Organisati onal Be ha vio ur, Emerg ing Kn owledge / Glo bal Insig hts, Fo urth Asia -Pacifi c Edition
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412 PART 3 Teom Processes
f,'"
1. Usmg the 'model of conflict processes'. ide ntify t he sou rce s of conflict between the po licy tea m and the Implementat ion t eam.
2. Were Max's actions appropriate in t his situatio n? If 50, why? If not. what should he have done instead?
3. What actions should Joseph take t o ensure t hat the taskfo rce meets the government's objectives and t imellnes 7
STAR ENTERPRISES­
RITA'S ISSUES AT WORK}
BY NUZHAT LOTIA, UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
Rita has been working fo r Star Enterprises for the last 13 years.
Star Enterpr ises 15 a medium-sized auto-parts man ufacturer and
supplies parts to one of the largest car ma nufactu ri ng compan ies
in Austra lia. The company has 450 employees Despite t he recent
financia l CrISis, Star Enterprises has not suffered great losses. This is
due to thei r commitment to quality and reliabil it y.
Rita started out on the factory fl oor when she began wo rking
for Star Enterprises a5 a 20 year o ld. She has since the n worked he r
way through to her curre nt position as th e senio r supervisor in t he
Quality Control Department. She has been work ing in th is position
fo r the last three years. She has moved up to more se nior positions
in the comp any because she is recogni sed as a hard-working and
dedicated worker who takes great pride in t he work t hat she does.
Rita is one of the most ex per ienced workers in t he section and
the qual ity contro l manage r relies heaVi ly on her knowledge an d
exper ience. She knows almost everyone at the company and ha s
deve lope d good re lations with her co-workers, who rely on her fo r
support and expertise.
Rece nt ly, Rita has been very unhappy with t he situation at work.
It all started when her boss, Mr Blake, the quality co ntrol manage r,
left fo r a senior pos ition in Star Enterprises' sister company.
After he left, Rita was asked by the general manager if she woul d
consider wo rking as the acting qua lity contro l manager until th e
position was filled . Rita was very hap py to take up t he opportunity.
She had often taken on t hat position informally in t he pa st whe n
Mr Blake had been away on leave or professiona l development.
She had always felt that, being the most experi e nced person in t he
department, it was her responsibility to take on t hese addit iona l
duties while her boss was away. She felt a sense of pride in doing so.
When the offer of becoming the acting quality contro l manager
was made to her six months ago , she was very excited and felt tha t
the company had acknowledged her contr ibuti on, her experience
and her ded ication to her work by giving her this responsibility. She
was also quite happy to take on the position as it meant a pay rise
as well , and she could do with the add it iona l income as she had
recently bought a house and was find ing it difficu lt to manage with
her current income.
1 Case study prepared by NUl hat Lotla , Departmen t of Managemen t and Marketmg, Uni ve rsity of M elbourne. This case ISnot to be reproduced or dist rr buted without
permission.
391
Rita was rea lly enjoy ing this added responsibi lity of managing
the department. She had the opportunity t o participate in se ni or
management meetings and found t hat she was able to contribute to
the d,scussions. The general manager was very supportive and would
often drop by her office to make sure she was coping well With the
work. and was always availab le for a chat if she needed help. While
she had settled into this new role quite well. she was struggling
with managing the budget and finances of the department. She had
never dealt with departmental finances or managed budgets In her
pa st roles, even when she was informally acti ng on the manage, 's
behalf. She felt that she needed some forma l training in the area to
enable her to function we ll in this aspect of t he job. She looked up
some short courses being oFfered by pro fessional deve lopment and
training organisations and foun d one t hat she felt was perfect for
her needs. The course was a bit expens ive, but she fe lt t hat it would
be very beneficial despite the cost.
The next day, she approached the general manager with a
request for fund ing her to attend the lO-day tra in ing. Wh ile t he
general manager showed empathy for her situatio n, he said that he
could not approve thiS expenditure as they ha d already advertised
for the position and they would be hiri ng a manager soon, at whic h
point ~he would go back to her senior supe rvisor role. He explained
that he could not justify the expendi t ure on Rita's professio nal
developmen t.
Rita cou ld not believe what she had just heard. She had been
unaware t hat the manager pOSition wa s bei ng advertised . She was
very upset and this was obvious from her face . She mumbled,
'I understand' and qu ickly got up and left the general manager's
office. The truth was that she did not understand; in fact, she fe lt
betrayed. She had in he r heart hoped t hat her acting role would
eventually t urn into a permanent posit io n, as she felt that she had
been doing her job really well except for the budgetary side of
t hings, which she was quite willing to learn about.
After com ing out of the general manager's office, she ran to her
office, locked the door and started crying. She felt very upset an d
angry She felt that she had always given her best to the company,
but had been let down. At that moment, she decided that if she
was going to be treated so badly then she wou ld have nothing to
do with the company. She would quit tomorrow.
