Introduction
Tom Parker, a geological field technician with Arctic Mining Consultants was assigned the task of staking claims near Eagle Lake, British Columbia. He selected and brought three other men, who were experienced in the job. When they arrived up north, Parker let his team members know that they must complete a total of a little over seven ‘lengths’ per day in order to complete the entire project in a targeted seven days. Parker provided rewards to all workers if they were to accomplish the task in such a short period of time. When they began staking land, it had been noted that both Greg Boyce and Brian Millar were unable to stake the required seven lengths each day. Parker was not impressed with either of their work efforts but only proceeded to torment Miller. Parker’s constant yelling caused Miller to subconsciously exert less effort towards his work. Parker failed to effectively use his legitimate power correctly, instead it appeared that he was resorting to the use of cohesive power. Although Parker expected seven lengths of each team member, he should have consulted the other members and created solidified team norms to ensure this expectation could be a reality. When dealing with this conflict, Parker had a very forceful approach to dealing with his and Miller’s conflict. Both Parker, Miller needed to be aware of the other possibilities to deal with conflict; with the implementation of such courses and training programs that specify in conflict resolution, this issue could be avoided for future workers. The improper use of power and the ineffective use of conflict handling styles lead to this team’s lack of cohesion and bitter feelings when parting with the project.
Analysis
The power that Tom Parker exercised was a large part of why the Artic Mining Consultants’ crew hadn’t completed their work by the budgeted time. Tom Parker held legitimate