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1.

Case 1: Conflict Management at Balt Healthcare Corporation


i.

Identify the problems/causes of the problems

The first causes of Pete Brooks and Dan Gantman have conflicts are because of
different leadership styles. Everyone works differently, according to his or her
individual needs and personality. For instance, some people love the thrill of getting
things done at the last minute, while others need the structure of strict deadlines to
perform. However, when working styles clash, conflict can often occur. Individuals
may clash over their respective work habits, attention to detail, communication
practices, or tone of expression. While these can affect coordination of interdependent
tasks, they can especially inhibit direct collaboration (Bell & Hart's, 2016). According
to Pete Brooks and Dan Gantmans cases, Pete Brookss leadership style is ran his
department with a traditional and formal management style where communication
traveled vertically through the hierarchy while Dan Gantmans leadership style is
stressed the value of open communication channels to promote teamwork and
collaboration. The different leadership style show that they different from behaviour
and always causes the contrary perspective.
The second causes of Pete Brooks and Dan Gantman have conflicts are
because of competition over resources ("Common Causes of Team Conflict", 2016).
Members may fight over the limited resources available to accomplish the team's
tasks. For example, if two people both rely on the action of a third person to meet
identical deadlines, disagreements might arise over whose work should receive that
person's attention first. Every employee need access to certain resources whether
these are office supplies, help from colleagues, or even a meeting room to do their
jobs well. When more than one person or group needs access to a particular resource,
conflict can occur ("Common Causes of Team Conflict", 2016). According to Pete
Brooks and Dan Gantmans cases, when Gantmans group needed resources to bring
an idea on-line, Brooks announced that all of his people were busy and that he
couldnt assign anyone to help. Similarly, anytime Gantman needed access to a piece
of hardware within the IT unit, Brooks made it complicated to get that access. Due to
the highest management had assigned both teams of them have to collaborate, but

Brooks was experienced in the organization and he could control the resources more
than Gantman.
ii.

Discuss the case from various perspectives

Pete Brooks and Dan Gantman have other perspectives conflicts which are because of
different goals between them. When individuals specialized in different areas work in
a group, they may disagree amongst themselves because they have different goals,
views and methodologies owing to their various backgrounds, training and
experiences (Bell & Hart's, 2016). Gantman obligated to developing E-commerce
solutions for the organization and the industry while Brooks responsibility is
developing and maintaining the organizations intranets, Web sites, and internal
networks. Although both of them is in the same department, but their goal assign by
highest management were different. For the senior management, they have the
thought of Brookss strengths complemented Gantmans weaknesses. Whereas
Gantman was a better designer, Brooks had operational expertise that would help in
bringing Gantmans ideas on-line.
Another perspective is the division of work of department in Balt Healthcare
Corporation is not enough clear and sharing employee between department. Gantman
had been assigned to Brookss department to operate a small experimental group
charged with developing E-commerce solutions for the organization and the industry.
Although in front of their bosses, Brooks had agreed to work with Gantman to make
the project a success. In fact, when Gantmans group needed resources to bring an
idea on-line, Brooks announced that all of his people were busy and that he couldnt
assign anyone to help. Similarly, anytime Gantman needed access to a piece of
hardware within the IT unit, Brooks made it complicated to get that access. The clear
division of work in employees is very important because employees can more focus
on their work.
The next perspective is the third intervention person in the conflict. The thirdparty is Marilyn Young, the vice president for information services. Even she had
been requested assistance from the human resources manager and an organization
development specialist but Young did not follow through their recommended strategy.
She never met with Brooks and Gantman at the same time and, thus, the messages she

sent to each were inconsistent. Additional, she began supporting Brooks and
criticizing Gantman after meeting. As a third-party, her position should be neutral and
shouldnt support to one side only.
iii.

Apply relevant theory/theories/approaches

The first approach that apply in this case is strategic planning that introduced by
Henry Mintzberg. Strategic planning is an organizational management activity that is
used to set priorities, focus energy and resources, strengthen operations, ensure that
employees and other stakeholders are working toward common goals, establish
agreement around intended outcomes or results, and assess and adjust the
organizations direction in response to a changing environment. It is a disciplined
effort that produces fundamental decisions and actions that shape and guide what an
organization is, who it serves, what it does, and why it does it, with a focus on the
future (Shafritz, Ott, & Jang, 2011). The Balt Healthcare Corporations Boss should
decide the resources allocation in IT department so that Brooks and Gantman wont
face the problem of limited resource conflict. On the other hands, boss also must
setting the goal for Brooks and Gantman. So, Brooks can follow the guidelines. For
instance, due to the organization wish to have development work with enormous
future implications for the organization as it explored the possibility of sales,
business-to-business, and other supply-chain opportunities on the Internet. As result,
boss assign Gantman to Brookss department and believe that Brookss team
resources are readily available for Gantman. Their bosses should tell Brooks and
Gantman earlier about goals of organization for future development. So, they could
more understanding and cooperate well.
The second approach that apply in this case is the 14 principles of
management introduced by Henry Fayol. One of the 14 principles of management
apply is division of work. In practice, employees are specialized in different areas and
they have different skills. Different levels of expertise can be distinguished within the
knowledge areas which is from generalist to specialist. Personal and professional
developments support this. According to Henry Fayol, specialization promotes
efficiency of the workforce and increases productivity. In addition, the specialization
of the workforce increases their accuracy and speed (Shafritz, Ott, & Jang, 2011). In

this case, the organization should apply division of work which is Brooks is the
general manager for IT department while Gantman is specialise to operate a small
experimental group charged with developing E-commerce solutions for the
organization and the industry. Other than that, Gantmans work was focusing manages
the transition from design into production which is a bit different from Brookss work.
The third approach that apply in this case is the third-party interventions which
is include in group process approaches (Thomas & Christopher, 2009). Conflict can
enhance motivation and innovation and lead to greater understanding of ideas and
views. On the other hand, it can prevent people from working together constructively,
destroying necessary task interactions among group members. Consequently, thirdparty intervention is used primarily in situations in which conflict significantly
disrupts necessary task interactions and work relationships among members. When
conflict involves interpersonal issues, however, OD has developed approaches that
help control and resolve it. These third-party interventions help the parties interact
with each other directly, facilitating their diagnosis of the conflict and how to resolve
it. That ability to facilitate conflict resolution is a basic skill in OD and applies to all
the process interventions (Thomas & Christopher, 2009). Marilyn Young as the third
party after recommended by the OD specialist. Agreements were made in writing
about how the process would work, including Young meeting with Gantman and
Brooks to discuss the problem between them and how it was affecting the
organization. But Young did not follow through on the agreement. She never met with
Brooks and Gantman at the same time and, asa result, the messages she sent to each
were inconsistent.

References
Bell and Hart's Eight Causes of Conflict: Understanding the Causes of Workplace
Tension. (2016). Mindtools.com. Retrieved 3 December 2016, from
https://www.m
indtools.com/pages/article/eight-causes-conflict.htm
Common Causes of Team Conflict. (2016). Boundless. Retrieved 3 December 2016,
from
https://www.boundless.com/management/textbooks/boundless-management
-textbook/groups-teams-and-teamwork-6/managing-conflict-55/common-causesof-team -conflict-277-3941/
Shafritz, J., Ott, J., & Jang, Y. (2011). Classics of organization theory. Boston, MA:
Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Thomas, G. & Christopher, G. (2009). Organization Development & Change (9th ed.,
p. 262). Canada: South-Western Cengage Learning.

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