Tamarac_Industries

Case 10 Tamarac Industries Primary Case Topic: Chapter 11 Conflict Case Synopsis: Basically, there is conflict between Tamarack Industries’ summer hires and the permanent employees. The permanent employees complained about the summer hires’ being on their team because of inappropriate behavior. After separating the summer hires to a team of their own, the permanent employees became jealous of their achievements. The permanent employees felt that the summer hires should have the exact production run. Once again, the summer hires surpassed the permanent workers after mirroring production goals. This caused sabotaging between the two groups. Finally, management decided to reassign workers to teams but decided against this option after discovering that many of the summer hires would quit as a result of this change. Symptoms The new hires were clearly better than the permanent workers in computers, the new hires were given long production runs, new hires making demeaning comments to permanent employees, sabotaging production runs, Dan questioning his decision to separate summer hires and permanent workers Problem Analysis The main problems in this case relate to conflict that stems from a generation gap, strengths that both groups feel inferior to the other which causes them with one another, perception that one group is being favored over the over by management Conflict Relationship conflict is evident in this case because teams begin to undermine and sabotage the work of others. The summer hires worked best as a cohesive team because they were able to meet their goals unlike the permanent employees. Differentiation was apparent in this case study. There were summer hires that were temp hires versus permanent employees and there was a generation gap between the groups. The summer hires had a different outlook regarding their employment at Tamarack which seemed inappropriate. This case lacked interdependence between the groups because neither wanted to share ideas or resources with each other. They only focused on undermining each other. The rules were ambiguous because both tried to interfere with the goals of the other. Dan wanted to force change for the better by deciding to reassign team members but later change his mind. Recommendation Dan wanted to rectify the conflict by reassigning team members. However, he was highly encouraged not do follow through on this decision for fear that the new hires would quit. Dan could’ve tried to get the groups to communicate more with each other and try to understand their differences. Both groups had a great deal to offer the other and would have proved beneficial to each other and ultimately the company. Management should allow the groups to come together and realize the potential growth from learning and sharing of ideas. Dan needs to rebuild trust among the groups and set goals that are fair to each of them. Additionally, management needs to resolve the conflict by means of arbitration or inquisition. Mediation would not lead to a decision that both teams would agree to.