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A brief synopsis of the case

Robert, a director and a union member requested an 8 percent raise for his work unit as they had greatly contributed to the company lately. However, Kay, the financial manager of the company, knew that they were not able to afford to compensate Robert and his team for their efforts in the short term as she knew the company had plans to expand.

Kay was willing to discuss the issue with Robert regarding the compensation and was willing to expose Robert’s team with new job opportunities, overseas assignments and promotions in the future. However, Robert is insistent that his team be rewarded with money, and threatened to bring it up to the union if his requests were not met.

Identify one of the conflict-handling styles used in this scenario.

One of the conflict handling styles used is the scenario was the the collaborating style used by Kay. Knowing that she was unable to agree to Robert’s request, she was willing to negotiate with him to be able to reach an outcome that was desirable to both parties. However, it did not seem to work out as Robert was unwilling to accept Kay’s proposal and insisted that she agrees to his request instead.

What bargaining approach is used in the scenario?

Robert used the distributive bargaining approach against Kay. He used the position based negotiation that he only could accept his own proposal of remuneration for his team members and would not consider Kay’s proposal of an alternative reward as a solution. Also, not only that Robert is determined that his requests were met, he was also willing to use his position as a union member to get the union involved.

Aspect of interpersonal communication involved

There are a few aspects of interpersonal communication that was contributing to the poor working environment. For example, Robert’s unwillingness to discuss alternative solutions as reward with Kay led to a breakdown of communication as both parties were then unable to comply with each other’s requests. Also, Robert threatened to get the union’s involvement did not contribute to the situation as well. By doing that, it was a form of pressure to Kay that she should agree to Robert’s request to prevent unnecessary problems. This would in turn limit the negotiation space and other solutions that Kay could use to dissuade Robert.

Hall’s context model for the characters involved

Robert’s behavior fits into the low context culture in Hall’s model. What he meant in his messages were clear that he wants a raise. His expressions were also visible as in that he showed that he was determined to have his requests met by involving the union if needed. He was also not willing to accept Kay’s proposal that the company has a long-term goal and that Robert’s team could be a part of, and that the monetary increase was the only form of reward he could accept. This means that his loyalty to the company is quite fragile as he would not consider the company’s goal. Lastly, Robert values his work more than relationships. This can be seen when he tries to involve the union and thus pressuring Kay to meet Robert’s requests. This would no doubt strain Kay’s and Robert’s relationship between each other.

Conclusion

This case study shows that these scenarios could happen in the working society where people could value immediate rewards more. More could be done to be able to resolve the conflict in the above scenario and this shows how important interpersonal communication can be in your daily life.