Fundamentals of Management by Griffin Chapter 13

Which of the following is true of conflict? -Conflict is always short lived and does not last for more than a couple of days. -A high degree of conflict among team members always results in high performance levels. -A certain level of conflict among group members can spark creativity and initiative. -Conflict occurs between two or more individuals and not among groups or organizations.

A certain level of conflict among group members can spark creativity and initiative.

Which of the following is a method of controlling conflict? -Changing established procedures -Expanding the resource base -Increasing competition among teams -Convincing conflicting parties to compromise

Expanding the resource base

Employees at Lightning Wireless Corporation have called for a work stoppage. Unhappy with salary freezes and work hours, the non-union employees have begun picketing the employer's headquarters and local storefront locations. Cellular and internet service to customers has been severely impacted. What form of conflict resolution does this situation call for? -Smoothing -Negotiation -Compromise -Avoidance

Negotiation

_____ stems from poor job descriptions or unclear cues from coworkers. -Intrasender conflict -Intrarole conflict -Role ambiguity -Role overload

Role ambiguity

All of the following are methods for resolving and eliminating conflict EXCEPT _____. -bring conflicting parties together to confront and negotiate conflict -avoid conflict -convince conflicting parties to compromise -change established procedures

change established procedures

Paolo is a member of a high-performing task group that is responsible for scouting out new store locations for a large franchise organization. The group was established three years ago. Brent, from the corporate executive staff, is the group's leader. He authorizes new location proposals, but otherwise does not participate in the group's activities. Stacy is another team member. She has been involved with the group since it was formed. She is the most knowledgeable member of the team. A high level of competitiveness exists amongst the team members, and Stacy is the one who most team members go to for social or emotional support. Based on the information provided about this task group, competition amongst its members could be negatively impacting its _____. -cohesiveness -role structure -socialization -informal leadership

cohesiveness

The marketing department at Tredwell Industries recently received praise from the sales staff for the materials and support it provided to help close some major deals. This favorable evaluation of the entire department by another group can help build _____. -role ambiguity -socialization -norm conformity -cohesiveness

cohesiveness

Too little conflict in an organization results in _____. -hostility -complacency -creativity -high performance

complacency

Jamal and Erika are planning a dinner to help raise money for afterschool program for children in their community. Jamal feels that the dinner should be very simple and basic so that more of the money raised can go straight into the program. Erika thinks that a fancy dinner in a high-end ballroom will bring out people who can donate more, raising more money. In the end, they decide on a venue and menu somewhere in the middle. This approach to conflict resolution is called _____. -alternative dispute resolution -smoothing -compromise -arbitration

compromise

Eduardo manages a large furniture store just outside of Dallas. Last year's sales were down slightly, and he is seeing a similar trend this year. A substantial portion of the sales associates' compensation is based on sales commissions. Because of the downward sales trend, Eduardo has noticed that his sales staff has become more competitive to serve and satisfy customers who enter the store. In this case, Eduardo needs to _____ conflict. -resolve -control -prevent -eliminate

control

What is one method of controlling conflict? -increasing competition -convincing conflicting parties to compromise -hiring outsiders -enhancing coordination of interdependence

enhancing coordination of interdependence

Eduardo manages a large furniture store just outside of Dallas. Last year's sales were down slightly, and he is seeing a similar trend this year. A portion of the sales associates' compensation is based on sales commissions. Because of the downward sales trend, Eduardo has noticed that his sales staff has become more competitive to serve and satisfy customers who enter the store. The competitiveness has escalated into disruptive conflict among employees and is producing a hostile work environment, which turns away customers. Eduardo called a meeting of all the sales associates and reminded them that a substantial portion of their salary is based on the overall success of the store. If customers walk away, everyone loses out. By doing this, Eduardo is attempting to resolve the conflict by _____. -smoothing -focusing workers' attention on superordinate goals -forcing workers to reach a compromise -interpersonal problem solving

focusing workers' attention on superordinate goals

Conflict can be stimulated by: -compromising. -setting superordinate goals. -hiring outsiders. -matching personalities with work habits.

hiring outsiders.

Eduardo manages a large furniture store just outside of Dallas. Last year's sales were down slightly, and he is seeing a similar trend this year. Eduardo has noticed that his sales staff has become complacent. Sometimes when a customer enters the store, several sales associates are huddled together laughing. He thinks this discourages customer interest. This week, Eduardo started a program to reward the sales associates for (1) the highest number of customer return visits and (2) the highest closed sales in terms of dollars. Each week, the sales associate who rates highest in these two performance measures will receive an additional 5% commission. The introduction of a moderate level of competition among the sales staff is likely to _____. -lower individual motivation levels -breed excess hostility -improve team performance -create a high level of conflict

improve team performance

Which of the following is a factor that increases cohesiveness? -domination -intragroup competition -large group size -interaction

