case study of workplace conflict

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

Appendix A: Case Studies

List of case studies, case study 1: handling roommate conflicts, case study 2: salary negotiation at college corp, case study 3: oecollaboration, case study 4: the ohio connection, case study 5: uber pays the price, case study 6: diverse teams hold court.

Chapter Reference: Section 2.2 Approaches to Conflict

Whether you have a roommate by choice, by necessity, or through the random selection process of your school’s housing office, it’s important to be able to get along with the person who shares your living space. While having a roommate offers many benefits such as making a new friend, having someone to experience a new situation like college life with, and having someone to split the cost on your own with, there are also challenges. Some common roommate conflicts involve neatness, noise, having guests, sharing possessions, value conflicts, money conflicts, and personality conflicts (Ball State University, 2001). Read the following scenarios and answer the following questions for each one:

Which conflict management style, from the five discussed, would you use in this situation?
What are the potential strengths of using this style?
What are the potential weaknesses of using this style?

Scenario 1: Neatness. Your college dorm has bunk beds, and your roommate takes a lot of time making their bed (the bottom bunk) each morning. They have told you that they don’t want anyone sitting on or sleeping in the bed when they are not in the room. While your roommate is away for the weekend, your friend comes to visit and sits on the bottom bunk bed. You tell your friend what your roommate said, and you try to fix the bed back before your roommate returns to the dorm. When they return, your roommate notices that the bed has been disturbed and confronts you about it.

Scenario 2: Noise and having guests. Your roommate has a job waiting tables and gets home around midnight on Thursday nights. They often brings a couple friends from work home with them. They watch television, listen to music, or play video games and talk and laugh. You have an 8 a.m. class on Friday mornings and are usually asleep when they returns. Last Friday, you talked to your roommate and asked them to keep it down in the future. Tonight, their noise has woken you up and you can’t get back to sleep.

Scenario 3: Sharing possessions. When you go out to eat, you often bring back leftovers to have for lunch the next day during your short break between classes. You didn’t have time to eat breakfast, and you’re really excited about having your leftover pizza for lunch until you get home and see your roommate sitting on the couch eating the last slice.

Scenario 4: Money conflicts. Your roommate got mono and missed two weeks of work last month. Since they have a steady job and you have some savings, you cover their portion of the rent and agree that they will pay your portion next month. The next month comes around and your roommate informs you that they only have enough to pay their half of the rent.

Scenario 5: Value and personality conflicts. You like to go out to clubs and parties and have friends over, but your roommate is much more of an introvert. You’ve tried to get them to come out with you or join the party at your place, but they’d rather study. One day your roommate tells you that they want to break the lease so they can move out early to live with one of their friends. You both signed the lease, so you have to agree or they can’t do it. If you break the lease, you automatically lose your portion of the security deposit

Works Adapted

“ Conflict and Interpersonal Communication ” in Communication in the Real World by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Ball State University. (2001). Roommate conflicts. accessed June 16, 2001, from http://cms.bsu.edu/CampusLife/CounselingCenter/VirtualSelfHelpLibrary/RoommateIssues.asx.

Chapter Reference: Section 2.4 Negotiation

Janine just graduated college, she’s ready to head out on her own and get that first job, and she’s through her first interviews. She receives an offer of a $28,000 salary, including benefits from COLLEGE CORP, from an entry-level marketing position that seems like a perfect fit. She is thrown off by the salary they are offering and knows that it is lower than what she was hoping for. Instead of panicking, she takes the advice of her mentor and does a little research to know what the market range for the salary is for her area. She feels better after doing this, knowing that she was correct and the offer is low compared to the market rate. After understanding more about the offer and the rates, she goes back to the HR representative and asks for her preferred rate of $32,500, knowing the minimum that she would accept is $30,000. Instead of going in for her lowest amount, she started higher to be open to negotiations with the company. She also sent a note regarding her expertise that warranted why she asked for that salary. To her happy surprise, the company counter offered at $31,000—and she accepted.

What key points of Janice’s negotiation led to her success?
What could have Janice done better to get a better outcome for her salary?

