Deck 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

Question 1

Conflict is a process in which one party perceives that its interests are being opposed or negatively affected by another party.

Answer 1

True
Explanation: Conflict is a process in which one party perceives that its interests are being opposed or negatively affected by another party.

Question 2

Constructive conflict refers to conflict between departments and their organizations.

Answer 2

False
Explanation: Constructive conflict occurs when people focus their discussion around the issue while showing respect for people with other points of view.Conflicts between departments may not be referred to as constructive conflicts.

Question 3

Organizations will be more responsive to the changing business environment if they have very little conflict.

Answer 3

False
Explanation: Organizations with moderate level of conflict are more responsive to changing environment.

Question 4

Conflicts could result in stronger team cohesion when conflict occurs between the team and an outside source.

Question 5

The most recent perspective on conflict is that an optimal level exists which is beneficial to the organization.

Question 6

Conflict can reduce the significance of organizational politics.

Question 7

Frank and Jorge are employees from different departments.They are evaluated on different performance criteria and compensated based on different reward systems.They are likely to experience conflict due to goal incompatibility.

Question 8

Conflict perceptions and emotions produce manifest conflict-the decisions and behaviors of one party toward the other.

Question 9

Conflict is based on the technical skills of the parties involved and is independent of their perceptions.

Question 10

The conflict model starts with the sources of conflict.

Question 11

Organizations should eliminate conflict in order to be more productive.

Question 12

Relationship conflict focuses on the other party as the source of conflict.

Question 13

Employees with high emotional intelligence are more likely to avoid the escalation of constructive conflict into relationship conflict.

Question 14

When conflict reduces each side's motivation to communicate, they rely more on stereotypes to reinforce their perceptions of the other side.

Question 15

Relationship conflict is apparent when the conflict is explained in terms of differences of opinion regarding tasks or decisions.

Question 16

Constructive conflict tests the logic of arguments and encourages participants to re-examine their basic assumptions.

Question 17

Poor communication is a part of manifest conflict.

Question 18

Constructive conflicts tend to escalate into relationship conflict among employees in highly cohesive teams.

Question 19

Strong cohesion in teams leads to strong relationship conflicts.

Question 20

When people experience relationship conflict, they tend to increase their reliance on communication with the other party.

Question 21

Increasing resources and creating more precise rules for the allocation of those resources represent two ways to increase conflict.

Question 22

Resolving differences with the opposing party through direct communication is not as comfortably applied in collectivist cultures.

Question 23

Resource scarcity is a potential source of conflict in organizations.

Question 24

The forcing style of conflict management presents the highest risk of relationship conflict and it should never be used to manage conflicts in organizations.

Question 25

Mediation has a high level of process control but a low level of decision control.

Question 26

Conflict tends to be higher when rules and procedures exist.

Question 27

Arbitration has a high level of process control but a low level of decision control.

Question 28

Integrators have direct authority over the departments they integrate and they rely on legitimate power to manage conflict and accomplish the work.

Question 29

The lowest risk of conflict tends to occur in reciprocal interdependence situations.

Question 30

The five interpersonal conflict management styles are distinguished by the level of interdependence between the conflicting parties.

Question 31

People from collectivist cultures tend to apply a forcing style of conflict with colleagues more than do people from individualist cultures.

Question 32

Buffers tend to resolve conflict by reducing the level of interdependence between the conflicting parties.

Question 33

Inquisitors control all discussion about the conflict and also choose the form of conflict resolution.

Question 34

Creating common experiences for all employees would help organizations reduce organizational conflicts.

Question 35

The yielding conflict management style is preferred when both parties have equal power and enough trust to share information.

Question 36

The yielding conflict management style can produce more conflict than it resolves.

Question 37

The problem-solving conflict management style involves a high degree of assertiveness and cooperativeness.

Question 38

Research suggests that managers tend to avoid the inquisitional approach to third-party conflict resolution.

Question 39

People are more motivated to communicate and engage in exchanges when there is a perception of conflict.

Question 40

The yielding style of conflict resolution involves making unilateral concessions and unconditional promises.

Question 41

Which of the following is an advantage of having moderate levels of organizational conflicts?

A)It helps reduce organizational politics.
B)It boosts employee motivation.
C)It promotes organizational cohesion.
D)It energizes people to evaluate alternatives.
E)It reduces distorted perceptions and stereotypes.

