Nur Atirah Fatin binti Amir Sabri

BPMN 3123 Management Ethics

Final Individual Evaluation 3 (Case Study 2)

Are You With Me?

Shirley and Abdul both work for a software development company. The manager of
the new product division was originally the leader of the project team for which she
interviewed and hired Abdul. Shirley, another project team member, also interviewed
Abdul, but strongly opposed hiring him for the project because she thought he was
not competent to do the job.

Seven months after Abdul was hired, the manager left the project to start her own
company and recommended that Abdul and Shirley serve as joint project leaders.
Shirley agreed reluctantly with the stipulation that it be made clear she was not
working for Abdul. The General Manager consented; Shirley and Abdul were to share
the project leadership. Within a month Shirley was angry because Abdul was
representing himself to others as the leader of the entire project and giving the
impression that Shirley was working for him. Now Shirley and Abdul are meeting with
you to see if you can resolve the conflict between them.

Shirley says: "Right after the joint leadership arrangement was reached with the
General Manager, Abdul called a meeting of the project team without even consulting
me about the time or content. He just told me when it was being held and said I
should be there. At the meeting, Abdul reviewed everyone's duties line by line,
including mine, treating me as just another team member working for him. He sends
out letters and signs himself as project director, which obviously implies to others
that I am working for him." Abdul says: "Shirley is all hung up with feelings of power
and titles. Just because I sign myself as project director doesn't mean she is working
for me. I don't see anything to get excited about. What difference does it make? She
is too sensitive about everything. I call a meeting and right away she thinks I'm trying
to run everything. Shirley has other things to do other projects to run so she doesn't
pay too much attention to this one. She mostly lets things slide. But when I take the
initiative to set up a meeting, she starts jumping up and down about how I am trying
to make her work for me.”

1. Abdul and Shirley seem to have several conflicts occurring simultaneously.

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As stated by Dr. Digvijaysinh Thakore (2013) in his study, conflict may be

First is an interpersonal conflict which defines as a conflict that mitigated by

diversification training and by setting specific employee standards for conduct. The

possibility of this conflict to happen is high as the larger the workforce, there will be

more chances for the relationship conflict arise because of misunderstandings,

miscommunications and naivety about other people (Kimberlee Leonard, 2018).

Based on the case study of Abdul and Shirley, the conflict is started when Shirley is

opposed on hiring Abdul into the new product division team which cause a

discomfort situation between them right after getting the recommendation to work

together and serve as joint project leaders. Abdul and Shirley is lack with

communication which lead to misunderstanding between them on their goals

towards the project. Abdul mentioned that Shirley is focusing on other projects and

did not give much attention to the recent project. While Shirley stated that Abdul is

trying to take over the project and want to declare as the project director.

Besides, they also face an ideology conflict which defined as disputants’

differences in the value by Druckman (1993). At the very first place, Shirley did not

have a mutual agreement with the former manager of new product division on hiring

Abdul for the project because Shirley believes that Abdul not a capable enough to do

the job. In another side, Abdul got to fit into the position because the former manager

assumes that he is qualified. This already proved that Shirley did not have

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compatibility with Abdul especially when both of them assigned in the same project

as share partners.

According to the Big Five Personality traits, both of them have a very low

agreeableness personality dimension such as takes little interest in others, did not

care about how other people feel and has little interest in other people problems.

People who are low in this trait tend to be more competitive and sometimes even

manipulative (Kendra Cherry, 2019). At the very last, Abdul and Shirley also keep

blamed and accused each other by giving their own opinion and view about each

other without know the truth.

Besides, Abdul and Shirley also face processes and style issues which

focusing on everyone have their standard and way when doing something. Some

people prefer to work alone rather in a group and people who need to focus on settle

something rather than multitask. In this matter, Abdul and Shirley did not

acknowledge each other work style and have a consentaneity before work together

which cause a lot of negative perception respectively. As stated in the case study,

Abdul is trying to get forward with the project by deciding the meeting of the project

team without discussing together with Shirley. He thought that he needs to take fast

action because Shirley seems to neglect her responsibility. Shirley stated that it is

wrong to decide everything on his own because they work as a team.

