Deck 10: Conflict and Negotiations

Question 1

Matrix-structured organizations often experience decisional conflict because each manager reports to two bosses.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Personal conflicts can be good in certain circumstances,but task conflicts are never good.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Conflict in an organization is always bad.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Conflict can result in both positive and negative outcomes.

Question 5

If conflict in an organization is too low,performance is also likely low.

Question 6

An individual who deals with conflict by saying,"Maybe we can both agree to give in a little," has an accommodating conflict handling style.

Question 7

If the conflict in your workplace is between two individuals on a team,a good way to manage the conflict is to take a majority vote among other team members to determine who is right.

Question 8

Research on effective teams indicates that they are characterized by low but increasing levels of process conflict.

Question 9

Conflict can be dysfunctional if it involves personal attacks.

Question 10

Interpersonal conflicts should be centered around individual differences,not ideas,to avoid conflict escalation.

Question 11

A high-risk situation where workplace violence has an increased risk is being a bank teller.

Question 12

Intrapersonal conflict can arise due to role ambiguity and role conflict.

Question 13

Competition is an effective conflict handling style if the alternatives proposed are unethical.

Question 14

Conflict management and negotiation tactics are art,not skills,and are very difficult to learn.

Question 15

If your job involves caring for others in a nursing home,you have an increased risk of experiencing workplace violence.

Question 16

The avoidance conflict handling style is characterized by high levels of cooperativeness and assertiveness.

Question 17

Research on effective teams indicates that they are characterized by low but increasing levels of task conflict.

Question 18

Social issues of ego and corporate pride played a key role in the falling apart of PointCast negotiations.

Question 19

Managing conflict and engaging in effective negotiations are key factors for a successful organization.

Question 20

Task independence is a root cause of much conflict in the organization.

Question 21

Mediation is the process of bringing in a third party who has the authority to act as a judge and make a binding decision in the conflict situation.

Question 22

Those with unreasonable expectations in negotiations are no more likely to fail at negotiations than those with reasonable expectations.

Question 23

The closure phase of the negotiation process may include finding a final offer that is unacceptable and from which the party has walked away.

Question 24

Research suggests that when it comes to dealing with conflict,managers are more likely to engage in avoiding,accommodating or compromising styles than their subordinates.

Question 25

The integrative approach is a new creative approach to negotiation that can lead to a "win-win" situation.

Question 26

Americans have a higher tolerance for conflict as a way of working through issues than their Japanese counterparts.

Question 27

The party with the best alternative to a negotiated agreement is in the best negotiating position.

Question 28

The arbitration-mediation approach had led to voluntary agreements in a greater percentage of situations than the more common mediation-arbitration approach.

Question 29

Healthy conflict can be stimulated in a firm by having appointed individuals play "devil's advocate."

Question 30

Western cultures view negotiations as a social activity while their Eastern culture counterparts view it as a business activity.

Question 31

It is a perfectly acceptable business practice to attempt to negotiate a higher salary with your boss.

Question 32

The strategy to utilize to achieve the best outcome from conflict is the collaborating style.

Question 33

The key to keeping conflict or disagreement healthy in an organization is to focus the discussion on the task,not the personalities.

Question 34

The first place to begin the investigation phase of negotiation is to look at yourself.

Question 35

Making a concession during negotiation is a sign of weakness.

Question 36

If your negotiating counterpart feels you are unfair or dishonest,he or she is less likely to make concessions.

Question 37

The BATNA phase of the negotiation process should be ignored.

Question 38

Japanese negotiators learn information from what is not said as well as what is said that is then used in negotiations.

Question 39

A common mistake women make is failing to negotiate their salary offers.

Question 40

The platinum rule of negotiations is to care for others enough to treat them the way they want to be treated and long-term relationships will be established.

Question 41

In which of the following scenarios are you most likely to experience conflict?

A)Resources within the firm are relatively plentiful and most departments in the organization are seeing a modest increase in their annual budget.
B)Interdepartment meetings have just been concluded that created a list of goals for each department that are compatible with one another.
C)The firm just instituted a matrix structure.
D)Self-awareness exercises have been completed and most of the team members were categorized as Type B.

Question 42

Which of the following factors does NOT increase your risk for violence in the workplace?

A)caring for others emotionally
B)dealing with valuables
C)being well paid
D)supervising others

Question 43

All of the following are examples of intrapersonal conflict EXCEPT

A)role conflict.
B)role differences.
C)role ambiguity.
D)role reversal.

Question 44

Conflict is

A)a process whereby two or more parties work toward an agreement.
B)a process where an outside third party enters the situation with the goal of assisting the parties to reach an agreement.
C)a process that involves people disagreeing.
D)a process that involves bringing in a third party who has the authority to act as a judge and will make a decision to which parties must adhere.

