Ch 11 OB

Which of the following behaviors might start the conflict process? A. an action that lacks diplomacy B. a shared understanding C. clear communication of the process D. appropriate comment E. updated personnel policies

A. an action that lacks diplomacy

Mikayla is quick to respond to any comment, especially if she feels that it is an attack on a coworker's performance. She can even seem arrogant. This often fuels the conflict due to A. communication problems. B. scarce resources. C. ambiguity. D. goal incompatibility. E. differentiation.

A. communication problems.

Which of the following conflict management styles may be necessary when it is apparent that the other party will take advantage of information sharing and other cooperative strategies? A. forcing B. yielding C. avoiding D. problem-solving E. compromising

A. forcing

Arbitration has a _________ level of control over the final outcome and a ______ level of control over the process. A. high; low B. high; high C. low; high D. low; low E. moderate; low

A. high; low

Which of the following third-party conflict resolution strategies is characterized by high decision control and high process control? A. inquisition B. arbitration C. mediation D. imposition E. compromise

A. inquisition

Which of type of third-party intervention approaches do managers usually adopt? A. inquisitional B. competitive C. mediation-based D. arbitration-based E. abstainer

A. inquisitional

Which of the following precedes conflict outcomes in the conflict process? A. manifest conflict B. conflict emotions C. conflict beliefs D. conflict perceptions E. conflict sources

A. manifest conflict

Which of the following is a major advantage of having moderate levels of organizational conflicts? A. more responsiveness to changing business environment B. reduced attrition in the organization C. reduced stress and job dissatisfaction among employees D. increased information sharing E. less wastage of time because of reduced communication among employees

A. more responsiveness to changing business environment

Conflict is ultimately based on A. people's perceptions. B. actual intentions. C. organizational structure. D. technical competence. E. skills and abilities of individuals.

A. people's perceptions.

What is the major function of integrators in an organization? A. reducing interdependence B. clarifying rules and procedures C. increasing resources D. reducing differentiation E. improving understanding

A. reducing interdependence

A BATNA A. represents the estimated cost of walking away from the relationship. B. is a form of "exploding offer." C. is a term representing one party's target point. D. is the difference between your resistance point and your opponent's resistance point. E. is an abbreviation for the steps in effective negotiation.

A. represents the estimated cost of walking away from the relationship.

Third-party dispute resolution activities are classified in terms of their A. arbitrariness and firmness. B. level of process control and level of decision control. C. assertiveness and cooperativeness. D. differentiation and interdependence. E. consequences for the organization

B. level of process control and level of decision control.

Who remarked that the "friction" of conflict should be put to use rather than treated as an unwanted consequence of differences? A. John Dewey B. Max Weber C. Mary Parker Follett D. Henri Fayol E. Elton Mayo

C. Mary Parker Follett

_____ breed(s) conflict. A. Communication problems B. Scarce resources C. Interdependence D. Ambiguity E. Differentiation

D. Ambiguity

When negotiators have an audience watching their progress in the negotiations, the negotiator A. is more likely to give in to the other party's demands. B. pays more attention to saving face. C. feels and acts the same as if no one were viewing the negotiation. D. tends to be more willing to make concessions to the other party. E. tends to feel more cooperative and is more willing to make concessions to the other party.

B. pays more attention to saving face.

Research has found that teams with low relationship conflict use _____ to maintain positive group emotions. A. openness B. kudos C. disagreement D. humor E. limited emotions

D. humor

Which of the following are negative consequences of conflict? A. more responsive to changing environment B. stronger team cohesion C. questioning of assumptions D. increased organizational politics E. better decision making

D. increased organizational politics

Based on the characteristics of constructive conflicts, which of the following would help a manager create constructive conflicts during a debate? A. support the weaker members during the debate B. explain conflict in terms of interpersonal incompatibilities C. support the stronger members during the debate D. keep the debate focused on the issue E. maintain competitive orientation in the debate

D. keep the debate focused on the issue

Problem solving assumes there are opportunities for A. power plays. B. increasing the other party's frustration. C. release of time pressure. D. mutual gains. E. win-win alternatives

D. mutual gains.

Fun, Incorporated, a major gaming software company, is experiencing conflict between the young Internet-savvy employees who design the games and the older, less computer-literate executives who run the company. The company has hired team leaders who could work with the executives and who are also highly computer literate. By hiring these team leaders as liaisons between the executives and employees, the company will A. increase conflict between developers and executives by reducing communication. B. reduce conflict by clarifying rules and procedures. C. increase conflict by increasing task interdependence. D. reduce conflict by creating superordinate goals. E. reduce conflict by reducing task interdependence.

