Deck 14: Conflict and Negotiation

Question 1

It seems that your work group is in conflict much of the time. One colleague has suggested that you, as the supervisor, are responsible for eliminating the conflict so that your work group can function harmoniously. Another colleague has suggested that conflict is good for stimulating creativity and productivity within the work environment. You are unsure about whether you should try to eliminate the conflict within your group or learn to deal with it positively.
Contemporary perspectives tend to differentiate types of conflict based on their ________.

A) effects
B) being good or bad
C) emotional impact
D) task orientation
E) relationship orientation

Answer 1

A
Explanation: Contemporary perspectives differentiate types of conflict based on their effects.

Question 2

Scholars generally agree that task and process conflicts are functional.

Answer 2

False
Explanation: While scholars agree that relationship conflict is dysfunctional, there is considerably less agreement about whether task and process conflicts are functional. Early research suggested that task conflict within groups correlated to higher group performance, but a review of 116 studies found that generalized task conflict was essentially unrelated to group performance. However, there were factors of the conflict that could create a relationship between conflict and performance.

Question 3

Mike and Keith are on the same team; they work well with other people in the same team but don't get along with each other. This type of conflict can best be described as ________.

A) intragroup
B) bilateral
C) intergroup
D) dyadic
E) dual

Answer 3

D
Explanation: Dyadic conflict takes place between two people. Intragroup conflict occurs within a group or team. Intergroup conflict is conflict between groups or teams.

Question 4

Conflict that hinders group performance is destructive or ________ conflict.

A) process
B) traditional
C) task
D) dysfunctional
E) dyadic

Question 5

Identify the three basic types of conflict from the perspective of where the conflict occurs and discuss why it is important to understand the loci of conflict in order to address conflict in the workplace.

Question 6

What is the difference between intergroup conflict and intragroup conflict? Provide an example of each type of conflict.

Question 7

Relationship conflicts are almost always functional.

Question 8

In the past, researchers ________.

A) considered all conflict to be harmful
B) considered all conflict to be necessary to generate discussion
C) considered all conflict to be necessary to improve the creativity of a group
D) argued about whether conflict was uniformly good or bad
E) argued about whether conflict was rational and cannot be avoided

Question 9

Conflict between two people is called ________ conflict.

A) intragroup
B) bilateral
C) intergroup
D) dyadic
E) dual

Question 10

The locus of conflict is synonymous with the framework within which the conflict occurs.

Question 11

Studies demonstrate that ________ conflicts are almost always ________.

A) relationship; formal
B) relationship; informal
C) relationship; dysfunctional
D) relationship; functional
E) task; reactive

Question 12

It seems that your work group is in conflict much of the time. One colleague has suggested that you, as the supervisor, are responsible for eliminating the conflict so that your work group can function harmoniously. Another colleague has suggested that conflict is good for stimulating creativity and productivity within the work environment. You are unsure about whether you should try to eliminate the conflict within your group or learn to deal with it positively.
Which of the following is false about views of conflict?

A) There is no consensus over the role of conflict in groups and organizations.
B) The notion that conflict is good or bad is somewhat outdated.
C) Contemporary perspectives differentiate types of conflict based on their good or bad effects.
D) The idea that conflict is good or bad can be viewed as simplistic.
E) Contemporary perspectives differentiate types of conflict based on their effects.

Question 13

Conflicts related to how the work gets done are called ________ conflicts.

A) communication
B) task
C) job
D) relationship
E) process

Question 14

Conflict is uniformly good or bad.

Question 15

Gwyn is struggling with personal issues of control within her team. Her outbursts and underhanded nature of functioning within the team is destructive. This could be considered ________.

A) relationship conflict
B) dysfunctional conflict
C) dysfunctional task conflict
D) dyadic relationship issues
E) intragroup conflict

Question 16

It seems that your work group is in conflict much of the time. One colleague has suggested that you, as the supervisor, are responsible for eliminating the conflict so that your work group can function harmoniously. Another colleague has suggested that conflict is good for stimulating creativity and productivity within the work environment. You are unsure about whether you should try to eliminate the conflict within your group or learn to deal with it positively.
When your work group disagrees, the disagreements usually concern how the group's work should be accomplished. The type of conflict experienced by your group is known as a ________ conflict.

