Informal Conflict Resolution: A Workplace Case Study

Jon Guerrero

ORGL - 3311 - KV1 - Issue Org. Leadership

Dr. Sandra Trevino

July 1st, 2022

Conflict

Conflict can be defined as a severe disagreement or dispute. There are 3 different types of

conflict. Task, relationship, and process. Task conflict relates to the satisfaction and objectives of

the job. Relationship conflict focuses on conflicts relating to personal relationships with others.

Lastly, process conflict is conflict based on how the work gets done. Of the three, relationship

conflict is the one that takes a bigger toll on people, especially in the workplace. This type of

conflict can create mental and emotional fatigue (Robbins & Judge, 2018).

The Conflict

Laura is a new employee at a large publishing company in New York as a copy editor.

Laura and her co-workers joined for happy hour after work to relieve stress and enjoy

themselves. After the event was over, Tim, a senior editor, asked Laura if she wanted to share the

cab with him. Tim was intrigued by the presence of Laura ever since he saw her. Through the

confidence gained by the fair amount of alcohol consumed, Tim made a sexual advance toward

Laura once in the cab. Laura did not appreciate this unwanted act from Tim.

This event caused Laura to be uneasy and uncomfortable at work. She was self-conscious

about what others would think or bring attention to her since she is still a new employee. The

very next day Tim apologized, and Laura was relieved that it did not have to escalate, and she
wanted to brush it off as if it was nothing. Tim understood that his acts were something that can

be settled through just an apology. Tim, however, apologized every moment he could for three

months. Ironically the more he would apologize, the more he triggered “another form of

unwanted attention” and a constant reminder for Laura of the incident (Taylor, 2000). This

pushed Laura to vent to her coworkers causing mixed feelings about their coworker, Tim.

Laura's resolution was to move to another division of the company to avoid Tim. Unfortunately,

through the change of position Laura did not find herself liking the new job environment and

regretted changing due to Tim.

The Conflict Process

The conflict process has five stages: potential opposition or incompatibility, cognition

and personalization, intentions, behavior, and outcomes. Potential opposition or incompatibility

means when there are different viewpoints on a certain topic and the conflict arises. Cognition

and personalization are how each person feels about the issues at hand. Intentions are the way a

person acts a certain way, especially when dealing with the person they have a conflict with.

Behavior is when people start acting differently around the person, they have a conflict with and

it starts to be visible, not just to those involved but oftentimes others around them as well.

Outcomes can be either good or bad. A good outcome is that the parties involved come to a

decision to make things work between them. A bad outcome would be that neither of the parties

involved gets what they are asking for and the tension continues to be there between them not

allowing either of the parties to move forward (Robbins & Judge, 2018).
Analysis of Conflict

Laura and Tim have a relationship conflict. They do not have a problem with how each

other work or either of their processes for work. When Tim made a sexual advance on Laura,

that is what started the conflict between them by having different feeling for each other. Both of

them felt a negative way towards how their appearances would be perceived at work and thus,

started the cognition and personalization step in the conflict process. This step is how each felt it

impacted them personally. The next day when Tim apologized, even though his intentions were

good and Laura accepted them, Tim kept apologizing because he was embarrassed. Laura did not

tell him that each time he apologized, it brought back unwanted memories. This lack of

communication is what added the discomfort between them. Once their behavior started to

change and to be noticeable that neither of them felt comfortable about the situation. Laura

sought help from the company’s Ombudsman to mitigate the conflict due to the advance causing

tension between Laura and Tim at work and keep it confidential. The Ombudsman is a great tool

to use as a mediator and keep a neutral person so both parties can be heard. The Ombudsman

would help ease up tension between both parties by providing “a calming influence that enables

people through their problems” (Taylor, 2000). The outcome was that once they were able to

speak openly about their concerns, both of them were able to put it aside and move past it.

Loci of Conflict

The loci of conflict simply means where the conflict arises. There are three loci of

conflict which are dyadic, intragroup, and intergroup. Simply put, dyadic conflict is conflict that

occurs between two people. Intragroup conflict is conflict that starts within a group or team of
people. Intergroup conflict is that originates when groups or teams have a conflict with another

group of people (Robbins & Judge, 2018)

Conclusion

This dilemma is a clear example of Dyadic conflict, “a conflict between two people”

(Robbins & Judge, 2018). Where Laura and Tim were both trying to maintain “their own

credibility in the workplace” (Taylor, 2000). The initial conflict that was caused through the

sexual advance is something that had Laura at a disadvantage in this male-dominated world.

Instead of feeling bad about the situation, she was already thinking of the next day and how she

didn’t want to be labeled. This unwanted attention was not asked of her. Laura’s reputation was

also on the line, she was afraid that people would see her differently and they would not take her

work seriously. Tim’s reputation was also in play as well because Laura told coworkers about

what had happened. Turning coworkers in a way taking sides and of course, the coworkers think

differently or view Tim in another way than they previously did. Thus, increasing anxiety in the

workplace.

From a Dyadic conflict it shifts into an Intragroup conflict. Due to the secret, it created

the “elephant in the room” and the increased anxiety atmosphere between coworkers, Laura, and

Tim. The uneasiness has made coworkers get caught between the obvious problem. The

productivity decreased because the managing editor has been leaving the office more frequently

thus causing late work as a group and as a whole. The quality and productivity of the workplace

has also been influenced because “anxiety creates a reactive atmosphere that stifles creative

problem-solving” (Taylor, 2000).

 The meeting with the Ombudsman gave Laura and Tim the opportunity to tell each other

their perspective of the problem. Laura was able to understand why Tim would always apologize

to her and the reason why Laura moved away was due to Tim’s excessive reminder of the

incident. At the end, they were able to get past this and Laura was offered to come back but

Laura decided to move on and find her passion with a new job. The overall goal for Laura, Tim,

and the team is to alleviate the level of anxiety because “private interactions had detrimental

impact upon the office environment” (Taylor, 2000).

References:
Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2018). Organizational Behavior, 18th Edition. Pearson.
Taylor, M. (2000). Informal Conflict Resolution: A Workplace Case Study. Mediate, 1-11.