E. reduce conflict by reducing task interdependence.

Initial offer points, target points, and resistance points represent three elements in the A. conflict process model. B. bargaining zone model. C. types of third-party conflict resolution. D. sources of conflict. E. conflict escalation cycle.

B. bargaining zone model.

People usually gravitate toward one or two conflict-handling styles that match their A. education. B. cultural values. C. peers. D. desires. E. emotions

B. cultural values.

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? A. task interdependence B. differentiation C. goal incompatibility D. scarce resources E. disintermediation

B. differentiation

When employees from different parts of the organization work together on important projects, then A. communication is decreased. B. differentiation is reduced. C. superordinate goals are completed. D. buffers are created. E. independence is encouraged.

B. differentiation is reduced.

NewTel is a telephone company with a policy of filling positions internally through promotions, rather than hiring from outside. Until recently, the company had a strong engineering focus and tended to promote people into senior executive positions from the engineering areas. Consequently, almost all of the company's 14 senior executives joined the company over 20 years ago in junior engineering positions. There is increasing pressure on NewTel to become more marketing-and serviceoriented. As a result, four people were hired last year from consumer products and retail firms to fill new senior executive positions in marketing and service management. The external hires were necessary because current employees were not sufficiently qualified. Now there are signs of tension among senior executives, particularly during budget deliberations where there is limited discretionary spending on new corporate activities. The four new hires have been frustrated in their attempts to have the company put more money into marketing and customer services instead of technology investment, and they blame the senior executives for being hard-headed. The conflict episodes are viewed by both sides as personal attacks rather than attempts to resolve the problem. NewTel had to hire outside the company because it was felt that the internal employees lacked the skills needed. Many of the new employees were younger, which compounded the conflict due to A. goal incompatibility. B. differentiation. C. scarce resources. D. ambiguity. E. interdependence.

B. differentiation.

Constructive conflict A. is the opposite of task-related conflict and often involves verbal attacks. B. encourages employees to re-examine their basic assumptions about a problem and its possible solutions. C. is apparent when the conflict is explained in terms of interpersonal incompatibilities. D. is more likely to trigger defense mechanisms and a competitive orientation among team members. E. sometimes replaces manifest conflict in the conflict escalation process.

B. encourages employees to re-examine their basic assumptions about a problem and its possible solutions.

The problem-solving interpersonal style of conflict has A. high assertiveness and low cooperativeness. B. high assertiveness and high cooperativeness. C. low assertiveness and high cooperativeness. D. low assertiveness and low cooperativeness. E. medium assertiveness and medium cooperativeness

B. high assertiveness and high cooperativeness.

Increasing inventories between sequential work units tends to reduce potential conflict by A. reducing resource scarcity. B. reducing differentiation. C. increasing the required level of communication between employees in sequential units. D. reducing ambiguity in resource allocation. E. reducing task interdependence.

E. reducing task interdependence.

The most recent perspective on conflict is that an optimal level exists that is beneficial to the organization.

false Although many writers still refer to the "optimal conflict" perspective, an emerging school of thought is that there are two types of conflict with opposing consequences: task conflict and relationship conflict.

Conflict tends to be higher when rules and procedures exist

false Ambiguous rules or the complete lack of rules breed conflict. This occurs because uncertainty increases the risk that one party intends to interfere with the other party's goals. When clear rules exist, employees instead know what to expect and have agreed to abide by those rules, and this reduces conflicts.

Constructive conflict refers to conflict between departments and their organizations

false Constructive conflict occurs when people focus their discussion around the issue while showing respect for people with other points of view. Conflicts between departments may not be referred to as constructive conflicts.

Increasing resources and creating more precise rules for the allocation of those resources represent two ways to increase conflict.

false Increasing resources and clarifying rules and procedures would help organizations reduce relationship conflicts in organizations

Skilled negotiators adopt a strong information-sharing style at the beginning of negotiations

false Information is power in negotiations, so information sharing gives the other party more power to leverage a better deal if the opportunity occurs. Skilled negotiators address this dilemma by adopting a cautious problem-solving style at the outset.

Integrators have direct authority over the departments they integrate, and they rely on legitimate power to manage conflict and accomplish the work.

false Integrators rarely have direct authority over the departments they integrate, so they must rely on referent power and persuasion to manage conflict and accomplish the work.

