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Contemporary Organizational Behavior (Elsbach)
Topic Summary 10 Conflict and Negotiation
1) Negotiation is ________ to resolve conflicts.
A) The worst way
B) The best way
C) One way
D) The relationship-oriented way
2) All conflict should be approached with the ultimate goal of ________.
A) Eliminating conflict from the workplace completely
B) Reducing interpersonal conflict but encouraging task conflict
C) Only having conflict that ends well
D) Creating functional conflict while minimizing dysfunctional conflict
3) Organizations experience ________ conflict.
A) No
B) Functional
C) Dysfunctional
D) Functional and dysfunctional
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4) The number of organizations using a team structure is increasing and more individuals are
working in close proximity and working together on various projects. Given this new
organizational structure, which type of conflict is likely to increase compared to the individual
work structure of the past?
A) Process conflict
B) Task conflict
C) Interpersonal conflict
D) None of the above
Difficulty: Medium
5) With less than two weeks to go until a critical sales presentation, progress on a very important
project has ground to a halt because the group can’t decide which software to use. Two people
have strong preferences to use different kinds of software. The other three people in the group
just want to pick one and move on. What type of conflict is happening?
A) Process
B) Task
C) Latent
D) Interpersonal
6) In the conflict process, does “Stage 2: Awareness” occur simultaneously for both involved
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7) Process conflict by definition affects the work process and results negatively. Does that mean
that this type of conflict should be limited as much as possible in organizations? Explain and
justify your answer.
8) A graduate in his first professional job is attempting to climb the ladder quickly without
consideration for others’ perspectives or feelings. He won’t tolerate anyone getting in his way.
Based on this employee’s attitude, what type of conflict style will he likely use in the workplace?
A) Competing
B) Collaborating
C) Compromising
Difficulty: Medium
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9) A retail location’s employees are suffering from poor morale and low motivation. The store
manager knows that many changes must be made and the changes will likely be met with
resistance from employees who are disengaged and not committed to their jobs. What conflict
management style would best help the store manager make the changes necessary to improve the
morale and engagement of the store’s employees?
A) Avoiding
B) Competing
C) Accommodating
D) Collaborating
10) The avoiding conflict style ________.
A) Should never be used because nothing will get done
B) Should rarely be used because it results in no action
C) Can be effective in certain situations
D) Should always be used if the goal is to increase cooperation
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11) The best conflict style is ________.
A) Competing
B) Compromising
C) Accommodating
D) None of the above
12) Before you attempt to use any interpersonal influence technique at work or in your personal
life, you should ________.
A) Take a conflict management course
B) Have training in counseling or related field
C) Always involve a neutral third party
D) None of the above
13) Which of the following statements about cognitive framing is true?
A) Individuals have unique cognitive frames
B) Individuals working in the same department will have similar cognitive frames
C) Individuals with good working relationships will have similar cognitive frames
D) Individuals working on different teams but in the same department will have similar cognitive
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14) Amber has always been averse to conflict and tries to avoid becoming involved at all costs
both at work and in her personal life. When friends or coworkers try to pull her into a conflict,
she resists and withdrawals from the situation. She has considered whether this is the best
conflict management strategy and she concluded that it has worked for her thus far and that if she
continues to avoid conflicts, she can stay out of them and she won’t have to deal with them.
Examine Amber’s conflict management strategy and justify your conclusion.
Difficulty: Medium
15) All of the following are elements that negotiators should clarify and understand prior to
beginning the negotiation except ________.
A) Positions
B) Issues
C) Timing
16) Removing the absolute need to resolve the focal conflict improves the negotiation ability for
that party. This is known as the ________.
A) Prepared negotiation strategy
B) Best alternative to a negotiated agreement
C) Strategic planning
D) Outcome identification
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17) Which type of negotiation views resources involved in the negotiation as flexible instead of
fixed?
A) Distributive negotiation
B) Integrative negotiation
C) Process negotiation
D) Expansion negotiation
18) What have some researchers argued could make all negotiation strategies more effective?
A) Increase the perceived power base of the negotiator
B) Focus only on the content or substantive outcomes
C) Focus only on relationship outcomes
D) Conduct negotiations on neutral ground
19) What is the preferred medium of communication for negotiations?
A) Online chat
B) Text
C) Face-to-face
D) Email
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20) Which type of conflict do mediators work to resolve?
A) Interpersonal
B) Process
C) Very few conflicts with specific issues identified
D) A broad range of conflicts
21) Every one of the situational factors involved in any conflict should be examined prior to
entering the negotiation process. Why is this statement incorrect?
A) Other factors are more important than situational factors, so those should be examined in their
entirety
B) All of the information needed may not be identified or available
C) You only need to examine the critical factors
D) The original statement is correct
22) Which of the following is not a predetermined factor in negotiations?
A) Issues involved
B) People involved
C) Surrounding environment
D) Strategy choice
Difficulty: Easy
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23) Organizations should actively manage conflict at which level(s)?
A) Individual
B) Group
C) Organizational
D) All of the above
24) Employees are advised to use the subordinate negotiation strategy because it focuses on
building the relationship between themselves and their supervisor.
A) True, employees should defer to the experience and decisions of the supervisor, so entering
negotiations with the goal of preserving that relationship is a great idea for advancing in the
company
B) False, they should use the competitive strategy that focuses only on the issues at hand and
doesn’t consider the relationship between the employer and employee
C) False, they should use the avoidance strategy so they can focus on their own work and leave
the negotiations and decision making to their supervisor
D) False, a collaborative strategy would be the better choice because the issue and relationship
are both considered during the negotiation process
25) Brian is engaging in negotiations with the other department managers for resource
allocations for the next fiscal year. Brian is very confident that he will get exactly what he needs
for his department in this negotiation, but his boss thought he was overestimating his probability
of success. Which of the below situations most likely happened?
A) Brian will get less than what he was negotiating for
B) Brian will get what he was negotiating for
C) Brian will get more than what he was negotiating for
D) Brian is more likely to enter an interpersonal conflict over values with the other managers