Description
Read the Attached Case – You are the company ombudsperson, and Laura has come to you seeking help with her escalated conflict.
1. Write out your script for a podcast to help you time it and to ensure you have included the required content.
2. Begin the podcast script by providing relevant information and establishing a clear purpose that engages the listener.
3. Demonstrate thorough knowledge of the topic using relevant, quality details that go beyond the obvious.
4. Focus on the topic.
5. Be sure to include details from your experience on the topic (the case) along with your researched information (5 scholarly sources).
6. Make sure there is a brief conclusion that connects the information in the podcast.
Podcasts are evaluated based on the following information: 1) how well the introduction sets the scene; 2) clarity, accuracy, and relevance of content; 3) whether the conclusion provided a clear summary of the main points; 4) the structure and flow of the podcast, and 5) technical sound quality (volume and clarity). Creativity is also considered.
Script:
In a large publishing company in New York, a young woman, Laura, was hired as a copy editor for one of
the many journals produced by the company. Seven other employees worked on this team editing this
Journal, including a senior editor named Tim. Laura had worked there for about a month when she and
her fellow co-workers went for happy-hour after work. Everybody had a great time and had consumed a
fair amount of alcohol. When everybody was leaving the bar to head home, Tim, who had been secretly
attracted to Laura since she started work at the journal, hailed a cab and offered to share the ride with
Laura. Laura accepted the offer. Once she was inside the cab, Tim then suddenly made an aggressive
sexual advance toward her. Horrified, Laura pushed him away and told him to get out of the cab.
Mortified, Tim slinked out of the cab.
The next day, Laura came to work with some apprehension. How would she deal with Tim? Would the
cab incident affect her job? Although Tim did not supervise her, would he try to get her fired? Tim
immediately went to her office and apologized for his extremely inappropriate behavior in the cab.
Relieved at his apology, Laura decided not to pursue the matter through any formal channels in the
office. She figured that since Tim apologized, there was no need to dwell on the incident. After all, Laura
was a new employee, still in the process of learning the office politics and proving herself as being a
competent editor. She did not want to rock the boat or bring negative attention to herself.
Everything would have been okay if Tim had stopped at just one sincerely expressed apology. However,
whenever he found himself alone with Laura, Tim apologized again. And again. He said he was sorry
about the incident at every opportunity he had for three months. This constant apology was awkward
and annoying to Laura. Ironically, by Tim apologizing continuously for his unwanted attention in the cab,
he was foisting another form of unwanted attention upon Laura. When he first started apologizing,
Laura told him that “it was okay”. After three months of many apologies, she reached a point where she
asked him to stop apologizing, to no avail. Frustrated, she confided in a few co-workers about her
unusual dilemma. Consequently, these co-workers lost respect for Tim.
Although the cab incident was not common knowledge in the office, Tim sensed that others knew about
it by the way they interacted with him. The incident became the office “elephant” that the employees
“in the know” saw, but didn’t explicitly acknowledge. Meanwhile, Laura was tired of hearing Tim
apologize and her feelings of discomfort increased. So when another editor position opened up in
another journal division of the company, she applied for the job and was transferred to the other
journal. In her new position, she didn’t have Tim bothering her anymore. But she was unhappy with her
new job. The journal material was very boring. She didn’t work as well with her co-workers as she did in
the previous journal (excepting Tim). She realized that she really enjoyed her old job. She began to
regret her decision to avoid the conflict with Tim by moving to the new job. In an effort to seek advice as
to how to solve her problem, Laura decided to consult with the company ombudsman.