WEEKLY CASE STUDY 6 Tamarack Industry

Individual weekly case assignment 6-Tamarack Industry
RUIWEN RAN(N01014875)
MGMT- 1500-OLG

1. What are the signs (symptoms) of conflict in this case?
The main issue in the Tamarack Industry was the conflict between two groups that was the
Greek team versus the older worker team. At first, the order worker and the Greek team had different perception on the way doing the things in the company; in addition, the older workers started to despise the Greek team because they had slow productivity, so they began to revenge with sabotage. And then, the old workers used to sneak during breaks to the Greek line of work and hide tools, dent materials, install something crooked to slower the production of the Greek team.

2. Use the conflict model to (a) identify the structural causes of conflict and (b) discuss the escalation of conflict described in the case.
On using the conflict model in the identification of the conflict in the Tamarack Industry case, the structural causes were differentiation, ambiguous rules and communication problems. The two groups from different background and have different goals; on the other hand, they also do not have clear rules including precise obligation or norms; poor communication also escalated on the sabotage of the company product.

3. If you were Dan Jensen, what action would you take in this situation?
First step, I would reduce differentiation in the company, which means developing shared repository of experience and beliefs; second one I would improve communication and mutual understanding, which means giving the conflicting party more opportunities to communicate and understand each other.