Question 42

Conflict is best defined as:

A)any event where two parties demonstrate their dislike of each other.
B)any occasion where both parties perceive each other as a threat to achieving the other party's goals.
C)a process in which one party perceives that its interests are being opposed or negatively affected by another party.
D)any event where one party acts in a way that prevents another party from achieving its goals.
E)a process in which each party tries to learn the resistance point of the other party.

Question 43

The resistance point in the bargaining zone model is the team's realistic goal or expectation for a final agreement.

Question 44

One way to reduce the win-lose mentality in a negotiation is to deliberately seat the parties face-to-face, so as to increase eye contact.

Question 45

Skilled negotiators prefer using e-mail, videoconferences, and other forms of electronic communication when negotiating, rather than meeting face-to-face.

Question 46

The "optimal conflict" perspective on organizational conflict is that:

A)conflict should be minimized across all departments.
B)conflicts could be promoted in some functions and discouraged in some others.
C)conflict is an inevitable result of increased technology and globalization.
D)use of technology and virtual teams could minimize organizational conflicts.
E)moderate levels of conflict are necessary and produce favorable outcomes.

Question 47

Skilled negotiators adopt a strong information-sharing style at the beginning of negotiations.

Question 48

It is easier to negotiate on your own turf.Therefore, many negotiators agree to meet in neutral territory.

Question 49

The process in which one party perceives that its interests are being opposed or negatively affected by another party is called:

A)mediation.
B)conflict.
C)negotiation.
D)dialogue.
E)arbitration.

Question 50

In negotiations, information is the cornerstone of effective value creation.

Question 51

According to the bargaining zone model, the parties should begin negotiations by describing their resistance point to each other.

Question 52

Negotiators tend to be more competitive and less willing to give concessions when their audience directly observes the negotiations.

Question 53

Negotiators tend to avoid "hardline" behaviors when they know an audience is watching them.

Question 54

Negotiators who make the first offer have the advantage of creating a position around which subsequent negotiations are anchored.

Question 55

Conflict is ultimately based on:

A)people's perceptions.
B)actual intentions.
C)organizational structure.
D)technical competence.
E)skills and abilities of individuals.

Question 56

One way to figure out the relative importance of the issues to each part in a negotiation is to make multi-issue offers rather than discussion one issue at a time.

Question 57

Managers should arbitrate decisions when employees cannot resolve their differences alone.

Question 58

When negotiators get closer to their time deadline, they become less committed to resolving the conflict.

Question 59

The best outcome you might achieve through some other course of action if you abandon the current negotiation is called the "BATNA."

Question 60

Negotiation occurs whenever two or more conflicting parties try to redefine the terms of their interdependence.

Question 61

According to the emerging view on organizational conflict, there are two types of conflict.They are:

A)Task conflict and constructive conflict
B)Task conflict and optimal conflict
C)Task conflict and relationship conflict
D)Relationship conflict and optimal conflict
E)Relationship conflict and process conflict

Question 62

Effective managers should:

A)increase the amount of conflict among employees.
B)remove all forms of conflict from the organization, because it saps productivity.
C)remove manifest conflict as well as negative conflict outcomes even though the sources of conflict remain in place.
D)convince employees to engage in relationship conflict rather than the other forms of conflict.
E)minimize the relationship conflicts that exist in the organization.

Question 63

Employees in engineering and marketing often disagree with each other in how to achieve a target mainly because they have unique backgrounds, experiences, and training.The most apparent source of conflict here is:

A)task interdependence.
B)differentiation.
C)goal incompatibility.
D)scarce resources.
E)ambiguity.

Question 64

Salespeople at Widget Co.complain that they lose sales bonuses when the production department is out of stock of a particular item.This sometimes causes customers to buy from elsewhere rather than wait for the next production run.Meanwhile, production employees complain that salespeople don't appreciate the need to minimize inventory costs, for which production staff is rewarded.This instance is an example of conflict due to:

A)ambiguity.
B)technical incompetence of the production team.
C)pooled task interdependence.
D)differentiation.
E)goal incompatibility.

Question 65

The potential for conflict between two employees would be highest under conditions of _____ interdependence.

A)pooled
B)total
C)reciprocal
D)anticipatory
E)sequential

Question 66

Based on the characteristics of constructive conflicts, which of the following would help a manager create constructive conflicts during a debate?

