Response the below:
QUESTION 1
John 13:16-17
Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
Given that we are no better or worse than our fellow man, what type of reaction would that cause in a team situation? I have found three articles. You can review one or all three and just give me a brief answer to this: Does our Christian belief system interact with our roles in a team situation or does it even come into play? Here are the articles. Looking forward to your responses
QUESTION 2
Here are many types of conflict occurring during this situation between the manager and union regarding the impending lay off of employees or their wages being lowered. Personality conflict can be looked at because of the incivility the union is displaying during the meeting. Intergroup conflict could be addressed because both parties are at odds over the same issue. And then there is a conflict triangle, because the union incorporated having their lawyers present rather than trying to have the meeting between the company manager and themselves (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2013).
The management style I would use during these many conflicts is to incorporate integrative negotiation by including a mediator during the meetings. By having integrative negotiation, the goal is for there to be a win-win for both parties. I do not want to lay off employees or lower their wages and neither does the union. We two groups need to come together and work collaboratively as a team to determine how we can avoid this issue. The two groups will have to be honest with each other and provide as much relative information needed. Other options need to be identified, a plan needs to be created to use those options and then come to an agreement or settlement of the terms of this new plan (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2013).
For example, everyone might need to take a hit at this situation, including the company's manager (myself) and the union. I will elect not to take my normal bonus and pay increase and ask for the money to be distributed to the employees. This cannot be resolved by one year, so it may need to be assessed how many years I may need to forgo my bonus and pay increase. The union may also need to look at the amount they are charging for dues from the employees. If this is being taken out of the employees pay check, they offer not to raise union dues, and that amount of money not being raised could be cut from the employee's wages which will still provide the same amount out of their paycheck. Also, in order to prevent layoffs, employees will not be able to have a pay increase as well, for a projected amount of years. If these options are not available, then I would take it back to the employees. What do they want? Their have been surprising situations where employees have voted for one or other. It needs to be explained to the employees what the circumstances are so they are able to cast the appropriate vote.
Question 3
Personal barriers that are present on the case presented in discussion question one is variations in how information is processed and interpreted. I am just assuming but I think it is a safe assumption that the CEO and workers come from different backgrounds. The CEO was probably raised in a white collar environment whereas the machinist probably came from more of a blue collar back ground. This affects how they interpret the situation. Natural tendency to evaluate others' messages may also play a part in the lack of effective communication. Carl Rogers says that we evaluate messages from our own point of view. Both parties have a strong sense of urgency on the situation. For example, the machinist see layoffs being a vindictive decision the CEO is making, rather than putting themselves in his shoes and realizing the CEO doesn't have too many options to pick from.
I am not great at resolving conflicts by any means, but what I would do is convene with an end state in mind and lay down possible resolutions by looking at each other's point of view. This may not work because of budget constraints, but it is an effort to find a solution.
Evidence based decision making essentially lays out all the facts in the situation. If everything is laid out for everyone to see, it will paint a different picture. This can help the resolve the conflict. I don't see evidence based decision making hurting the resolution process.