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OVERVIEW Your ability to properly analyze and respond in a conflict-related si

  OVERVIEW Your ability to properly analyze and respond in a conflict-related situation is foundational to your success in personal and professional life. This brief is designed to help you refine the art of communicating to maximize impact, professionalism and constructive outcomes by considering the possibilities of “conflict transformation.” The integration of form and content is the same as in the first brief; it will push you to research thoroughly and write for brevity and impact. However, the content of this assignment will challenge you to consider the intersection of conflict, communication and technology for practical, yet transformative outcomes. INSTRUCTIONS You have been reading the Fisher & Ury book, and now you need to read Ledarach’s book and watch his lecture. Once you have completed those things, then read the case study called The Water Problem. Then apply what you’ve learned from the Fisher and Ury book and the Lederach book to synthesize a strategic recommendation to solve the problem between the three groups. The goal of this paper is to see if you can apply ideas from this class to a real-life problem 1. Length of assignment: 1000 words 2. Content of assignment. The Conflict Brief is to include the following components. a. Cover Page (not included in word count) b. Executive Summary that serves as a preview to the content found in the brief (250 words). An Executive Summary is NOT an academic abstract. The Executive Summary previews the brief by giving away the key insights or findings in the brief. Think of this as a one-page cheat sheet or as the “spoiler alert,” providing the audience with the main ideas clearly stated in an easy-to-read format. Follow the details below to prepare this part of your brief. c. Professional, thoughtfully analyzed response to the case study (750 words) i. This analysis includes the following sections 1. Two ideas from Fisher and Ury (you choose) 2. Two ideas from Lederach (you choose) 3. A suggested resolution to the problem 4. A biblical integration section d. Reference page (not included in word count) 3. Format of assignment: Follow APA Style, paying close attention to the formatting of in- text citations, the reference list and headings. Creative business formatting as found in Word templates is permitted if APA style is adhered to in in-text citations and references. Use of first person is NOT permitted in this assignment. 4. Number of citations: 5 COMS 560 Page 2 of 4 5. You should include ideas and concepts from two journal articles at various points in your paper. These are not tied to any specific section, but should be included as a way to shore up a particular point, or help to bring extra clarity to a point you are making. 6. Any sources cited must have been published within the last five years, unless citing classic, philosophical, literary or historical and theoretical information or research. Acceptable sources include course materials, and scholarly peer-reviewed sources, and the Bible. Two of the sources will be books we used in this class, and two must be from scholarly peer-reviewed journal articles. Here’s how to prepare an Executive Summary. ? ASK YOURSELF: If my target audience could only read this one page to understand my brief, what do they need to know? By the time the reader finishes the Executive Summary, they should be able to: ? State the main idea. ? Clearly identify the key insights or significant points made in your brief. ? Accurately recap the next steps based on your findings. ? WHAT TO INCLUDE: Follow these guidelines to ensure that the content is complete. ? Clear statement of purpose. This is your thesis (your WHY) for the brief. ? Key insights. Be specific, not vague. Share your findings here. ? Next steps. Be specific. List what you’ve learned that’s relevant to your audience. ? Concise writing. Stay focused and on point with your content. ? Professional language. Write for your audience. Aim to be clear, not clever. ? Easy-to-read formatting. Use bullet points to emphasize key ideas. ? APA citations. Use APA style if source support is provided. ? MORE ON HOW TO WRITE AN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. Use the general structural recommendations in these sources for additional insight into how to prepare an Executive Summary. These are only guides. Emulate aspects of these sources that help you frame your brief well. You can find links to these articles on the Brief Assignment pages under Brief Resources. GOOD STYLISTIC APPROACH: This will help you think through how to be compelling in this part of your brief. GOOD GENERAL OVERVIEW: This will help you think through how to format for impact. GOOD ACADEMIC ABSTRACT vs. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY REVIEW: This will help you avoid writing the more traditional academic abstract, which serves a similar function in scholarly papers/publications. Note: Your assignment will be checked for originality via the Turnitin plagiarism tool. COMS 560 Page 3 of 4 THE WATER PROBLEM CASE STUDY A group of summer homeowners in the high mountains of Colorado faces an ongoing problem with their water well, which keeps testing as polluted, thus making it necessary for the residents to boil or buy their water. Recently, some of the elected officials of the volunteer board authorized a road to be built so heavy equipment could reach the wellhead and the well could be dug out and rebuilt. The road was built through wetlands, which raised some federal legal problems, and through a pristine meadow cherished by some of the residents as a quiet, beautiful spot at the end of the property. The road goes through commonly owned property, skirting the edge of privately-owned lots. Three factions formed, and full-scale conflict has erupted, with letters, private conversations, procedural challenges, content arguments, relationship destruction, and face-saving struggles going on at a high level of intensity. Thirty-five or so families are involved. The homeowners are a long-standing group of friends and acquaintances who have considerable monetary and emotional investment in the property along with dramatically different ecological, political, financial, and community values. 1. The “water first” group: This group consists primarily of engineers, scientists, builders, and practical people who are sick and tired of dealing with a half-solution to the water problem year after year. They want to get a new well, install purification systems if they are needed, and assess the membership for what is required. They rely on scientific studies of the water quality as a database. In their view, the road was simply a means to an important end. They are convinced that their mandate was clear: to provide potable water for the group. They can’t understand the outrage of the second group. Many members of this group have volunteered countless hours through the years for the practical maintenance of the roads, water system, fences, and governing system. This group is concerned with content goals and face-saving. They argue that the content goals are the most important and that they did what they had to do (face-saving). 2. The “road has to go” group: This group consists of a few older homeowners and their adult children. The view of this group is that environmental concerns are primary. They will not tolerate compromise about the sensitive wetlands along the stream and feel outraged at what they perceive as the destruction of the most beautiful area of common property. They think the board acted without proper authorization by the membership and feel strongly that not only should the road never have been built but that it must be taken out and the area reclaimed. They prefer any solution, including boiling water for drinking, to the degradation of the environment. Many of this group will be second-generation homeowners when they inherit the property from their parents. However, these group members have no vote in the association, since only property owners can vote. This group as a whole is concerned about appropriate process and has strongly held content goals. 3. The “we simply have to live with it” group: This group sees itself as the middle group be- tween two extremes. Many of these people feel disappointed or angry about the gravel road and the fact that the water problem still is not solved. They want to support the elected board but don’t like all the conflict and alienation in what used to be a very close and friendly group, which had potlucks, birthday celebrations, and outings together. Now that the road is in, they think it should be accepted and used to solve the water problem. This group is concerned with COMS 560 Page 4 of 4 relationships and face-saving for the board. They keep their private opinions, whatever they might be, to themselves. They look to the future