A)Support the weaker members during the debate
B)Explain conflict in terms of interpersonal incompatibilities
C)Support the stronger members during the debate
D)Keep the debate focused on the issue
E)Maintain competitive orientation in the debate

Question 67

The problem-solving interpersonal style of conflict has:

A)high assertiveness and low cooperativeness.
B)high assertiveness and high cooperativeness.
C)low assertiveness and high cooperativeness.
D)low assertiveness and low cooperativeness.
E)medium assertiveness and medium cooperativeness.

Question 68

Which of the following statements is true of the relationship conflicts in a highly cohesive team?

A)Relationship conflicts tend to be more frequent because of the high cohesion.
B)Mediation is needed to resolve relationship conflicts among team members.
C)Relationship conflict is absent in such teams.
D)Conflicts tend to be more in such teams if it has a large number of members.
E)Relationship conflict is suppressed when the conflict occurs.

Question 69

Constructive conflict:

A)is the opposite of task-related conflict and often involves verbal attacks.
B)encourages employees to re-examine their basic assumptions about a problem and its possible solutions.
C)is apparent when the conflict is explained in terms of interpersonal incompatibilities.
D)is more likely to trigger defense mechanisms and a competitive orientation among team members.
E)sometimes replaces manifest conflict in the conflict escalation process.

Question 70

Situations with both _______________ produce the highest risk of conflict.

A)Ambiguous rules and low task interdependence
B)Precise rules and resource scarcity
C)Plentiful resources and high goal compatibility
D)Scarce resources and high task interdependence
E)Strict rules and high task interdependence

Question 71

Relationship conflict usually causes people to:

A)use logical analysis in organizational decision making.
B)reduce communication and information sharing with the other party.
C)rethink their assumptions and beliefs about the issue that is the source of conflict.
D)stay away from organizational politics and related activities.
E)concentrate on the issue rather than the people involved in the issue.

Question 72

When team norms encourage _____, team members learn to appreciate honest dialogue without personally reacting to any emotional display during the disagreements.

A)conscientiousness
B)introversion
C)neuroticism
D)openness
E)agreeableness

Question 73

Which of the following precedes conflict outcomes in the conflict process?

A)Manifest conflict
B)Conflict emotions
C)Conflict beliefs
D)Conflict perceptions
E)Conflict sources

Question 74

Which of the following factors leads to relationship conflicts in teams?

A)Low levels of communication
B)Low levels of interdependence
C)Abundant resources
D)Homogeneous workforce
E)Common goal

Question 75

Which of the following is a major advantage of having moderate levels of organizational conflicts?

A)More responsiveness to changing business environment
B)Reduced attrition in the organization
C)Reduced stress and job dissatisfaction among employees
D)Increased information sharing
E)Less wastage of time because of reduced communication among employees

Question 76

What is the relationship between emotional intelligence and relationship conflicts?

A)Emotional intelligence is unrelated to relationship conflicts.
B)Emotional intelligence tends to increase the likelihood of relationship conflicts.
C)Relationship conflict is less likely to occur if emotional intelligence is high.
D)With emotional intelligence, conflicts tend to stay relationship-based.
E)With emotional intelligence, the conversion of relationship conflicts to constructive conflicts is slow.

Question 77

Which of the following immediately follows conflict perceptions and emotions in the conflict process?

A)Sources of conflict
B)Manifest conflict
C)Conflict outcomes
D)Conflict management
E)Conflict beliefs

Question 78

According to the literature on organizational conflict, constructive conflict:

A)is a positive application of conflict in organizations.
B)is one of the most common outcomes of organizational conflict.
C)is the only conflict management style that has high assertiveness and low cooperativeness.
D)is the main source of conflict in organizations.
E)should not be used as a conflict management strategy in organizations.

Question 79

Which of the following sources of conflict is typically associated with mergers and acquisitions, where everyone wants the company to succeed, but they fight over the "right way" to do things because of their unique experiences in the separate companies?

A)Task interdependence
B)Differentiation
C)Goal incompatibility
D)Scarce resources
E)Disintermediation

Question 80

Which of the following best describes relationship conflict?

A)One party perceives that another party might oppose its interests.
B)The conflict is between two individuals rather than departments or organizations.
C)The conflict episodes are viewed as personal attacks rather than attempts to resolve the problem.
D)Two people adopt a win-win rather than a win-lose orientation.
E)The conflict is between two departments rather than individuals in the organization.