By:Christopher SpeerLawrence Bridges

The Problem with Teamwork

Mike and Jill have been butting heads for months now

Mike is a manufacturing manger at Auto Safety Products

Mike is 55 years old and has worked in manufacturing for most of his life

Spent the last 22 years at Auto Safety ProductsAlways felt some animosity toward the design

side of the firmFound the engineers were unwilling to listen to

the problems faced in manufacturing

Case Study Summary

Often complained that design department generates projects that run into all sorts of problems once they hit manufacturing

Jill is 25 years old Mechanical engineer with Auto Safety ProductsBeen with them since graduating collegeAssertive and strong-mindedBelieves she has to be effective in the male-

dominated world of engineeringJill and Mike has to work together frequently on a

booster seat design in a variety of minivans

Case Study Summary (cont.)

Inability to work together has gotten worseSupervisor had to set up a meeting Adam Shapiro is the project supervisorKnew the two of them have not it off on the engineering

team and had decided the conflict had gotten to the point where he must step in and help them settle it.

He brought them in individually and asked them about the problem

Jill was the first person Adam talked to Jill’s problem was that Mike would not listen to her

ideas and downplayed the contributions that design can make to concurrent engineering

Case Study Summary (cont.)

Jill suspects that Mike has problems with her because she is young and she is a woman.

This has made her push even harder for her point of view on project disagreements

Mike’s problem is that he thinks the concurrent engineering system and the booster seat team in particular is a joke

Design engineers are still trying to push their ideas down the manufacturing’s throat and he’s tired of it

Mike would like to go back to doing things the old wayHowever if forced to continue with the concurrent

engineering system he refuses to give into every one of Jill’s ideas.

Case Study Summary (cont.)

Mike believes that engineers are “uppity” and unwilling to listen to the problems dealing with manufacturing.

As a female engineer Jill feels as though she needs to be effective in the male-dominated world of engineering.

1a. What kind of predispositions are Mike and Jill taking into this conflict situation?

These predispositions are definitely negatively influencing the way Mike and Jill approach each other.

Obviously they are going to automatically approach each other because of their opinions.

1b. How might these predispositions influence the way the frame, the conflict and the way they approach each other?

If Mike and Jill were to attempt to deal with this conflict on their own I would recommend that they use the compromising conflict style.

Compromising will allow you to achieve both of your goals, resulting in a “win-win” situation instead of a “win-lose” situation.

2a. If Mike and Jill were to attempt to deal with this conflict on their own, what conflict style would you recommend?

No, because when the problem first arose they had a hard time coming to a common ground resolution

If it wasn’t for Adam they would have never resolved the problem.

2b. Given what you know about Jill and Mike, do you think they would use an effective conflict resolution style?

Sit them both down together and have them write down the benefits that each of them bring to the company.

Find a common ground

3a. IF you were Adam, how would you approach this conflict?

Use mediatorCheck to make sure each parties ideas are running smoothly

Integrative bargaining

3b. What strategies should you use to help Mike and Jill deal with their ongoing problems?

Yes, because a mediator in the meeting will keep things calm as well as make sure both sides get a fair compromise

3c. Would you consider bringing in a mediator to help them work through their issues

Would see the situation from a female and side thus would take Jill’s side in the argument

Would conflict be viewed differently if Jill was in a male position of power?

Same sex, less confrontation?

4a. How would a feminist approach to conflict see this situation?

No because Adam handled this situation the right way by bringing Mike and Jill in and have them discuss the problem

This way is more productive because they can express themselves without knowing what the other person had to say

You can cover more ground by one-on-one problem solving.

4b. Is it possible to use an alternative model that would recast this situation in a more productive frame?

Michelle D. LaneProfessor at Western Kentucky University Team projects provide benefits to the education

process and provide experience that is valued by some employers.

Due to free-riding, scheduling problems and differing goals, there are fragile grounds for team conflicts

Needs to be a better method of forming teams and a process to assure shared goals by team members.

Effective Student Teams: A Faux Hiring and Peer Evaluation Process

Six stepsSelection of interviewersPosting interviewee’s applications for

review by classmates and interviewersHold a “Job Fair”Selection of personal top choices by both

interviewers and intervieweesInstructor-team assignmentForming and signing of the team

contract

Faux Hiring Process

Faux Hiring Process

The results showed that using the faux hiring teams had stronger influence on shared goals

Fewer conflicts within the group

Results

Provides an example of a way to prevent teamwork problems

Article says to use a interview process whereas the case study doesn’t

Article Related to Case Study

Liisa HuuskoDepartment of Business and EconomicsUniversity of JoensuuJoensuu, FinalandArticle was about how the past 10 years that

team members enter the workforce as well as management or leadership emphasis influences different images of supervisors

Team member who are not the same age have different images of superviosrs.

What is Expected from Supervisors

Team members not the same age have different images of one another

Male-female problem in the groupAge Older generation wants to do the same change and not adapt to change.

Article Related to Case Study

Published in Los Angeles Times newspaperThe players’ union and the owners can not

come to terms on money agreements thus causing a lockout

At first they did not want to bring a mediator in but they now have to try to speed up the talks

Related to our case study because neither side could come to a common ground and they had to bring a mediator to help get to that common ground

NBA Lockout; Can Both Sides Agree on Basketball-Related Income?