager, Team Leader, HR Professional, or Anyone Who Wants to Resolve Disputes and Increase Productivity, Career Press, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/snhu-ebooks/detail.action?docID=4722739. Created from snhu-ebooks on 2019-01-20 17:03:26. arrangement. Brad is pleased that so many good ideas were generated. Just as he had hoped, there were several options that could work rather than opposing options and points of view. He asks that they all break for a few hours and come back in the afternoon so they can begin evaluating the ideas and come up with some good alternatives. He knows that there are other interests he’ll have to work on with Lixin and Arne independently, but this brainstorming session has been a real breakthrough. Objective Criteria The last step in the process of coming up with a solution to the problem or conflict is to identify objective criteria against which options and/or potential solutions can be evaluated. Objective criteria are independent of each person’s will, and are practical, relevant, and legitimate. How do you develop and use objective criteria? Think in advance about fair standards and fair procedures. Fair standards are based on things such as market value, precedent, professional standards, scientific judgment, or equal treatment.5 Safety or quality standards are examples of fair and independent standards. Objective criteria can also include precedent, efficiency, and costs. Copyright © 2015. Career Press. All rights reserved. Ivan calls HR about Vanessa who’s been missing time at work. She’s been coming in late and leaving early to visit with her grandmother, who’s in the hospital. Although she didn’t raise her, Vanessa is very close to her grandmother, who needs emotional support right now. Ivan wants to submit the paperwork to put Vanessa on a family medical leave. Perry, the HR manager, explains that the situation doesn’t meet the standards in the law. Whereas family medical leave is available to care for a spouse, parent, or child but generally not a grandmother (fair standard), the organization could arrange for a 30-day personal leave if Vanessa wanted to consider it (creative option). Meanwhile, Perry is addressing Jackie’s concern. Jackie protested providing forms completed by her doctor to HR in order to be considered for a family medical leave, Perry had to explain to her that the process was in place to ensure her right to take the job-protected leave (fair procedure). Objective criteria should appeal and relate to shared interests and shared standards. Shared interests can be common interests of the larger community, such as the company or the industry in which the company operates, as well as the mutual interests of the individuals involved in the conflict. Objective criteria can be based on shared standards or values, such as equality, fairness, integrity, or quality.6 Remember the discussions in Chapter 2 about culture and cultural variables. Most importantly, the criteria must be fair and reasonable, and often there are many relevant criteria. For that reason, you should research in advance which might best apply, show why those criteria more favorable to you are more relevant, and show why Mitchell, Barbara, and Cornelia Gamlem. The Essential Workplace Conflict Handbook : A Quick and Handy Resource for Any Manager, Team Leader, HR Professional, or Anyone Who Wants to Resolve Disputes and Increase Productivity, Career Press, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/snhu-ebooks/detail.action?docID=4722739. Created from snhu-ebooks on 2019-01-20 17:03:26. Copyright © 2015. Career Press. All rights reserved. those less favorable to you are less relevant.7 Consider the following examples in which fair and reasonable standards were applied: A small consulting firm had a re-occurring project with a client. Every year when it came time to do the work, the client would complain about the price, which was always the same, and ask for a discount. The president of the consulting firm had to remind the client that the price they were being charged was the same price that other clients with the same size project were charged. If they gave this client a discount, it would not be fair to all the others. Raphael had worked hard on a paper presenting the findings from research he had done for a new program his organization was about to implement. He was going to present the paper at an industry conference. He was approached by Sheila, a vice president in his organization, who asked him if she could present the paper on behalf of the company and be named as a contributing author, even though she was not part of the research team, nor had any involvement with the program. His mind raced through a multiple of possible responses, but he knew he did not want to compromise his values. He responded, “I’m afraid I can’t do that.” Organizations develop policies and procedures to establish objective criteria for handling a wide range of management issues, such as how people are hired, paid, or promoted, which travel expenses are allowable, and how to procure outside goods and services, just to name a few. Through policies and