“ Conflict and Negotiations ” in Organizational Behaviour by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License .

“Good & Bad Salary Negotiations,” Salary.com , April 19, 2018, https://www.salary.com/articles/good-bad-examples-of-salary-negotiations .

Herner, M. (n.d). 5 things HR wishes you knew about salary negotiation. Payscale.com, accessed October 21, 2018, https://www.payscale.com/salary-negotiation-guide/salary-negotiation-tips-from-hr .

Chapter Reference: Section 3.2 Creating, Maintaining, and Changing Culture

At OECollaboration, a technology company that develops virtual collaboration software for new companies, Mike Jones is a new manager. One of the biggest challenges he has faced is that the team that he is managing is well established and because he is an outsider, the team members haven’t yet developed trust in him.

Two weeks into his new employment, Mike held a meeting and discussed all of the changes to the remote work agreements as well as implementing new meeting requirements for each employee to have a biweekly meeting scheduled with him to discuss their projects. The team was outraged, they were not excited, and the following days he wasn’t greeted in a friendly way; in addition, his team seemed less engaged when asked to participate in team functions.

Tracy James is also a new manager at OECollaboration who started at the same time as Mike, in a similar situation where she is a new manager of an existing team. Tracy was able to hold a meeting the first day on the job to listen to her team and get to know them. During this meeting she also told the team about herself and her past experiences. Additionally, she held one-on-one meetings to listen to each of her team members to discuss what they were working on and their career goals. After observation and discussion with upper management, she aligned her own team goals closely with the skills and experiences of her new team. She met with the whole team to make changes to a few policies, explaining why they were being changed, and set the strategy for the team moving forward.

Because she got her team involved and learned about them before implementing her new strategy, this was well received. Her team still had questions and concerns, but they felt like they could trust her and that they were included in the changes that were being made.

What challenges can a new manager encounter when starting to manage an existing team?
What strategies can a new manager implement to ensure that their new team is engaged with them and open to change and growth?

Adapted Works

“ Organizational Power and Politics ” in Organizational Behaviour by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License .

Giang, V. (2013, July 31). The 7 types of power that shape the workplace. Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/the-7-types-of-power-that-shape-the-workplace-2013-7

Morin, A. (2018, June 25). How to prevent a workplace bully from taking your power. Inc. https://www.inc.com/amy-morin/how-to-prevent-a-workplace-bully-from-taking-your-power.html

Weinstein, B. (n.d.). 10 tips for dealing with a bully boss,” CIO , accessed October 13, 2018, https://www.cio.com.au/article/198499/10_tips_dealing_bully_boss/.

Chapter Reference: Section 4.1 Power

Janey worked as an executive assistant to a product manager at her company: Ohio Connection. Overall, she loved her job; she was happy to work with a company that provided great benefits, and she and found enjoyment in her day-to-day work. She had the same product manager boss for years, but last year, her manager left Ohio Connection and retired. Recently her new manager has been treating her unfairly and showcasing bullying behavior.

Yesterday, Janey came into work, and her boss decided to use their power as her manager and her “superior” to demand that she stay late to cover for him, correct reports that he had made mistakes on, and would not pay her overtime. She was going to be late to pick up her son from soccer practice if she stayed late; she told him this, and he was not happy.

Over subsequent days, her boss consistently would make comments about her performance, even though she had always had good remarks on reviews, and created a very negative work environment. The next time she was asked to stay late, she complied for fear of losing her job or having other negative impacts on her job. Janey’s situation was not ideal, but she didn’t feel she had a choice.

What type of power did Janey’s boss employ to get her to do the things that he wanted her to do?
What negative consequences are apparent in this situation and other situations where power is not balanced in the workplace?
What steps should Janey take do to counteract the power struggle that is occurring with her new manager?

Chapter Reference: Section 5.1 Interpersonal Relationships at Work

Uber revolutionized the taxi industry and the way people commute. With the simple mission “to bring transportation—for everyone, everywhere,” today Uber has reached a valuation of around $70 billion and claimed a market share high of almost 90% in 2015. However, in June 2017 Uber experienced a series of bad press regarding an alleged culture of sexual harassment, which is what most experts believe caused their market share to fall to 75%.