A) task
B) relationship
C) process
D) traditional
E) reactive

Question 17

Studies demonstrate that in work settings, relationship conflicts are almost always dysfunctional. Why?

Question 18

________ is defined as a process that begins when one party perceives another party has or is about to negatively affect something the first party cares about.

A) Problem solving
B) Assessment
C) Conflict
D) Negotiation
E) Collective bargaining

Question 19

Conflict that relates to the content and goals of work is called ________ conflict.

A) job
B) task
C) relationship
D) process
E) communication

Question 20

Describe a functional conflict and dysfunctional conflict that could exist because of structure.

Question 21

The ________ stage of the conflict process is important because it's where conflict issues tend to be defined.

A) potential opposition
B) cognition and personalization
C) intention
D) behavior
E) reaction and transference

Question 22

The conflict-handling intention of collaborating is ________.

A) assertive and uncooperative
B) assertive and cooperative
C) unassertive and uncooperative
D) unassertive and cooperative
E) affective and reflective

Question 23

Luke's cubicle neighbor Leia, though an understanding and great co-worker, talks loudly on the phone. Luke gets annoyed every time Leia's phone rings, but he has decided it's simply not worth the trouble to talk to her about it. Luke's conflict-handling intention is called ________.

A) competing
B) avoiding
C) accommodating
D) compromising
E) collaborating

Question 24

A party who seeks to appease an opponent may be willing to place the opponent's interests above his or her own, sacrificing to maintain the relationship. We refer to this conflict-handling intention as ________.

A) collaborating
B) avoiding
C) compromising
D) competing
E) accommodating

Question 25

Matt works as a sales representative at Tandem Industries, which manufactures and sells bicycles. He's the best salesman on the floor, but he also receives the highest number of customer complaints for late deliveries. Which of the following, if true, best explains this situation?

A) The company uses enterprise solutions to manage inventory.
B) The company's manufacturing facility is functioning at optimum capacity.
C) The company's sales and logistics functions are tightly integrated.
D) The company keeps inventory levels low in order to reduce costs.
E) The company has an efficient credit verification process.

Question 26

Conservationists have had a perpetual conflict with the government of the United States over the fast and rampant depletion of Earth's natural resources. They argue that the United States must reduce its consumption level significantly to rectify this problem. Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the conservationists' argument?

A) The United States has been conserving forests for several years.
B) Most countries have not taken any measures to reduce their consumption levels of natural resources.
C) There are several countries that have more requirements for resources than the United States.
D) The United States accounts for one-third of the total world resource consumption.
E) New resource deposits are constantly being discovered.

Question 27

________ is a conflict-handling technique in which the parties in a conflict each desire to satisfy fully the concerns of all parties.

A) Collaborating
B) Competing
C) Accommodating
D) Avoiding
E) Compromising

Question 28

Which of the following conflict-handling intentions is assertive and uncooperative?

A) compromising
B) avoiding
C) competing
D) collaborating
E) accommodating

Question 29

Macy does not like a few of the standard operating procedures adapted for the new project. However, she discussed the items with the team and told them that she realized she was in the minority and that she would adapt the new procedures to maintain smooth operations within the team. This type of conflict-handling intention is called ________.

A) negotiating
B) accommodating
C) collaborating
D) compromising
E) competing

Question 30

Which of the following statements is true regarding conflict?

A) The smaller the group, the greater the likelihood of conflict.
B) The less specialized the activities of the group, the greater the likelihood of conflict.
C) People low in the personality traits of disagreeableness, neuroticism, or self-monitoring are more likely to engage in a conflict.
D) Emotions can cause conflict even when they are not directed at others.
E) As the ambiguity about where responsibility for actions lies decreases, the potential for conflict increases.