practices, organizations can set a framework for treating people with respect and fairness. Many times policies represent the organization’s response to the external environment, such as laws and regulations, and can offer a degree of legal protection to the employer and employee alike. Policies should reflect the culture and values of the organization, set and communicate expectations, and assure consistency in the way people are treated.8 When Lenora comes rushing into the office late one morning, her stress is at a high level. Her daughter was especially cranky this morning and they were late leaving the house. Her boss, Angela, can’t help but notice her tension and comes to see what the problem is. Lenora confesses she needs more balance in her life and is looking for part-time work. Angela is concerned and they begin to talk through options. The company is going to start a pilot telecommuting program in just a few weeks and Angela thinks that Lenora would be a good candidate because she meets the criteria for the program. The nature of her job is fairly independent, and she can connect virtually with others in the office. Lenora is self-motivated, has good time management skills, is familiar with the work and the company, and is a valued eorgamployee.9 Although she can’t guarantee that this will be a permanent solution, Angela encourages Lenora to seriously consider this. They need employees like Lenora to make the program a success. Lenora quickly realizes that she’s fortunate to work in a job and in an industry where flexibility can be offered. Lela had decided to strike out on her own and do freelance work. When she received a call from her former boss asking if she’d be available for a project, Lela jumped at the opportunity. He offered to pay her the same hourly amount that he’d pay to an employment agency that might provide a contractor. Lela’s hourly rate was about 35 Mitchell, Barbara, and Cornelia Gamlem. The Essential Workplace Conflict Handbook : A Quick and Handy Resource for Any Manager, Team Leader, HR Professional, or Anyone Who Wants to Resolve Disputes and Increase Productivity, Career Press, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/snhu-ebooks/detail.action?docID=4722739. Created from snhu-ebooks on 2019-01-20 17:03:26. percent higher. She reminded him that, as she’d worked for the firm before and was familiar with their processes, she could get the work done in half the time that another contractor would take. She pointed out that she’d be the more cost-effective option for him. It didn’t take him long to agree. Salary decisions, like the situation between Celine and Ron, should always be based on objective criteria. Savvy organizations benchmark their pay practices against external standards, especially those in their industries. They conduct salary surveys to see what other similar organizations are paying for similar jobs. In determining salary increases, a matrix is often used that considers an employee’s pay in relation to the job’s pay grade and the employee’s performance rating. This was the standard to which Celine was holding Ron accountable. She was also considering what other employees in Ron’s department with the similar experience and performance history were making and how much of an increase they’d receive. She wanted to make sure that all of the salary increases were fair and consistent. Drawing a line in the sand and arguing from one side of the line or the other will not resolve a conflict; it will only exacerbate the situation. Resolving conflict means that you have to be tough on the problem, but soft on the people. The people involved have to move off of their positions and identify and satisfy all the interests. Creative alternatives and solutions based on the interest need to be devised and the final agreement must be fair, reasonable, and objective. Copyright © 2015. Career Press. All rights reserved. Essential Tips Focus on the problem and not the people involved in the conflict. Stand in the other people’s shoes and look at the problem from their perspective. Strive to maintain good relationships. Interests help you see the real problem. Identify all of the interests of all of the parties to the conflict. Go to the balcony to see things from a different perspective. It will help you to gain clarity. Imagine that anything is possible. It will help you to invent the most creative options. Some of the best solutions have come from wild ideas. After a brainstorming session, take some time before you evaluate the ideas. Use objective criteria to evaluate those ideas. If you do so, it is more likely that the solutions will be good for and fair to both sides. Mitchell, Barbara, and Cornelia Gamlem. The Essential Workplace Conflict Handbook : A Quick and Handy Resource for Any Manager, Team Leader, HR Professional, or Anyone Who Wants to Resolve Disputes and Increase Productivity, Career Press, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/snhu-ebooks/detail.action?docID=4722739. Created from snhu-ebooks on 2019-01-20 17:03:26. For the exclusive use of D. Shaw, 2019. S w 908C06 THE GARDEN DEPOT Karin Koopmans wrote this case under the supervision of Professor Elizabeth M. A. Grasby solely to provide material for class discussion. The authors do not intend to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a managerial situation. The authors may have disguised certain names and other identifying information to protect confidentiality. Ivey Management Services prohibits any form of reproduction, storage or transmittal without its written permission. Reproduction of this material is not covered under authorization by any reproduction rights organization. