Question

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

Answer 1

Withdrawal: In this situation, Hunter would simply avoid the situation created by Captain. He chooses to simply ignore the situation and move on with his work as of now.

Accommodation: In this situation, Hunter would come forward and explain his position to Captain. He would put forth his point of view; try to explain the situation; the need to keep personal and professional lives separate and how much he values the relationship with Captain.

Win at all costs: In this situation, Hunter challenges Captain; asks him to compete with him. Hunter may also take legal route and report the issue to higher authorities.

Collaboration: In this situation, Hunter would invite captain for a talk with a promise that both of them will put their concerns forward. Hunter will try to arrive at a middle ground by considering both of their concerns and arriving at a solution that is acceptable to both of them.

Third party intervention: In this situation, Hunter would take the help a common source who is known to both of them. He will explain the entire situation and ask the third party to intervene and arrive at a workable solution.

The best approach: Given the situation and complexity, Accommodation looks best alternative. Hunter should initiate the process of clearing the misunderstanding. He should make it clear that he was ignorant of his relationship with the girl. Collaboration is always the best solution; but Captain is unlikely to come forward for a talk given the intensity of his involvement. Therefore, in this situation accommodation appears the best strategy.