Organizations should eliminate conflict in order to be more productive.

false Moderate levels of conflict can produce desirable outcomes. A moderate level of conflict sparks debate, which energizes people to evaluate alternatives more thoroughly by testing the logic of arguments and reexamining basic assumptions about the decision maker's preferences. By generating active thinking, conflict potentially also improves creativity.

Relationship conflict is apparent when the conflict is explained in terms of differences of opinion regarding tasks or decisions.

false Relationship conflict is apparent when the conflict is explained in terms of interpersonal incompatibilities or "personality clashes" rather than differences of opinion regarding tasks or decisions.

The forcing style of conflict management presents the highest risk of relationship conflict and it should never be used to manage conflicts in organizations.

false The forcing style of conflict resolution is usually inappropriate. However, forcing may be necessary when you know you are correct, the dispute requires a quick solution, or the other party would take advantage of a more cooperative conflict handling style

The lowest risk of conflict tends to occur in reciprocal interdependence situations.

false The highest risk of conflict occurs 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.

When people experience relationship conflict, they tend to increase their reliance on communication with the other party.

false 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.

Negotiators tend to avoid "hardline" behaviors when they know an audience is watching them.

false When the audience has direct surveillance over the proceedings, negotiators tend to be more competitive, less willing to make concessions, and more likely to engage in assertive tactics against the other party. This "hardline" behavior shows the audience that the negotiator is working for their interests. With their audience watching, negotiators also have more interest in saving face.

optimal conflict perspective

organizations are most effective when employees experience some level of conflict, but become less effective with high levels of conflict

conflict

process in which one party perceives that its interests are being opposed or negatively affected by another party

Fun, Incorporated, a major gaming software company, is experiencing conflict between the young Internet-savvy employees who design the games and the older, less computer-literate executives who run the company. The company has hired team leaders who could work with the executives and who are also highly computer literate. One suggestion the team leaders have is to create smaller work units where the younger programmers and the older executives work on a project together. By doing so, the team leaders were being A. buffers. B. integrators. C. task masters. D. mediators. E. arbitrators.

B. integrators.

Which of the following immediately follows conflict perceptions and emotions in the conflict process? A. sources of conflict B. manifest conflict C. conflict outcomes D. conflict management E. conflict beliefs

B. manifest conflict

Relationship conflict usually causes people to A. use logical analysis in organizational decision making. B. reduce communication and information sharing with the other party. C. rethink their assumptions and beliefs about the issue that is the source of conflict. D. stay away from organizational politics and related activities. E. concentrate on the issue rather than the people involved in the issue.

B. reduce communication and information sharing with the other party.

Direct communication minimizes conflict by A. reducing task interdependence. B. reducing reliance on stereotypes about the other party. C. creating organizational buffers. D. reducing the differentiation in the work force. E. increasing the available resources.

B. reducing reliance on stereotypes about the other party.

Within a highly cohesive team, _____ is(are) suppressed when conflict occurs. A. mediation B. relationship conflicts C. team norms D. emotional intelligence E. emotional stability

B. relationship conflicts

One of the oldest recommendations for resolving conflict is to refocus the parties' attention around _____ goals and away from the conflicting subordinate goals. A. subordinate B. superordinate C. objective D. subjective E. achievable

B. superordinate

Which negotiation process moves each party along a continuum in opposite directions with an area of potential overlap? A. the initial offer point B. the bargaining zone C. the target point D. the resistance zone E. managing concessions

B. the bargaining zone

As a manager for XYZ Company, you are assigned to resolve a conflict between two departments of your organization, Department A and Department B. Both parties have equal power. Both the parties are under time pressure to resolve the conflict. You also realize that the parties lack trust/openness for problem solving. If instead of equal power, Department A had considerably more power than Department B, what would Department B's best conflict resolution style be? A. forcing B. yielding C. avoiding D. compromising E. problem-solving

B. yielding

José and Ron were disagreeing over who should take the holiday shift. Although José didn't really want to work that holiday, because Ron was very adamant that he have that holiday off, José agreed to take the shift. Because the issue was less important to José compared to Ron's feelings about the issue, the conflict was resolved by José A. forcing the issue. B. yielding to Ron. C. compromising. D. avoiding. E. using problem-solving skills

B. yielding to Ron.

___________ is the cornerstone of effective value creation. A. Power B. Trust C. Information D. Communication E. Resistance

C. Information

What is the relationship between emotional intelligence and relationship conflicts? A. Emotional intelligence is unrelated to relationship conflicts. B. Emotional intelligence tends to increase the likelihood of relationship conflicts. C. Relationship conflict is less likely to occur if emotional intelligence is high. D. With emotional intelligence, conflicts tend to stay relationship-based. E. With emotional intelligence, the conversion of relationship conflicts to constructive conflicts is slow.

