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This question is for my is for my Introduction to Conflict Management Class
Consider the following: You are a supervisor at XYZ Corporation, and there is an opening for a management position on your team. Two members of your staff, John and Marie, have applied for the position. Both John and Marie claim they are the right person for the job. John says he deserves the promotion because he has seniority. Marie insists she should be hired because she has the most education and training. When interviewing them separately, you learn that John’s wife is pregnant with twins, and he is interested in the increased salary that comes with the promotion. The job also includes a significant amount of travel, about which John is less enthusiastic as he would prefer to be home with his growing family. Marie is adventurous and enjoys travel and visiting new places.
1. Based on these facts, identify the following:
John’s position(s)
Marie’s position(s)
John’s interest(s)
Marie’s interest(s)
2. Then, as the manager, explain how you might resolve this issue in order to satisfy the interests of both John and Marie.
Expert Answer
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- John’s position(s): Weak. His position for the current opportunity seems to be weak in comparison to Marie’s position because of his need for more family time due to growing family. Although he is a senior member of team but that doesn’t mean he is more qualified for requirements of current opening. Another point weakens his position is his reluctance for travelling, which is one of the pre-requisite for the the new role.
- Marie’s position(s): Strong. Her candidature for new role is more strong then John as she has required qualification and training. She also loves travelling and visiting new places which is one of the matching quality for new role.
- John’s interest(s): Higher salary
- Marie’s interest(s): Utilize her education & training for team and organization’s good, she loves travelling.
2. Then, as the manager, explain how you might resolve this issue in order to satisfy the interests of both John and Marie.
As a manager I need to be conscious and responsible for employee’s interest as well as organization’s goals. And as both John and Marie are valuable members of team I will use collaborating or win-win conflict management technique (which involves an attempt to work out a win-win solution to the problem) to resolve the issue and fulfilling the needs of organizational requirement by selecting more suitable candidate. As John’s main interest is higher salary and more personal time due to growing need of the family, which can be satisfied by providing more opportunity of performance based incentive plans, easier leave options, work from home chances so that he can fulfill his personal commitments along with professional responsibilities without any pressure or conflict with new roles additional requirements. On the other hand, by selecting Marie for the new role I will not only satisfy her aspirations of growth and a chance to explore her interest for travelling but will also do justice to new position by selecting appropriate candidate to achieve organizational goals.