Following that, this also relates to leadership style conflict. According to Atlas

Staffing (n.d.), everybody has a different leadership style and everybody reacts

differently to those leadership styles. They should be able to adjust and connect with

their employees no matter their leadership preferences. Based on this conflict style,

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BPMN 3123 Management Ethics

Abdul and Shirley had a different leadership style respectively which results from

both of them have misunderstood in each other initiative to sort out work.

According to Lewin’s study, Abdul may have an authoritarian leadership where

he makes decisions independently with no input or discussion made with his team

member as well as Shirley which share the same project with him. This style is

viewed as controlling, bossy and dictatorial. In the same time, the general manager

of the company might also is an authoritarian leader which provide clear

expectations for what to be done, when it should be done and the method to do it

(Kendra Cherry, 2020).

Even he takes a consideration regarding Shirley request on did not want to

work under Abdul but get the same position but unfortunately, the general manager

did not able to care about the conflict that might arise in the future. This conflict

becomes worse because Shirley has a very low conscientiousness personality

dimension based on the Big Five Personality traits which lead her failure to complete

necessary or assigned tasks and procrastinates important job. As claimed by Abdul

regarding not able to give attention to the project.

Finally, in more serious cases, if an individual conflict between Abdul and

Shirley has become worse and prolonged, it could lead to another negative impact

such as project failure, legal problem, turnover and termination.

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2. What are the possible ways to deal with the conflict between Abdul and
Shirley (not just the ones that you would recommend, but all of the options)?

A workplace conflict that involved a group of people or individual is unhealthy

in an organization. Unresolved conflict will lead to a serious problem on a big scale

towards job performance and productivity. It is the truth that every problem has a

solution. By that, there were few possible ways to deal with the conflict.

First and foremost, be calm and accept the reality is applicable for every type

of conflict. Both parties cannot settle the problem if they were in anger and be

aggressive. Good self-control before confronts other parties is the best way to

minimize the probability for the conflict getting worse. They should not let their

emotion get the best of them at the moment. It is crucial to look forward to a good

conversation to solve the problem. As stated by Mike Myatt (2012), a common

mistake made in workplace communication which leads to conflict is letting emotions

drive decisions.

Next, good and effective communication is the key to resolve a

misunderstanding. Based on the conflict between Abdul and Shirley, they were lack

of two-way communication or proper discussion on the project planning. As stated

eloquently by Atlas Staffing (n.d.), the person needs to get together and listen. Have

a sit-down and making sure both parties can say everything they want to say. They

need to listen and say respectively.

But, following that condition, it is also crucial for them to be open-minded and

able to respect each other opinion. Abdul and Shirley should open up and discover

the solution on their main problem together. They had to clarify their interest, goals

and even discuss together on the project planning without taking any advantages to

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monopoly the whole project. According to Rahim, Garrett and Buntzman (1992), the

management must study each individual’s likes and dislikes in the profession and

must allocate job accordingly. It should ensure to value each individual’s opinion in

making a decision.

Also, during the interview session, Shirley should not have rejected and

opposed all the reason on why the former manager hired Abdul. There might be

something that Shirley not able to discover why Abdul is among the potential

candidate for the position. This conflict need to be cope by started to do a self-

reflect. Do a self-reflect on both sides of the situation will help Shirley to see from

another person point of view and she might able to understand the reason.

Meanwhile, the company general manager also needs to take action on help

solving the conflict that happened between the employees. Every company is

compulsory to have a proper guideline to settle a workplace conflict or dilemma such

as power abuse, discrimination and legal problems. Mike Kappel (2017) stated that it

is common to mediate with work conflict when you are in a leadership position. It is

important to not take any side but giving a source of help for the employees to work

out their problems. The leader needs to guide the conversation and redirect the topic

so the employees will talk about the real problem.

If the leader is in a position to give advice, they need to focus on positive

aspects of the process and recommend related topics or actions they can work on

after the conversation. Plus, the company could get coaching, consulting or training

on how to do an effective conflict solving from any experts through online or physical

meeting for the company staff.

