Linda Sims in accounting and Jose Martinez in credit are having a conflict over the use of the administrative assistant in the credit department, Ruth Rankin. They both work for a manufacturing company that has seen significant growth in the last 6 months. To address conflict, you must first determine what the true source of the conflict is. Because of Rankin's close proximity to accounting, he sometimes helped with Linda's assigned journal entries. With the current growth of the company, it is expected that the credit department will process requests more quickly. This situation has resulted in Rankin not being able to, as he often does, assist an accounting department that should also be processing at a faster pace. Sims complains to Martinez that accounting needs Rankin more than it needs her in credit. This complaint leads Martinez to the following response: "If I can't move credit applications in a timely manner, soon there won't be a need for an accounting department anymore, because this company will go out of business." conflict is generally considered the unwanted result of a problem, but it can also become a solution for that same problem. Although Sims and Martinez are taking an adversarial approach, this problem can be solved using John Dewey's "Rational Problem Solving Process". (Cited in Geraldine E. Hynes, 2011, p 311-312) The first step in this problem solving process will be defining the problem. The problem is that accounting becomes overwhelmed by the excess workflow resulting from increased credit processing. Since the credit department now needs Rankin more to ensure speedy processing of claims, Martinez can no longer afford to loan Rankin to Sims...... middle of paper... done, time to implement it. Hiring a staffing agency after getting HR approval will be the first step. From here you can begin reviewing resumes and conducting interviews with candidates. Once you have found and hired the candidate with the right skills to fill the newly opened position, the main problem will be solved. This conflict between Martinez and Sims began adversarially; but after following Dewey's six-step process, both sides became allies focused on solving a common problem. This conflict was not only effectively resolved between the two departments; potentially benefited the company by solving a staffing problem. This issue, if ignored, could have created further significant problems as the situation became dire; causing the company to address the problem reactively rather than proactively.