612

L7900

M6

Case Scenario Analysis

Scenario 1: Interpersonal Conflict

Recently, Rick and John discovered a third person was being considered for a new position in their company. Each had hoped to find out in the next few months who would get the job. Both Rick and John seemed equally qualified for the job and, up until two weeks ago, were on friendly terms. Now, with the added player, it has become more important to both men to win the job.

John depends on information from Rick's department to do his job. At least twice a day, Rick would e-mail interim production reports to John. John would then take this information and add more data from other departments, create a summary report for the week, and send copies to inventory control and marketing. Last week, John received a quality check report indicating there were significant errors in his summary report. John, upon notification of this quality problem, called Rick to tell him about the errors. The conversation went as follows:

John: Hey, Rick! John here. Listen, I just got a quality check report. It showed errors from last week's input, most of which came from your report.

(Silence on the phone)

Hey, Rick . . . you there?

Rick: Yeah, I'm here. But I really wonder why you're calling me. What I gave you was correct. I always check. Did you run the number before turning in the report?

John: No, because you always give me correct information. What happened?

Rick: (Gets a little angry and his voice changes) Well, I thought your job was to make sure everything adds up.

John: (Quiet) Rick, you know that's baloney. If I can't trust your numbers, then I'll get them from Charlie. (Charlie is the mainframe computer containing all department reports; retrieval is slow, and requests have a two-day backlog.)

(Rick hangs up.)

L7900

M6

Case Scenario Analysis

Scenario 2: Group-to-Group Conflict

"Being Neighborly"

Oak Wood is an affluent, single-family development project, with forty-three large acreage lots of 7–15 acres per lot. All development is controlled by the Oak Wood Homeowners' Association (HOA) Policy Manual. Specifications for home design, landscaping, outbuildings, drainage, and many other policies are well defined. Changes to any given policy require a 66% in-favor vote from the total landowners, who are allowed one vote per lot. Policy changes can officially be voted on only once per year at the annual meeting, in person, or by mail-in ballot for those owners not in attendance. The following is a description of events regarding differences between two homeowners that escalated into a serious group-to-group conflict.

Mr. and Mrs. Tenor purchased their acreage and built a comfortable three-bedroom home with a pool and other amenities three years ago. Sitting to the back and adjacent to the Tenors' property, the Hinton family (husband, wife, and three teenage children) built a large home two years ago. The two families were cordial to each other but did not socialize on a regular schedule. Mr. Hinton is an outdoorsman and owns a concrete company. Mr. Tenor does software development work from his home office.

Last Christmas, Mr. Hinton purchased a dirt bike for his eldest son. During the Christmas holiday, the son rode the machine around the back of the Hinton property daily for many hours per day. After the school break, this behavior continued as soon as the teen was home and into the dark hours of the evening, as well as long hours on the weekends. By the end of January, the Hintons were inviting the children of their friends over to ride—some of whom also brought their own dirt bikes.

The distance between the Hintons’ and Tenors’ homes is approximately 80 yards. The dirt bike is a noisy machine by most people's standards, and the noise of the machines carried great distances throughout the development. Mr. Tenor called the HOA president, explained the situation (which was interrupting his home office work and leisure time), and invited the president to his home in order to assess the noise level. After spending an hour at the Tenors’ home, the president agreed the noise level was annoying and seemed excessive.

To begin a resolution process, the president studied the association's Policy Manual. The policy regarding off-road vehicles was as follows:

"No motorized off-road vehicles, including dirt bikes and ATVs, are allowed on the community trails, on the roadways, in the community park, or on any common property shared among the homeowners of Oak Wood."

This was the only policy directly related to dirt bikes. The president called Mr. Tenor to inform him of the policy and to inform him that he had the right to propose an amendment to the Policy Manual to ban dirt bikes from private property as well. This would then be brought to a vote at the next general meeting. He also reminded Mr. Tenor that there would have to be a 66% in-favor vote of all lot owners to pass any amendment and asked if direct mediation between the two parties might be helpful.

Mr. Tenor, in the interim, contacted six other homeowners having close proximity to the Hintons to seek out their support and build justification for changing the policy. Many of the homeowners agreed the noise was bothersome but were hesitant to vote for a change ruling after the fact. Trying to find a solution to limit the riding time, the president initiated contact between the two homeowners; but after weeks of talk, hostilities continued to rise and the Tenors no longer had patience for any compromise. By August, the Tenors put their house on the market and sold their home in October.

By this time, families wanting to own and ride dirt bikes on their properties were in rather hot debate with those not wanting the noise and dust in the development. During the monthly meetings in December, January, and February, the HOA president put the topic on the agenda to encourage dialogue and some reasonable resolution of the conflict. During the meetings, the dirt bike and ATV owners become loud and even abusive in their language. Comments such as "We purchased property outside of town so we could do things like ride our bikes." were prevalent.

The president consulted with the Sheriff's Department, trying to determine whether there was a county noise ordinance that might overrule the HOA policy. The sheriff informed the HOA that there was no noise abatement policy regarding dirt bikes in effect for parcels of property 5 acres or larger.

During the annual meeting, the proposal to ban the riding of dirt bikes and ATVs on private lots was put to the vote. Because 66% of eligible owners did not vote, the measure failed. Since that meeting, hostilities between the two groups have escalated. Many homeowners have put their properties on the market; but because rumors of the conflict have spread beyond Oak Wood, property sales have slowed dramatically.