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 each other. 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,
 Walk, Case 10 -- 2

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
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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.