Negotiation and Conflict Resolution at the Workplace Report

Introduction

The Japanese Exchange and Teaching (JET) program employees were facing problems because their supervisor who at first appeared both informed and compassionate turned out to be incompetent and disrespectful. The two major issues that were of concern in the case were the unwillingness of Mr. Higashi to honor sick leave entitlements to the JET participants and the fact that he never took time to solve office problems professionally as managers are supposed to do (Aaron & Nelson2005, pp.25-27). Instead, he chose to use excuses like important meetings to evade the JET employees’ questions. The major causes of the conflict are communication problems on the side of the supervisor or manager and a bad leadership style that is not participatory (Kotler & Keller 2006, pp.89-90). He expects the JET participants to follow all that he is telling them without being asked any questions. This is being dictatorial or autocratic (Tannen1987, pp.67-71). The step being taken by Kelly is trying to reach out to CLAIR, and it is the best because Mr. Higashi is not willing to answer their questions.

Background of the problem

The case is about the behavior of Mr. Higashi, the supervisor of the Japanese Exchange and Teaching (JET) program, and three JET participants, namely: Kelly, Andrea, Mark, and Suzanne. Mr. Higashi, who at first seemed like a reasonable leader and supervisor changed and adopted a heavy-handed approach in his management duties (Maravelas 2005, pp.34-36). He never listened to the participants and never consulted them whenever he wanted them to participate in any other activity that was outside their job descriptions. He expected them to be available to do all that he wanted them to do. The issue is not that he wanted them to participate in these activities, but that he never told them in advance so that they would plan to attend such events. He also decided to consider days when three of the four JET participants were sick as paid leave days when they were meant to use their sick leave time. What was the problem with this situation?

The problem is that Mr. Higashi was not willing to work as per the laid down procedures as far as sick leave is concerned. He was also not willing to listen to the JET participants to try and solve their problems. In addition to this, he did not take his time to give them an overview of what they will be expected to do in the new culture. This was a sure recipe for conflict (Porter1980, pp.102-103). This led to disrespect from the other members of staff who considered the JET participants lazy for leaving the office early and not going to work on Saturdays like the rest of the Japanese employees. Mr. Higashi also failed to explain the nature of the JET program to the Japanese employees resulting in their contemptuous view of the foreign JET participants. The JET participants also knew that they had a way through which their problems would be solved without engaging in other unacceptable behaviors such as not talking to Mr. Higashi or showing him open disrespect but they went ahead to start engaging in these actions.

Analysis

Management is smooth if it is done as per the laid down regulations (Greenspan 2004, pp.56-57).). This means that a high degree of professionalism is supposed to be observed in the performance of managerial duties (Hamilton2003, pp.12-13). In the case under consideration, Mr. Higashi has decided to ignore official rules as far as sick leave is concerned. He wants three of the four JET participants to lose two days from their vacation even though they are entitled to sick leave. It is also important to note that they missed work due to sickness, something he knows because he demanded a note from the physician. The lack of professionalism that is displayed by Mr. Higashi that makes him start coming up with arbitrary regulations is the root cause of the problem (Mayer & Mayer 2000, pp.90-91). Is it possible that the rules of the program may have changed? We are not told this in the case and if they had changed, then he has more problems because he has not made this clear to the JET participants (Cohen 2005, pp.65-66). This takes us to another management quality that Mr. Higashi lacks. This quality is communication.

Communication

Communication is a very important management quality that is necessary if any person in a management position is to succeed (Brown & Perkins2008, pp.12-13) and (Miles 2003, pp 71-73). Mr. Higashi scores poorly in this category and several instances are available in the case study to act as examples.

1. Mr. Higashi organizes to take Suzanne to a function in a local junior high school without informing her. He is completely oblivious to the fact that she may be having plans of her own. He is also aware that what he wants her to do is not part of official duty and therefore if she has to attend, she has to be informed in advance so that she can plan for the event. She fails to communicate this to her.
2. Mr. Higashi also displays poor communication skills by authorizing the accountant to take forms to the JET participants to sign without talking to them about what he has decided. When they approach him for a discussion over the issue, he cites a meeting he needs to attend and therefore avoids the issue.

A different Dimension in the Conflict?

There is evidence that the JET participants are fed up with Mr. Higashi’s behavior and given that he is the senior-most officer, the closest authority they need to report to so that the conflict can be dealt with is either CLAIR or AJET. But CLAIR seems to be the best alternative given that it is the body that is in charge of the welfare of the participants as well as their placement. The participants have however decided to engage in actions that can only serve to complicate the conflict even further. Mark does not want to talk to Mr. Higashi while Suzanne has begun challenging him. This does not solve the conflict.

The best way forward

CLAIR

CLAIR is the best alternative in dealing with this conflict. In addition to counseling the participants regarding Japanese work ethic, the organization can be able to find ways of communicating with Mr. Higashi so that he can deal with the participants in a more professional way (Baker 2008, pp.11-13). This means he should be able to respect official rules and learn to carry out proper communication when he wants something to be done or when there is a conflict that needs to be managed in the office (Ferrell & William2006, pp 25-27).

Conclusion

Mr. Higashi lacks management skills (Laermer & Simmons2007, pp.76-77). This includes the ability to solve conflicts. The JET participants can only get help by accessing a senior person (Pearce & Robnson 2008, pp.19-21). In this case, it is an organization that can come to their rescue. The organization is CLAIR. Avoiding such a scenario in the future will take proper orientation for both supervisors and the foreign JET participants so that they are guided on what each party should do. Conflict management skills are important (Weeks1994, pp.14-15). Therefore Mr. Higashi will have to be given this training if he is to succeed as a supervisor

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