11 September, 2020

Step 1: Determine the facts in the situation – obtain all of the unbiased facts possible 

• • An international donor organization sent gifts for children under the age of 14 to a youth center in Kenya
  • The kids and staff live at the center
  • Jack lives at the center (for 5 months)
  • Jack was asked to hand out the gifts and the way the ceremony was staged made the children believe that Jack was the one who got the gifts for the children
  • There were not enough gifts for all the children, which caused four children to receive a substantially less important type of gift (black hats) in a less grand fashion 
  • Four of the children blame Jack for not receiving a gift 
  • Staff were convinced Jack was making a big deal out of the situation and don’t want him to create unnecessary problems
  • Staff feel blamed by Jack’s concern

 

• Assumptions:

 

• • The black hats have less value than the other gifts. 
  • The black hats potentially have a negative stigma to them. 
  • Jack wants to make a good impression on the children at the center to establish good relationships

 

Steps 2 and 3 : Define the problem and the stakeholders – those with a vested interest in the outcome and Determine and distinguish between the personal and professional motivations of the stakeholders. 

 

Problem: There were not enough gifts for all of the children at the center, which resulted in several of the children receiving items of lesser value. The children were upset and felt left out and they blame Jack for this. Jack wants to do something to make the children feel better but the staff do not see it as an issue.

 

Dilemma: Jack wants to do the right thing without putting blame on anyone or apologizing too much. The action he chooses will create expectations for the future and may alter his relationship with the staff and children. Jack doesn’t want to jeopardize current relationships or the social venture.

 

Stakeholders:

• Children without toys
  • Personal interests:
    • Want toys or a gift of equal value (in terms of fun and entertainment the toys will provide)
    • Want to be part of the ceremony (a matter of respect and fitting in)
• Children with toys
  • Personal interests:
    • New toys! They like Jack because he gave them the toys.
    • Feeling special and valued
    • Might tease kids who did not get gifts
• Staff members:
  • Professionally: 
    • They don’t want Jack to question how good they are at their job (rude)
    • Jack’s action will change the work dynamic between them and the kids
    • Cannot control how many gifts are sent by the donors
    • Want things to operate smoothly and maintain the status quo
  • Personal: 
    • Feel defensive of Jack’s concerns (he just got here, how should he know better)
    • Don’t want to set the precedent of gifts being a reward
• Jack
• • Personal: 
    • He does not want the children to resent him for not getting gifts.
      • Feels personally blamed by the kids because the children perceive that the gifts came from him. 
    • Wants to be liked and welcomed, make everyone happy
  • Professional:
    • Good relationship with all the kids will be better in the long run
    • Wants to have a good reputation because he is living there for five months
    • Needs to maintain good relationships with both the children and the staff in order to ensure he is able to complete his venture
• Donor Org (secondary): 
  • Professional: 
    • Good press, maybe a tax write off
  • Personal: 
    • Feeling of gratitude and giving back to another community

 

Step 4: Formulate (at least three) alternative solutions – based on information available, to have a win-win situation for your relationship and your venture. 

1. Potential Solution 1: Jack uses his own money to purchase gifts for the remaining four children and make a special occasion of presenting the gifts to them.
   1. How does it solve the problem? 
      1. It allows the kids that were forgotten to feel included and that they are just as special as all the other kids
   2. Pros: 
      1. The remaining four children would receive gifts and would be happy. 
      2. Jack would still uphold his positive status with the children. 
      3. The children will regain a sense of inclusion and importance.
      4. All of the children will have received gifts of equal value.
   3. Cons 
      1. Other kids for whom Jack won’t purchase gifts might feel left out
      2. Jack will have to spend his own money → creates a financial burden that Jack hadn’t planned for
      3. Jack might be seen as a push over → may create a situation where children start approaching Jack asking him to buy them things.
      4. Jack will be viewed differently with the staff because he went against their beliefs that there is no issue → this may create some division between Jack and the staff.
   4. How does it save face of those involved? 
      1. Jack: 
         1. Would be providing gifts for the remaining four children → it will no longer look like he forgot some of the children or valued those children less.
      2. Children without toys:
         1. it makes them not look left out and appear included versus being excluded with just a black hat
   5. Implications on relationships 
      1. Short-term 
         1. The children will still respect Jack. 
         2. Makes all of the kids feel included and the 4 children will regain their positive relationship with Jack
      2. Long-term 
         1. The kids might take advantage of Jack because he was nice to them and got them special gifts
         2. It might hurt his relationship with other children because they think he is favoring the 4 kids that didn’t get gifts
         3. The staff might start to dislike Jack because he could be causing more problems and going against what they said. They could blame him for any issues related to this in the future. Also, they could see it as using money to win the children over.
   6. Implications on the venture 
      1. Short-term: 
         1. Will improve immediate relationships with kids 
         2. May sour relationship with coworkers
         3. Will fix this dilemma and keep the relationship between the center and Jack (the american)
      2. Long-term 
         1. Youth center members might see American workers as a charity 
         2. Might hurt other American’s opportunities to work at that center

 