In February of 2017 a former software engineer, Susan Fowler, wrote a lengthy post on her website regarding her experience of being harassed by a manager who was not disciplined by human resources for his behavior. In her post, Fowler wrote that Uber’s HR department and members of upper management told her that because it was the man’s first offense, they would only give him a warning. During her meeting with HR about the incident, Fowler was also advised that she should transfer to another department within the organization. According to Fowler, she was ultimately left no choice but to transfer to another department, despite having specific expertise in the department in which she had originally been working.

As her time at the company went on, she began meeting other women who worked for the company who relayed their own stories of harassment. To her surprise, many of the women reported being harassed by the same person who had harassed her. As she noted in her blog, “It became obvious that both HR and management had been lying about this being his ‘first offense.’” Fowler also reported a number of other instances that she identified as sexist and inappropriate within the organization and claims that she was disciplined severely for continuing to speak out. Fowler eventually left Uber after about two years of working for the company, noting that during her time at Uber the percentage of women working there had dropped to 6% of the workforce, down from 25% when she first started.

Following the fallout from Fowler’s lengthy description of the workplace on her website, Uber’s chief executive Travis Kalanick publicly condemned the behavior described by Fowler, calling it “abhorrent and against everything Uber stands for and believes in.” But later in March, Uber board member Arianna Huffington claimed that she believed “sexual harassment was not a systemic problem at the company.” Amid pressure from bad media attention and the company’s falling market share, Uber made some changes after an independent investigation resulted in 215 complaints. As a result, 20 employees were fired for reasons ranging from sexual harassment to bullying to retaliation to discrimination, and Kalanick announced that he would hire a chief operating officer to help manage the company. In an effort to provide the leadership team with more diversity, two senior female executives were hired to fill the positions of chief brand officer and senior vice president for leadership and strategy.

Critical Thinking Questions

Based on Cox’s business case for diversity, what are some positive outcomes that may result in changes to Uber’s leadership team?
If the case had occurred in Canada, what forms of legislation would have protected Fowler?
What strategies should have been put in place to help prevent sexual harassment incidents like this from happening in the first place?

“ Diversity in Organizations ” in Organizational Behaviour by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License .

Della Cava, M. (2017, June 13). Uber has lost market share to Lyft during crisis. USA Today. https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2017/06/13/uber-market-share-customer-image-hit-string-scandals/102795024/

Fowler, T. (2017, February 19). Reflecting on one very, very strange year at Uber. https://www.susanjfowler.com/blog/2017/2/19/reflecting-on-one-very-strange-year-at-uber.

Lien, T. (2017, June 6). Uber fires 20 workers after harassment investigation. Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-tn-uber-sexual-harassment-20170606-story.html

Uber (2017, February). Company info. https://www.uber.com/newsroom/company-info/

Chapter Reference: Section 5.3 Collaboration, Decision-Making and Problem Solving in Groups

Diverse teams have been proven to be better at problem-solving and decision-making for a number of reasons. First, they bring many different perspectives to the table. Second, they rely more on facts and use those facts to substantiate their positions. What is even more interesting is that, according to the Scientific American article “How Diversity Makes Us Smarter,” simply “being around people who are different from us makes more creative, diligent, and harder-working.”

One case in point is the example of jury decision-making, where fact-finding and logical decision-making are of utmost importance. A 2006 study of jury decision-making, led by social psychologist Samuel Sommers of Tufts University, showed that racially diverse groups exchanged a wider range of information during deliberation of a case than all-White groups did. The researcher also conducted mock jury trials with a group of real jurors to show the impact of diversity on jury decision-making.

Interestingly enough, it was the mere presence of diversity on the jury that made jurors consider the facts more, and they had fewer errors recalling the relevant information. The groups even became more willing to discuss the role of race case, when they hadn’t before with an all-White jury. This wasn’t the case because the diverse jury members brought new information to the group—it happened because, according to the author, the mere presence of diversity made people more open-minded and diligent. Given what we discussed on the benefits of diversity, it makes sense. People are more likely to be prepared, to be diligent, and to think logically about something if they know that they will be pushed or tested on it. And who else would push you or test you on something, if not someone who is different from you in perspective, experience, or thinking. “Diversity jolts us into cognitive action in ways that homogeneity simply does not.”

