Critical Thinking Case studies:
It came to the attention of the Mr. Faisal Al Qarni, CEO of a Alqarni company (A small Jeddah based company) that there was a difficulty between two employees who had been working together for some time but recently appeared to have major differences that were affecting their entire department.
Two employees Amal and Haifa had been working together for a few years. They were in the same department and reported to the same departmental manager. Amal had been at the company longer and was senior to Haifa.
Mr. Faisal was being approached by both Amal and Haifa at different times. They complaint against each other about the harassment and bullying. Mr. Faisal asked HR Manager to listen their issues and try to resolve as soon as possible. HR Manager has spent increasing amounts of time speaking to them, taking notes of their points and comments, meeting with their department manager.
Haifa had felt under pressure from Amal since she joined the company. She raised the issue with her departmental manager; however, she felt that nothing had changed. Both the parties were accusing the other of bullying and harassment.
Amal had a no-nonsense approach and felt that some aspects of Haifa’s work needed improvement. She had asked for these changes in ways that she felt had been clear and fair. Haifa kept going to management with the allegation of bullying by Amal.
Haifa felt her work performance had been made subject to very public comment in team meetings and she felt embarrassed and singled out. She felt she could do no right as far as Amal was concerned. She liked her job. It was close to her home so she was able to take her children to school and pick them up on her way home.
Both parties were thinking about leaving if the situation could not be worked out. They reluctantly agreed to mediation but neither wanted to change jobs.
Consider yourself as HR Manager and resolve the entire issue.
Assignment Question(s): (Marks 05)
- What are the main problem and subproblems of the case? Based on the following technique, identify the causes of problem? [Marks 2]
- Cause of the problem- 5 Why Technique
- Why-1
- Why-2
- Why-3
- Why-4
- Why-5
- Develop a Cause-and-Effect Diagram
- What information should you gather, that would be helpful to know before making a decision? [Marks 0.75]
- Develop a mind map to generate several choices of your decision. As HR Manager, what will be your decision to resolve this issue? [Marks 1.5]
- HR Manager may face Ethical dilemma in resolving the issue and finding solutions. What could be possible ethical issues in the above case? [Marks 0.75]