interaction

Harmony School received a federal technology grant. The science department wants to use the funds to buy new computers and software to enable them to run virtual labs. The administrative staff thinks the funds should be spent on a new intranet and office support software. This is an example of _____ conflict. -intergroup -interorganizational -interpersonal -environmental

intergroup

The confrontational approach to conflict resolution is also called _____. -alternative dispute resolution -smoothing -interpersonal problem solving -compromise

interpersonal problem solving

Employees at Lightning Wireless Corporation have called for a work stoppage. Unhappy with salary freezes and work hours, the non-union employees have begun picketing the employer's headquarters and local storefront locations. Cellular and internet service to customers has been severely impacted. The company and employee representatives have been discussing terms and key issues that need to be addressed in upcoming meetings. The company and employees are preparing for a(n) _____ process of conflict resolution. -avoidance -compromise -smoothing -negotiation

negotiation

Confrontation is used to: -resolve conflict. -control conflict. -stimulate conflict. -maintain conflict.

resolve conflict

Eric was recently hired as a marketing associate at Tredwell Industries. His job involves assisting in the preparation of marketing materials for one of Tredwell's new product lines. He's been told to put together a product spec sheet, but he's received no further guidance or sample spec sheets to use as a model. Eric has done similar work for his previous employer, but he does not know what the standards or expectations are at Tredwell. Eric is experiencing _____. -role overload -norm variation -role conflict -role ambiguity

role ambiguity

Eric is a marketing associate at Tredwell Industries. His job involves assisting in the preparation of marketing materials for Tredwell's new product lines. Yesterday, Eric's manager told him that the release date for A-0x line has been pushed up, and the spec sheets need to be done by the end of this week, rather than three weeks from now. This is a huge product line, and it would be difficult for Eric to finish all the spec sheets in a single week even if that was his only assignment. At the same time, though Eric is expected to continue all of his other duties. Eric is experiencing _____. -role ambiguity -intrarole conflict -role overload -interrole conflict

role overload

Eduardo manages a large furniture store just outside of Dallas. Last year's sales were down slightly, and he is seeing a similar trend this year. A substantial portion of the sales associates' compensation is based on sales commissions. Because of the downward sales trend, Eduardo has noticed that his sales staff has become more competitive to serve and satisfy customers who enter the store. Now that this competition has begun, what might Eduardo want to do to keep it from becoming detrimental? -have a meeting with the associates and encourage them to compromise -hire outsiders -change procedures -set superordinate goals

set superordinate goals

Eduardo manages a large furniture store just outside of Dallas. Last year's sales were down slightly, and he is seeing a similar trend this year. A substantial portion of the sales associates' compensation is based on sales commissions. Because of the downward sales trend, Eduardo has noticed that his sales staff has become more competitive to serve and satisfy customers who enter the store. Lately, this competitiveness has escalated into disruptive conflict between two employees. Eduardo has begun to schedule the two employees on completely different shifts to try to restore a pleasant atmosphere. By doing this, Eduardo is attempting to resolve the conflict using a(n) _____ method. -smoothing -alternative dispute resolution -compromise -interpersonal problem solving

smoothing

Eric was recently hired as a marketing associate at Tredwell Industries. He is gradually learning both the written and unwritten rules for behavior at Tredwell. Eric is experiencing _____. -socialization -role overload -role ambiguity -conformity

socialization

Eduardo manages a large furniture store just outside of Dallas. Last year's sales were down slightly, and he is seeing a similar trend this year. Eduardo introduced a new bonus structure based on associates' sales. Since this was introduced, Eduardo has noticed that his sales staff has become more competitive to serve and satisfy customers who enter the store. In this case, Eduardo _____ conflict. -stimulated -controlled -prevented -eliminated

stimulated

Eduardo manages a large furniture store just outside of Dallas. Last year's sales were down slightly, and he is seeing a similar trend this year. Eduardo noticed that the sales associates are somewhat blasé regarding the downward sales trend, and are not making any extra efforts to serve customers and close sales. When his associate manager resigned, rather than promoting one of the sales associates, Eduardo hired someone from the outside for that position to bring new ideas about how to reach customers. By doing this, Eduardo might also be _____ conflict. -resolving -stimulating -controlling -eliminating

stimulating

Jamal and Erika have opposing political views and almost every conversation they have, on any topic, eventually leads to an argument. They were recently paired up to run a fundraising campaign to help fund an afterschool program for underprivileged children in their community. They were able to work together well enough that the campaign reached its goal and the program was able to open. Jamal and Erika used _____ to control their conflict. -smoothing -avoidance -compromise -superordinate goals

superordinate goals

The enacted role is best described as: -what an individual perceives the role to mean. -what an individual actually does in the role. -the messages that team members use to communicate the expected role to an individual. -what other members of the team expect an individual to do.

what an individual actually does in the role.