11 May You will map the conflict in the resources section and perform a preliminary analysis on the escalation of the conflict. In your evaluation, avoid summarizing the case.
You will map the conflict in the resources section and perform a preliminary analysis on the escalation of the conflict.
In your evaluation, avoid summarizing the case. Instead, analyze the case critically and assess how it pertains to this week’s readings. Remember, excellent analyses are a combination of critical and analytical thoughts connected to greater themes presented in the readings – and this is not an easy task.
Be sure to include the following required elements in your assignment:
- Briefly describe what you consider two or three major issues contained in the case.
- Explain how these points or issues integrate with the material covered this week and then explain their relevance to the case.
- Identify the implications for the parties involved in the case.
- Provide a brief description of the questions/challenges you have regarding the readings and explain why they are important.
Do not include the following in your analysis:
- A summary of the readings
- A detailed description of the case
- Any editorials
As you are preparing your response, consider the following questions:
- What were the roots of the conflict?
- How do the parties to the conflict view the behavior of the other and pursue their own interests in the conflict situation?
- At what point did the conflict become detrimental to the parties involved?
- How might this conflict extend to the larger workplace?
Length: 8 pages, not including title or reference pages
References: Include a minimum of 5 scholarly resources.
In a large publishing company in New York, a young woman, Laura, was hired as a copy editor for one of
the many journals produced by the company. Seven other employees worked on this team editing this
Journal, including a senior editor named Tim. Laura had worked there for about a month when she and
her fellow co-workers went for happy-hour after work. Everybody had a great time and had consumed a
fair amount of alcohol. When everybody was leaving the bar to head home, Tim, who had been secretly
attracted to Laura since she started work at the journal, hailed a cab and offered to share the ride with
Laura. Laura accepted the offer. Once she was inside the cab, Tim then suddenly made an aggressive
sexual advance toward her. Horrified, Laura pushed him away and told him to get out of the cab.
Mortified, Tim slinked out of the cab.
The next day, Laura came to work with some apprehension. How would she deal with Tim? Would the
cab incident affect her job? Although Tim did not supervise her, would he try to get her fired? Tim
immediately went to her office and apologized for his extremely inappropriate behavior in the cab.
Relieved at his apology, Laura decided not to pursue the matter through any formal channels in the
office. She figured that since Tim apologized, there was no need to dwell on the incident. After all, Laura
was a new employee, still in the process of learning the office politics and proving herself as being a
competent editor. She did not want to rock the boat or bring negative attention to herself.
Everything would have been okay if Tim had stopped at just one sincerely expressed apology. However,
whenever he found himself alone with Laura, Tim apologized again. And again. He said he was sorry
about the incident at every opportunity he had for three months. This constant apology was awkward
and annoying to Laura. Ironically, by Tim apologizing continuously for his unwanted attention in the cab,
he was foisting another form of unwanted attention upon Laura. When he first started apologizing,
Laura told him that "it was okay". After three months of many apologies, she reached a point where she
asked him to stop apologizing, to no avail. Frustrated, she confided in a few co-workers about her
unusual dilemma. Consequently, these co-workers lost respect for Tim.
Although the cab incident was not common knowledge in the office, Tim sensed that others knew about
it by the way they interacted with him. The incident became the office "elephant" that the employees
"in the know" saw, but didn't explicitly acknowledge. Meanwhile, Laura was tired of hearing Tim
apologize and her feelings of discomfort increased. So when another editor position opened up in
another journal division of the company, she applied for the job and was transferred to the other
journal. In her new position, she didn't have Tim bothering her anymore. But she was unhappy with her
new job. The journal material was very boring. She didn't work as well with her co-workers as she did in
the previous journal (excepting Tim). She realized that she really enjoyed her old job. She began to
regret her decision to avoid the conflict with Tim by moving to the new job. In an effort to seek advice as
to how to solve her problem, Laura decided to consult with the company ombudsman.
,
Conflict Mapping Mapping is an approach to analyzing a conflict situation. You represent the conflict on paper, placing the parties in relation to the problem, and conveying the relations between them. To map a situation:
1. Decide what you want to map, when, and from what point of view. It is useful to map the same situation from a variety of viewpoints, as this is how the parties to it actually do experience it. Remember – perception is key. It is also a good idea to reflect over whether those who hold this view would actually accept our description. Hint: Map both the seen and unseen parts of the conflict. Think about the conflict in terms of the ABC model. What behaviors under the surface might have led to this conflict?
2. It is always useful to map perceptions, needs, or fears. Remember, there is a difference between the three. This gives us greater insight into what motivates different parties. It may help to explain some of the misunderstandings and misperceptions between parties. Again, it is useful to reflect over whether the parties would agree with the needs, fears, or perceptions you ascribe to them.
3. Place yourself on the map. Putting ourselves on the map is a good reminder that we are part of the situation, not above it, even when we analyze it.
4. Mapping is dynamic — it reflects a changing situation, and points toward action. This kind of analysis should offer new possibilities. What can be done? Who can best do it? When is the best moment? What groundwork needs to be laid beforehand, what structures built afterward?
You should construct your map in a way most helpful to you. Some people do better with a
visual depiction of the conflict, while others do better with columns, bullets, or paragraphs
separated into sections. The most important thing to remember is this is a tool for you to
understand the conflict from multiple perspectives in order to help all parties involved achieve
successful resolution.
The method described here is adapted from the non-governmental organization Responding to Conflict (RTC),
headquartered in Birmingham, UK. For additional guidance on building a helpful conflict map, see the following
source:
Wehr, Paul. "Conflict Mapping." Beyond Intractability. Eds. Guy Burgess and Heidi Burgess. Conflict Information
Consortium, University of Colorado, Boulder. Posted: September 2006
<http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/conflict-mapping>.
