MGT420 case 3 ad slp 3 and Disussion

The reading by Shearouse (2011) discusses five conflict management styles. Many companies sell conflict style questionnaires for use in organizations. For the first week of this module, try your hand at a free questionnaire. Here is one that allows you to identify your own conflict management style based on five styles similar to those discussed in Shearouse (2011):

https://edge.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/10.2_Conflict_Style_Questionnaire.pdf

Report your rating as well as your general impressions about the usefulness of this questionnaire. Were you surprised by the results? Do you think the results are accurate? Would the questionnaire be useful for your organization?

For week two of this module, try your hand at using some of the conflict management or negotiation tactics discussed in this module. This could be with a coworker or family member. If everything is peaceful these days at home or at work, you can also try negotiating for a better deal, such as calling up your credit card company to try to get a lower interest rate or calling up your cell phone carrier to get a lower monthly rate. Share the results with your classmates, and don’t cause too much trouble…

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:

1. 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.
2. What is the source of this conflict? Use the terminology from 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?
3. 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?
4. 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 theStudent Guide to Writing a High-Quality Academic Paper, including pages 11-14 on in-text citations.

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 :

1. Was this conflict functional or dysfunctional?
2. 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.
3. 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?
4. 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)?

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.