Hynes, Managerial Communication 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
Chapter 13: Managing Conflict
Test Bank
Multiple Choice
1. According to a survey of American Management Association executives, managers
are likely to spend about ______% of their time dealing with conflict.
A. 5
B. 15
C. 25
D. 50
2. Which of the following choices is NOT a conflict-related axiom relevant to
communication?
A. Conflict develops due to perceived mutually exclusive goals.
B. Conflict involves parties who may have different values or perceptions.
C. Conflict terminates only when each side is satisfied that it has won or lost.
D. All of these are axioms.
3. Which one of the following does the chapter identify as a source of conflict?
A. the distribution of limited resources available within the organization
B. everyone not pulling their weight
C. not enough flex-time offered
D. employee retention
4. Perceived conflict is present when the parties ______.
A. recognize the conditions
B. misunderstand one another’s true position
C. have the same interests
Hynes, Managerial Communication 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
D. both recognize the conditions and misunderstand one another’s true position are
correct
5. Which type of conflict should cause managers to be concerned about sabotage and
incidents of violence?
A. latent conflict
B. felt conflict
C. perceived conflict
D. manifest conflict
6. Which activities might prevent workplace violence?
A. know consequences of changing and not changing their behavior
B. have opportunities to discuss their problems
C. understand how their performance is evaluated
D. all of these
7. Which of the following is NOT a strategy presented for conflict resolution?
A. avoidance
B. accommodation
C. forcing
D. delegating
8. Managers who withdraw from conflict ______.
A. enjoy less open, upward communication
B. are perceived as less helpful
C. give employees less knowledge of their attitudes and feelings
D. all of these
Hynes, Managerial Communication 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
9. ______ is the conflict resolution strategy where managers try to deal with conflict by
making everyone happy.
A. Forcing
B. Avoiding
C. Accommodating
D. Compromising
10. Although likely to cause later conflicts, which conflict resolution strategy is the most
commonly used by managers?
A. forcing
B. avoiding
C. accommodating
D. compromising
11. The manager who attempts to meet production goals at all costs, without concern for
the needs of others, would use which strategy?
A. avoiding
B. smoothing
C. compromising
D. forcing
12. Which of the following is NOT a part of the win-win strategy?
A. discourage differences of opinion
B. assume a person can be trusted
C. listen to everyone involved
D. remain optimistic about finding an answer
Hynes, Managerial Communication 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
13. The chapter identifies several beliefs that managers need to have to successfully
resolve conflict. Which of the following was NOT one of those beliefs?
A. cooperation is better than competition
B. parties can be trusted
C. the one with the most seniority knows best
D. status differences can be minimized
14. Research shows that problem-solving groups with high trust will ______.
A. exchange relevant ideas and feelings less often
B. develop greater clarification of goals and problems
C. search less extensively for alternative courses of action
D. have less influence on solutions
15. Which of the following is a communication principle that should be used in applying a
win-win conflict resolution strategy?
A. use emotional rather than neutral terms
B. make absolute statements
C. ask closed-ended questions
D. repeat key phrases for understanding
16. Which of the following is NOT a way to maximize environmental conditions for
problem-solving?
A. review and adjust perceptions
B. review and adjust conflict conditions
C. review and adjust strengths
D. review and adjust attitudes
Hynes, Managerial Communication 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
17. Emotional intelligence competencies include all of the following EXCEPT ______.
A. ability to think creatively
B. ability to control impulses
C. ability to handle relationships effectively
D. ability to empathize with others
18. Which of the following is the correct sequence of steps in the problem-solving
process?
A. analyze the problem, define the problem, brainstorm, develop criteria, find the best
solution
B. define the problem, analyze the problem, brainstorm, develop criteria, find the best
solution
C. define the problem, analyze the problem, develop criteria, brainstorm, find the best
solution
D. develop criteria, define the problem, brainstorm, analyze the problem, find the best
solution
19. When does forcing work best to resolve conflicts?
A. When there is plenty of time to decide on an action.
B. When the rules do not need to be enforced.
C. When you know you’re right.
D. When you are well protected by others.
20. What is the principle that says we tend to perceive what is important and pleasing to
us and avoid what is not?
A. perceptive failure
B. attentive perception
C. failure to attend
D. selective attention
Hynes, Managerial Communication 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
21. Organizational conflict is primarily caused by ______.
A. mutually exclusive goals
B. personality differences
C. the global culture
D. competition in the industry
22. The key to managing personally felt conflict and hostility is ______.
A. physical exercise
B. non-defensive communication
C. avoidance
D. using status differences
23. In a large bureaucracy with an overabundance of policies, managers are most likely
to manage conflict with which strategy?
A. accommodating
B. compromising
C. avoiding
D. problem-solving
24. Bargaining is the best conflict resolution strategy when ______.
A. neither party believes he or she has the power to “force” the issue
B. the parties have different goals
C. status differences between the parties are strong
D. both neither party believes he/she has the power to “force” the issue and the parties
have different goals are correct choices
Hynes, Managerial Communication 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
25. When implementing the problem-solving strategy, which types of questions are
appropriate?
A. open ended
B. leading questions
C. both open ended and leading questions are correct choices
D. closed ended
26. When trying to define the problem, a good strategy is to ______.
A. be sure the problem statement is specific
B. state the problem as a solution rather than as a goal
C. state the goal as an individual priority
D. skip this step completely
True/False
1. Unclear business goals, time pressure, and uncomfortable work environments are all
factors correlated with workplace conflict.
2. Organizational conflict is NOT a natural part of the traditional organizational structure
and should be eliminated immediately.
3. Decisions decrease in quality when conflicts are involved.
Hynes, Managerial Communication 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
4. Increasingly, U.S. companies are creating programs for internal conflict resolution.
5. Conflict develops due to perceived mutually exclusive goals.
6. When managers understand the sources of conflict, they aren’t able to select an
appropriate communication strategy.
7. Reminding managers of the organization’s overall goals can alleviate
interdepartmental conflict.
8. Venting hostility can be therapeutic rather than detrimental to conflict solving.
9. The avoidance or withdrawal strategy combines a low concern for production with a
high concern for people.
Hynes, Managerial Communication 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
10. When the accommodating strategy is used, managers try to deal with conflict by
making the employee with the most seniority happy.
11. The accommodating conflict resolution strategy is used more in low- to medium-
performance companies rather than high-performance organizations.
12. The party with the most information is likely to have the better position in a
compromise.
13. The key to the win-win strategy is that it follows a combative problem-solving
approach rather than a mutual one.
14. In order to effectively implement the win-win approach, managers must believe that
competition is better than cooperation.
15. A manager needs to enter the conflict situation believing others’ opinions are
beneficial.
Hynes, Managerial Communication 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
16. Research reveals that problem-solving groups with high trust usually exchange
relevant ideas and feelings more openly.
17. People tend to discuss solutions before defining the problem.
18. Cognitive intelligence (IQ) is more important than emotional intelligence (EQ) for
managerial success.
19. Physical arrangements have little to no impact on the outcome of a problem-solving
session.
20. The problem-solving strategy is also known as the win-win approach to conflict
management.
Short Answer
1. How can conflict benefit an organization?
Hynes, Managerial Communication 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
2. Add several communication principles to the list in Chapter 13 that are conducive for a
win-win strategy.
3. List and describe the five steps in Dewey’s rational problem-solving process. Describe
a problem you faced by applying this process.
4. List and describe the six competencies of Emotional Intelligence identified by Daniel
Goleman.