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, contact Ivey Publishing, Ivey Management Services, c/o Richard Ivey School of Business, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, N6A 3K7; phone (519) 661-3208; fax (519) 661-3882; e-mail cases@ivey.uwo.ca. Copyright © 2007, Ivey Management Services Version: (A) 2008-01-30 ―I can’t take this anymore! When is Derek going to start doing his job?‖ exclaimed Janice Bowman, after hanging up the phone. It was an early June morning in 2007 when Bowman, office manager at the Garden Depot (The Depot), had again dealt with a very irate customer. The phone call was one of many that Bowman had taken during the past four months concerning the lack of communication between Derek Sinclair, the Barrie, Ontario, store’s landscaping manager, and his customers. This call was the last straw for Bowman, compounding her anxiety about numerous labor and organizational problems she had witnessed in the landscaping division. Bowman knew that extensive changes needed to be made if she were to do her job effectively while, at the same time, managing to avoid involvement in the landscaping division’s problems. THE GARDEN DEPOT The Depot originated in 1985 as a small, family-owned floral company in Barrie, Ontario. As sales and profits grew, the company began carrying a larger variety of floral, gardening and lawn-care products. In 1992, The Depot launched a lawn maintenance department to capitalize on the growing desires of customers to have professionals take care of their lawns. Responding again to customer demand, The Depot created a landscaping division in 1998, offering complete custom landscaping packages, waterfalls and sprinkler systems. By 2007, The Depot operated a successful 12,000-square-foot retail store, a lawn maintenance division and a landscaping division (see Exhibit 1 for an organizational chart). Due to the nature of the gardening business, The Depot’s sales fluctuated with seasonal demands. It was always a challenge to recruit and retain qualified staff, and management was often forced to downsize staff during the winter months. During peak summer months, 80 per cent of The Depot’s employees were students who would leave at the end of the summer to return to school in September. There was no formal performance appraisal system at The Depot, nor any defined job responsibilities. The Depot’s owners relied on department managers to deal with any labor issues. This document is authorized for use only by Dawn Shaw in WCM-610 Intro to Org Conflict 18TW2 taught by SNHU INSTRUCTOR, Southern New Hampshire University from Sep 2018 to Mar 2019. For the exclusive use of D. Shaw, 2019. Page 2 9B08C006 JANICE BOWMAN Janice Bowman began her career in the gardening industry in 1992, working as a general manager for one of Garden Depot’s competitors. After 13 years of service, personal differences with management forced Bowman to leave the company. Upon hearing of her availability, The Depot approached Bowman with an offer in June 2005, which she accepted, to join the company immediately. Although there was no particular opening for her, management was confident that The Depot could benefit from her 13 years of operational knowledge in the industry. In her first few months, Bowman was asked to organize the computer inventory system and develop a material ordering system. After the first few months, Bowman began to work on other small projects within every division of the company, sharing her knowledge wherever it was needed. Bowman described herself as a dedicated worker who was happy to help co-workers whenever they needed help. She was never one to say ―that’s not my job,‖ and she could often be seen cleaning shelves on the retail floor. She took great pride in her job and wanted to ensure all areas of the business were running smoothly. She described herself as highly customer-oriented and would go out of her way to ensure customers had a positive experience with The Depot. In March 2006, Bowman’s manager, Dave Sampson, suggested they sit down informally and discuss her performance to date. The informal appraisal was highly positive; however, Sampson had noted that Janice was involved in too many areas of the business, and this level of involvement was not sustainable. They decided to loosely define her job title as ―office manager,‖ which included tasks such as inventory management, computer system management and logistics. Although Bowman often worked seven days a week without complaint, she was growing increasingly frustrated with how The Depot’s landscaping division was run. Since her job relied