Ombuds Case Material, Stories, Teaching Cases, and Teaching Notes

During her career as an organizational ombuds at MIT and as an adjunct professor of negotiation and conflict management at the MIT Sloan School of Management, Mary Rowe has written true stories about ombuds work and leadership, numerous articles that incorporate deidentified, disguised case material drawn from ombuds practice, and Teaching Cases and Teaching Notes. This page brings all this material together in one place.

I. True Stories about Ombuds Work and Leadership

The following essays are true stories that draw on personal experience and observations. The essay on using the values and mission of the organization is published with the permission of the participants.

• “Becoming an Ombuds at MIT.” Rowe, Mary. Conflict Resolution Quarterly  40, Issue 4 (Summer 2023): 497-504.
• “A Nobel Prize Winner’s Life of Mentoring.” Rowe, Mary. 2023. (Note: The essay has been shared by The Chronicle of Evidence-based Mentoring.)
• “Using Organizational Values and Mission to Guide Strategic Planning.” Rowe, Mary. Journal of the International Ombudsman Association Vol. 16, No. 2 (Mary Rowe special issue, 2023-2024).
• “A Bit More About Paul and Priscilla Gray.” Williams, Clarence, and Mary Rowe. MIT Faculty Newsletter, November/December 2017.
  

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II. Ombuds Articles that Include De-Identified, Disguised Case Material

Organizational ombuds do everything we can both to illuminate our unusual profession and to protect the privacy and confidentiality of the constituents—the visitors—who engage with us and teach us about our organizations. The articles and essays in this section contain material from real cases that is meant to help shed light on some of the findings and tools of the organizational ombuds profession; all the case material has been de-identified and heavily disguised to protect confidentiality. Some examples come, with permission, from the work of other ombuds.

• “The Poster War: An Ombuds Learns About Sources of Power, Helping People Help Themselves, and the Role of Affinity Groups in Bringing About Change.” Rowe, Mary. Working paper. Cambridge, MA: October 2024.
• “’Drafting a Letter’ for People Dealing with Harassment or Bullying.” Rowe, Mary. Journal of the International Ombudsman Association Vol. 16, No. 2 (Mary Rowe special issue, 2023-2024).
• “Consider Generic Options When Complainants and Bystanders Are Fearful.” Rowe, Mary. Journal of the International Ombudsman Association Vol. 16, No. 2 (Mary Rowe special issue, 2023-2024).
• “Helping Hesitant Bystanders Identify Their Options: A Checklist with Examples and Ideas to Consider.” (PDF). Rowe, Mary. Journal of the International Ombudsman Association Vol. 16, No. 2 (Mary Rowe special issue, 2023-2024).
• “BELONGING—The Feeling That We ‘Belong’ May Depend in Part on ‘Affirmations.’” (PDF) Rowe, Mary. Journal of the International Ombudsman Association Vol. 16, No. 2 (Mary Rowe special issue, 2023-2024).
• “Changing Behavior, Letting It Be—Or Maybe Making It Worse: Ideas to Consider ” (PDF). Rowe, Mary. MIT Sloan Working Paper 6747-22. Cambridge, MA: MIT Sloan School of Management, April 2022.
• “When is a Difficult Person not a Difficult Person? Negotiating Across Worldviews One-on-one.” (PDF) Rowe, Mary. Negotiation Journal Vol. 38, No. 3 (2022):523-529. Link to journal.
• “Dealing with—or Reporting—‘Unacceptable’ Behavior” (PDF). Rowe, Mary, Linda Wilcox, and Howard Gadlin. Journal of the International Ombudsman Association 2, No. 1 (Winter 2009):52-64. (Note: This article was written with input from dozens of ombuds, collected over a ten-year period.)
• “Systems for Dealing with Conflict and Learning from Conflict—Options for Complaint-Handling: An Illustrative Case.” (PDF) Bloch, Brian, David Miller, and Mary Rowe. Harvard Negotiation Law Review 14 (2009): 239-247.
• “Micro-affirmations & Micro-inequities” (PDF). Rowe, Mary. Journal of the International Ombudsman Association  Vol. 1, No. 1 (March 2008).
• “Helping Bystanders Take Responsibility for Diversity.” (PDF) Scully, Maureen, Mary Rowe, and Laura Moorehead. Cultural Diversity at Work (published by the GilDeane Group) Vol. 10, No. 6 (July 1998): 14-15.
• “Dealing with Harassment: A Systems Approach.” (PDF) Rowe, Mary P. In Sexual Harassment: Perspectives, Frontiers, and Response Strategies, edited by Margaret S. Stockdale, 241-271. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1996.
• “People with Delusions or Quasi-Delusions Who ‘Won’t Let Go’” (PDF). Rowe, Mary. Journal of the University and College Ombuds Association, Occasional Paper, Number 1, Fall 1994.
• “Options and Choice for Conflict Resolution in the Workplace.” (PDF) Rowe, Mary P.  In Negotiation Strategies for Mutual Gain: The Basic Seminar of the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, edited by Lavinia Hall, 105-119. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1993. (Note: This chapter focuses on the need for providing choices for complainants.)
• “The Ombudsman as an Ounce of Prevention.” (PDF) Roddy, John, and Mary P. Rowe. Industry 51, No. 3 (March 1987): 42-44.
• “The Fear of AIDS.” Rowe, Mary P., Malcolm Russell-Einhorn, and Michael A. Baker. Harvard Business Review 64, No. 4 (July-August 1986): 28-30, 34-36. Report No. 86411.
• “Are You Hearing Enough Employee Concerns?” (PDF)  Rowe, Mary P., and Michael Baker. Harvard Business Review 62, No. 3 (May-June 1984): 127-136.
• “The Case of the Valuable Vendors.” (PDF) Rowe, Mary P. Harvard Business Review 56, No. 5 (Sept.-Oct. 1978): 42-60. Also reprinted in Dealing with Conflict, Harvard Business Review, Harvard Business School, 1983, 167-173.
• “A Handy, Dandy, Quick and Practical Checklist for Women Trustees.” (PDF) Rowe, Mary. In Gateways and Barriers for Women in the University Community, edited by Kathryn Moore, 48-53. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1977.
• “The Saturn’s Rings Phenomenon: Micro-inequities and Unequal Opportunity in the American Economy.” (PDF) Rowe, Mary P. In Proceedings of the NSF Conference on Women’s Leadership and Authority, edited by Patricia Bourne and Velma Parness, 55-71. University of California, Santa Cruz, California, 1977. Also reprinted in Comment 10, No. 3 (March 1978): 3.
• “The Progress of Women in Educational Institutions: The Saturn’s Rings Phenomenon.” (PDF) Rowe, Mary P. In Graduate and Professional Education of Women: Proceedings of American Association of University Women Conference, 1974, pp. 1-9.
• “The Progress of Women in Educational Institutions: The Saturn’s Rings Phenomenon, with an imaginary case study.” (PDF) Rowe, Mary P. An unpublished report to the MIT Academic Council, December, 1973. (Note: This first-year report contributed to the discussion resulting in MIT’s first harassment policy. The article describes various aspects of structural sexism: illegal behavior toward women; unconscious slights; conscious sexism, including harassment, exploitation and poor service; and psychiatric problems manifested in sexist behavior. The metaphor of Saturn’s Rings is used to illuminate a constant experience of disconcerting and painful events that cloud the work experience of many women, just as the planet Saturn is clouded by bits of rock, sand and ice.  Despite the similar title on this website, this report overlaps only partially with a published article with the same title.)