Question 31

When one person seeks to satisfy his or her own interests regardless of the impact on the other parties to the conflict, that person is using the conflict-handling intention of ________.

A) competing
B) avoiding
C) accommodating
D) compromising
E) collaborating

Question 32

The conflict-handling intention of accommodating is ________.

A) assertive and uncooperative
B) assertive and cooperative
C) unassertive and uncooperative
D) unassertive and cooperative
E) reflective and assertive

Question 33

Which of the following conflict-handling intentions involves accepting a solution that provides incomplete satisfaction of both parties' concerns?

A) collaborating
B) compromising
C) avoiding
D) competing
E) accommodating

Question 34

Stage II of the conflict process deals with the conflict being ________.

A) perceived and felt
B) apparent and experienced
C) expressed and resolved
D) analyzed
E) internalized

Question 35

Assertiveness indicates the degree to which ________.

A) one party attempts to satisfy his or her own concerns
B) one party attempts to suppress the conflict
C) the parties attempt to find a win-win solution
D) one party attempts to satisfy the other party's concerns
E) the parties are willing to involve a third party in conflict resolution

Question 36

________ is the third stage in the conflict process and it intervenes between people's perceptions and their overt behavior.

A) Potential for opposition
B) Intention
C) Cognition
D) Attribution
E) Behavioral manifestation

Question 37

The conflict-handling techniques are characterized by two dimensions, cooperativeness and assertiveness. Cooperativeness indicates the degree to which ________.

A) one party attempts to satisfy his or her own concerns
B) one party attempts to suppress the conflict
C) the parties attempt to find a win-win solution
D) one party attempts to satisfy the other party's concerns
E) the parties are willing to involve a third party in conflict resolution

Question 38

Conditions that can create conflicts can be classified into three categories. Which of the following is one of these three categories that includes variables such as jurisdictional clarity, member-goal compatibility, and leadership styles?

A) communication
B) structure
C) personal variables
D) group interactions
E) process variables

Question 39

Which of the following conflict-handling intentions is unassertive and uncooperative?

A) competing
B) collaborating
C) avoiding
D) compromising
E) accommodating

Question 40

In which stage of the conflict process does conflict become visible?

A) outcomes
B) intentions
C) incompatibility
D) behavior
E) personalization

Question 41

Which of the following conflict management techniques involves designating a critic to purposely argue against the majority positions held by the group?

A) altering the structural variables
B) altering the human variable
C) bringing in outsiders
D) exercising authoritative command
E) appointing a devil's advocate

Question 42

During the behavior stage of the conflict process, the parties decide what the conflict is about.

Question 43

A review that examined the effects of the four sets of behaviors across multiple studies found that openness and collaborating were both associated with superior group performance.

Question 44

A collectivist Chinese manager is most likely to use which of the following techniques for conflict management?

A) direct confrontation
B) authoritative command
C) avoiding
D) pressurizing
E) competing tactics

Question 45

Describe the five conflict-handling intentions that are based on the dimensions of cooperativeness and assertiveness.

Question 46

Collectivists are more interested in demonstrations of concern and working through third parties to resolve disputes, whereas individualists are more likely to confront differences of opinion directly and openly.

Question 47

Which of the following is a conflict-stimulation technique?

A) expansion of resources
B) compromise
C) bringing in outsiders
D) exercising authoritative command
E) problem solving

Question 48

Cross-cultural negotiations have no issues of trust.

Question 49

According to a newly added office smoking regulation, only employees who have an enclosed office may smoke at their desks. This leads to a major conflict between various employees as virtually all employees with enclosed offices are higher-level managers and all other employees lack enclosed offices. Therefore, the lower-level employees who smoke argue that they should be offered enclosed offices. Which of the following, if true, strengthens the employees' argument?

A) The company is a zealous supporter of the "Kick the Butt" campaign-a corporate anti-smoking campaign.
B) Higher-level managers, who have enclosed offices, are willing to share their offices with-lower level employees.
C) The smoking regulations allow all employees who smoke an equal opportunity to do so, regardless of an employee's job level.
D) Employees at the higher level, who do not smoke, do not have enclosed offices.
E) The company has a limited budget for infrastructure modifications.

