Please help me with this case!!! Reaction to Conflict Chapter 13 discusses ways

Question

Please help me with this case!!!

Reaction to Conflict

Chapter 13 discusses ways in which people to react to conflicts. Some of these reactions are beneficial to a person or an organization, but others can be harmful. In this discussion you will have the opportunity to reflect on these methods and to decide with methods are most appropriate in a given situation.

Read the situation below and then write how you would react to the situation if you were using each of the common reactions to conflict.

Joe Hunter has been with the San Angeles Police Department for the past 6 years. After graduating second in his class at the state police academy, Hunter was hired as a patrol person with San Angeles. He quickly moved up in the ranks to corporal in his second year and sergeant in his fourth. All of the officers consider Hunter to be the best cop on the force because of his high level of intelligence as well as his uncanny ability to work with the public by anticipating problems in the community. Everything was going along well for Sergeant Hunter until the spring of 1988. During this time, he started dating a girl that he quickly fell in love with. What he didn’t know until 5 months after they began dating was that she had once been engaged to his captain. When Hunter’s captain discovered the relationship, he was furious with Hunter, but knew that legally he could not control the private life of his employee. However, even though he could not directly tell Hunter what to do, he decided to make his life miserable at work. Captain Webb constantly gave Hunter the worst assignments, kept him away from the public contact that made him such a good officer, and started to lower Hunter’s performance evaluations. Hunter was frustrated, then hurt, and finally angry. He finally reached a point where one day he was so angry, that he had to do something. If Hunter were to apply each of the common reactions to conflict in this situation, what would he do in each case? Which one would be the most appropriate?

Please address each of these reactions to conflict in your discussion of the above situation. Don’t forget to discuss which of these reactions you think would be most effective in this situation and why.

- Withdrawal

- Accommodation

- Win at all costs

- Collaboration

- Third party intervention

Explanation / Answer

Conflict is a process where one party perceives that his interests are negatively affected by the other

Conflict resolution:

- Withdrawal

Here Hunter would avoid the captain as much as possible. This is temporary. But this could be appropriate as a temporary fix because a conflict with senior can spoil reputation as well as job security. But this may not be possible in a working environment- a junior may not be able to avoid a senior. Hunter may want for transfer to some other department    

- Accommodation

Here hunter tries to play down the conflict and accommodate to his captain’s requirements. This may give the opposite party the feeling of a win.

But it seems hunter has reached a level of frustration and may not be able to accommodate. Also, the captain seems to be so displeased that he may find other ways to make Hunter’s life difficult

- Win at all costs

Here Hunter can show his opposition directly or indirectly with his captain and does not compromise his stand. He can complain, against the captain, to the seniors

This may not be possible in a bureaucratic setting. This only makes the issue complex and the opposition strong in his position

- Collaboration

Here hunter can directly talk to the captain regarding his situation. It has not been mentioned whether Hunter knew about the previous relationship between his girlfriend and the captain nor the reason for captain’s hostility towards him. Hence, Hunter must first clarify the issue. After understanding the situation hunter can explain his position and try to reach mutually beneficial state.

But the problem is that captain may not reveal his true intentions. So the burden falls on Hunter to find the reason for conflict

- Third party intervention

Here hunter may approach a third party, a person known to both hunter and the captain, to solve the issue. Since both, the involved parties may be hesitant to openly talk about issues regarding the girlfriend face to face, a third party may be a good option. The third person can act as a conduit for information flow from both sides and enable resolution.

But in private issues, both parties may not want to reveal their scenarios a third party. Even so, the captain may not accept this to be the cause of the ill-treatment. Also, it may be difficult to find a neutral party.

I think collaboration is a better way because it helps hunter to shows his true intentions and actual standing. The confrontation is least and it may offer a long-lasting solution. Also, anyway both have to meet on several occasions for office work, so it is better to talk among themselves than go to a third party. This will avoid embarrassing moments

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