You are a member of a new product development team in a Fortune 500 firm. Management has put a lot of pressure on the team to be innovative (after all, it is part of the company vision published for shareholders and others to see), but all that ever seems to happen at the team meetings is a lot of yelling, name-calling, fighting, put-downs, and arguing. The marketing folks believe the engineers do not truly understand what the customer wants. The manufacturing folks are upset that they are never asked whether the product can be manufactured and maintained relatively easy – until after the product is designed and accepted by the management. Then, there are the finance folks; all they ever seem to care about is the bottom line. Will we ever be able to complete our task? Is it even possible to be innovative when no one seems to value what anyone lese has to say?
- What is your immediate reaction to the scenario? How would you feel if you were the person this situation was about?
- How could this situation have been avoided?
- What approaches to resolving this conflict are appropriate?
- What are some things that, if done, would make this approach successful?
- What are some things to avoid when attempting to resolve this conflict? Why?
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