So, the next time you are called for jury duty, or to serve on a board committee, or to make an important decision as part of a team, remember that one way to generate a great discussion and come up with a strong solution is to pull together a diverse team.

If you don’t have a diverse group of people on your team, how can you ensure that you will have robust discussions and decision-making? What techniques can you use to generate conversations from different perspectives?
Evaluate your own team at work. Is it a diverse team? How would you rate the quality of decisions generated from that group?

Sources: Adapted from Katherine W. Phillips, “How Diversity Makes Us Smarter,” Scientific American, October 2014, p. 7–8.

“ Critical Thinking Case ” in Organizational Behaviour by OpenStax is licenced under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License .

Share This Book

Browse Topics
Executive Committee
Affiliated Faculty
Harvard Negotiation Project
Great Negotiator
American Secretaries of State Project
Awards, Grants, and Fellowships
Negotiation Programs
Mediation Programs
One-Day Programs
In-House Training – Inquiry Form
In-Person Programs
Online Programs
Advanced Materials Search
Contact Information
The Teaching Negotiation Resource Center Policies
Frequently Asked Questions
Negotiation Journal
Harvard Negotiation Law Review
Working Conference on AI, Technology, and Negotiation
40th Anniversary Symposium
Free Reports and Program Guides

Free Videos

Upcoming Events
Past Events
Event Series
Our Mission
Keyword Index

PON – Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School - https://www.pon.harvard.edu

Team-Building Strategies: Building a Winning Team for Your Organization

Discover how to build a winning team and boost your business negotiation results in this free special report, Team Building Strategies for Your Organization, from Harvard Law School.

Claim your FREE copy: The New Conflict Management

In our FREE special report from the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School - The New Conflict Management: Effective Conflict Resolution Strategies to Avoid Litigation – renowned negotiation experts uncover unconventional approaches to conflict management that can turn adversaries into partners.

3. MESO: Make Multiple Equivalent Simultaneous Offers to Create Value in Dealmaking Table

Learn how multiple equivalent simultaneous offers (MESOs) in negotiation offer business negotiators and conflict management professionals multiple avenues for value creation and dispute resolution at the bargaining table. Not only are MESOs effective negotiation strategies, but they can also help resolve seemingly intractable disputes by helping one side or the other reach the zone of possible agreement (ZOPA). Read more.

4. Conflict Resolution in the Family

One of the most common forms of conflict many of us will face is the inevitable dispute with a family member or loved one. What negotiation techniques are best applied to disputes within the family? Drawing on Bruce Feiler’s Lessons in Domestic Diplomacy, this article offers negotiation skills tips for people seeking to resolve conflict inside the home. Read more.

5. Negotiation with Your Children: How to Resolve Family Conflicts

While the negotiation strategies you employ to resolve conflicts with your spouse, brother, or uncle may work wonders in those situations, are they also applicable to resolving conflicts with children? In this article drawn from negotiation research, Scott Brown’s book How to Negotiate with Kids…Even When You Think You Shouldn’t offers practical negotiation advice for parents dealing with difficult situations with children. Read more.

6. Integrative Negotiations: Dispute Resolution Through Joint Fact-Finding

Cooperation in joint fact-finding expeditions can help disputants reach agreement by forcing them to look outside one another’s own limited expertise or experience and rely on that of a neutral third party. Lawrence Susskind’s The Consensus Building Handbook describes joint fact-finding as a multi-step collaborative process designed to help disputants reach a negotiated agreement. Read more.

7. Negotiating the Good Friday Agreement

U.S. Senator George Mitchell’s role in the Good Friday Agreement was pivotal in helping each side reach a negotiated agreement in one of the world’s longest running conflicts. In his interview with Program on Negotiation Managing Director Susan Hackley, George Mitchell describes the negotiating skills and negotiation techniques he employed, namely the “Mitchell Principles,” commitments to open communication, non-violence, and democracy, to bring each side to a negotiated agreement. Read more.

