Deck 10: Managing Conflict and Negotiation

Question 1

Functional conflict is also known as constructive or cooperative conflict.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

The best way to handle conflict is to avoid it.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Conflict is both good and bad for organizations.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

When a person experiences a personality conflict, he or she should communicate directly with the other person to resolve the perceived conflict by emphasizing problem solving and common objectives.

Question 5

In the U.S., persons suffering from depression and alcoholism are protected from discrimination by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Question 6

All conflict ultimately threatens management's authority and thus has to be avoided or quickly resolved.

Question 7

Organizations can suffer from having too little conflict, as well as too much.

Question 8

As conflict escalates, the number of issues decreases, as parties tend to focus on the most important issues.

Question 9

Functional conflict can promote greater self-awareness.

Question 10

The desired outcomes of conflict management are agreement, stronger relationships, and avoidance of future conflict.

Question 11

Diversity in work groups can create conflict, so managers should try to minimize diversity when assigning people to teams.

Question 12

One reason some people may try to avoid conflict is that they are tending to sabotage themselves.

Question 13

An interpersonal opposition based on personal dislike or disagreement is known as a structural conflict.

Question 14

In organizations, viewing conflict as war leads to the most positive outcomes.

Question 15

The organizational outcomes of conflict are most positive when the intensity of the conflict is high.

Question 16

The sources of conflict and the issues themselves may be imagined, as well as real.

Question 17

When conflict escalates, often the parties involved move from "light" to "heavy" tactics.

Question 18

Lack of fairness is a minor source of conflict at work.

Question 19

"Light tactics" of conflict include making threats; "heavy tactics" include violence.

Question 20

Using evaluative language rather than descriptive language is one way to manage conflict effectively.

Question 21

The dialectic method calls for managers to foster a structured debate of opposing viewpoints prior to making a decision.

Question 22

Programmed conflict is conflict that raises different opinions regardless of the personal feelings of the managers.

Question 23

Flexspace includes the concept of working from home.

Question 24

Ashley finds herself waking up at night frequently thinking about a report she must present to the vice presidents of her firm at the end of the month. She is experiencing social work-family conflict.

Question 25

Work-family conflicts can be social or emotional.

Question 26

When the demands or pressures from work and family domains are mutually incompatible, work-family conflict has occurred.

Question 27

The most common response to incivility is that employees work harder to avoid its source.

Question 28

In resolving conflict, dealing with conflict states is far more important than dealing with conflict processes.

Question 29

The shared perceptions among members of a team about the intensity of disagreement are known as conflict states.

Question 30

The key to reducing work-family conflict is balancing demands from the different domains of life.

Question 31

Research supports the contact hypothesis.

Question 32

The best thing a manager can do to create functional conflict is to urge coworkers to hunker down and slog through-simply persist.

Question 33

As a manager of two employees who are having a personality conflict, one step you should take is to document the conflict.

Question 34

Groupthink occurs when a desire to get along with other group members pushes aside critical thinking.

Question 35

Managers wishing to reduce conflict between members and groups should isolate them from each other as much as possible.

Question 36

The contact hypothesis states that the more that members of different groups interact, the more intergroup conflict they will experience.

Question 37

Employees' shared perceptions of policies, practices, and procedures are known as climate.

Question 38

There are two forms of intergroup conflict: latent and active.

Question 39

Family and spousal support are of little help in resolving work-family conflict.

Question 40

Incivility can include abusive supervision and bullying.

Question 41

In ________, one party perceives that its interests are being opposed or negatively affected by another party.

A) Negotiation
B) Devil's advocacy
C) Conflict
D) Integration
E) Mediation

Question 42

A very high level of cohesiveness in a group:

A) Is always a good thing for the organization
B) Can reduce "groupthink"
C) Is likely to reduce critical thinking
D) Increases cooperation of the group with other groups
E) Heightens the accuracy of group members' perceptions of reality

Question 43

Functional conflict:

A) Should be minimized
B) Is more likely to make people defensive and competitive
C) Serves the interests of the organization
D) Is a method of alternative dispute resolution
E) Should always be resolved by using an integrative conflict handling style

Question 44

Research has shown that people with a high level of extraversion are best suited for integrative negotiations.

Question 45

Which of the following situations is most likely to result in conflict?

