Heritage Business Group

What would you do if you witnessed an act of vandalism by one employee toward the property of another? This is the situation that Pat, an employee at The Heritage Business Group, faces when she witnesses a co-worker, Mark, "keying" a car belonging to another co-worker, Fran. Initially, Mark does not know that Pat saw him vandalize Fran's car. Pat is aware that Fran and Mark had been arguing over the past few months. Part A of the case ends with Pat wondering what she should do. Following Part A are three more parts to the story (found in the teaching note) that can be handed out or projected for the students to read. Each part sequentially adds information about the decision the individual actually made, and presents another decision required by one of the key players (Harry, the owner, in parts B and D) and Mark, the antagonist, in part C). There are three teaching objectives for this case: 1) demonstrate that limitations of a rational decision-making approach when confronted with a complex, emotionally-charged conflict situation 2) analyze a conflict situation in terms of the types of conflict observed, including antisocial work behaviour, and the conflict handling styles used by different individuals in the situation 3) evaluate the short- and long-term implications of making decisions related to antisocial workplace behaviour using different ethical frameworks.