8. Negotiation Games

This article examines the risks disputants take in escalating their conflict to the legal system, – namely, that pure chance, rather than the merits of the case, could decide the outcome of the conflict. Engaging negotiation game resources are also available. Read more.

9. How to Maintain Your Power While Engaging in Conflict Resolution

Here are four negotiation tips for maintaining power and status in negotiation scenarios. While power and prestige may be important factors for the individual negotiator, they may not be important to the negotiation at hand; conversely, high levels of differing status among negotiators may make viable negotiated agreements difficult and value creating agreements impossible. Read more.

10. The Role of Urban Planners in Negotiations: Case Study of Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations

In an event held at the Harvard Law School campus, urban planner Karen Lee Bar-Sinai discussed the role of urban development in peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. Bar-Sinai noted in her discussion that political boundaries and cultural boundaries between peoples often manifest themselves in the form of physical boundaries. Read more.

What did you take away from these examples of conflict resolution? Share your opinions in the comments.

Related Conflict Resolution Article: Negotiating a Non-Compete Agreement with Employers

Conflict Management Skills When Dealing with an Angry Public
Conflict Resolution , President Carter Turned Flaws Into Virtues" > In Conflict Resolution , President Carter Turned Flaws Into Virtues
Conflict Resolution Scenarios: Negotiating Values
Advanced Negotiation Strategies and Concepts: Hostage Negotiation Tips for Business Negotiators
Strategies to Resolve Conflict over Deeply Held Values

No Responses to “Top Ten Posts About Conflict Resolution”

One response to “top ten posts about conflict resolution”.

Students always want to be a great educational institute and best knowledge with experience. Nestor University is given a chance to all learners to get involved in it and get high knowledge and courses.

Click here to cancel reply.

Negotiation and Leadership

Download Program Guide: Spring 2025
Register Online: Spring 2025
Learn More about Negotiation and Leadership

NEGOTIATION MASTER CLASS

Download Program Guide: November 2024
Register Online: November 2024
Learn More about Harvard Negotiation Master Class

Negotiation Essentials Online

Download Program Guide: December 2024 and June 2025
Register Online: December 2024 June 2025
Learn More about Negotiation Essentials Online

Beyond the Back Table: Working with People and Organizations to Get to Yes

Download Program Guide: February 2025
Register Online: February 2025
Learn More about Beyond the Back Table

Beyond the Back Table February 2025 Program Guide

Select Your Free Special Report

Negotiation and Leadership Spring 2025 Program Guide
Negotiation Essentials Online (NEO) December 2024 and June 2025 Program Guide
Negotiation Essentials In-House Program Guide
Negotiation Master Class November 2024 Program Guide
Beyond the Back Table February 2025 Program Guide
Negotiation and Leadership Fall 2024 Program Guide
Make the Most of Online Negotiations
Managing Multiparty Negotiations
Getting the Deal Done
Salary Negotiation: How to Negotiate Salary: Learn the Best Techniques to Help You Manage the Most Difficult Salary Negotiations and What You Need to Know When Asking for a Raise

Teaching Negotiation Resource Center

Teaching Materials and Publications

Stay Connected to PON

Preparing for negotiation.

Understanding how to arrange the meeting space is a key aspect of preparing for negotiation. In this video, Professor Guhan Subramanian discusses a real world example of how seating arrangements can influence a negotiator’s success. This discussion was held at the 3 day executive education workshop for senior executives at the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School.

Guhan Subramanian is the Professor of Law and Business at the Harvard Law School and Professor of Business Law at the Harvard Business School.

