Conflict Resolution :: essays research papers

The city of Bedford Falls has two men who share similar duties and whose conflicts have caused a great deal of inefficiencies and stress among the other city workers. On a number of occasions, the Director of Municipal Services has been present in situations where a conflict has occurred between Mr. Kelly and Mr. Booker. He waits them out, then when both gentlemen leave with no resolution to their differences, the Director calls upon other city employees who witnessed the conflict and asks what they feel was actually going on. The city employees will comment on being concerned about Mr. Kelly's attitude toward the employees and Mr. Booker, about Mr. Booker's attitude toward Mr. Kelly's short-comings, and how often city workers are caught in the middle of the conflicts that occur between these two. After the Director hears out the workers, no changes have yet to be noted. Mr. Kelly was hired as a laborer approximately 10 years ago. The town hired him after he left a similar job in another location. After five years, due to a rearrangement in the management structure and the departure of several upper management personnel, he was promoted to the position of Assistant Superintendent of Public Works. He worked immediately under the Superintendent of Public Works and was responsible for assisting his supervisor in various duties, overseeing work crews, and filling in for the Superintendent in his absence. Mr. Kelly held the position of Assistant Superintendent of Public Works for 2 years and basically served as an errand boy for the Superintendent. At this time, another restructure took place and several more upper management personnel were let go. Mr. Kelly was then made Director of Public Works, which basically is the same job he already had but with a bit more responsibility. He was now responsible for assignment of work crews and personnel (approx. 40 -50 employees) as needed to conduct Conflict Resolution 3 necessary town business such as: purchasing, sanitation, water & sewer maintenance, and the like. He works directly under the Director of Municipal Services, which is basically a desk job/paper pushing version of the Superintendent of Public Works. Mr. Kelly has held this position for the last 3 years and has managed to keep his job, although not due to any efficiency of action or management skills. It is suspected he has done that with the assistance of the Director of Municipal Services, who is a personal friend to Mr.