Main Concepts of Leadership and Management in Organization - Coursework Example

Zheng Qin Pauline Loewenberger Leadership and Management August 3, Referral Assignment Examining an Aspect of Interpersonal Behavior Description of the Scenario The organization used for the current assessment is an academic setting, the College of Dentistry where a dentistry student, already in his fifth year is already classified as a ‘clinician’, providing “preventative, therapeutic, and educational services that promote oral health” (Mosbys Medical Dictionary par. 5) for patients under the governance of a licensed dental professional, experienced a confounding dilemma with the head of the clinical services department. The description of the functions, levels or positions of the people involved and brief details of their characters are shown in Table 1, below: Table 1: Functions, Levels, Positions and Brief Details of Characters Person Sex Age Position Character MM M 22 Clinician Diligent, responsible, above average academic achiever CM F 43 Head, Clinical Services Department Authoritative, demanding, notoriously boastful SL F 55 Dean, College of Dentistry Democratic, administrative, highly professional JF M 50 Asst. Dean, Student Affairs Accomodating, good listener, democratic GR M 45 Head, Dental Laboratory Silent, observer, good listener VM F 49 Mother of Clinician Assertive, supportive, negotiator Having established the characters in the scenario, the table that describes the details of what transpired and what was said in the scenario is presented as Annex A. Briefly, the brief overview of the incident was shown as Table 2: Table 2: Timeline of Incident Day/Time Incident Details Tuesday MM, with patient lined up to avail of basic dental services from 5:30am to 4:00pm; Due to long line, service was not accommodated Wednesday MM, with patient lined up since 5:30am; got schedule from log-book as clinician number 20 by 10:30am. 10:30am Clinical Instructor (CI) called in first 10 clinicians; checked documents and let them in for needed dental services of the patients; 11:00am CI called in next 20 clinicians; skipped number 20; when asked by MM why, CI said he was not in line and documents were incomplete 11:15am MM went to the room of CM to complain; CM not in room. 11:20am MM went to Dean’s Office to file the complaint; Dean not there; complaint filed with JF, Asst. Dean for Student Affairs; while complaining CM, who was apparently there in the Dean’s Office heard MM and demanded why the complaint was not filed directly to her 11:30am CM scolded MM for not approaching her; went to see the long line, demanded MM to stop complaining 11:45am MM walked out; dismissed his patient, apologizing for the inconvenience Thursday MM with VM went to see the Dean; JF requested MM to write the incident report while he called CM; 9:00am Meeting with the Dean, SL, and others (CM, JF, GR) attended with MM and VM Description of Theories The incident touched on three theories: the Communication Theory and Transactional Analysis (Berne) to address effective communication; conflict resolution through Blake and Mouton’s Conflict Handling Styles, as adapted from Thomas (1976); and the integrative or interest-based negotiation theory (Sprangler 2003). According to Berne, there are three ego states, the parent, adult, and child which could shift from one state to the other depending on circumstances (Ridgeway 2007, 3). In this situation, CM assumed the ego state of a parent and it clearly depicted that “a person exhibits the characteristics of his own parents or other parental type significant people in his life. The Parent can be further divided into Critical Parent and Nurturing Parent” (Ridgeway 2007, 3-4). CM was more of a critical parent for detesting being shouted at and for seeing the reaction of walking –out as a form of disrespect. Concurrently, the theory on conflict resolution, using Blake, Shepard and Mouton’s managerial grid and managing intergroup conflict and Bennis and Thomas’ (1977) management of change and conflict, the different leadership styles of CM (authoritative) and SL (democratic) defined their respective behaviors and were instrumental in resolving the conflict and proposing much needed change. In this particular situation, the conflict resolution strategies that were used involved the following: (1) use of authority (by bringing in MM’s mother); (2) compromising (by calling in the meeting and using face-to-face negotiation strategies to bring actual facts of the scenario and to arrive at a compromise); (3) problem-solving approach by indicating that a previous meeting has actually identified that there was indeed a brewing problematic situation that needs appropriate solution. Analysis Based on the facts of the case, it was evident that flaws in the system on scheduling the clinicians for dental services of their respective patients were the root cause of the problem. Given that there were 800 clinicians and only a supposedly limited number of facilities to accommodate all of them at limited time frame caused chaos. As such, this problem was manifested in the inability of the clinical instructor to effectively review the accuracy of completeness in documentation; as well as in determining the order of the line of clinicians to be accommodated according to the log-book. There were also