Articles & Insights

Take your BATNA to the Next Level
BATNA Examples—and What You Can Learn from Them
Taylor Swift: Negotiation Mastermind?
Negotiation Examples: How Crisis Negotiators Use Text Messaging
BATNA Strategy: Should You Reveal Your BATNA?
Increase Your Power in Negotiation
Simplify Multiparty Negotiations with Stakeholder Alignment
How to Negotiate in Good Faith
Right of First Refusal: A Potentially Win-Win Negotiation Tool
Dear Negotiation Coach: Coping with a Change-of-Control Provision
In Conflict Resolution , President Carter Turned Flaws Into Virtues
Famous Negotiations Cases – NBA and the Power of Deadlines at the Bargaining Table
AI Negotiation in the News
Power Tactics in Negotiation: How to Gain Leverage with Stronger Parties
Negotiating Change During the Covid-19 Pandemic
What is Crisis Management in Negotiation?
M&A Negotiation Strategy: Dealing with an Unpredictable Counterpart
Bargaining in Bad Faith: Dealing with “False Negotiators”
Dealing with Difficult People and Negotiation: When Should You Give Up the Fight?
Consensus-Building Techniques
How to Renegotiate a Bad Deal
Renegotiation Lessons from the NAFTA Talks
Negotiation Techniques: The First Offer Dilemma in Negotiations
How to Counter Offer Successfully With a Strong Rationale
Negotiating Skills: Learn How to Build Trust at the Negotiation Table
Managing a Multiparty Negotiation
Emotional Triggers: How Emotions Affect Your Negotiating Ability
3 Negotiation Strategies for Conflict Resolution
Top 10 Dispute Resolution Skills
The Door in the Face Technique: Will It Backfire?
Choose the Right Dispute Resolution Process
How to Solve Intercultural Conflict
Cross-Cultural Communication in Business Negotiations
Government Negotiations and Beyond: Using Carrots and Sticks Effectively
Famous Negotiators: Angela Merkel and Vladimir Putin
Cross Cultural Communication: Translation and Negotiation
Servant Leadership and Warren Buffett’s Giving Pledge
The Contingency Theory of Leadership: A Focus on Fit
Paternalistic Leadership: Beyond Authoritarianism
Learning from Ethical Leadership Failures at Boeing
Pope Francis and the Benefits of Servant Leadership in Negotiations
Undecided on Your Dispute Resolution Process? Combine Mediation and Arbitration, Known as Med-Arb
Types of Mediation: Choose the Type Best Suited to Your Conflict
What Makes a Good Mediator?
Employee Mediation Techniques – Resolve Disputes and Manage Conflict with These Mediation Skills
Using E-Mediation and Online Mediation Techniques for Conflict Resolution
An Example of the Anchoring Effect – What to Share in Negotiation
Top 10 Notable Negotiations
Aggressive Negotiation Tactics: Threats at the Bargaining Table
Negotiation Strategies: Emotional Expression at the Bargaining Table
How Much Does Personality in Negotiation Matter?
Trust in Negotiation: Does Gender Matter?
Negotiation Training: What’s Special About Technology Negotiations?
Cole Cannon Esq. Shares His Negotiation and Leadership Experience
Gender and Negotiation: New Research Findings
Ethics and Negotiation: 5 Principles of Negotiation to Boost Your Bargaining Skills in Business Situations
Salary Negotiation: How to Ask for a Higher Salary
Dispute Resolution Example: The Chicago Symphony’s Contract Dispute
Negotiating Salary: Confronting the Gender Pay Gap
How to Counter a Job Offer: Avoid Common Mistakes
How to Negotiate a Higher Salary after a Job Offer
Negotiating Identity and Values-Based Disputes
Learn from the Best with the Great Negotiator Case Studies
Casino Two: Updated Version of Casino Available from the TNRC
Teach Your Students How to Have Difficult Conversations Over Email
The Best New Simulations
How to Use Tradeoffs to Create Value in Your Negotiations
How to Create Win-Win Situations
5 Win-Win Negotiation Strategies
How to Negotiate Mutually Beneficial Noncompete Agreements
For NFL Players, a Win-Win Negotiation Contract Only in Retrospect?

PON Publications

Negotiation Data Repository (NDR)
New Frontiers, New Roleplays: Next Generation Teaching and Training
Negotiating Transboundary Water Agreements
Learning from Practice to Teach for Practice—Reflections From a Novel Training Series for International Climate Negotiators
Insights From PON’s Great Negotiators and the American Secretaries of State Program
Gender and Privilege in Negotiation