Organizational Behavior Conflict and Negotiation 30-54 Answers

30) 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 Answer: A Explanation: 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 competing. 31) ________ 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 Answer: A Explanation: When parties in conflict each desire to fully satisfy the concerns of all parties, there is cooperation and a search for a mutually beneficial outcome. In collaborating, the parties intend to solve a problem by clarifying differences rather than by accommodating various points of 32) 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 Answer: B Explanation: Collaborating intentions are assertive and cooperative. 33) Which of the following conflict-handling intentions is unassertive and uncooperative? A) competing B) collaborating C) avoiding D) compromising E) accommodating Answer: C Explanation: Avoiding intentions are unassertive and uncooperative. 34) 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 Answer: D Explanation: Accommodating intentions are unassertive and cooperative. 35) 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 Answer: B Explanation: A person may recognize a conflict exists and want to withdraw from or suppress it. Examples of avoiding include trying to ignore a conflict and avoiding others with whom you disagree. 36) 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 Answer: E Explanation: 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 accommodating. 37) 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 Answer: B Explanation: 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 accommodating. Supporting someone else's opinion despite your reservations about it, for example, is accommodating. 38) Which of the following conflict-handling intentions is assertive and uncooperative? A) compromising B) avoiding C) competing D) collaborating E) accommodating Answer: C Explanation: The conflict-handling intention of competing is assertive and uncooperative. 39) 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 Answer: B Explanation: In compromising, there is no clear winner or loser. Rather, there is a willingness to ration the object of the conflict and accept a solution that provides incomplete satisfaction of both parties' concerns. 40) In which stage of the conflict process does conflict become visible? A) outcomes B) intentions C) incompatibility D) behavior E) personalization Answer: D Explanation: When most people think of conflict situations, they tend to focus on Stage IV because this is where conflicts become visible. The behavior stage includes the statements, actions, and reactions made by the conflicting parties, usually as overt attempts to implement their own intentions. 41) 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. Answer: E Explanation: All conflicts exist somewhere along the conflict-intensity continuum. At the lower part are conflicts characterized by subtle, indirect, and highly controlled forms of tension. Conflict intensities escalate as they move upward along the continuum until they become highly destructive. Strikes, riots, and wars clearly fall in this upper range. Conflicts that reach the upper ranges of the continuum are almost always dysfunctional. Functional conflicts are typically confined to the lower range of the continuum. 42) 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. Answer: C Explanation: The general manager's objection is based on avoiding training costs altogether. But if hiring experienced users of SAP ERP is significantly more costly than hiring otherwise qualified people who would have to be trained to use Epicor ERP, the objection is weakened. Hence, the fact that experienced users of SAP ERP command much higher salaries weakens it. The fact that the high costs of updates and upgrades make Epicor ERP more expensive to maintain than SAP ERP argues independently against replacing SAP ERP with Epicor ERP and thus is also incorrect. The rest of the options do not provide any information relevant to an evaluation of SAP ERP as compared with Epicor ERP. 43) 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 antismoking campaign. B) Higher-level managers, who have enclosed offices, are willing to share their offices withlower 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. Answer: C Explanation: If the smoking regulations allow all employees who smoke an equal opportunity to do so, regardless of an employee's job level, then the employees are justified in demanding enclosed offices. Hence, this strengthens their argument. If higher-level managers are willing to share, this only weakens the employees' argument as they don't need separate offices. The other options are all against rather than for the employees' argument. The fact that the company is a zealous supporter of the "Kick the butt before you kick the bucket campaign" is out of scope. 44) 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 Answer: C Explanation: Bringing in outsiders, or adding employees to a group whose backgrounds, values, attitudes, or managerial styles differ from those of present members, creates a conflictstimulation. 45) 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 Answer: E Explanation: Appointing a devil's advocate is a conflict-stimulation technique where a critic is designated to purposely argue against the majority positions held by the group. 46) 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 Answer: B Explanation: Among the more undesirable consequences of dysfunctional conflict are hampered communication, reductions in group cohesiveness, and subordination of group goals to the primacy of infighting among members. 47) 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. Answer: D Explanation: Compared to collectivist culture negotiators, their more individualist counterparts are more likely to see offers from their counterparts as unfair and to reject them. 48) 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 Answer: C Explanation: To preserve peaceful relationships, collectivists will avoid direct expression of conflicts, preferring to use more indirect methods for resolving differences of opinion. Whereas U.S. managers are more likely to use competing tactics in the face of conflicts, compromising and avoiding are the most preferred methods of conflict management in China. 49) 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 Answer: B Explanation: Conflict is constructive when it improves the quality of decisions, stimulates creativity and innovation, encourages curiosity and interest among group members, provides the medium for problems to be aired and tension released, and fosters self-evaluation and change. 50) The potential for conflict increases when too much communication takes place. Answer: TRUE Explanation: The potential for conflict increases when either too little or too much communication takes place. Apparently, an increase in communication is functional up to a point, after which it is possible to overcommunicate, with a resultant increase in the potential for conflict. 51) 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. Answer: TRUE Explanation: 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. 52) During the behavior stage of the conflict process, the parties decide what the conflict is about. Answer: FALSE Explanation: During the cognition and personalization stage, the parties decide what the conflict is about. The definition of a conflict is important because it typically delineates the set of possible settlements. 53) Cross-cultural negotiations have no issues of trust. Answer: FALSE Explanation: Cross-cultural negotiations can also create issues of trust. One study of Indian and U.S. negotiators found that respondents reported having less trust in their cross-culture negotiation counterparts. The lower level of trust was associated with lower discovery of common interests between parties, which occurred because cross-culture negotiators were less willing to disclose and solicit information. 54) 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. Answer: TRUE Explanation: 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.