Question 1

According to the emerging view on organizational conflict, there are two types of conflict.They are:

Accepted Answer

An emerging school of thought is that there are two types of conflict with opposing consequences: task conflict and relationship conflict.

Question 2

Effective managers should:

Accepted Answer

Constructive conflicts are useful to organizations and relationship conflicts are harmful.So, managers should encourage constructive conflicts and minimize relationship conflicts.

Question 3

Employees in engineering and marketing often disagree with each other in how to achieve a target mainly because they have unique backgrounds, experiences, and training.The most apparent source of conflict here is:

Accepted Answer

Differences among people, departments, and other entities regarding their training, values, beliefs, and experiences.Differentiation can be distinguished from goal incompatibility because two people or departments may agree on a common goal but have profound differences in how to achieve that goal.

Question 4

Salespeople at Widget Co.complain that they lose sales bonuses when the production department is out of stock of a particular item.This sometimes causes customers to buy from 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 staff is rewarded.This instance is an example of conflict due to:

Accepted Answer

Goal incompatibility occurs when the goals of one person or department seem to interfere with another person's or department's goals.

Question 5

The potential for conflict between two employees would be highest under conditions of _____ interdependence.

Accepted Answer

The highest risk of conflict tends to occur in reciprocal interdependence situations.With reciprocal interdependence, employees are highly dependent on each other and, consequently, have a higher probability of interfering with each other's work and personal goals.

Question 6

Based on the characteristics of constructive conflicts, which of the following would help a manager create constructive conflicts during a debate?

Accepted Answer

Keeping the debate focused on the issue helps participants to reexamine their assumptions and beliefs without triggering the drive to defend and its associated negative emotions and ego defense mechanism behaviors.This would keep the conflicts constructive.

Question 7

The problem-solving interpersonal style of conflict has:

Accepted Answer

Problem solving is associated with high degree of assertiveness and high degree of cooperativeness.Refer: Exhibit 11.3

Question 8

Which of the following statements is true of the relationship conflicts in a highly cohesive team?

Accepted Answer

Relationship conflict is suppressed when the conflict occurs within a highly cohesive team.

Question 9

Constructive conflict:

Accepted Answer

Constructive conflict occurs when people focus their discussion around the issue while showing respect for people with other points of view.This is a positive application of conflicts.It helps participants to reexamine their assumptions and beliefs without triggering the drive to defend and its associated negative emotions and ego defense mechanism behaviors.

Question 10

Situations with both _______________ produce the highest risk of conflict.

Accepted Answer

Both scarce resources and the high interdependence cause high degree of conflict increase the risk of organizational conflicts.Hence, the presence of both these conditions together maximizes organizational conflict.

Question 11

Relationship conflict usually causes people to:

Accepted Answer

The verbal attacks during relationship conflicts reduce the motivation to communicate or share information, making it more difficult for the parties to discover common ground and ultimately resolve the conflict.

Question 12

When team norms encourage _____, team members learn to appreciate honest dialogue without personally reacting to any emotional display during the disagreements.

Accepted Answer

When team norms encourage openness, team members learn to appreciate honest dialogue without personally reacting to any emotional display during the disagreements.

Question 13

Which of the following precedes conflict outcomes in the conflict process?

Accepted Answer

Manifest conflict precedes conflict outcomes in the conflict process.Refer: Exhibit 11.2

Question 14

Which of the following factors leads to relationship conflicts in teams?

Accepted Answer

Conflict often occurs due to the lack of opportunity, ability, or motivation to communicate effectively.A low level of communication would lead to conflicts.

Question 15

Which of the following is a major advantage of having moderate levels of organizational conflicts?

Accepted Answer

An apparent benefit of moderate conflict is that it prevents organizations from stagnating and becoming nonresponsive to their external environment.Through conflict, employees continuously question current practices and become more sensitive to dissatisfaction from stakeholders.

Question 16

What is the relationship between emotional intelligence and relationship conflicts?

Accepted Answer

Relationship conflict is less likely to occur, or is less likely to escalate, when team members have high levels of emotional intelligence.

Question 17

Which of the following immediately follows conflict perceptions and emotions in the conflict process?

Accepted Answer

Manifest conflict immediately follows conflict perceptions and emotions in the conflict process.Refer: Exhibit 11.2

Question 18

According to the literature on organizational conflict, constructive conflict:

Accepted Answer

Constructive conflict occurs when people focus their discussion around the issue while showing respect for people with other points of view.This conflict is called "constructive" because different positions are encouraged, so ideas and recommendations can be clarified, redesigned, and tested for logical soundness.Thus, constructive conflict is a positive application of conflict in organizations.

Question 19

Which of the following sources of conflict is typically associated with mergers and acquisitions, where everyone wants the company to succeed, but they fight over the "right way" to do things because of their unique experiences in the separate companies?

Accepted Answer

When two companies are brought together as in mergers and acquisitions, the employees of each of the organizations have unique experiences in the separate companies.Differentiation is most apparent in such a situation.

Question 20

Which of the following best describes relationship conflict?

Accepted Answer

Relationship conflict involves personal attack on each other's credibility, intelligence, and competence.These actions are more likely to trigger defense mechanisms and a competitive orientation.

Quiz 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace