Management Course Week 5 Review

“Panama's Trump Hotel Has More Drama Than

Guests, As Owners, Management Feud”
Source: National Republic Radio

This week, the main topic is about management feuds. Feuds damage the organization in
three basic ways. They waste resources, they waste time, and they increase turnover. In turn, an
organization plagued by feuds can become unable to exploit opportunities or meet critical
challenges. Ending a feud is a difficult process, but failing to end a damaging feud can bring an
end to the organization. Honestly, a feud can start from anything. Even a simple rearrangement of
offices can become a controversy that consumes everyone and stops all work — if you're lucky. If
you're unlucky, work continues, but the work products contain undetected defects. In a workplace
dominated by feuds, people cannot take pride in their work. Their health suffers, and the best
workers — those who have alternatives — leave.
This time, a news headline discusses about the Trump Hotel at Panama. Their management
has been having feuds, involving teams of security guards attacking each other and police carting
off an employee in handcuffs. The brawl started when members of the owners group and their
security team tried to gain access to a room containing maintenance equipment and security camera
monitors but were physically blocked and shoved aside by Trump employees, as cellphone video
obtained by The Associated Press shows. The conflict escalated when it continued down a stairwell
and ended when the facilities director for the owners’ association allegedly was put in a chokehold,
according to a person who represents one of the owners. The tussle was over by the time police
arrived. This isn’t the first time the Trump Hotel management have disputes like this. As I said
before, feuds in a wastes resources, time, and opportunities. The Panama Trump Hotels revenue
has been falling and their investors aren’t too pleased.
In November 2017, led by Cypriot financier Orestes Fintiklis, the owners moved to take
Trump's name off the building and terminate the company's 40-year contract, which was scheduled
to run through 2031. Algred Monstavicius, who owns a Penthouse unit, says that under the Trump
Organization's management of the hotel, he is losing money every month

Critical Opinion
This is a serious issue for the Trump Organization, because they have to realize that this
business they’re running is a big one, and having management feuds being exposed to the public
is actually such a disgrace for their name. Of course, most people will agree the Trump brand has
already embarrassed itself for a number of issues over the past decade. But that’s not the point. I
think that a lot of companies and institutions can learn something from this issue.
Conflict can produce stress and anxiety. Employees in conflict with co-workers aren’t
focused on the task at hand, and may become resentful and unproductive. Conflict that festers can
lower employee morale, so it’s important to move quickly when conflict is identified. Every
workplace is plagued with manipulative people who use emotion to create conflict in order to
cover-up for their lack of substance. They are adept at using emotional tirades which often include
crocodile tears, blame shifting, little lies, half-truths and other trite manipulations to get away with
total lack of substance. However, conflict isn’t always a negative thing. Problems need to be fixed,
certainly, but managers can also use conflict to identify areas of business operations that need
clarification and improvement. Conflict that’s addressed quickly, openly and impartially can be a
valuable asset to the savvy business owner by leading to creative solutions to problems that may
otherwise have gone unnoticed. So, not all office conflict is negative when channeled through an
open, expansive corporate culture.
While conflict is a normal part of any social and organizational setting, the challenge of
conflict lies in how one chooses to deal with it. Concealed, avoided or otherwise ignored, conflict
will likely fester only to grow into resentment, create withdrawal or cause factional infighting
within an organization, and that is why I believe that the people that are responsible in preventing
these workplace feuds are managers. Use your judgment when it comes to addressing employee
complaints. Managers should want their employees to be as self-sufficient as possible. A manager
should encourage their employees to manage their issues on their own. By reacting to every whine
from a worker, it may actually worsen the situation by feeding into the drama. This might be
perceived as favoritism. Besides that, a manager must also lead by being a good example, because
Much of a company culture is based on how everyone interacts with one another. Take the Trump
Hotel case, the hotel manager can’t even become a good role model for his employees. The
manager couldn’t even interact with friendliness with the investors, which is also a reason for them
to terminate the company's 40-year contract.
A good company isn’t always the one that can make billions of dollars of profit every year,
but it is a company whose managers cares about his/her subordinates, and it is important to create
a peaceful atmosphere for the workers, and that is an important factor for them to be at their most
productive.