1. Potential Solution 2: Add more value to the hats by making them special in some way (e.g., decorating them, creating a special role for those children that is signified by the hats)
   1. How does it solve the problem? 
      1. It gives the kids a sense of importance and value, which they didn’t get with not getting as special of a gift
      2. Makes them feel more included in the group, like they’re as important as all the other kids
   2. Pros 
      1. The kids would feel honored despite not partaking in the gift ceremony
      2. The kids would not blame Jack for being left out
      3. The workers won’t feel that Jack is upstaging their own job performance
   3. Cons 
      1. Unsure of how this would affect the social dynamic of kids (might give them a power trip over the kids with toys)
      2. Unsure if the kids will be accepting of this “added value” and could still be upset
      3. Workers might see this as Jack interfering with the current way of things and think he is meddling too much
      4. Jack may be forced to buy decorating materials if there are none
   4. How does it save face of those involved? 
      1. Jack:
         1.  It gives Jack a way to still be on good terms with the kids and without stepping on the staff members toes
      2. Staff members: 
         1. They get to maintain the status quo and not have their relationships with the kids be altered by Jack going out and purchasing additional gifts for the children that were left out.
      3. Kids without toys: 
         1. It makes them feel special even though they didn’t get the same gifts as everyone else and can feel included with the other kids that got gits.
   5. Implications on relationships 
      1. Short-term 
         1. Staff can trust that Jack has the best intentions for the children
         2. Children might think Jack plays favorites (can create distrust with Jack)
      2. Long-term 
         1. Jack and the staff would continue to be strong and stable 
         2. Jack can develop a strong relationship with all the children
   6. Implications on the venture 
      1. Short-term 
         1. Venture partnership will grow tighter as staff realizes the american worker is quick to improvise and satisfy the needs of the children without upstaging current workers 
      2. Long-term 
         1. Venture continues stable partnership and keep open ties with American involvement at the youth center 

 

Potential Solution 3: Do nothing to ensure the relationship between Jack and the staff remains stable and healthy

1. 1. How does it solve the problem? 
      1. The children technically all received a gift.
      2. It allows Jack to stay on good terms with the staff members and shifts his level of importance for relationships to the staff over the kids
   2. Pros 
      1. The relationship will continue to be strong and stable (assuming it was already stable)
      2. Children are pretty resilient and will likely bounce back from not receiving the gift. Jack should be able to build his relationship with the 4 kids back up pretty quickly.
      3. Staff members will see that Jack is respecting their advice and not a “children’s rights activist” 
   3. Cons 
      1. Relationship between Jack and children will suffer. Kids could be mean.
      2. The kids could have an influence on the staff members and make them have a negative outlook on Jack because he can’t get along with the kids
      3. Staff members might see Jack as complaining and not an action taker
   4. How does it save face of those involved? 
      1. Staff: 
         1. Don’t feel like Jack is taking over and going over their heads to fix a problem. 
      2. Jack: 
         1. Absorbs the blame but preserves relationship with staff
   5. Implications on relationships 
      1. Short-term  
         1. Children will have a tainted view on Jack 
         2. Staff will see Jack as an obedient worker 
      2. Long-term 
         1. Neutrality between children will remain the same (staff or Jack isn’t playing favorites)
   6. Implications on the venture 
      1. Short-term 
         1. Relations between children and american worker might struggle 
      2. Long-term 
         1. Establish good relationships between the staff members and American workers so there will continue to be opportunities for new volunteers to come visit

Step 5: Seek additional assistance, as appropriate – previous cases, peers, reliance on personal experience, inner reflection 

 

I have spent a lot of time working with children, so I understand what sort of constraints may be put on the relationship between Jack and the children if the children are left feeling like outcasts. In a sense, the children trusted Jack, who they thought brought them gifts, to be equal with all of the children. Yet, I also understand from a professional perspective why it is so important that Jack maintains a positive relationship with the staff. In order to help guide my decision, I talked with a few of my peers about this dilemma. The way our conversation was guided was by putting ourselves in the position of the children who received the hats and also in the position of the staff. Ultimately, we all came to a consensus that it was important to find a middle ground so that the children would not feel left out and so that the staff would not feel as if Jack was going to cause trouble at the center. 

 

Step 6: Select the best course of action – that solves the problem, saves face and has the best short-term and long-term implications for your relationship and venture. Explain reasoning and discuss your solution vis-a-vis other approaches discussed in class. 

 

The solution that I believe is best suited to solve this dilemma is Solution 2: Add more value to the hats by making them special in some way (e.g., decorating them, creating a special role for those children that is signified by the hats). This solution has the best short-term and long-term implications as it ensures that Jack will maintain a positive relationship with both the staff and the children. The children will be happy that they are receiving meaningful gifts from Jack, and the staff will recognize that Jack did not go out of his way to make another ceremony. This will also help the venture in the short-term and long-term as the staff will realize that Jack is able to improvise without insulting and upstaging the staff. Although, I will admit that a shortcoming of this solution compared to others is that Jack will most likely have to spend some sort of money on decorating materials. This is not preferable as the kids who did not receive a gift bought from Jack’s money may feel left out, also the staff may perceive this as Jack interfering a bit too much. Yet, ultimately it is better than Solution 1, which will put a financial burden on Jack and upset the staff even more; and it is better than Solution 3, which would tarnish the relationship between Jack and the children. Solution 2 will allow Jack to save face with the children without greatly hurting the relationship between Jack and the staff. 

 

Step 7: List the sequence of actions you will take to implement your solution.

1. Jack will talk to the staff about his plan, so that they are aware and so that it does not lead to any confusion or misinterpretations
2. Jack will gather decorating materials, either by finding them at the center or purchasing them
3. Jack will gather the children who received the black hats, alongside bringing his own black hat
4. The children and Jack will decorate their hats
5. The children and Jack will both wear their hats around the center
6. Communication will be kept with the staff after the decoration of the hats is completed