Question 45

Which of the following is not a root cause of conflict in a workplace?

A)organizational structure
B)task interdependence
C)compatible goals
D)personality differences

Question 46

Research on effective teams indicates that they experience

A)high levels of relationship conflict.
B)moderate levels of process conflict at the beginning of the project timeline.
C)moderate levels of task conflict in the middle of the project timeline.
D)moderate levels of relationship conflict and high levels of process conflict.

Question 47

Which of the following occupations is least likely to offer an employee a high-risk situation for workplace violence?

A)law enforcement
B)education
C)bartending
D)overnight gas station attendant

Question 48

Which of the following statements regarding conflict and its cures is INCORRECT?

A)A bureaucratic organizational structure can lead to conflict between high and low power people.
B)To avoid conflict in communication,focus on the person,not behavior or its effects.
C)Conflict can be dysfunctional in an organization if it is excessive.
D)Consideration of a broader range of ideas is a positive outcome of conflict in the organization.

Question 49

The lesson learned from PointCast is

A)social issues in negotiation can be deal-breakers.
B)take the first offer you are presented.
C)financial issues always make or break a deal.
D)unless you have to disclose something,don't.

Question 50

Which of the following is not a root cause of conflict in the workplace?

A)task satisfaction
B)communication issues
C)limited resources
D)personality differences

Question 51

Conflict between two individuals such as coworkers is

A)intrapersonal conflict
B)interpersonal conflict.
C)intergroup conflict.
D)interdepartment conflict.

Question 52

Which of the following is not a positive outcome of conflict in the organization?

A)increased creativity
B)accurate assumptions
C)enhanced decision making
D)individual viewpoint clarification

Question 53

Intergroup conflict

A)occurs between two individuals.
B)occurs within the individual.
C)occurs between two departments.
D)occurs between team members.

Question 54

In which of the following scenarios would you expect high performance?

A)The five team members never have a negative word to say to each other; there never seems to be any conflict on the team.
B)The two members of the team are constantly bickering.One never says anything without the other disagreeing.
C)The team members seem to get along well enough,but on occasion they will argue about a number of issues.
D)The three partners have an interesting relationship.Partner A is almost always in agreement with Partner B,but fights constantly with Partner C.Partners B and C get along at times and fight at times.

Question 55

Which of the following is NOT a negative outcome of conflict in the organization?

A)excessive personal attacks
B)climate of distrust
C)employee feelings of being demeaned with resulting lower morale
D)low individual stress

Question 56

Which of the following statements regarding the relationship between conflict and performance is INCORRECT?

A)Low conflict leads to low performance.
B)Medium conflict leads to high performance.
C)High conflict leads to low performance.
D)Low conflict leads to high performance.

Question 57

Nancy and Mary are in the same sorority.Nancy is running for the university's student government treasurer position.Mary says,"I'll never vote for her,whether she is my sister or not." Mary is experiencing what kind of conflict?

A)interpersonal
B)intergroup
C)intrapersonal
D)interdependent

Question 58

Which of the following is a high-risk situation where your job might be at risk for workplace violence?

A)supervising others
B)denying requests made by others
C)caring for others
D)all of the above

Question 59

Which of the following statements about conflict is INCORRECT?

A)Conflict can paralyze an organization.
B)Conflict can lead to less than optimal performance.
C)Conflict generally makes people uncomfortable.
D)Conflict is always problematic in an organization.

Question 60

Intrapersonal conflict is

A)a type of conflict between two people.
B)conflict that takes place between different groups such as between different departments.
C)a process that involves people disagreeing.
D)a type of conflict that arises when a person is uncertain about what is expected or wanted or has a sense of being inadequate to the task.

Question 61

Which conflict handling style is indicated by an individual who says,"I don't really care if we work this out."?

A)accommodation
B)collaboration
C)avoidance
D)compromise

Question 62

The conflict handling style that is middle ground where an individual's desire to get his or her way but respect others' goals is

A)competition.
B)avoidance.
C)accommodation.
D)compromise.

Question 63

Which conflict handling style is indicated by an individual who says,"Maybe we can both agree to give in a little."?

A)compromise
B)collaboration
C)accommodation
D)avoidance

Question 64

Research shows that when confronted with a conflict situation,subordinates are most likely to use all of the following conflict handling styles EXCEPT

A)compromising
B)forcing
C)avoiding
D)accommodating

Question 65

Ned and Michael are managers of two different departments at Beckett Corporation.The two have not gotten along well over the years.Yesterday the two attended a budget meeting for the new fiscal year.Both wanted more funding for their departments.When the finance vice president suggested an increase for Ned's department,Michael became quite agitated and made a number of accusations about the nature of the numbers that Ned had used to support his position.After the meeting,Michael cornered the finance vice president in his office and continued his spiel on why his department deserved the extra funding but Ned's did not.What style of conflict handling does Michael exhibit?

