Creativity Case

Description

Here the scenario is depicted of how a manager reacts in an emergency meeting. Mr. Mason who is corporate Director of Plant Manufacturing Automation has a telephonic conversation with Mr. Franklyn for an emergency meeting. Meeting is being held on Friday at odd time and Mr. Franklyn is reluctant to attend and is trying to avoid meeting altogether first and when Mr. Mason is persuasive Mr. Franklyn offers a different time for meeting which is turned down by Mr. Mason. Over hearing the conversation are Mr. Franklyn's peers and make some side comments such as "Have you ever wondered why after forty years Franklyn hasn't made it beyond Mill Superintendent?" Franklyn though reluctant at first gives in and offers an alternative time of meeting which does go good with Mason and this situation seems to like a stand off and Mason indirectly infers towards an implied threat and provides a face saving mechanism asking Franklyn to call back with his decision.

Diagnosis

Mr. Franklyn doesn't seem to understand why meeting is scheduled for Friday as any decisions made might be carried out only on Monday. Mr. Mason has not conveyed to Franklyn the importance of having a meeting on Friday and that has not helped the situation either. Mason looks like a manager who is always ready to work and deal with emergency situations as soon a possible rather than wait to resolve them. There is a communication gap and both Mason and Franklyn are not on same page. Franklyn's reluctance to attend a crisis meeting is being taken as insubordination or a person not aligning himself with company's requirements. Franklyn also has not tried to understand or asked for further information why meeting is so important.

Theory

More than one theory comes to mind for this scenario like Interactive conflict and Achievement motive/ Preoccupation with the task.

One of the sources for interactive conflict is Information deficiency. This source of conflict results from communication breakdown in the