After the Green Bay Packers won the Super Bowl this past February, the football world’s attention turned towards the renegotiation of the collective bargaining agreement between the NFL Player’s Association and NFL owners. When the owners and players failed to reach a compromise before the agreement expired, the possibility of an NFL lockout next season became a very real possibility. One of the issues at the center of the debate is expanding the NFL regular season to 18 games, up from the current total of 16. The problem here is balancing NFL owner’s desire for increased revenue without putting players at increased risk for injury. Using what we have learned about the four decision making styles, our group examined how hypothetical people, Directive Dan, Analytical Alvin, Conceptual Curt, and Behavioral Bill might view the issue, and what they would do to resolve it.
Directive Dan
When a person’s decision making style is directive, they have a low tolerance of ambiguity and are drawn to task and technical concerns when making decisions. They can be labeled as efficient, practical, systematic and logical when they attempt to problem solve. They like to focus on fact and the short run outcomes. Due to this, when evaluating the NFL lockout and more specifically whether there should be 16 or 18 game seasons I would focus on facts such as money and advertising. I would evaluate if players, coaches, franchises, and broadcasting companies would be making too much money and how it has increased from previous seasons. I would study whether advertising companies would be helped or hindered economically and what sort of numbers would be cut. I would care about the hard facts and would be looking for what is best in the short run for both viewers and the league.
Analytical Alvin
People who solve problems in an analytical manner have a very high tolerance for ambiguity, may have a tendency to over analyze the situation, and often consider many options and alternatives which causes them to take a long time to make a final decision. When applying this to the NFL labor dispute over a longer schedule, Alvin would want to gather mass amounts of data, and carefully consider all options. Alvin may wonder about the differences monetarily between a 16, 17 and 18 game season, and whether or not another bye week should be implemented (a bye week is a week that an NFL team has off; there are currently 17 weeks in the NFL season, and each team gets one scheduled bye week). He may not take into consideration the feelings and personal beliefs of the players and owners because Alvin may focus too much on numbers and data driven analyses. Finally, Alvin may have trouble finding one solution that works for all of his preconceived conceptions of what should happen.
Conceptual Curt
The biggest issue here is balancing our players’ health and safety against the owners’ desire for additional revenue. We’ve got to think long term here and consider what is best for the league. 18 games would be good for both owners and the fans, as it would mean higher revenues for owners and more games for the fans to watch. At the same time, however, more games also puts our players at greater risk of injury and makes an already demanding sport that much more wearing on our players. We need to find a creative solution to this problem, perhaps by investing money in making equipment safer or increasing penalties and fines for dangerous hits. Another potential solution could be to experiment with expanding the schedule to 18 games for a few seasons, then comparing data on injuries and revenues and adjusting accordingly. We need to examine all possible solutions when tackling this problem, and make the decision that is most appropriate for the long term health for the league.
Behavioral Bill
I understand both sides of the situation. The owners obviously want eighteen games a season that his two extra games of not only admission tickets but parking, concession stand and apparel that they are gaining. But on the other side playing two more games has a couple of draw backs for the players. They will have less time than they already do with their families and a higher chance of being injured. I think we should hold a meeting to discuss all angles of the problems and make sure everyone involved is satisfied with the final outcome. This is a difficult issue that should be dealt with in a professional and sympathetic manner.
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