Case 2: "Not your "Dream Team!", for applying content from Chapter 6, Teams and Teamwork, and Chapter 9, Conflict and Negotiation Case Content: Melody Murphy hasn't had much experience working as part of a team. As a recent university graduate, she had taken a business program that focused primarily on individual projects and essays. What little exposure she had to teams and teamwork was in her Organizational Behaviour, Market research and Strategy courses. When she interviewed for a job with ThinkLink, an educational software firm, she didn't give much thought to the fact that ThinkLink made extensive use of cross-functional teams. During her on-site job interviews at ThinkLink, she told the interviewers and managers alike that she had limited experience on teams. But she did tell them that she worked well with people and thought she could be an effective team player. Unfortunately, Melody didn't realize that working on a team is generally more complicated than simply working one-on-one with other people. Melody joined ThinkLink as an assistant marketing manager for the company's high school core programs. These are essentially software programs designed to help students learn algebra and geometry. Melody's manager is Lin Chen (the Marketing Manager). Other members of her team include Todd Schlotski (senior programmer); Laura Willows (advertising); Sean Traynor (vice- president of strategic marketing); Joyce Rothman (a former high school math teacher who co- founded ThinkLink and is the formal leader of this project, although she now works only part- time in the company); and Harley Graham (educational consultant). After her first week on the job, Melody was seriously considering quitting. "I never imagined how difficult it would be working with people who are so opinionated and competitive. Every decision seems to be a power contest. Sean, Joyce and Harley are particularly troublesome. Sean thinks his rank entitles him to the last word. Joyce thinks her opinions should carry more weight because she was instrumental in creating the company. Harley views everyone as less knowledgeable than he is because he consults with a number of software firms and school districts. Harley is a "know-it-all". To make matters worse, Lin is passive and quiet; he rarely speaks up in meetings and appears to want to avoid any conflicts. What makes my job particularly difficult is that I don't have any specific job responsibilities. It seems that someone else is always interfering with what I'm doing or telling me how to do it. Our team has seven members -six chiefs and me!" The project team that Melody is working on has a deadline to meet that is only six weeks away. Currently the team is at least two weeks behind schedule. Everyone is aware that there's a problem, but no one seems able to solve it. What is especially frustrating to Melody is that neither Lin Chen nor Joyce Rothman is showing any leadership. Lin Chen is preoccupied with a number of other projects, and Joyce can't seem to control Sean's and Harley's strong personalities. Case Questions: 1. Identify and discuss at least six factors in this situation that have contributed to the conflict. 2. What techniques or procedures might help to reduce the conflict in this particular situation? Refer to both Chapters 6 and 9 in responding to this question. 3. If you were Melody, what could you do to lessen the conflict on the core project