A Case Study on Conflict Management

A Case Study on Conflict Management

________________________________________
Shirley and Abdul both work for a software development company. The manager of the new
product division was originally the leader of the project team for which she interviewed and
hired Abdul. Shirley, another project team member, also interviewed Abdul, but strongly
opposed hiring him for the project because she thought he was not competent to do the job.
Seven months after Abdul was hired, the manager left the project to start her own company
and recommended that Abdul and Shirley serve as joint project leaders. Shirley agreed
reluctantly? With the stipulation that it be made clear she was not working for Abdul. The
General Manager consented; Shirley and Abdul were to share the project leadership.

Within a month Shirley was angry because Abdul was representing himself to others as the
leader of the entire project and giving the impression that Shirley was working for him. Now
Shirley and Abdul are meeting with you to see if you can resolve the conflict between them.
Shirley says: "Right after the joint leadership arrangement was reached with the General
Manager, Abdul called a meeting of the project team without even consulting me about the
time or content. He just told me when it was being held and said I should be there. At the
meeting, Abdul reviewed everyone's duties line by line, including mine, treating me as just
another team member working for him. He sends out letters and signs himself as project
director, which obviously implies to others that I am working for him."

Abdul says: "Shirley is all hung up with feelings of power and titles. Just because I sign
myself as project director doesn't mean she is working for me. I don't see anything to get
excited about. What difference does it make? She is too sensitive about everything. I call a
meeting and right away she thinks I'm trying to run everything. Shirley has other things to
do? Other projects to run? So she doesn't pay too much attention to this one. She mostly lets
things slide. But when I take the initiative to set up a meeting, she starts jumping up and
down about how I am trying to make her work for me."

Questions Regarding This Conflict

1. Abdul and Shirley seem to have several conflicts occurring simultaneously. Identify as
many of these individual conflicts as possible.
ANSWER:
In my opinion, Shirley is facing intrapersonal and interpersonal conflicts. First, she is unable
to adjust herself with Abdul. From start she don’t like Abdul as she interviewed him before
and doesn’t wanted Abdul to be hired by the company may be she has a threat that Abdul is
more competent than her. Secondly, Shirley is unhappy that how authoritatively Abdul is
performing tasks regarding the project because she has a lot of disagreements about the duties
Abdul is performing and decisions He is taking by his own about the project. If we talk about
Abdul than I believe if he is performing as a leader so, he must be able to indulge his
partner also while taking any resolution because of are committed to achieve the project
requirements and if Shirley is not showing much interest for the project then Abdul should
motivate her, he must give it a try to change the negativities of Shirley about his (at least he
should ask/ discuss) this is how leaders perform. Both of them are facing intra group conflict
as well because both are working for the same project but having conflicts while assigning
and performing tasks and meeting goals together.

2. What are the possible ways to deal with the conflict between Abdul and Shirley (not just
the ones that you would recommend, but all of the options)?
ANSWER:
I believe Shirley and Abdul should sit together and discuss the conflicts they are facing and
resolve the issues and negativities they have about each other. Shirley should accommodate
if she is less concerned about the project than Abdul. Abdul should avoid the negative
considerations of Shirley about him. Both should compromise and accommodate themselves
for the betterment of project because both are aimed to work together for better outcomes.
They should collaborate, resolves the conflicts among them and must play in a WIN-WIN
situation so that they can lead the group members and achieve the best results regarding the
project. If Shirley think that Abdul is taking all the decision and imposing his decision on her
then she must come up with a competitive edge, she should involve herself in all the decision
taken by Abdul. Both of them should believe that they are unique in their own ways to
perform a task so the element of respect should be there. An attitude of patience must be
adopted by them, they must have the capability to bear each other. Difference among their
opinions must be healthy and beneficial regarding the project. They should accept each
other’s annoyance and most importantly they should discuss the problems before taking the
final decision.
3. Given all the benefits of retrospection, what could or should have been done to avoid this
conflict in the first place?
ANSWER:
In my opinion, Shirley and Abdul are supposed to work as joint leaders so Abdul shouldn’t
represent himself as a leader of entire project and Shirley should discuss the conflicts she
facing about Abdul. They both should sit together and give each other a task of responsibility.
They may divide tasks and duties. They should take decisions authoritatively together and
lead the group members together and if any of one they cannot give much time to the project
than one should at least discuss the final planning with other person before implementation
and most importantly respect of element should be there. This is how conflict can be resolve.