Situation/Conflict:
What might have happened in this group situation is that Tom dissects the assignment and posts something about being team leader and would everyone take a part of the assignment. Everyone sighs in relief. Until Week 3 when Jim's part of the assignment just doesn't seem to fit and Grace doesn't submit hers at all. Tom puts a draft of the assignment together and asks where Grace is. Marcy sees that the sky is falling down around her a mere 2 classes from the finish line and starts to "co lead" the team. She inadvertently makes Tom feel like he's not as educated and completely reedits the draft assignment filling in Graces portion along with her portion. Becky has been trying to stay out of the "personal" issues but seeing the growing tension and the total revision of the paper which now doesn't relate to portions of her work, she tries to point out that Tom as the team leader should be the one editing the final paper.
Grace finally posts at noon on Monday about how she was out of town without internet access and since her portion was already done by Marcy should she just make final edits and submit. Marcy doesn't think she should be allowed to put her name on the work. Jim says he knows how technology can be tricky and he only has internet at home so he's willing to let Grace work on the editing since she's still actually helping. Becky thinks they should just submit it without her and stop fighting and Tom thinks majority should rule but his vote is the swing vote and can't decide. The learning team charter never addressed the issue of deadlines or deciding when someone should be considered off the project. Marcy finally just posts the edited paper and leaves Grace's name off of it. Tom's secretly glad the decision was made but is upset that Marcy posted it without talking to the team.
Participants of the online learning group
Becky: 30s, full-time job as a nurse, wife and mother to three kids. Becky is a hard worker, a perfectionist and a planner. She likes to plan out her week carefully and her grades are very important to her. She is very kind and relaxed. She does not have a strong personality, but will speak up if she is not happy. This is her first learning team experience.
Tom: mid-20s and a full-time student with a part-time job at a grocery store. He is trying to get on his feet and has a strong work ethic. He is halfway through his degree program and has worked with multiple learning teams. He has been the team leader most of the time. He is very easy going, but lacks creativity. He wants to simply choose the most obvious approach.
Jim: 60s, Jim is a high school janitor nearing retirement age. He wants to possibly open a small business after he retires, so he’s back in school. The online environment is very foreign to him, and his computer skills are rather limited. He is good with meeting deadlines and always responds to emails or phone calls from anyone on the team. In fact he posts in the team forum almost every day with some kind of information, but it’s not always about the assignment. His demeanor is pleasant and he wants to get along with everyone, but his thoughts do not always align with his team members that are 30-40 years younger than him. As the oldest, he does feel that his opinion should mean more than others.
Grace:21, recently completed her Associates degree and has no idea what she wants to do with her life. She does not have a job, lives at home and still likes to party with friends. She tends to get things done last minute because that’s when she believes her best work is done. If it’s not interesting to her, she’s tough to motivate. Being part of a learning team is new to her.
Marcy: mid-40s, Marcy has a full-time job as a human resources assistant. Marcy has only two classes left for her degree, and she figures she will soon be on her way to bigger and better things. She has had some bad experiences with learning teams and has learned that she has to dominate in order to get things done. She will take a project that she is not happy with and completely redo it, but then blame others if the grade is not what she desires.
I want assistance (650 to 700 words) with the questions below, regarding the situation/conflict attached.
Ethics: What ethical issues arose? How were these issues resolved? How did ethics influence the decision-making and problem-solving processes?
Leadership: In what ways did the leadership roles emerge or fail to emerge? When did leadership emerge in comparison to the other roles? How did leadership affect those roles? What style of leadership did the leader portray and was it effective?