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Case Study: The Vigilance Project

University of the People

BUS 5113: Organizational Theory and Behavior

Dr. Carol Hirko

October 07, 2020

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Case Study: The Vigilance Project

Why is this case about Team Conflict? What conflicts do you see developing?

This case is about team conflict because this is about a team that is integrated from the

United States and France. This began with a merger where two companies merged. The U.S.

team had worked on a project called Perspective prior to the merger, and they knew a lot of

information that they felt they could contribute to the new project called Vigilance. The Project

leader, Didier was from France, and he was autocratic as far as leadership style. He did not want

input from outsiders. He would cancel important meetings. Frank Lanigan tried to redirect and

give a communication plan that was declined by Didier. Frank became angry, upset, frustrated,

and more withdrawn. This was the beginning of the team conflict developing between the U.S.

team members and the French team members.(Dominick, 2008)

How is distance affecting team dynamics and performance?

The distance between the teams is affecting the performance because they are not

meeting regularly. Didier is leaving very little time to discuss anything that is not on his agenda.

He is an autocratic leader. I believe that both countries also have different cultures and this

presents a problem for the team to work together. The U.S. core team members feel that their

ideas were given little or no consideration by Didier. One comment made by a team member

was “Don’t provide your opinion until asked – at which point they will tell you what your

opinion is.” (Dominick, 2008) Didier responded negatively to any suggestions from any input

from the team that had dealt with Perspective, and he considered it as Taboo. Didier stopped

discussions and the Americans felt isolated.(Dominick, 2008)

When the Americans thought they may have felt they had a chance at having an open

communication line with the French team at the face-to-face meeting by having a brief cross-
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culture awareness workshop, but too much disappointed, they learned that it was

canceled. Didier had said that upper management had canceled the workshop but it turned out

that Didier, himself, had canceled it. The American team had distrust towards leadership and

started to withdraw.(Dominick, 2008)

What do you think about the decision to appoint sub-team sponsors? What

problem can it solve? Which problems might not be solved?

I can understand why Lance chose to appoint sub-team sponsors to try to mediate the

conflicts within the team but I don’t think it would solve the autocratic tendencies that Didier

had. According to Fiegenbaum, dominance, compromise, and confrontation “involve managers

getting involved by mediating, calling people out, making an executive decision or forcing a

mediation with hopes for collaborative solutions.” (Fiegenbaum, n.d.) I believe that these were

Lance’s intentions, however some problems that might not be resolved, is the way the Didier

is domineering in not allowing communication amongst the teams from the U.S. and

France. Didier feels that his way is the only way to be successful and refuses to hear or desires

any input from the American team members. I believe that Lance and upper management

should have counseled him. I believe this would have made a positive impact on the Americans

who have been frustrated and ignored for such a long time. This could have given the team an

opportunity to be more open-minded to suggestion and experience. (Dominick, 2008)

In addition to technical skills, what does this case study say about the kinds of skills

that must be considered when staffing important projects?

The kind of skills that must be considered are:

 Leadership style
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o The leadership style of the project manager is very important. You want someone

who is a coach and is a strong leader in his/her area of expertise. They must not

only know the importance of the project but also know how to carry it out.

 Communication

o This skill goes hand in hand with leadership style. The project manager must be

able to communicate the vision for the project and be able to carry it through and

to communicate with all members of the team.

 Team Management

o Management of the team regardless of where they are located is extremely

important. They must help engage all team members. They should facilitate the

team to come up with decisions and deliver the end result.

 Time Management

o Time management is always a must as a skill for project management. Deadlines

must be met and always communicated to the team.

 Critical Thinking

o Management must be able to logically structure arguments before coming to

decisions. This a very important skill that management must have and they must

come up with pros and cons before making a decision.

 Negotiation

o Negotiation skills are a must when working on a project. This helps resolve

conflicts within a team. This is something that Didier lacked. He thought by

controlling the project he would have to not have to negotiate any terms within
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the team. This only led to frustration and withdrawal from the team.(Seymour,

n.d.)

What conflict negotiation skills are most appropriate for this case?

I believe that using an integrative negotiation approach would be the most appropriate for

this case. There are many cultural differences and the Americans also have a past history of

working on a project together, and they could have some very valuable input in the current

project. If they use an integrative approach to show the French project manager that they have a

common goal and show the valuable knowledge they have, then they could be more successful in

coming to a middle ground with the project manager.(PON Staff, 2019)

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References

Dominick, P. G. (2008). The vigilance project - case overview. Society for Human Resource

Management.

https://web.stevens.edu/ses/documents/fileadmin/documents/pdf/The_Vigilance_Project_

Student_Workbook_Final.pdf

Fiegenbaum, E. (n.d.). Organizational Conflict Theory. Small Business Chron.com.

https://smallbusiness.chron.com/organizational-conflict-theory-4874.html

PON Staff. (2019, March 21). Four conflict negotiation strategies for resolving value-based

disputes. PON at Harvard Law. https://www.pon.harvard.edu/daily/dispute-

resolution/four-negotiation-strategies-for-resolving-values-based-disputes/

Seymour, S. (n.d.). What are the most important skills for a project manager and why?

Financesonline.com. https://financesonline.com/important-skills-project-manager/