A) Clear job boundaries
B) Independent tasks
C) Competition for limited resources
D) Realistic expectations
E) Clear policies, standards, and rules

Question 46

___________ are members' interactions aimed at working through task and interpersonal disagreements.

A) Conflict processes
B) Conflict states
C) Conflict handling styles
D) Dialectic methods
E) Contact hypotheses

Question 47

________ conflict is defined as interpersonal opposition based on individual dislike or disagreement.

A) Personality
B) Distributive
C) Programmed
D) Integrative
E) Devil's advocate

Question 48

The relationship between conflict intensity and performance outcomes can be described as:

A) The higher the conflict intensity, the lower the performance
B) The higher the conflict intensity, the higher the performance
C) Higher conflict intensity is related to moderate performance
D) Both high and low conflict intensity are related to lower performance
E) Conflict intensity is unrelated to performance

Question 49

The integrating style of conflict handling is appropriate in all conflict situations.

Question 50

Which of the following is not a result of escalation of conflict?

A) Parties move from "heavy" to "light" tactics
B) The number of issues grows
C) Issues move from specific to general
D) The number of parties to the conflict grows
E) Goals change

Question 51

Two supervisors, Justin and Shawn, had been given instructions to trim their group size by two people. Justin's personality tended to favor people. He was generally more sensitive to people, and was a thoughtful supervisor. Shawn was just the opposite. He was more concerned with group production, and considered people's feelings secondary to the work. Hence their approaches in trimming their teams were different. They could not see the other's point of view and hence they left the discussion thinking ill of each other. Which of the following types of conflict did Justin and Shawn experience?

A) Personality conflict
B) Functional conflict
C) Intergroup conflict
D) Cross-cultural conflict
E) Programmed conflict

Question 52

Good negotiators should show no emotion.

Question 53

Which of the following statements about conflict is true?

A) Conflict should be completely eliminated across the organization
B) Conflict should be encouraged in some departments and discouraged in others
C) Organizations experiencing excessive conflict tend to also be apathetic, uncreative, and indecisive
D) Use of technology and virtual teams can minimize conflict
E) Organizations can suffer from too little conflict

Question 54

The dialectical method is a form of alternative dispute resolution.

Question 55

Conflict is considered to be dysfunctional when:

A) It involves alternative dispute resolution
B) It hinders organizational performance
C) It involves the compromising or integrating conflict handling styles
D) It involves a devil's advocate
E) It involves groupthink

Question 56

Which of the following tips should be used by managers to reduce personality conflict?

A) Be sure to take sides in others' conflicts
B) Intervene where possible in others' conflicts; do not let them work things out themselves
C) Do not attempt informal dispute resolution
D) Avoid direct communication with someone you are in conflict with
E) Investigate and document conflict among your own subordinates

Question 57

In the compromising style of conflict handling, a person shows high concern for self as well as high concern for others.

Question 58

The least constructive metaphor to use in viewing conflict is:

A) Conflict as a journey
B) Conflict as a sports contest
C) Conflict as an opportunity
D) Conflict as a learning experience
E) Conflict as unavoidable

Question 59

One practical application of the integrative approach to negotiation is that the parties cooperatively develop multiple deal packages while building a productive long-term relationship. This is known as added-value negotiation.

Question 60

Which of the following is true about organizational conflict?

A) Organizational conflict is inevitable
B) Greater employee diversity is related to decreased organizational conflict
C) Greater face-to-face communication leads to increased organizational conflict
D) Conflict should be avoided wherever possible
E) Increased cross-cultural interactions decrease organizational conflict

Question 61

_______ conflict is defined as conflict that raises different opinions regardless of the personal feelings of the managers.

A) Functional
B) Dysfunctional
C) Programmed
D) Escalating
E) Integrative

Question 62

The conflict handling style that is a give-and-take approach is:

A) Integrating
B) Obliging
C) Avoiding
D) Dominating
E) Compromising

Question 63

The integrative conflict handling style is characterized by:

A) High concern for self and low concern for others
B) High concern for self and high concern for others
C) High concern for others and low concern for self
D) Low concern for others and low concern for self
E) Moderate concern for both self and others

Question 64

The ________ hypothesis suggests that the more members of different groups interact, the less intergroup conflict they will experience.

A) Conflict reduction
B) Coalition
C) Groupthink
D) Contact
E) Climate

Question 65

_______ involves staging a structured debate of opposing viewpoints prior to making a decision.

A) Dysfunctional conflict
B) The dialectic method
C) Integration
D) Devil's advocacy
E) Alternative dispute resolution

Question 66

Which of the following is true about work-family conflict?