on information provided by this division, she deemed it her responsibility to try to solve many of the division’s issues. She knew that if no action were taken, she would spend more hours trying to fix the division’s mistakes and more hours taking customer complaints. THE LANDSCAPING DIVISION The landscaping division was responsible for designing and installing custom landscaping, including rock walls, gardens, waterfalls and sprinkler systems. The division employed 12 landscapers, 11 of whom were part-time summer staff. The department managed to complete approximately 50 landscaping jobs each year, which were fewer than what was demanded, resulting in many jobs being pushed back to the following spring if they could not be completed in the fall. In January 2007, the manager of the landscaping division left the company to pursue other opportunities. In a move that was viewed as questionable by many full-time employees, The Depot’s owner hired his 35year-old son-in-law, Derek Sinclair, as the new manager of the division. Many staff worried that The Depot’s owner was doing his son-in-law a favor by hiring him, given that he appeared unqualified for the position. Bowman noted some immediate problems with Sinclair’s integration into his position and with his management capabilities. This document is authorized for use only by Dawn Shaw in WCM-610 Intro to Org Conflict 18TW2 taught by SNHU INSTRUCTOR, Southern New Hampshire University from Sep 2018 to Mar 2019. For the exclusive use of D. Shaw, 2019. Page 3 9B08C006 MURRAY KING, PRESIDENT Murray and Glenda King started the Garden Depot in 1985 based on their shared love of gardening. The husband-and-wife team had been equally involved in growing the business until 2004, when Glenda retired. Murray King was a ―hands-off‖ manager who trusted his division managers to run their respective divisions appropriately. King worked at The Depot five days a week, spending most of his time in his office. Bowman’s interaction with King had been limited to asking him questions when she needed clarification. On more than one occasion, King would claim to know nothing about what Bowman was asking, leading her to believe he was quite removed from many of the day-to-day activities in the business. Bowman had observed that King spent endless hours crunching performance metrics in his office, but very little time was spent on planning the company’s strategic direction. Bowman chose not to involve King in any of the issues she was having with the landscaping division since he appeared to be far removed from its operations. In fact, King had commented on more than one occasion that Sinclair was doing a superb job and he was happy with Sinclair’s performance to date. Bowman noted that Sinclair had a strong rapport with King and would often be in King’s office chatting casually; in fact, if Sinclair had any concerns or problems, he took them directly to King for discussion. DAVE SAMPSON, GENERAL MANAGER Dave Sampson joined The Depot as its general manager in 2002 and was responsible for ensuring the overall financial health of the company. Sampson had a good relationship with all division managers and was well respected by all employees. Sampson spent most of his time in the retail side of the business, wherein he managed the retail staff, ensured the store looked presentable and kept an eye on sales levels and profitability. Despite this concentration, King had commented that Sampson was responsible for the operating efficiency of both the landscaping and maintenance divisions. Sampson gave his subordinates a lot of autonomy to run their own divisions and intervened only when problems became too burdensome for managers to solve. Sampson was receptive and approachable; thus, many employees approached him for help. Sampson and Bowman were good friends and they often spent time discussing the company’s problems and how they might solve these problems. DEREK SINCLAIR, LANDSCAPING MANAGER Derek Sinclair joined The Depot as landscaping manager in late January 2007. Sinclair’s previous work experience included being a dispatcher at a local towing company, where he claimed to learn skills such as paying attention to details and strong customer orientation. Beyond these skills, Sinclair had no prior experience in the retail, construction or landscaping environments, and he had no previous management experience. As a manager at The Depot, Sinclair’s responsibilities covered four key categories: organizing and deploying landscapers to job sites, dealing with customers and responding to customer concerns, invoicing completed landscaping jobs and traveling to clients’ homes to quote1 jobs. 1 Quoting involved meeting the customers at their homes to discuss their landscaping goals and providing these customers with a cost estimate of the job. This document is authorized for use only by Dawn Shaw in WCM-610 Intro to Org Conflict 18TW2 taught by SNHU INSTRUCTOR, Southern New Hampshire University from Sep 2018 to Mar 2019. For the exclusive use of D. Shaw, 2019. Page 4 9B08C006 EARLY PROBLEMS Within a few weeks, Bowman noticed many of Sinclair’s limitations in his