Case: Choosing Your Approach to resolving Conflict Objective To evaluate the five approaches to responding to conflict from the Thomas Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument and choose the best approach for any given circunstance. Problem Joe has so many fires to put out at work and could use a little help in choosing the best approach to respond to them. Here is a sampling of the issues confronting him 1. Previously, Joe apologized to Maria, a customer, for an offensive remark Tina made. Now, Maria and her husband, Eric, have returned to the store and appearless concerned about Tina's offensive behavior and more concerned about getting satisfaction regarding the belt ander they claim is defective. They also want more power to reimburse them for a small medical bill they incurred when the belt sander caused an abrasion to Eric's arm. While Joe feels badly about Tina's behavior toward Maria, he also feels there is nothing wrong with the belt sander, More Power's attorney further advised Jim Talent that they should not reimburse the medical bilasit could be interpreted as admitting to liability 2. A customer named Charlie came in and wanted immediate satisfaction of a rebate offer for a pair of garden shears. He claimed that More Power's local advertisement was not in sync with the rebate pro- gram that the manufacturer of the garden shears offered. More Power's store advertisement said the rebate offer was good during the week Charlie purchased the product. However, Charlie later learned that the nationwide rebate offer from the manufacturing company had expired the week before Joe expressed confidence that the manufacturing company would honor the rebate when Charlie submit- ted it with the appropriate explanation. But Charlie was doubtful and, at any rate, thought that going through such a process was inconvenient. The rebate was worth S. Charlie wanted Joe to pay him 53 from the cash register 3. Mr. Hassanuts came in with a city, broken down lawnmower. The mower clearly had not been maintained. Joe doubted that Mr. Han had kept the appropriate maintenance schedule as required under warranty. The mower also had a severely chipped blade, probably from hitting a rock Mr. Hassenfuss claimed that the mower broke down completely last Saturday. More Power should either de a complete overhaul of the mower or provide completely new mower at no cost. Mr. Hassenfuss presented a warranty document that had expired a half year before and claimed that the warranty should be honored anyway. He claimed that More Power knew its mower would break down at prescribed time and deliberately contrived its warranty to expire well in advance. This was traud, he claimed 4. Vk Vendor, the new sales representative for Door Dye Tools, has been comparing about the pricing structure that more power has been using to sell Door De Tools. He does not fault Mure Power for this since the problem is mostly with Axelrod, the former Door Dye representative, who was in the habit of making informal handshake deals with More Power management regarding pricing rather than applying sound marketing principles. Despite this, Vic warns that the pricing structure does not change. Door Dye may have to discontinue business with More Power 5. Jen Talent asked loe to work with Kim Khan assistant manager for tools, on negotiations with Vic Vendor regarding the pricing structure for Door Dye Tools. However, Kamislivid about the veted threats Vi has been making loe suspects that Kim is more offended because was the individual responsible for the previour handshake deals with sel Rod. Doe also feels Kam perceives Joe as a threat, representing the new guard within the More Power management structure. Case Questions 1. Pick two cases, identify the conflict management strategy you will use to address them Discuss the reason(s) why you choose the approach with focus on the level of assertiveness and the level of cooperativeness for the importance of outcome and importance of relationship you believe is warranted for the situation. 2. Why can reasonable people draw different conclusions regarding the best approach to responding to various conflicts? 3. For the selected cases, name one or two approaches that are clearly ineffective and why