C. Relationship conflict is less likely to occur if emotional intelligence is high.

Which of the following best describes relationship conflict? A. One party perceives that another party might oppose its interests. B. The conflict is between two individuals rather than departments or organizations. C. The conflict episodes are viewed as personal attacks rather than attempts to resolve the problem. D. Two people adopt a win-win rather than a win-lose orientation. E. The conflict is between two departments rather than individuals in the organization

C. The conflict episodes are viewed as personal attacks rather than attempts to resolve the problem.

Some research suggests that people from high collectivism cultures—where group goals are valued more than individual goals—are motivated to maintain harmonious relations and, consequently, are more likely than those from low collectivism cultures to manage disagreements through _____ or problem solving. A. yielding B. forcing C. avoiding D. compromising E. assertiveness

C. avoiding

Any mechanism that loosens the coupling between two or more people or work units is called a(n) A. mediation. B. integration. C. buffer. D. moderator. E. arbitration

C. buffer.

You are assigned to resolve a conflict between two departments of an organization. Both parties have equal power. Both parties are under time pressure to resolve the conflict. You also realize that the parties lack trust/openness for problem solving. You are actively searching for a middle ground between the interests of the two parties. Which of the following conflict resolution styles would you use in this situation? A. forcing B. yielding C. compromising D. avoiding E. problem-solving

C. compromising

Men are more likely than women to use the _____ style, whether as managers or nonmanagement employees. A. problem-solving B. avoidance C. forcing D. yielding E. compromising

C. forcing

Samir knows he is correct and needs a quick resolution to the conflict. He needs to use the _____ style. A. problem-solving B. avoidance C. forcing D. yielding E. compromising

C. forcing

Which third-party conflict resolution strategy manages the process and context of interaction between the disputing parties but does not impose a solution on the parties? A. inquisition B. arbitration C. mediation D. legislation E. imposition

C. mediation

Conflict outcomes can be positive or negative. Which of the following would be seen as a negative outcome? A. team cohesion B. better decisions C. more politics D. more coordination E. higher performance

C. more politics

The potential for conflict between two employees would be highest under conditions of _____ interdependence. A. pooled B. total C. reciprocal D. anticipatory E. sequential

C. reciprocal

According to the emerging view on organizational conflict, the two types of conflict are A. task conflict and constructive conflict. B. task conflict and optimal conflict. C. task conflict and relationship conflict. D. relationship conflict and optimal conflict. E. relationship conflict and process conflict.

C. task conflict and relationship conflict.

The physical distance between the parties and formality of the setting can influence their orientation toward each other and the disputed issues. So can the seating arrangements. People who sit face-to-face are more likely to develop a(n) _____ orientation toward the conflict situation. A. buffered B. win-win C. win-lose D. mediated E. integrated

C. win-lose

Which of the following is an advantage of having moderate levels of organizational conflicts? A. It helps reduce organizational politics. B. It boosts employee motivation. C. It promotes organizational cohesion. D. It energizes people to evaluate alternatives. E. It reduces distorted perceptions and stereotypes.

D. It energizes people to evaluate alternatives

_____ behaviors may give the other side unrealistically high expectations, thereby motivating them to seek more from you in the future. A. Problem-solving B. Avoidance C. Forcing D. Yielding E. Compromising

D. Yielding

As a manager for XYZ Company, you are assigned to resolve a conflict between two departments of your organization, Department A and Department B. Both parties have equal power. Both the parties are under time pressure to resolve the conflict. You also realize that the parties lack trust/openness for problem solving. Which conflict resolution style would you use in this situation? A. forcing B. yielding C. avoiding D. compromising E. problem-solving

D. compromising

You have resolved a conflict with another department by offsetting your losses by equally valued gains. Which of the following conflict handling styles was used here? A. forcing B. yielding C. avoiding D. compromising E. problem-solving

D. compromising

When two people agree on a goal but have different beliefs about how to achieve the goal, they are experiencing A. ambiguity. B. pooled task interdependence. C. technical incompetence of the production team. D. differentiation. E. goal incompatibility.

