Situation

Jeremy is new to Fantastic Enterprises, Inc. He was hired as a Sr. Account Executive two months ago and is working on a big project: Terrific Toys. Jeremy is dynamic and brings a lot of fresh and innovative ideas to the Marketing Team. He has ten years of experience in similar industries and was hired based on his creativity, results, and interpersonal skills. Brad, his boss, was initially thrilled to have Jeremy on board because he could help with the increasing number of projects that the Marketing Department is managing. Brad has been given a lot of praise and is very confident in his ability to manage a team of 30 people. People look up to him and know he's in control and will always find a way to solve a problem. Unfortunately, that has led to a dependent work group awaiting instructions and direction from him. When Jeremy presents his ideas for the innovative promotion of Terrific Toys' new line of interactive robots, Brad shoots down every one of his ideas, and criticizes and questions his decisions. Jeremy is caught off-guard, wondering what he is missing. He tries to engage Brad in dialogue during the meeting, but Brad starts barking out orders to junior members of the team. At first, Jeremy is embarrassed and angry, but decides to set up a meeting with Brad to discuss the conflict. He has worked with difficult people in the past and has always managed a way to make things work. After several attempts to set up a meeting, Brad finally agrees to a 15-minute meeting on a Friday. During the meeting, he is hostile and Jeremy tries to get to the root problem. He thinks that Brad is having a hard time delegating and relinquishing the responsibility.

Questions

1. How can Jeremy move forward with this conflict without having to resign?

2. Present three alternatives

3. How is the conflict management style Collaboration is being used?