III. Ombuds Articles that Draw Indirectly on De-Identified Case Material

While the following articles do not include detailed case examples, each of the articles draws in some way on actual cases that have been de-identified; case material is presented in lists, aggregated responses from ombuds, or very brief examples.

• “The Importance of Bystanders in Threat Assessment and Management.” Borum, Randy, and Mary Rowe. Chapter 24 in The International Handbook of Threat Assessment, 2^nd ed., edited by J. Reid Meloy and Jens Hoffmann. New York: Oxford University Press, 2021.
• “A Framework For Communicating How Organizational Ombuds Help to Manage Risk.” Rowe, Mary, Timothy Hedeen, and Jennifer Schneider. Working paper, ©2019.
• “Micro-inequities in Medicine.” Silver, Julie K., Mary Rowe, Michael S. Sinha, Diana M. Molinares, Nancy D. Spector, and Debjani Mukherjee. Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation 10, No. 10 (October 2018): 1106-1114. Download paper.
• “Concerns about Bullying at Work As Heard by Organizational Ombudsmen” (PDF). Cummings, Lydia, and Mary Rowe. Labor and Employment Relation Association’s Perspectives on Work, Summer 2010/Winter 2011, 15-18.
• “The Several Purposes of the OO Crystal Ball.” (PDF). Rowe, Mary. Journal of the International Ombudsman Association 3, No. 2 (October 2010): 60-65.
• “Requests for Personal Work May Pose a Conflict of Interest” (PDF). Rowe, Mary. MIT Faculty Newsletter, February/March 2003.
• “Dealing with the Fear of Violence: What an Organizational Ombudsman Might Want to Know” (PDF). Rowe, Mary P., and Linda J. Wilcox. The Ombudsman Association, 2000.
• “Harassment at MIT: Think Prevention” (PDF). Rowe, Mary. MIT Faculty Newsletter, October 1989.
• “Conflicts of Interest Arising From Personal Relationships” (PDF). Rowe, Mary. MIT Faculty Newsletter, September 1997.
  

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IV. Teaching Cases and Teaching Notes

Many of the teaching notes and cases below were initially developed for an MIT Sloan course on Negotiation and Conflict Management.

• “Options to Consider When Complainants and Bystanders are Fearful: A Toolkit for Complaint Handlers, Hesitant Complainants, and Hesitant Bystanders.”   Rowe, Mary. Teaching note. Cambridge, MA: August 2024. (Note: This is a collection of links to a number of Mary Rowe’s articles that are relevant to this topic.)
• “When Two People See the Same Facts Entirely Differently.” Rowe, Mary. Teaching case. Cambridge, MA: August 2024.
• “Is There a Right To Be Addressed as One Wishes To Be Addressed?” Rowe, Mary. Teaching case. Cambridge, MA: June 2024.
• “Negotiating for Jobs and Salaries (and Everything Else): Prepare, Prepare, Prepare” (PDF). Rowe, Mary. Teaching note. Cambridge, MA: MIT Sloan School of Management, February 2024.
• “The Eavesdropping Manager Who Was a Hesitant Bystander.” Rowe, Mary. Teaching case. Cambridge, MA: February 2024.
• “The Hesitant Bystander with Safety Concerns and a CEO Who Is a Bully.” Rowe, Mary. Teaching case. Cambridge, MA: February 2024.
• “Some of the Sources of Power and Influence of an Organizational Ombuds” (PDF). Rowe, Mary P. Teaching note. Cambridge, MA: MIT Sloan School of Management, August 2023.
• “Sources of Power in Negotiations” (one-page list). Rowe, Mary. (Note: This was compiled for MIT Sloan course 15.667. It is also available in a longer, annotated version that includes examples and a table.)