That evening at home, she real ised that she could not make
such a rash decision as she could not afford to lose the income.
50, she thought to herself, I will stay, but I will show them what
they are losing out on. She continued to work in the acting quality
392 Orga nizationa l Behavior, Sixth Edi tion
manager position, but did not take any initiative any more and just
went about t he routine of the work. She avoided meettng with the
general manager as well. Everyone In the department noticed this
change in Rita , but could not figure out what had happened.
When t he new manager, james Downer, Joined and Rita returned
to her senior supervisor position, she decided that she was not
going to help him in any way. james was new to the industry. Before
taking up this position, he had been working in quality control in
il home ilppliances manufacturing company, While he had come
highly recommended, he stili had to learn il lot about auto
manufacturing. He often approached Rita for advice Rita would
1. Identi fy and discuss why Rita was upset at work. Analyse the sources of confl ict in t his Situation.
2. How would you assess Rita's approach to managi ng t he confl ict that she is experiencing at work? Your answer should include a
discussion of the positive and negative aspects of her approach.
3. What do you th ink she should have done differently?
NELSON MANDELA
BY KANOY DAYARAM, CURTIN UNIVERSITY
I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the
glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the dIStan ce
I ha ve come. But I can rest only for a moment, for with freedom
comes responsibilities, and I dare no t linger, for my long walk
is not yet ended.
- Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
Nelson Mandela grew up in the Transke i area of South Africa as
a membe r of royalty within the Xhosa tribe. He was groomed to
counsel the rulers of t he t ribe. After his fat her dIed , he was formally
adopted by Chief Dalindyebo, acting regent of the Thembu people,
and had many first-hand opportunities to observe the chief's
leadership skills in action as he led tribal cou nci ls in t he community.
But Mandela chose not to follow his predeter mined path; instead,
he left the Transkei after completing his secon d year o f studi es at
Fort Hare University, and moved to Johannesburg, where he joined
the African Nationa l Co ngress (AN C). His education contin ued, and
his struggle for free dom began.
Nelson Ma nde la re ma ms on e of the world 's most revered
statesmen, an d led t he str uggle to replace the apart heid regi me
of South Africa with a m ulti-racial democracy. He has spent
his entire life. includ ing 27 years in pr iso n, fighting for o cia l
justice. He discover d th e im portance of education as a tool
for understand ing the history and culture o f his o wn p ople,
and of other groups. Retainmg a lifelong thirst for education
El1d of Part Case Stud,es PART 3 41
tell him what she knew and supported him initially, but then the
resentment began to set in.
When james started making changes to the qual ity control
systems that Rita had helped design and set up, the resentment
grew but she bottled up her fee lings. Rita would answer abruptly
when James approached her for advice. She also started avoiding
him. She would often walk away to the kitchen or to the printer
whe n she saw him approaching her desk or wp~l d pICk up the
phone and start making a call. Every now and the n, Rita would
call in sick. She was on ce again beginning to con sider quitting
her job.
and knowledge, he completed his law degree hile In jail,
and continued to st ud y through hi s years of imprisonment on
Robben Island. Mandela was also instrumental In e ncouraging
fellow politICa l prisoners to cont inue their education - so much
so that wa rders would sometimes refer to his prison block as
'Mandela University'. Despite many years in ja il. he emerged
t o become So uth Afr ica's first black president and to playa
leading role in the dri ve for peace in other spheres of confl ict.
He show ed tr ue sta tesmanship by reaching out a reconciliatory
hand to his oppressors. In 1993, together with his p residential
p redecesso r, F. W. d e Klerk. he won the Nobe l Peace Prile.
From hiS early days observing triba l pol Itics, Nelson Mandela
learned t hat listening is often more Important than talk ing. Having
learned th is skil l, he gained a reputatio n as someone who could
hear and be open to differing points of view, but at t he same time
maintain an unwavering commitment to his beliefs. 'Oft en , my
own opin ion wi ll simply represent a consensus of what I heard in
t he discussIon . . a leader is like a shepherd . He stays behind the
fl ock, letting t he most nim ble go o ut ahead, whereupon the others
foll ow, not real ising t hat all along they are being d irected from
behind:
Mande la stepped down as presi dent after t he ANC's
landslide victory in 1999, an d Thabo Mbek i became t he second
democrati ca lly e le cted president of South Africa . Since t hen,
Mande la has become South Africa's highest profile ambassador,
campaigning for HIY/A IDS initiatives and securi ng his country's
right to host t he 201 0 soccer Wo rld Cup. Former US president Bill
Clinton is o ne of his many adm irers, stating: 'Every t ime Nelson
Mandela walks int o a room we all fee l a little bigger, we a ll want
to stand up, we all want to cheer, because we'd like to be him on
our best day'.