Office Space Case Study

A change in office space and office environment led to considerable conflict between five co-workers in a web programming department. Due to a company relocation, a web programming department was forced to change from an open-space environment to a row of cubicles in a much smaller office. :

: Martin, the web programming team leader had the opportunity to choose the order of where the a programmers would be stationed within the row. He chose to order himself in the first cubicle, and down the c

line, Rosa, Sanjay, Kris, and Bradley. He had reasons for this arrangement; Bradley had the most .

equipment out of any of the programmers, and he wanted Bradley to be at the end with the most space. :

Also, Rosa and Kris spent a significant amount of time speaking to each other, and Martin figured by al

putting Sanjay between them, he could limit the amount of time spent on conversation.

Unfortunately, Martin never shared his justification for assignments with his colleagues, which created

significant conflict. First, Bradley wanted a cubicle with a window and a position next to Martin, since they

| work together on a significant number of projects. Next, Sanjay�s mood changes, as he is in between Rosa |

! and Kris and cannot focus when they speak over him to each other. Subsequently, this has caused Rosa

and Kris to leave their cubicles to converse with each other, taking more time than they used to when they

were sitting together, which has impacted both of their productivity. All the while, this has upset Bradley, |

who feels slighted because the other programmers are being rewarded while he is stuck in a cubicle that

he does not want. Because of this, Bradley will only speak and communicate to Martin when he absolutely

needs something.

Martin is now in a position where he must decide what to do. He can�t understand that the cohesive team !
that he used to lead can�t get along over their cubicle assignments.

  1. How would you describe the conflict that has arisen between the members of the web programming
    department?
  2. Is the conflict a relational conflict? If so, what type of relational conflict? Is there a content dimension to
    this conflict?
  3. Using Fisher and Ury�s method of principled negotiation, how would you separate the people from the
    problem? What do you think is really, really going on in this conflict?
  4. Using the Kilmann and Thomas conflict styles, how would you characterize Sanjay�s conflict style? What |
    about Bradley�s? Do Rose and Kris have a style as well?
  5. How could Martin use fractionation and face saving in attempting to resolve this conflict

Sample Solution