Module 3 – Case
CONFLICT AND NEGOTIATION
Assignment Overview
For this Case study, we will be looking at a fictional case
of a manager caught between a rock and hard place. Nick Cunningham is a manager
at Synergon, a high-powered company involved in purchasing poorly managed
companies and then restructuring them to become more profitable. However,
Synergon has now purchased Beauchamp, Becker, and Company, which is a
well-managed and highly profitable company.
Nick is in an awkward position because he is in charge of
managing this merger, but he also knows that the success of the merger is
dependent on Beauchamp’s managing director and other top leaders remaining in
their positions and continuing their solid work. However, Nick’s bosses are not
known for taking a conciliatory approach towards companies they purchase and
usually force major changes on any company that they acquire. Predictably, Nick
is faced with a threat of retirement by Beauchamp’s managing director Julian
Mansfield due to Synergon’s strict policies and approach.
Before beginning the Case Assignment, make sure you have
thoroughly reviewed the tutorial and textbook readings from the background
materials. Pay special attention to readings on causes of conflict, types of
conflict, and conflict management styles. For this assignment you will need to
apply concepts from the background materials to this fictional case.
Case Assignment
Once you have finished reviewing the background materials,
take a look at this following article and think about how the concepts from the
background materials apply to this fictional case:
Cliffe, S. (1999). Can This Merger Be Saved? Harvard
Business Review, 77(1), 28-44. [EbscoHost]
Then write a 4- to 5-page paper addressing the following
questions:
Do you think this conflict that Nick Cunningham faces is
functional or dysfunctional? Explain your reasoning, and cite Bauer and Erdogan
(2011) or Luthans et al. (2015) in your answer.
What is the source of this conflict? Use the terminology
from the Pearson tutorial, Bauer and Erdogan (2011), or Luthans et al. (2015)
in your answer. For example, is this conflict a result of
relationship/interpersonal issues? Or from tasks/roles? Other?
Of the five styles of conflict management discussed in
Shearhouse (2011) or Bauer and Erdogan (2011) which one do you think would be
the best approach for Nick Cunningham to take?
What other advice would you give Nick Cunningham based on
the concepts discussed in any of the background readings?
Assignment Expectations
Follow the assignment instructions closely and follow all
steps listed in the instructions.
Stay focused on the precise assignment questions, don’t go
off on tangents or devote a lot of space to summarizing general background
materials.
Make sure to cite readings from the background materials
page. Rely primarily on the required background readings as your sources of
information.
Include both a bibliography and in-text citations. See the
Student Guide to Writing a High-Quality Academic Paper, including pages 11-14
on in-text citations.
Module 3 – SLP
CONFLICT AND NEGOTIATION
For the Module 3 SLP you will be applying the concepts you
learned in the background materials regarding conflict and negotiation to a
situation from your own personal experiences. Carefully review the background
materials regarding types of conflict, causes of conflict, negotiation stages,
and conflict management styles. It is important to first understand these
comments from the background readings before starting this assignment.
Once you have thoroughly reviewed the background materials,
think of a situation in the workplace where a conflict erupted and management
had to intervene and some type of negotiation was involved. Then write a three
page paper addressing the following four questions, and make sure to cite at
least one of the required background readings for each of your four answers :
Was this conflict functional or dysfunctional?
What was the cause of the conflict? Use the terms from the
background materials in your answer—for example, was the conflict a result of
interpersonal issues, a specific task involved, due to inter-organizational
issues, etc.
Of the five approaches to conflict management outlined in
Shearouse (2011) or Bauer and Erdogan (2011), which approach most closely
describes the approach used by management to resolve this conflict?
Did the negotiations involve integrative or distributive
bargaining? What stages of negotiation did management go through, and did these
stages match the five stages discussed in Bauer and Erdogan (2011) or the
Pearson interactive tutorial?
SLP Assignment Expectations
Follow the assignment instructions closely and follow all
steps listed in the instructions.
Stay focused on the precise assignment questions, don’t go
off on tangents or devote a lot of space to summarizing general background
materials.
Make sure to cite readings from the background materials
page. Rely primarily on the required background readings as your sources of
information.
Include both a bibliography and in-text citations. See the
Student Guide to Writing a High-Quality Academic Paper, including pages 11-14
on in-text citations.
