Conflict at Toy King

Pawan Thandi

CMNS 3000

Frank Dixon

July 18, 2017

Allison Dilemma

Introduction

Allison has taken a position, as Vice President of Special Projects, at a small software firm. This positon requires Allison to be responsible for 6 employees. Her background includes being a graduate of the Canadian Military Royal Officer Training Program (ROTP). She also has 10 years of field experience as part of the military. She received the position from the CEO of the firm. The CEO is a fellow ROTP graduate. The purpose of this report is to provide Allison with a recommendation as to how she should proceed in her new position.  

        Problem

Allison wants to be respected. She wants to be respected by her boss and by her staff. This is a problem for Allison because she is not used to the culture of her new firm. The employees at the firm are very casual. There are no designated work stations. Employees just have a general work area. Furthermore, some employees work from home. These employees are only available for meetings or discussions through video conferences and the telephone. Allison’s understanding of the workplace is the opposite of this. She believes in a structured work environment and respect for the chain of command. The problem is, she needs to implement her style of management without losing the respect of her staff or her CEO.

        Options

Allison has 3 options. The first option is, she can quit. She can quit because she is not a good fit with the firm. She is unaccustomed to this work environment and feels uncomfortable. However, there is a downside to quitting. She has only been at the job for one day. It is not a good look for her to quit so early into her tenure. Furthermore, she is invested in Manitoba. She is from Manitoba, she has a family farm in Manitoba and she recently purchased a condo in Manitoba. It will not be easy for her to have to relocate.

The second option is, she can conform to the casual environment. Allison conforming to the casual environment may show the employees and the CEO that she is a team player. It will illustrate that she is sacrificing her ideals in order to preserve the status quo. This will lead to the employees being accepting of her. However, there are some negative aspects to conforming. She will not be truly satisfied with herself if she is sacrificing her ideals. Furthermore, the CEO may want her to bring some of her structure into the workplace. If she were to conform, the CEO may interpret that as Allison lacking leadership skills.

The third option is, she can assert herself. Allison can decide that she does not approve of the relaxed work environment and she can create change. This may lead to a more productive workplace. A workplace that require employees to adhere to rules and procedure usually results in an increase in productivity. This is because employees have less opportunity to waste time during work hours. Furthermore, the CEO also has a military background and is aware of her military background. He knows the type of work environment Allison is accustomed to. For this reason, if Allison were to add structure to the work environment, it may affirm the CEO’s decision to hire her. However, this may result in backlash from the employees. The employees are not accustomed to a strict work environment. Allison may lose their respect is she is too aggressive with her changes.