By Noah Weaver

1. The delicate situation at hand is that Jack does not want to disappoint the children that he interacts with regularly, but he also does not want to cause an uproar among the staff members in the process. Facts include:

• Jack is an American student working on a social venture
• he lives in a youth center for children under the age of 14
• most of the children were given gifts by Jack and the other staff members (four did not receive a gift: instead, they received black hats)
• Jack appears to accept some responsibility for four children not getting gifts when they were distributed to the children (despite the fact it’s through no fault of his own)
• the staff does not want to acknowledge that the four children not receiving gifts is an issue as they do not want to make a bigger deal out of it and cause a bigger problem
• Jack feels upset that the four children were left out
• Jack also does not want to damage his relationship with either the staff or the children
• Children feeling left out is handled differently in Kenya compared to the way it is in America; cultural expectations are different
• only one kid stared at Jack when walking away from him, but Jack interpreted this as all four kids being upset

2. The problem: Jack needs to solve the issue with the forgotten gifts while simultaneously maintaining an amicable relationship with both the children and staff of the youth center.

3. Stakeholders and Motivations:

• Jack
  • professional–> maintain relationships with children and staff of the youth center, potential financial incentives related to his venture, uphold the reputation of any organization (e.g. university, business) that he represents.
  • personal–>as an outsider to Kenya, he might want to be more of a “do-gooder”, wants to feel liked by the children
• Children
  • professional–>Not applicable
  • personal–> they want to feel included with the rest of their peers, they also might want a present to feel special
• Youth Center Staff
  • professional–>maintain the peace, receive praise without blame for things that are not directly their fault
  • personal–>avoid causing an unnecessary problem, help educate/entertain children of the youth center
• Social Venture
  • professional–> maintain rapport with locals in the area as they continue their operations, advance the needs of the venture without doing harm in the process
  • personal–> maintain rapport with locals in order to avoid causing lingering issues that can make it uncomfortable for them to be in Kenya
• Donors
  • professional–> reinforcing their relationship with the social venture
  • personal–> positively impacting their target population in Kenya

4.  Solutions:

• Solution A: Do nothing.
  • Pros: remain on good terms with the staff, most of the children are happy, no further effort required on Jack’s part
  • Cons: some of the children may still be upset, Jack still feels a bit guilty, Jack looks bad to a few of the kids
  • This saves face because it does not allow for the staff to be embarrassed by acknowledging any wrong-doing on their part, and it also keeps Jack from being publicly embarrassed by taking responsibility for something that was not his fault, either.
  • Implications on relationships: Some children are still upset with Jack and the staff will not be frustrated by Jack trying to fix something they do not believe is a problem (short-term). Jack will remain on good terms with the staff and all of the children (long-term), as the children who were upset will probably move on from this experience eventually.
  • Implications on the venture: Jack does not have to be concerned about causing any personal issues with the staff (short-term) and this will allow the venture to operate harmoniously. The venture will maintain a good working relationship with the youth center (long-term).
• Solution B: acknowledge the problem, apologize to the children, and give them new gifts out of Jack’s own pocket.
  • Pros: children might respect Jack more for acknowledging their feelings, mend hurt feelings of previously left-out children, Jack no longer feels guilty
  • Cons: children could potentially use this to take advantage of Jack, staff will become upset with Jack by causing more issues for them,
  • Saves face for Jack because the children will not hold ill-will towards Jack, however, this approach may sort of put the staff in a position they did not want to be in. This method, however, does not save face for the other parties involved (other than the children).
  • Implications on relationships: children are kept happy (short term), but the staff will feel like their feelings were ignored and this may cause hostility towards Jack (long-term)
  • Implications on the venture: the venture may be seen positively by the children (short-term), but the hostility of the staff towards Jack will undoubtedly hurt the venture’s goals more than help the venture’s goals (long-term).
• Solution C: Have Jack wear the black hat and make it seem cool to have one, too.
  • Pros: this indirectly addresses the issue with the children: they felt they weren’t given a cool gift in a ceremonious way, but Jack wearing the black hat will make them think they are cooler than the other kids. This also avoids disobeying the wishes of the staff and creates a situation where both the problem is resolved and harmony is maintained between Jack, the venture, the children, and the youth center staff.
  • Cons: this approach might make the other kids who did not receive a black hat feel jealous that they did not get a cool black hat, which may lead to more issues of hurt feelings. The approach is also very indirect and the children might be confused as to why the did not also receive a black hat (despite receiving a donated gift).
  • This saves face for everyone involved, including: Jack because he made each child feel included in the gift-giving, the staff because they do not have to confront Jack about his handling of the situation (that they did not view as a problem from the beginning), the children because they do not feel left out, and the venture and donor because they resolved a situation that avoids any awkward/heated confrontations.
  • Implications on relationships: children are not left out and they all feel they received something special (short-term), they will not hold ill will towards Jack (long-term). The staff will also likely be satisfied with Jack’s creativity (short-term) and maintain a good working relationship with Jack (long-term).
  • Implications on the venture: business as usual continues (short-term), and the venture’s likability/reputability is enhanced by giving out gifts in a thoughtful way (long-term).