apparent flaws on policies regarding attending to clinicians who were apparently on line (and in the log-book) but could have not heard his or her name while being called or just stepped out of the line for some urgent concerns (going to the bathroom or taking a quick snack). The meeting that transpired between the Dean and the team involved to address these problems likewise failed to disseminate the results of the meeting to avoid further chaos and to put order in scheduling. As such, the delay in communicating contributed to the conflict in the situation. The resolve the conflict, the strategies used and implemented by the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs, JF, was effective. It provided the opportunity to clear the facts from all the persons involved and to communicate what has been done to resolve the dilemma. With open communication and proper use of verbal modes of communication, the conflict was resolved and appropriate changes were implemented. It was also apparently appropriate for MM to seek proper apologies for offending CM, the authority in the situation. As depicted, using effective communication patterns and protocols, as well as the use of appropriate conflict resolution techniques and much needed changes (based on evaluation of current procedures and policies) help resolve conflicts in an organizational setting. Conclusion In every organization, effective communication is crucial to ensure smooth interpersonal relationships in the work setting. The leadership style and abilities to assess and evaluate problems in the organization are also significant in resolving conflicts, as well as instituting changes, as required. Through the knowledge of management and leadership theories, their applications in contemporary problems involving human behavior in organizations would assist in appropriately addressing and resolving pressing issues and concerns as eminently needed. Annex A: Description of the Communication Patterns during the Meeting Person Transcription of interactions SL “Mr. MM, please narrate what actually happened?” MM (narrated details as shown in Table 2) SL “Ok, Ms. CM, can we please hear your side? CM (described the same details) Added that “I did not like the way that your voice was loud and apparently shouting at me while in front of the other clinicians. Also, walking out on me was a form of disrespect. I would like to resolve your issue. I am talking to you like a parent and as an authority”. that \\ you (MM)were were MM “I was not shouting at you. I had to speak louder because there were too many students and I was just explaining my side. I did not like the way you scolded me while I was relaying what happened. There is a flaw in the system.” JF (taking notes of all the details and just observing and listening) GR “Why did you not refer the matter to me? I should have been informed first, before you should go to see Ms. CM” MM “Sorry Sir, I did not know.” VM “Excuse me, I understand all your points. I agree that you (speaking to CM) did not like how MM apparently raised his voice. I understand my son’s actions also since he was just reacting to the apparent flaws in your system. In this regard, as administrators, what are you doing about this?” SL “We have actually had a meeting to fix the system. We admit there are some flaws. With 800 clinicians all lining up at the same time, understandably, there would be chaos and conflicts. I informed Mr. GR to disseminate the results of the meeting which would schedule the time of the clinicians bringing in patients according to their class sections and specific days within a week. However, when the incident happened, the results of the meeting have not yet been disseminated to the clinicians.” VM “Ok, then. When are you communicating the proposed changes to the students?” GR “I was advised to send a formal memo to all students today.” SL “Would that be ok, with you Mrs. VM and Mr. MM?” VM “Yes, so that this incident would not happen again in the near future.” MM “Sorry, for all the inconveniences I caused, Ms. CM.” CM “That is ok for now. If you would have any problems in the future, please approach Mr. GR, first and it is also fine if you opt to see me, as long as you relay all your concerns in my office.” JF “If everything is ok with everybody. I am hereby adjourning this meeting. Thank you all so much for your time.” Reference List Bennis, Warren G., and John M. Thomas. 1997. "The Management of Conflict." Management of Change and Conflict, 421-479. Blake, Robert, H. Shepart, and J. Mouton. 1964. Managing Intergroup Conflict in Industry. Texas: Gulf Publishing. Mosbys Medical Dictionary. 2009. "Clinician." medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com, [Online]. Available at: http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/clinician (accessed August 2, 2012). Ridgeway, Ian. 2007. "2321 Theory & Practice 1: Lecture 10 TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS (TA) ERIC BERNE (1910-1970)." myauz.com/ianr, [Online]. Available at: http://www.myauz.com/ianr/articles/lect10transactionalanalysis.pdf (accessed August 1, 2012). Sprangler, Brad. 2003. "Integrative or Interest-Based Bargaining." beyondintractability.org, [Online]. Availablet at: http://www.beyondintractability.org/bi- essay/interest-based-bargaining (accessed August 1, 2012). Read More