D. differentiation.

Employees at Charlotte International have been frustrated with the management on just about everything. The conflict episodes are viewed by both sides as personal attacks rather than attempts to resolve problems. Both sides have decided to seek third-party dispute resolution. Management prefers a third-party intervention that has high process and decision control while employees prefer a high level of process control and no decision control. Management at Charlotte International appears to prefer which of the following types of third-party intervention? A. arbitrator B. competitor C. mediator D. inquisitor E. abstainer

D. inquisitor

When team norms encourage _____, team members learn to appreciate honest dialogue without personally reacting to any emotional display during the disagreements. A. conscientiousness B. introversion C. neuroticism D. openness E. agreeableness

D. openness

NewTel is a telephone company with a policy of filling positions internally through promotions, rather than hiring from outside. Until recently, the company had a strong engineering focus and tended to promote people into senior executive positions from the engineering areas. Consequently, almost all of the company's 14 senior executives joined the company over 20 years ago in junior engineering positions. There is increasing pressure on NewTel to become more marketing-and serviceoriented. As a result, four people were hired last year from consumer products and retail firms to fill new senior executive positions in marketing and service management. The external hires were necessary because current employees were not sufficiently qualified. Now there are signs of tension among senior executives, particularly during budget deliberations where there is limited discretionary spending on new corporate activities. The four new hires have been frustrated in their attempts to have the company put more money into marketing and customer services instead of technology investment, and they blame the senior executives for being hard-headed. The conflict episodes are viewed by both sides as personal attacks rather than attempts to resolve the problem. The marketing executives and the other executives operate independently. However, they share the resources and money in the organization. This kind of interdependence is referred to as ______ interdependence. A. total B. sequential C. orderly D. pooled E. reciprocal

D. pooled

Which of the following interpersonal conflict management styles represents a purely win-win orientation? A. forcing B. yielding C. avoiding D. problem solving E. compromising

D. problem solving

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 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 A. ambiguity. B. technical incompetence of the production team. C. pooled task interdependence. D. differentiation. E. goal incompatibility.

E. goal incompatibility.

Employees at Charlotte International have been frustrated with the management on just about everything. The conflict episodes are viewed by both sides as personal attacks rather than attempts to resolve problems. Both sides have decided to seek third-party dispute resolution. Management prefers a third-party intervention that has high process and decision control while employees prefer a high level of process control and no decision control. Employees at Charlotte International prefer which of the following types of third-party intervention? A. inquisitor B. competitor C. arbitrator D. abstainer E. mediator

E. mediator

Effective managers should A. increase the amount of conflict among employees. B. remove all forms of conflict from the organization, because it saps productivity. C. remove manifest conflict as well as negative conflict outcomes, even though the sources of conflict remain in place. D. convince employees to engage in relationship conflict rather than the other forms of conflict. E. minimize the relationship conflicts that exist in the organization

E. minimize the relationship conflicts that exist in the organization

The "optimal conflict" perspective on organizational conflict is that A. conflict should be minimized across all departments. B. conflicts could be promoted in some functions and discouraged in some others. C. conflict is an inevitable result of increased technology and globalization. D. use of technology and virtual teams could minimize organizational conflicts. E. moderate levels of conflict are necessary and produce favorable outcomes.

E. moderate levels of conflict are necessary and produce favorable outcomes.

In a purely win-lose situation, the bargaining zone states that: A. the parties usually apply a collaborative approach to resolving their differences. B. one should begin negotiations by describing the resistance point for each item on the agenda. C. the two parties rarely know each other's initial point. D. parties tend to move from their target point to their initial point very quickly. E. neither the target nor the resistance point is revealed to the other party.

E. neither the target nor the resistance point is revealed to the other party.

Female managers are more likely than male managers to use the _____ style. A. problem-solving B. avoiding C. forcing D. yielding E. compromising

B. avoiding

conditions to minimize relationship conflict

- emotional intelligence and emotional stability - cohesive team - supportive team norms

sources of conflict in organizations

- incompatible goals - differentiation - interdependence - scarce resources - ambiguous rules - communication problems

interpersonal conflict-handling styles

- problem solving - forcing - avoiding - yielding - compromising

The _____ style is often ineffective because it doesn't resolve the conflict and may increase the other party's frustration. A. problem-solving B. avoidance C. forcing D. yielding E. compromising

B. avoidance

According to the literature, which organizational conflict is a positive application of conflict in organizations? A. constructive conflict B. optimal conflict C. relationship conflict D. optimal conflict E. process conflict

A. constructive conflict

Jerry works at the bread factory. He is responsible for taking the dough and putting it through the processor, which cuts the dough into loaf size balls. Tonight, the dough makers are being really slow and do not seem concerned about the rest of the process. This scenario is at risk for conflict due to A. interdependence. B. goal incompatibility. C. scarce resources. D. ambiguous rules. E. communication problems.

