Salespeople at Widget Ltd.complain that they lose sales bonuses when the production department is out of stock of a particular item.This sometimes causes customers to buy 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 staffs are rewarded.This is mainly an example of conflict due to:
A)ambiguity.
B)communication problems.
C)pooled task interdependence.
D)differentiation.
E)goal incompatibility.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The conflict arises due to the goal incompatibility between the sales department and the production department. The sales department is incentivized by sales bonuses, which means they want to make as many sales as possible. On the other hand, the production department is incentivized by minimizing inventory costs, which means they want to keep their inventory levels low. This creates a conflict of interest where the sales department wants to sell as much as possible while the production department wants to keep inventory levels low.