role. First, because he lacked any experience in landscaping, Sinclair was unable to answer specific customer questions when they called, which often led him to avoid answering the phones altogether. Bowman also noted that many jobs were not priced according to the cost of the materials being used; she suspected that Sinclair was not accurately quoting jobs since he was unsure which materials would have to be used. Whenever Bowman approached Sinclair’s desk, she noticed numerous incomplete invoices scattered over it, some with dates many weeks old. This meant that clients were not getting billed for landscaping work that had been completed. Bowman sympathized with Sinclair, so she had approached him at the end of February to offer help with the invoicing responsibilities. Sinclair appeared relieved and was happy that Bowman had come to his aid. By the end of March, Bowman had taken over the majority of Sinclair’s invoicing duties, in addition to her own job responsibilities. While her initial offer was to help alleviate some of Sinclair’s load, Bowman soon found that Sinclair was sending her every single invoice and was not completing any of the work himself. After four weeks, Bowman had become frustrated. She had spent four Saturdays catching up on the invoicing, while noting that Sinclair had not worked a single weekend since his employment with The Depot. Bowman approached Sampson about the situation: Dave, I feel like I’m being used. It has become clear that I am doing all of Derek’s work on top of my own. I am simply running out of time to get everything done. I’m spending all my weekends here to catch up on his work! Sampson agreed that this was not Bowman’s responsibility, so he approached Sinclair and told him that he would need to find a way to manage the invoicing on his own. Bowman felt relieved that Sinclair would be reclaiming this work, and she could return to concentrating on her primary inventory management responsibilities; however, it wasn’t long until continuing problems in the landscaping department resurfaced. INVENTORY CONCERNS Job Slips Bowman was solely responsible for ensuring that parts and supplies arrived in a timely fashion and were in ample supply when required by the landscaping division. Stock-outs were costly to the company since it could hold up a client’s job for numerous days until additional supplies could be ordered. In order to account properly for the flow of goods, the landscaping division was responsible for forwarding customer invoices and job slips to Bowman. A job slip was a list of all supplies and materials used at a job site in order to accurately charge clients for the material cost of their landscaping (see Exhibit 2 for a sample job slip.) Bowman would then take the supplies used on each job out of the computerized inventory system and reorder supplies if necessary. She also ensured that payments were received from customers. Not long after Sinclair had resumed his invoicing responsibilities, Bowman began to note that the customers’ invoices were still grossly underpriced on the job slips, since the listed materials were not the actual materials used on the job. This document is authorized for use only by Dawn Shaw in WCM-610 Intro to Org Conflict 18TW2 taught by SNHU INSTRUCTOR, Southern New Hampshire University from Sep 2018 to Mar 2019. For the exclusive use of D. Shaw, 2019. Page 5 9B08C006 Bowman was also struggling to keep track of the materials that had been used on each customer’s job. She was constantly receiving job slips that were clearly missing materials that would have had to be used, given the nature of the job being invoiced. For example, if a customer had received a sprinkler system for a 1,000-square-foot yard, a minimum of six sprinkler heads would have had to be used. Bowman would receive a job slip listing three sprinkler heads and hardly any plumbing supplies. She assumed that the landscaping staff was either too lazy to account for each and every material item used or they didn’t know what parts they were using and could not describe them on job slips. To alleviate this problem, Bowman prepared detailed binders with pictures and product codes for all materials used on a job site and gave a binder to each of the 12 landscapers. Despite all of these efforts, Bowman still noticed inconsistencies on the job slips and was forced to track down the landscapers to clarify which materials had been used. Bowman finally decided to approach Sinclair about the issue. Bowman: ―Derek, you need to go over each job slip with staff and ensure that they are complete. I’ve found many parts missing off these slips, and I don’t trust that customers are getting billed accordingly. I simply can’t spend time chasing every worker around to make sure the job slips are correct. I suspect we are losing a lot of money on these jobs.‖ Sinclair: ―Is it really a big deal? A dollar here and there isn’t going to affect the company. The parts used on these jobs are not expensive.‖ Bowman: ―Well, I suspect that we are talking about more than a few dollars. Even so, if I can’t keep track of how many parts we have in inventory, I’ll never know when to reorder them. It’s too costly to run out of parts.