A. interdependence.

The effectiveness of negotiating depends to some extent on the environment in which the negotiations occur. Three key situational factors are A. location, physical setting, and audience. B. implementation, mediation, and buffering. C. location, desire, and power. D. physical setting, gender, and location. E. culture, gender, and environment.

A. location, physical setting, and audience.

Giving more concessions and even _____ the negotiation process altogether (accepting the salary offered when hired) are ways that women try to maintain good relations. A. yielding B. forcing C. avoiding D. compromising E. refusing

A. yielding

_____ is a process in which one party perceives that its interests are being opposed or negatively affected by another party. A. Perception B. Conflict C. Resistance D. Parity E. Distraction

B. Conflict

Which of the following is a third-party conflict resolution strategy with low process control and high decision control? A. inquisition B. arbitration C. mediation D. imposition E. compromise

B. arbitration

NewTel is a telephone company with a policy of filling positions internally through promotions, rather than hiring from outside. Until recently, the company had a strong engineering focus and tended to promote people into senior executive positions from the engineering areas. Consequently, almost all of the company's 14 senior executives joined the company over 20 years ago in junior engineering positions. There is increasing pressure on NewTel to become more marketing-and serviceoriented. As a result, four people were hired last year from consumer products and retail firms to fill new senior executive positions in marketing and service management. The external hires were necessary because current employees were not sufficiently qualified. Now there are signs of tension among senior executives, particularly during budget deliberations where there is limited discretionary spending on new corporate activities. The four new hires have been frustrated in their attempts to have the company put more money into marketing and customer services instead of technology investment, and they blame the senior executives for being hard-headed. The conflict episodes are viewed by both sides as personal attacks rather than attempts to resolve the problem. The conflict at NewTel appears to be ______ conflict. A. constructive B. legitimate C. task-related D. relationship E. cooperation

D. relationship

Situations with both _______________ produce the highest risk of conflict. A. ambiguous rules and low task interdependence B. precise rules and resource scarcity C. plentiful resources and high goal compatibility D. scarce resources and high task interdependence E. strict rules and high task interdependence

D. scarce resources and high task interdependence

Compared to men, women pay more attention to the relationship between the parties, so their preferred style tries to protect the relationship. This is apparent in less forcing, more avoiding, and slightly more use of compromising and A. problem-solving. B. avoiding. C. forcing. D. yielding. E. cooperating.

D. yielding.

Which of the following conflict management styles is associated with low cooperativeness and low assertiveness? A. forcing B. inquisition C. compromising D. arbitration E. avoiding

E. avoiding

NewTel is a telephone company with a policy of filling positions internally through promotions, rather than hiring from outside. Until recently, the company had a strong engineering focus and tended to promote people into senior executive positions from the engineering areas. Consequently, almost all of the company's 14 senior executives joined the company over 20 years ago in junior engineering positions. There is increasing pressure on NewTel to become more marketing-and serviceoriented. As a result, four people were hired last year from consumer products and retail firms to fill new senior executive positions in marketing and service management. The external hires were necessary because current employees were not sufficiently qualified. Now there are signs of tension among senior executives, particularly during budget deliberations where there is limited discretionary spending on new corporate activities. The four new hires have been frustrated in their attempts to have the company put more money into marketing and customer services instead of technology investment, and they blame the senior executives for being hard-headed. The conflict episodes are viewed by both sides as personal attacks rather than attempts to resolve the problem. The four new hires have been attempting to have the company put more money into marketing and customer services instead of technology investment. This is mainly an example of conflict due to A. role ambiguity. B. lack of communication. C. sequential task interdependence. D. overt behaviors. E. goal incompatibility

E. goal incompatibility

relationship conflict

a type of conflict in which people focus on characteristics of other individuals, rather than on the issues, as the source of conflict

task conflict

a type of conflict in which people focus their discussion around the issue while showing respect for people who have other points of view

win-win orientation

the belief that conflicting parties will find a mutually beneficial solution to their disagreement

Constructive conflict tests the logic of arguments and encourages participants to reexamine their basic assumptions.

true

Resource scarcity is a potential source of conflict in organizations

true

The yielding style of conflict resolution involves making unilateral concessions and unconditional promises

true