Perception and Diversity

In my life I have encountered many problems and situations. There are a few situations, which were relatively difficult to deal with, and these situations have affected me in the preset. In the essay below, I mention three of these situations. I will give an analysis (the examination and identification of my thoughts, feelings and behaviours) of these situations, and will attempt to solve these problems using the many useful theories and methods that I have learned in the Human Resources and Organizational Behaviour class.
SITUATION 1: PERCEPTION & DIVERSITY
During the summer of August 2000, I was fortunate enough to find a part time job for one of the most well respected companies in Canada, CIBC. My job title is Sales and Service Specialist. My duties at CIBC include helping serve clients with their everyday banking needs via telephone and through the Internet, and also providing information and sales of the many products that we provide for example deposit accounts and investments. Ever since I began working here, I have kept pace with the level of work my colleagues perform and I feel that I am just as productive as they are. I have noticed my supervisor, Mike, always pressures me to work harder than everyone else. Recently, this pressure has been hard to deal with and it is making my normal job duties difficult and stressful to perform. This pressure from Mike makes me not want to come to work sometimes.
ANALYSIS 1
Upon talking to my colleagues at work, they mentioned that they too noticed that Mike was pressuring me to work harder and also giving me an excessive workload. These colleagues who I discussed the issue with have worked for CIBC a lot longer than I have, and are also older in age than I am. The colleagues I talked to know Mike very well. They mentioned that Mike prefers workers that are older in age and that he holds the opinion that younger people are not responsible workers and able to handle difficult job duties. After talking to my colleagues, I was trying to figure out how to approach Mike so that I could solve this issue and continue to perform my job duties as normal. After analyzing the situation, I realized that Mike was judging me on the basis of his perception that he had on younger people, and this type of shortcut in judging me meant that Mike was engaging in stereotyping and also selective perception (Organizational Behaviour, p42, 44). I realized that there was two ways that I could solve this matter:
1) Avoidance:
Under the Conflict Management Techniques which states "Withdrawal from or suppression of, the conflict (Organizational Behaviour, Exhibit 7-11, p302). If I chose to avoid the situation, this would inevitably lead to me quitting my job, since it has been seven months and Mike has still not changed his perception and treatment towards me.
2) Problem Solving:
Under the Conflict Management Techniques which states "Face-to-face meeting of the conflict parties for the purpose of identifying the problem and resolving it through open discussion" (Organizational Behaviour, Exhibit 7-11, p302).
Upon careful consideration, I have decided to apply the latter technique. If I confront Mike, I have to be very careful as to not insult him since I want to continue working at CIBC and not make the situation worse. I have decided that I am going to approach Mike with a passive approach which will not make the situation worse, and will attempt to place the blame on myself rather than Mike.
SITUATION 2: INTERPERSONAL CONFLICT
For the past year or so, my father and I have rented our basement to a gentleman by the name of Raj. He is a bachelor in his early thirties. He rents one room and has his own separate entrance, washroom and kitchen. The rent is set at a fair price, which was negotiated under certain conditions, no loud parties, not pets, and no changes to the basement that would affect the appearance in any way. The rules and conditions are fair and clearly understood by both parties. Raj works days and is home on weeknights and weekends. Recently, Raj has started bringing his friends' over late at night and becoming excessively noisy...