‖ Sinclair: ―All right, Janice. I will make a stronger effort to review the slips and keep the inventory on track. If it takes me reviewing each and every one at the end of the day, I’ll do it.‖ Although Sinclair’s promise sounded sincere, Bowman noted that when the landscapers returned to The Depot at 6 p.m. after completing their jobs, Sinclair had already left for the day and the job slips were not reviewed. John Campbell When walking by Sinclair’s desk, Bowman was surprised to see John Campbell, a part-time student landscaper, at the computer entering new invoices. Campbell explained that Sinclair had told him that he was now responsible for invoicing duties and that he was not sure how to do them. Bowman could not believe that Sinclair had shifted this responsibility to someone with no invoicing experience, and she suddenly realized that the past weeks’ invoices were most likely not accurate. Bowman told Campbell not to hesitate to ask her if he had any questions. In the four weeks that passed, Campbell never approached Bowman with any questions, so she believed she had no choice but to fix the invoices herself. Though displeased with this arrangement, Bowman chose not to complain to anyone, and she continued to fix invoices on her own. This document is authorized for use only by Dawn Shaw in WCM-610 Intro to Org Conflict 18TW2 taught by SNHU INSTRUCTOR, Southern New Hampshire University from Sep 2018 to Mar 2019. For the exclusive use of D. Shaw, 2019. Page 6 9B08C006 OTHER CONCERNS Sinclair’s Leadership Bowman knew she was not the only one questioning Sinclair’s ability. Bowman’s son, Marcus, had recently joined the landscaping staff on a part-time basis and had daily interaction with Sinclair. With 12 years of previous experience in the garden industry, Marcus knew all aspects of landscape planning and building. After one month working under Sinclair’s leadership, Marcus commented: I’ve never seen a landscaping department run so poorly. Derek is completely useless at all aspects of his job. He has no time-management skills or concept of how to schedule landscaping jobs in a time-effective manner. He lacks a customer focus and often avoids taking customer calls. Everything Derek does is reactive, always waiting for customer complaints rather than taking action to provide good service. I’m sick of showing up at customers’ houses and getting yelled at for Derek’s incompetence. Bowman wondered whether other staff members felt the same way. She was concerned about the impact Sinclair’s leadership may be having on staff morale. Customer Complaints Bowman was getting increasingly anxious about the large number of customer complaints she was receiving. When a customer called the store looking for a specific person, they could either leave a voicemail for the requested person if he or she was not available, or they would be given the opportunity to speak with someone else. Bowman was well known and well liked by many of The Depot’s regular customers and, thus, was often asked for on the phone by name. Unfortunately, the majority of the calls Bowman was taking lately were customer complaints about how Sinclair had not returned his calls or how their invoices were not similar to the quote provided by Sinclair. Bowman often sympathized with customers, commenting: It’s just not fair to the customers. All they want are updates on when they can expect their landscaping job to be completed, and Derek doesn’t bother to call them back. It really doesn’t take a lot of effort to keep customers happy — it’s all about communication. I find myself promising customers that I will personally follow up with them after speaking with Derek, which only adds to my workload. I’m tired of getting yelled at for circumstances not under my control, and I feel guilty working for a company that treats customers so poorly. Bowman was unsure whether she should approach Sinclair about these concerns and, if she did, whether she could trust that he would change. Staff Problems Bowman’s concerns about the landscaping division and Sinclair’s management style were exacerbated by the strange behavior of one of the landscapers, Jayme Strong. Jayme joined The Depot’s staff as a fulltime landscaper in April 2007. He had two years’ previous experience with another landscaping company, and he appeared to get along well with the other staff. Strong was expected to work approximately eight This document is authorized for use only by Dawn Shaw in WCM-610 Intro to Org Conflict 18TW2 taught by SNHU INSTRUCTOR, Southern New Hampshire University from Sep 2018 to Mar 2019. For the exclusive use of D. Shaw, 2019. Page 7 9B08C006 hours a day, five days per week. When Bowman received the employee time cards,2 she noticed that Strong’s assigned jobs took longer than comparable jobs on other employees’ timecards (see Exhibit 3 for a sample time card.) One day, Bowman was speaking with a long-time customer, Mr. Gladwell, who had purchased some rocks and garden supplies to create his own landscaped garden. At numerous points in the conversation, Mr. Gladwell mentioned how Strong had arranged the flowerbeds and installed things so beautifully. Knowing that the customer had not paid for any installation services from The Depot lately, Bowman approached Sinclair: Bowman: ―Derek, I just had an odd conversation with Mr. Gladwell, who mentioned that Jayme had installed some of his flowerbeds. Didn’t he only purchase materials from us?