Question 1: Is Randy’s Reaction Uncommon? Explain
Randy’s reaction towards Kaye is not uncommon. Randy was hostile towards the expansion of the hospital, which he agrees is a good idea, just to be hostile towards Kaye. When most people do not like others they tend to go against the other person in all aspects. They go against their actions, requests and even ideas, not because they are bad but because they do not like or see eye to eye with the other person. This occurs because they cannot in modern society go to arms and fight; therefore they go against each other’s ideas with the intention of harming the reputation of their opponent.
Question 2: What kinds of conflicts exist between Kaye and Randy?
Randy’s reaction to Kaye’s proposal and the utterances by both Kaye and Randy during the break suggest conflicts between them in the organization.
I. Randy, as the chairman feels undermined by Kaye’s behavior.
II. Kaye feels that Randy is willing to go against each of her ideas concerning the hospital no matter what it concerns.
III. Randy does not like that Kaye is not from the community the hospital serves and would like her to get fired to give way for a hospital administrator with ties to the community.
IV. Both Kaye and Randy seem to want to influence the rest of the members of the board on issues of the hospital. While Randy is telling some of the board members why he is against the hospital expansion plan proposed by Kaye, Kaye is on the other hand trying to convince another board member that Randy is against all her ideas regardless of how good they are.
Question 3: What methods would you use to reduce or resolve the conflict?
For the hospital to function efficiently, the conflict between the administrator and the chairman requires resolution. Methods of resolution include:
I. Dialogue
Through dialogue between Kaye and Randy, each one of them is able to air their problems and dislikes of the other. This method is helpful because after it is done, each of the parties will know their problem. More often than not, the conflict is just resolved by the parties realizing they had misunderstood each other. Kaye and Randy may be able to resolve their conflicts or at least reduce the friction by talking about their grievances
II. Mediation
If dialogue does not resolve the conflict, the use of a mediator to assist in a compromise between the two may help. A mediator’s work is to listen to the two parties’ concerns and then formulate a fair resolution to their conflict thus reducing the friction in their functioning.
Question 4: Could Kaye have done anything in advance of the meeting to maximize her chances of success? Explain.
Knowing that the chairman of the board had a problem with her, she should have arranged an earlier meeting with the chairman to explain her proposal and request for his support. This way Kaye will know in advance whether she has the chairman’s support or not. If the chairman is still against the idea, Kaye could offer a compromise such as letting Randy front the idea to the board. Because Randy thinks the hospital expansion is a good idea, he is likely to agree to these terms.
If Randy is still hesitant to Kaye’s idea, she could seek the support of the other board members on the issue by showing the process to be taken and the benefits to the hospital therefore ensuring that at the meeting, the chairman’s remarks will not influence the decision of the whole board.
