Deck 10: Conflict and Negotiations

Question 1

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

Answer 1

False

Question 2

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

Answer 2

False

Question 3

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

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Bank tellers are at a higher risk of workplace violence than many other occupations.

Question 5

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

Question 6

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

Question 7

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

Question 8

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

Question 9

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

Question 10

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 11

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

Question 12

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

Question 13

Conflict in an organization is always bad.

Question 14

Conflict can be dysfunctional if it involves personal attacks.

Question 15

Taking a vote among the team,or the majority rule approach,can be successful when parties believe the process is fair.

Question 16

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

Question 17

Conflict can result in both positive and negative outcomes.

Question 18

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

Question 19

The collaboration style of conflict generally results in the most favorable outcomes for both parties.

Question 20

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

Question 21

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

Question 22

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

Question 23

Making a concession during negotiation is a sign of weakness.

Question 24

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

Question 25

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

Question 26

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 27

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 28

The BATNA phase of the negotiation process only applies in certain circumstances.

Question 29

*At Amazon,what is the two pizza rule?

A)Anyone with a successful new idea gets a coupon for two free pizzas.
B)If a team can end meetings in 30 minutes or less,everyone gets two free pizzas.
C)Teams should be small enough in number that they can be fed with just two pizzas.
D)Managers get two pizzas to award to the employees who worked the hardest each month.

Question 30

The platinum rule of negotiations is to care for others enough to treat them the way they want to be treated.

Question 31

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

Question 32

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

Question 33

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 34

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

Question 35

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

Question 36

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

Question 37

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

Question 38

In negotiations,Japanese negotiators tend to draw information from what is said as well as what is not said.

Question 39

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

Question 40

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

Question 41

*Amazon's company culture favors _____ above all else.

A)cross-team communication
B)intensity
C)friendliness
D)anger

Question 42

Intergroup conflict

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

Question 43

Which of the following is an example of intrapersonal conflict?

A)role conflict
B)an argument between coworkers
C)a conflict with a customer
D)role reversal

Question 44

Intrapersonal conflict refers to

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 45

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 46

*Amazon is so committed to creative conflict its Number 13 leadership principle is

A)Have Backbone;Disagree and Commit
B)Be Strong;Stand your ground
C)Be a Leader;Argue and Resolve
D)Stand Down;Let Others Fight

Question 47

Which of the following statements about conflict is accurate?

A)Conflict can paralyze an organization.
B)Conflict can lead to higher organizational commitment.
C)Conflict is not a major issue in the workplace.
D)Conflict is always problematic in an organization.

Question 48

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)Interdepartmental meetings have just been concluded resulting in 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 49

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 50

*Role ambiguity and role conflict are examples of

A)intergroup conflict
B)interpersonal conflict
C)intrapersonal conflict
D)intragroup conflict

Question 51

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 52

*Which of these is NOT one of the types of conflict that typically occur in organizations?

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

Question 53

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

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

Question 54

Which of the following is considered a root cause of conflict in the workplace?

A)organizational tenure
B)task independence
C)compatible goals
D)personality differences

Question 55

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 56

Which of the following is a positive outcome of conflict in the organization?

A)increased creativity
B)accurate assumptions
C)enhanced volunteering behavior
D)individual task satisfaction

Question 57

Conflict refers to

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 58

*Competition,personality differences,or values beliefs could lead to

A)intergroup conflict
B)interpersonal conflict
C)intrapersonal conflict
D)intragroup conflict

Question 59

*Intel offers a _____ course to instruct new employees on conflict-oriented leadership.

A)constructive confrontation training
B)anger management
C)reducing conflict
D)incite and argue

Question 60

Conflict between two individuals such as coworkers is also known as

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

Question 61

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

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

Question 62

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 63

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 64

Which of the following factors is likely to increase your risk for violence in the workplace?

A)working in a big city
B)dealing with valuables
C)being well paid
D)not fitting in with coworkers

Question 65

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

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 66

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 67

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 68

*Tijuan has to address the issue that Jaime has been late to work three times in two weeks.Which of these would be the best approach for Tijuan?

A)fire Jaime the fourth time she is late
B)ask Jaime if there is a situation that is contributing to being late recently and try to help resolve the issue
C)send Jaime to the human resources department
D)call Jaime to his office and promise her she'll be fired the next time she is late

Question 69

Which of the following statements regarding conflict in the workplace is accurate?

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 even if it is moderate.
D)Consideration of a broader range of ideas is a negative outcome of conflict in the organization.

Question 70

The conflict handling style that is uncooperative and unassertive is

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

Question 71

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 72

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 73

Which of the following is 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)all of the above

Question 74

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 75

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.

Question 76

The accommodation conflict handling style is

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

Question 77

Which of the following is a middle-ground conflict handling style characterized by an individual's desire to get his or her way but respect others' goals?

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

Question 78

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 79

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 80

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