‖ Sinclair: ―Oh yes … Well, Jayme just did some of the install for him while he was in the area. It’s not a big deal really. We made enough money off of selling him the materials anyways. Who cares?‖ Bowman simply shrugged and walked away, appalled that Sinclair would let Strong do volunteer work on company time. She wondered whether Strong had masked this work at Mr. Gladwell’s in his time cards by extending his reported time on other jobs. She was concerned that other customers may have been overcharged for hours that Strong was not actually working there. Furthermore, was Strong charging Mr. Gladwell for his work and keeping the money himself? Bowman began to think Strong was not only dishonest recording his time cards but also potentially stealing goods from the company. In early April, right around the time Strong joined the staff, Bowman was baffled when a sprinkler system, which was in stock according to the computerized inventory, was nowhere to be found. A few weeks later, The Depot’s bookkeeper approached Bowman with an interesting story. She mentioned that friends of hers had a new state-of-the-art sprinkler system installed, which they gushed was a ―bargain deal.‖ They mentioned that they bought the system from a young man named ―Jayme‖ who had also been kind enough to install it for them at a very cheap rate. Bowman thought this was very suspicious but she had no proof to confirm what she thought to be true — that Strong was working on personal jobs on company time and stealing supplies to do them. Bowman had mentioned these odd occurrences to Sinclair, but he never expressed as much concern as Bowman. Although Bowman knew that Sinclair was Strong’s boss, Sinclair appeared to have no desire to discipline Strong in any way or to further investigate these mysterious situations. Bowman was finding it difficult to ignore behavior that could have devastating effects on the company’s financial position and reputation. THE FINAL STRAW After hanging up with yet another irate customer, Bowman was exasperated. This was not the first complaint she had to deal with concerning Sinclair and his refusal to return customers’ calls or to keep them informed about the progress of their landscaping job. In Bowman’s view, the landscaping division was completely disorganized, and she was not confident that Sinclair was interested in keeping things under control. Bowman feared that soon customers would be going elsewhere and the longevity of company would be in question. She knew something would have to change if she was going to continue working at The Depot, but she did not know where to start. 2 Employees were required to fill out time cards. The time cards detailed which jobs they worked on and for how long. This document is authorized for use only by Dawn Shaw in WCM-610 Intro to Org Conflict 18TW2 taught by SNHU INSTRUCTOR, Southern New Hampshire University from Sep 2018 to Mar 2019. For the exclusive use of D. Shaw, 2019. Page 8 9B08C006 Exhibit 1 ORGANIZATIONAL CHART Owner /President Murray King General Manager Dave Sampson Retail Division Lawn Maintenance Division Landscaping Division Manager Sue Jenkins Manager Jim Chambers Manager Derek Sinclair Retail staff (6) Laborers (3) Landscapers (12) including Jayme Strong Administration Office Bookkeeper Nancy Coss Office Manager Janice Bowman This document is authorized for use only by Dawn Shaw in WCM-610 Intro to Org Conflict 18TW2 taught by SNHU INSTRUCTOR, Southern New Hampshire University from Sep 2018 to Mar 2019. For the exclusive use of D. Shaw, 2019. Page 9 9B08C006 Exhibit 2 SAMPLE JOB SLIP Customer Name: M. Jones Flowers/Shrubbery Quantity/Description Job #: 006 Rock/Stone Date Job Completed: April 16, 2007 Plumbing/Fittings Misc. 2 Potted Gardenias ____ 5 Elbow fittings 4 8 Rose buds ____ 6 Bronze Sprinklers ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ 10 ____ 11 4 A+ 4lb Soil ____ Total This document is authorized for use only by Dawn Shaw in WCM-610 Intro to Org Conflict 18TW2 taught by SNHU INSTRUCTOR, Southern New Hampshire University from Sep 2018 to Mar 2019. For the exclusive use of D. Shaw, 2019. Page 10 9B08C006 Exhibit 3 SAMPLE TIME SHEET Employee Name: K. Roberts Employee #: 002 Time period: April 1/07 – April 7/07 Date Customer Name (hrs) Mon 01 Simpson (4), Cobb (2), Gyll (2) 6 Tues 02 Sanders (3), Walsh (2), Cobb (2), Leighton (1) 8 Wed 03 Gyll (2), Warner (1), Walsh (3), Cobb (2) 8 Thurs 04 Leighton (5), Simpson (2) 7 Fri 05 Warner (4), Gyll (1), Simpson (3) 8 Sat 06 Day Off Sun 07 Day off Weekly Total Hours Hours 37 X K. Roberts This document is authorized for use only by Dawn Shaw in WCM-610 Intro to Org Conflict 18TW2 taught by SNHU INSTRUCTOR, Southern New Hampshire University from Sep 2018 to Mar 2019.
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