A) Work-family balance begins at the workplace
B) An employer's specific programs are more important in addressing work-family balance than its family-supportive philosophy
C) Organizations should consider adopting work policies that are targeted toward different generational groups
D) Flextime is particularly attractive to baby boomers
E) Work-family conflict is solely about how work interferes with family concerns

Question 67

Any form of socially harmful behavior is known as:

A) Dysfunctional conflict
B) Incivility
C) Experiencing a devil's advocate
D) Imbalance
E) Stress

Question 68

Which of the following is true about in-group thinking?

A) Lower levels of cohesiveness lead to groupthink
B) Members of in-groups view themselves as being all alike
C) In-group members exaggerate the differences between their group and other groups
D) In-group members view themselves and members of other groups positively
E) In-group members view themselves and members of other groups as morally correct

Question 69

Which of the following statements about incivility at work is false?

A) Incivility can arise from both individual and organizational sources
B) Stress is a potential outcome of incivility
C) Abusive supervision is a form of incivility
D) Incivility can damage an organization's reputation
E) Personality is highly unlikely to be a source of incivility

Question 70

When the demands or pressures from work and family domains are mutually incompatible, a person is experiencing:

A) Work-family conflict
B) Dysfunctional conflict
C) Functional conflict
D) Conflict handling issues
E) Incivility

Question 71

When issues are complex, better solutions are needed, commitment is needed, time is available, the ________ conflict handling style is appropriate.

A) Integrating
B) Obliging
C) Avoiding
D) Dominating
E) Compromising

Question 72

The obliging conflict handling style is characterized by:

A) High concern for self and low concern for others
B) High concern for self and high concern for others
C) High concern for others and low concern for self
D) Low concern for others and low concern for self
E) Moderate concern for both self and others

Question 73

The styles of conflict handling are differentiated along two dimensions:

A) Internal and external
B) Functional and dysfunctional
C) Social and cognitive
D) Perceptual and real
E) Concern for others and concern for self

Question 74

________ involves assigning someone the role of critic.

A) Dysfunctional conflict
B) The dialectic method
C) Integration
D) Devil's advocacy
E) Alternative dispute resolution

Question 75

Which of the following statements about bullying is false?

A) Bullying is unlikely to be obvious to anyone other than the bully and the person being bullied
B) Bullying can affect people who are not bullied but who merely observe bullying
C) Bullying is the same as other forms of mistreatment or incivility
D) Bullying has group-level implications
E) Organizations should adopt workplace bullying policies

Question 76

Jim is head of the marketing department and must decide how to allocate a fixed amount of funds. There are two top projects that Jim believes hold the most promise. Recently, the majority of funds have been allocated to Project A, but Jim wonders if it is time to provide Project B with a larger share of the money. Jim decides to assign a particular individual, Clara, to thoroughly criticize the proposal for Project B, looking for every possible flaw. Which technique is Jim using to help him make a better decision?

A) Diagnostic process
B) Devil's advocacy
C) Mediation
D) Dialectic method
E) Negotiation

Question 77

The dominating conflict management style is characterized by:

A) High concern for self and low concern for other
B) High concern for self and high concern for other
C) High concern for other and low concern for self
D) Low concern for other and low concern for self
E) Moderate concern for both self and other

Question 78

Laura is head of ABC Systems. She needs to allocate a fixed amount of funds to various projects. There are two top projects that Laura believes hold the most promise. She decides to arrange a structured debate for the two top proposals. Importantly, the assumptions of each proposal are identified, and a conflicting counterproposal is generated based on a different set of assumptions. Advocates of each position present and debate the merits of their proposal before Laura makes her decision. Which technique is Laura using to help her make a better decision?

A) Dialectic method
B) Devil's advocacy
C) Diagnostic process
D) Mediation
E) Negotiation

Question 79

An example of flexspace is:

A) "Please complete this project by the end of the day today"
B) "I expect you to be taking phone calls from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. today"
C) "You may complete this report anywhere you wish"
D) "We are putting a new computer into your office"
E) "Please work with our new employee on this project"

Question 80

Employees' shared perceptions of policies, practices, and procedures of an organization is known as:

A) Culture
B) Socialization
C) Climate
D) Civility
E) Groupthink