Principles Of Management

Tucker company

Tucker Company has recently restructured its organisation into three divisions based on its product lines. The laboratory is a department which is under Military Jet Engine Division but is being used by all the other divisions. This has caused inter divisional conflicts in the company and has become a pressing issue for everyone.

Ques) Analyse the conflict between Hodge and Franklin. Do you think the conflict is based on personalities or on the way the organization is structured?

Answer). In my opinion the conflict between Mr. Hodge and Mr. Franklin is not based on the organisational structure as much as it is due to the personalities of the two. The reason being that while in the times of Mr. Garfield, the interpersonal conflicts were almost nil and the organisation was working properly. Thus the organisational structure seems to be working fine.

The problems seem to have started with the introduction of Mr. Hodge to the new position.He had his personal motives which overlooked the objectives of the organisation and the management. He was adjudged as an empire builder by his co-workers and colleagues.Moreover he always stressed on proving the importance of the laboratory on every level and to the management. Though he wanted to increase the visibility and the role of laboratory in decision making, his suggestions were not perceived as feasible and were not given much importance. This might be one of the reasons of conflicts with the people from other departments. He also tried to throw his weight around by emphasizing his technical skills and knowledge, which again were becoming a reason for non-compatibility among the departments.

So not only Mr. Franklin, but many other departments were victims of the bossy traits of Mr. Hodge. Mr. Franklin, on the other hand had shown interest in his ideas and also offered to work in collaboration. But as suggested in the case, there was difference in the opinion and the two could not continue further. Mr. Hodge retaliated by not giving priority to his department’s work which in turn worsened the situation. All these stated facts suggest that it was a problem of personalities rather than that of organisational structure.

Thus the problem seems to be of mutual understanding and compatibility among the employees. Hence the CEO can step forward and act as the moderator for solving the issues of the concerned parties.