A)compromise
B)accommodation
C)competition
D)avoidance

Question 66

If two marketing groups within a firm's marketing department are vying against each other for a larger percentage of the budget,which option that the marketing manager could consider to manage the organizational conflict would be MOST effective?

A)Take a majority vote on what the two departments feel is the best budget allocation.
B)Focus the attention of the two groups on a common "enemy" such as another firm that that they compete with for business.
C)Change the composition of the two departments.
D)Restructure the entire department so that teams are no longer used.

Question 67

With regard to conflict,which of the following statements is INCORRECT?

A)The best solution often requires a discussion of varying opinions.
B)A lack of disagreement may indicate employees are withholding opinions.
C)Conflict is inherently bad.
D)A key to a healthy discussion is a focus on tasks,not personalities.

Question 68

Olivia and her teenage daughter,Natalie,are arguing again about whether Natalie should go to a family gathering this Sunday or attend an outing with her friends.Olivia and her daughter argue about this topic every week.This time,Olivia turns to her daughter and says,"OK,if it is that important that you go out with Jenna Sunday,then I can agree this time around." Olivia is using what conflict handling style?

A)accommodation
B)controlling
C)collaboration
D)avoidance

Question 69

The accommodation conflict handling style is

A)cooperative and unassertive.
B)uncooperative and unassertive.
C)cooperative and assertive.
D)uncooperative and assertive.

Question 70

The competition conflict handling style

A)is a middle ground style.
B)is uncooperative and unassertive.
C)is cooperative and unassertive.
D)is highly assertive but low on cooperation.

Question 71

Though no conflict handling style is perfect,which style seems to be the most effective in many different situations?

A)compromise
B)competition
C)collaboration
D)accommodation

Question 72

The conflict handling style that is uncooperative and unassertive is

A)compromise.
B)avoidance.
C)accommodation.
D)competition.

Question 73

Research shows that when managers are dealing with conflict they prefer which conflict handling style?

A)compromising
B)accommodating
C)avoiding
D)forcing

Question 74

All of the following would be effective means of stimulating conflict EXCEPT

A)assigning someone to play devil's advocate.
B)encouraging disagreement with no fear of reprisal.
C)creating competition between teams or individuals with a bonus for those with the best solution.
D)building clarity into the situation.

Question 75

The collaborative conflict handling style is

A)low in cooperativeness and low in competitiveness.
B)low in competitiveness and high in cooperativeness.
C)high in cooperativeness and high in competitiveness.
D)high in competitiveness and low in cooperativeness.

Question 76

Maris Manufacturing is a unionized company producing customized metal units for the appliance and medical equipment industries.Each contract negotiation is a contentious affair for the union and management.However,over the past few months both union and management officials have become very concerned about the number of Maris union employees who are experiencing alcohol-related issues.Last month alone,six employees sought medical assistance under the employee assistance program.Management and union officials will be meeting next week to address the issue.This is an example of what conflict handling style?

A)accommodation
B)collaboration
C)compromise
D)competition

Question 77

Nicholas is the production manager for a manufacturing firm.He has two supervisors who are experiencing conflict with each other based upon personality differences.Nicholas should have held a meeting last week to discuss next year's budget,but cancelled it because the two supervisors had a verbal confrontation on the shop floor the previous day.What conflict handling style is Nicholas demonstrating?

A)compromise
B)collaboration
C)avoidance
D)accommodation

Question 78

The United Auto Workers (UAW)and Ford Motor Company were negotiating a new agreement to address the auto industry woes during a severe economic downturn.Ford offered to consider delaying layoffs if the UAW agreed to changes in contractual work rules related to the jobs bank.This negotiation suggests the use of what conflict handling style?

A)avoidance
B)collaboration
C)accommodation
D)compromise

Question 79

Which of the following is an effective way to manage organizational conflict?

A)consensus decision making
B)change the team composition to have more diversity
C)create a common opposing force
D)eliminate hierarchy

Question 80

If there is conflict between two members of a team and the underlying reason for the conflict is personality differences,what is a viable way of managing the organizational conflict?

A)Change the structure of the organization.
B)Focus attention on a common enemy of the two clashing team members.
C)Take a majority vote on which individual is causing more issues on the team.
D)Change the composition of the team by separating the individuals at odds.