A mere half-block away from the office on a pleasing fall day—the kind that caught the attention of most New Yorkers—Jeremy Frazer, an associate at the investment bank Hudson Smith Gordon (“Hudson”) thought about Chip Mazey, one of the vice presidents he was working with on a negotiation. Frazer and three other members working on the deal, Jean Fenster, Rich Patten, and Payton Edwards, had finally confided in each other about what it was like to work for the VP.

They found themselves in a difficult situation, one that most of them thought they had no power to change. After all, doing something about Mazey’s behaviour was tricky business. First was the fear of confronting Mazey. Another concern was the likelihood that Mazey would probably deny his behaviour or wouldn’t think that a problem existed. Then there was the unease about escalating the discussion to include a conversation with Mazey’s boss. Going upstairs might cause a tense situation to become even worse. Not really knowing what to do irked Frazer, though he couldn’t exactly say why. He thought about the stories his co-workers had shared.

The chapter outlined a number of causes of conflict. Which seem to be prevalent in this case? Feel free to cite some other contributors as well.