Resources: The comment about wearing the hat that Khanjan mentioned during class forced me to think about the easiest way to solve this issue. By wearing the hat, no direct confrontations or aggression are likely to arise and respect is given to the cultural context that Jack is working in. As he is an outsider in this community, he must respect the wishes of the youth center staff and how they handle these issues.

Chosen Solution: Solution C.

• This solution is the best one because it avoids causing any confrontation or volatile situation, it satisfies the children who originally felt left out, it keeps the staff from having much reason to get upset at Jack. This solution was chosen over doing nothing because that does not allow Jack to alleviate his feeling of guilt and it does not resolve the hurt feelings of the children who felt left out. This solution was also chosen over the direct method of intervention because of the confrontations that would arise with the staff because they would feel that Jack is circumventing their authority and disrespecting their culture. As an outsider, Jack is not in much of a position to blatantly disregard the youth center staff’s wishes. The lingering hostility on the part of the youth center staff would undoubtedly irreparably harm the goals of the venture, too. The avoidance of confrontation, respect for the staff’s wishes, and respect for the children’s feelings save face for everyone involved so that nobody needs to acknowledge any wrongdoing whatsoever.
• Short-term implications on relationships:
  • pros: children that felt left out are now satisfied because they think it’s cool to wear a black hat like Jack; indirectly solving this problem avoids the opportunity for a confrontation with the youth center’s staff; Jack also feels satisfied with himself for correcting the issue
  • cons: some children might become jealous of not being given a hat; some staff members might still be upset that Jack did anything at all to correct something that they did not feel was an issue (although this will likely be an underwhelming number that feels as such);
• Long-term implications on relationships:
  • Pros: children will fondly think of Jack, Jack will also be able to maintain a good rapport with the staff, Jack’s efforts will be seen as positive/thoughtful and make it easier for him to establish new relationships outside of this area of Kenya as his venture expands (assuming that is what they do)
  • Cons: N/A
• Short-term implications on the venture:
  • pros: the venture continues to operate normally, Jack’s association with the venture (by extension) will increase community acceptance of the venture and it’s goals because Jack was thoughtful enough to be respectful to both the children and the staff’s wishes
  • Cons: Some staff members may negatively view the venture initially due to not feeling like credit was given to them for their part in the gift-giving, some children might also still associate Jack with the venture in a negative connotation for not being given as cool of a gift as the kids who were initially left out
• Long-term implications on the venture:
  • Pros: the community will not associate negativity with the venture, the staff of the youth center will likely have forgotten about the “bump in the road” and be more receptive to helping advance Jack’s social venture, the venture can use their (assumed) success to expand operations into other parts of Kenya
  • Cons: N/A
• This solution does not have any impact on the environmental, technological, or economic impact on the venture. However, from a social point of view, it will maintain a good rapport with all stakeholders in Kenya (children and youth center staff) and make it easier for the community to buy into the venture’s mission. This solution also saves face for everyone involved because it does not force anyone to acknowledge an issue or feel at fault for anything whatsoever.

Sequence of Events:

1. During the next period of the activity center, Jack should just show up wearing a black hat.
2. Play games with the kids and make it sound as if the black hat is magical and gives someone the same “powers” of Jack
3. Continue with the venture as planned.