Question 50

Outline and discuss the conflict process.

Question 51

Which of the following statements is true regarding negotiation that takes place in a collectivist culture?

A) Collectivists are less likely to seek to preserve relationships and promote the good of the group as a whole than individualists.
B) Collectivists are more likely to confront differences of opinion directly and openly than individualists.
C) Collectivist cultures see people as autonomous, not as people deeply embedded in social situations.
D) Compared to individualists, collectivists are less likely to see offers from their counterparts as unfair and to reject them.
E) The method of conflict management preferred by collectivist managers is competing.

Question 52

What are the various causes of conflict?

Question 53

Explain the conflict resolution strategies used by collectivist cultures.

Question 54

A review that examined the effects of the four sets of behaviors across multiple studies found that openness and collaborating were both associated with superior group performance, whereas avoiding and competing strategies were associated with significantly worse group performance.

Question 55

Which of the following terms best describes the process that occurs when two or more parties decide how to allocate scarce resources?

A) integration
B) association
C) negotiation
D) unionization
E) differentiation

Question 56

Conflict is dysfunctional when it ________.

A) provides a medium to release tension
B) reduces group cohesiveness
C) fosters an environment of self-evaluation
D) provides a means for expressing frustration
E) leads to change

Question 57

The division manager at Xperience Inc. wants to replace the SAP ERP currently used in his division with Epicor ERP as it costs 30 percent less to train new staff in Epicor ERP. But this leads to a conflict with the general manager, who insists that they can simply hire only people who already know how to use SAP ERP. Which of the following, if true, weakens the general manager's objection to the replacement of SAP ERP with Epicor ERP?

A) Currently all employees in the company are required to attend workshops on how to use SAP ERP.
B) Once employees learn how to use an ERP system, they tend to change employers more readily than before.
C) Experienced users of SAP ERP command much higher salaries than do prospective employees who have no experience in the use of any ERP.
D) The average productivity of employees in the company is below the average productivity of the employees of its competitors.
E) The high costs of updates and upgrades make Epicor ERP more expensive to maintain than SAP ERP.

Question 58

All of the following are benefits of conflict in organizations except ________.

A) increased self-evaluation and change
B) increased groupthink
C) increased creativity and innovation
D) increased curiosity among group members
E) increased opportunity to air problems

Question 59

A conflict-intensity continuum has "annihilatory conflict" at the upper end and "no conflict" at the lower end. In the context of this conflict-intensity continuum, which of the following statements is true of conflict intensities?

A) Aggressive physical attacks fall in the lower range of the conflict-intensity continuum.
B) Conflicts that reach the lower ranges of the conflict-intensity continuum are almost always dysfunctional.
C) Strikes, riots, and wars fall in the lower range of the conflict-intensity continuum.
D) In cases of annihilatory conflict, there is overt questioning or challenging of others.
E) Functional conflicts are typically confined to the lower range of the conflict-intensity continuum.

Question 60

The potential for conflict increases when too much communication takes place.

Question 61

Karl is the labor union negotiator. Today, he is meeting with the top management to discuss the new five-year contract, including wages and benefits. This labor-management negotiation over wages is most likely to use ________ bargaining.

A) integrative
B) reflective
C) distributive
D) evaluative
E) associative

Question 62

What is BATNA? Discuss the significance of BATNA.

Question 63

Labor and management at Leo Trucking cannot seem to agree upon a contract for the truck drivers. As each side contends that they are bargaining fairly, no agreement seems to be possible. The drivers are threatening to go on strike, and management knows that such a strike would prove to be costly.
In terms of intraorganizational behavior, all things being equal, integrative bargaining is preferable to distributive bargaining.

Question 64

Which of the following statements is true regarding integrative bargaining?

A) Integrative bargaining leaves one party a loser.
B) Integrative bargaining is used in labor-management negotiations most of the time.
C) Integrative bargaining focuses on long-term relationships.
D) Integrative bargaining operates under zero-sum conditions.
E) Integrative bargaining involves low information sharing.

