Course Title : BUSINESS COMMUNICATION Read the scenario given below and answer t
ID: 1227149 • Letter: C
Question
Course Title : BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
Read the scenario given below and answer the questions that follow:
Scenario on Conflict
Linda Sims is the manager of the accounting department and Jose Martinez is the manager of the sales department for a production company. This is a fast growing firm, and the staff of the accounting department (11 employees) is often over whelmed with work.
Since the accounting department is located immediately next to the credit department, Ruth Rankin, the administrative assistant in credit, sometimes works on journal entries assigned to her by Sims.
The company has experienced especially rapid growth over the past six months, which has caused everyone to be busier than usual. With the increase in sales volume, the credit office is under pressure to process applications more quickly, and Rankin is available to help Sims out with accounting overflow less often.
Sims complains to Martinez that she needs Rankin to work in accounting more than he needs her in credit. Martinez’ response is “if I can’t move the credit applications through the pipeline in a timely manner, soon there’ll be no need for an accounting department, because this company will be out of business.”
Questions
1. What is the cause of this conflict?
2. What style did Sims initially use? If you were Sims, how would you approach Martinez in this situation?
Explanation / Answer
1) The cause of conflict is the sharing of resources between the accounts department and credit department . The common resources is Ruth Rankin the administrative assistant in credit who sometimes works in the accounting department when the staff is overwhelmed with heavy work load .
2) Sims initially used Authoritative sytle to make the point that she needs Rankin to work in accounting more than he needs her in credit. If I were Sims , I would use a consultative approach and had a discussion with Martizez about the resource shortage the accounting department is facing and try to convince Martizez to assign Ruth Rankin permanently to accounting department . Alternatively , Sims could also think of hiring a new person into the accounting department if she has enough budget to make a new hire .