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In the other side of coins, the leader which have power on giving any

punishment or disciplining the worker should play their role if any of the parties had

infringed any of the company law and regulation that lead to the conflict. This will

justify the right thing and also give a lesson to them in the future.

Mike Kappel (2017) also mentioned that the fundamental aspects of solving

conflict are both parties need to be more considerate on forgiving each other. Every

conflict needs a clear resolution that acknowledges hurt feelings and finds a solution

that begins to mend them. It will help to reduce the negative vibe that will affect their

relationship as a project partner. But if they only agree to do it only because of the

work, it could lead to grudges over time.

Last but not least is reach an agreement after having a good conversation and

a few step before enter a final step. Both parties should decide on what action to

take next after acknowledging all the factor of the conflict by doing a thorough

analysis. Based on Shirley and Abdul situation, they need to decide on the

progression of their shared project. Certain planning of job division is needed to

avoid the conflict occurred again. It is appropriate to use specific evaluation tools to

have good decision making.

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3. Given all the benefits of retrospection, what could or should have been done
to avoid this conflict in the first place?

As stated in the case study, the decision to hire Abdul in the project got

disagree by Shirley as she thought that Abdul is not qualified for the position. The

conflict could be avoided if both parties which represent Shirley and the former

manager of new product division that hired Abdul has come to an agreement which

satisfied them respectively. In a hiring or recruitment process in an organization, it is

necessary to hear all the panel opinion and point of view of the candidates. Each

panel may have a slightly different perception for every candidate based on their

experiences or knowledge.

The clarification on every decision also will help other parties to understand

clearly our reason and recommendation on something. After that, each panel also

needs to respect other parties judgments formed. On that matter, the conflict could

be avoided if Shirley could respect and try to reconsider work with someone that

suggested by her colleagues. On the other way around, the former manager also

should respect Shirley request by not assigned Abdul to become her project partner

and change it to another person.

Despite that, the conflict also can be avoided if Abdul and Shirley be

responsible for the project by having a proper discussion together before deciding

anything. The miscommunication that came after Abdul decides to hold a meeting

without agree by Shirley should be looking forward. By having good communication

can lead to a better relationship among employees. This is because they had a

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crystal clear on each other ideas, viewpoint, objectives and hope for the project

result.

Not to mention, the title of the project leader is showing that both of them

should have credibility as a leader especially in decision making and problem

solution. That is why they need to be more professional for the sake of organization

performance and quality. It also helps them to be serious and focus more on project

accomplishment. Being professional will help someone to become more reasonable

and mature to decide something. Even if there were any argument occurred along

with the discussion, they could recognize and settle it right away without making the

situation worse.

In the nutshell, every conflict that happened need to identify and the solution

should have been discovered right away.

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References

Atlas Staffing. (n.d.). 6 Common Workplace Conflicts and How to Deal with them.

Retrieved from https://www.atlasstaffing.net/blog/6-common-workplace-conflicts-

and-how-to-deal-with-thm

Dr. Digvijaysinh Thakore. (2013). Conflict and Conflict Management. IOSR Journal of

Business and Management. 8(6). 07-16. Retrieved from

http://www.iosrjournals.org/iosr-jbm/papers/Vol8-issue6/B0860716.pdf

Kendra Cherry. (2019, October 14). The Big Five Personality Traits. Very Well Mind.

Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/the-big-five-personality-

dimensions-2795422

Kendra Cherry. (2020, January 16). Leadership Styles and Frameworks You Should

Know. Very Well Mind. Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/the-big-five-

personality-dimensions-2795422

Kimberlee Leonard. (2018, August 06). Examples of 4 Types of Conflict. Small Business:

Chron. Retrieved from https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary

/english/conflict

Mike Kappel. (2017, November 3). 6 Strategies to Resolve Conflict at Work.

Entrepreneur Asia Pacific. Retrieved from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/303617

Mike Myatt. (2012, February 22). 5 Keys of Dealing with Workplace Conflict. Forbes.

Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikemyatt/2012/02/22/5-keys-to-

dealing-with-workplace-conflict/#5712b2f31e95

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Rajalakshmi Rahul. (2012, April 23). What is individual conflict. Project Guru. Retrieved

from https://www.projectguru.in/what-is-individual-conflict/

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