Question 65

Negotiation is a process that begins when one party perceives that another party has negatively affected, or is about to negatively affect, something that the first party cares about.

Question 66

During a negotiation, making an initial offer leads to the ________ bias.

A) self-serving
B) framing
C) attributional
D) anchoring
E) belief

Question 67

In the case of distributive bargaining, the ________ point marks the lowest outcome that is acceptable-the point below which the party would break off negotiations rather than accept a less favorable settlement.

A) resistance
B) tolerance
C) target
D) focal
E) distribution

Question 68

Labor and management at Leo Trucking cannot seem to agree upon a contract for the truck drivers. As each side contends that they are bargaining fairly, no agreement seems to be possible. The drivers are threatening to go on strike, and management knows that such a strike would prove to be costly.
As both sides agree that they are competing over a fixed amount of resources, each side feels that what one side wins, the other loses. Based on this information, we can say that the two sides are engaged in ________.

A) conciliation
B) distributive bargaining
C) mediation
D) integrative bargaining
E) arbitration

Question 69

Which of the following statements is true regarding distributive bargaining?

A) It operates under zero-sum conditions.
B) It focuses on long-term relationships.
C) It involves high information sharing.
D) It attempts to create a win-win solution.
E) It is rarely used in labor-management negotiations.

Question 70

The two general approaches to negotiation are ________ bargaining and ________ bargaining.

A) emotional; rational
B) affective; reflective
C) distributive; integrative
D) formal; informal
E) legal; restrictive

Question 71

In terms of intraorganizational behavior, all things being equal, why is integrative bargaining preferable to distributive bargaining?

Question 72

Which of the following is not a necessary condition for integrative bargaining to succeed in organizations?

A) Opposing parties have a zero-sum outlook.
B) Opposing parties are open with information.
C) Opposing parties are candid about concerns.
D) Opposing parties are sensitive to the other's needs and trust.
E) Opposing parties maintain flexibility.

Question 73

Labor and management at Leo Trucking cannot seem to agree upon a contract for the truck drivers. As each side contends that they are bargaining fairly, no agreement seems to be possible. The drivers are threatening to go on strike, and management knows that such a strike would prove to be costly.
None of the parties involved in the dispute wants to reach a win-win agreement. They are each highly focused on their demands, which they would like to achieve, otherwise known as their ________ points.

A) focal
B) distribution
C) resistance
D) tolerance
E) target

Question 74

Discuss the effectiveness of teams versus individuals in negotiations in collectivist cultures.

Question 75

Labor and management at Leo Trucking cannot seem to agree upon a contract for the truck drivers. As each side contends that they are bargaining fairly, no agreement seems to be possible. The drivers are threatening to go on strike, and management knows that such a strike would prove to be costly.
The management has decided to try to find a win-win solution to help both parties resolve their differences. Management is attempting to engage in ________ bargaining.

A) integrative
B) reflective
C) surface
D) distributive
E) reformatory

Question 76

The terms negotiation and ________ are used interchangeably.

A) win-lose
B) bargaining
C) collaboration
D) accommodation
E) compromise

Question 77

________ bargaining is negotiation that seeks to divide a fixed amount of goods or services.

A) Distributive
B) Integrative
C) Reflective
D) Affective
E) Conjunctive

Question 78

Describe the first step of the negotiation process. How does this step affect negotiating parties' relationship? How does the negotiating parties' relationship help determine the kind of bargaining that will be done (integrative or distributive)?

Question 79

In the case of a distributive bargaining, the ________ point indicates what a person would like to achieve out of the negotiation.

A) resistance
B) distribution
C) target
D) bargaining
E) focus

Question 80

Labor and management at Leo Trucking cannot seem to agree upon a contract for the truck drivers. As each side contends that they are bargaining fairly, no agreement seems to be possible. The drivers are threatening to go on strike, and management knows that such a strike would prove to be costly.
Distributive bargaining attempts to create a win-win solution for both the parties.