Q&A Hero

Q: Which of the following statements is true of the relationship conflicts in a highly cohesive team? A. Relationship conflicts tend to be more frequent because of the high cohesion. B. Mediation is needed to resolve relationship conflicts among team members. C. Relationship conflict is absent in such teams. D. Conflicts tend to be more in such teams if it has a large number of members. E. Relationship conflict is suppressed when the conflict occurs.

Q: 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.

Q: 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.

Q: 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.

Q: 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.

Q: 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

Q: 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.

Q: According to the literature on organizational conflict, constructive conflict: A. is a positive application of conflict in organizations. B. is one of the most common outcomes of organizational conflict. C. is the only conflict management style that has high assertiveness and low cooperativeness. D. is the main source of conflict in organizations. E. should not be used as a conflict management strategy in organizations.

Q: According to the emerging view on organizational conflict, there are two types of conflict. They 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

Q: 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

Q: 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.

Q: 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.

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

Q: The process in which one party perceives that its interests are being opposed or negatively affected by another party is called: A. mediation. B. conflict. C. negotiation. D. dialogue. E. arbitration.

Q: Conflict is best defined as: A. any event where two parties demonstrate their dislike of each other. B. any occasion where both parties perceive each other as a threat to achieving the other party's goals. C. a process in which one party perceives that its interests are being opposed or negatively affected by another party. D. any event where one party acts in a way that prevents another party from achieving its goals. E. a process in which each party tries to learn the resistance point of the other party.

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

Q: Negotiators tend to be more competitive and less willing to give concessions when their audience directly observes the negotiations.

Q: Skilled negotiators prefer using e-mail, videoconferences, and other forms of electronic communication when negotiating, rather than meeting face-to-face.

Q: One way to reduce the win-lose mentality in a negotiation is to deliberately seat the parties face-to-face, so as to increase eye contact.

Q: It is easier to negotiate on your own turf. Therefore, many negotiators agree to meet in neutral territory.

Q: One way to figure out the relative importance of the issues to each part in a negotiation is to make multi-issue offers rather than discussion one issue at a time.

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

Q: The best outcome you might achieve through some other course of action if you abandon the current negotiation is called the "BATNA."

Q: Negotiators who make the first offer have the advantage of creating a position around which subsequent negotiations are anchored.

Q: When negotiators get closer to their time deadline, they become less committed to resolving the conflict.

Q: The resistance point in the bargaining zone model is the team's realistic goal or expectation for a final agreement.

Q: According to the bargaining zone model, the parties should begin negotiations by describing their resistance point to each other.

Q: Negotiation occurs whenever two or more conflicting parties try to redefine the terms of their interdependence.

Q: Research suggests that managers tend to avoid the inquisitional approach to third-party conflict resolution.

Q: Mediation has a high level of process control but a low level of decision control.

Q: Inquisitors control all discussion about the conflict and also choose the form of conflict resolution.

Q: Arbitration has a high level of process control but a low level of decision control.

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

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

Q: Buffers tend to resolve conflict by reducing the level of interdependence between the conflicting parties.

Q: Resolving differences with the opposing party through direct communication is not as comfortably applied in collectivist cultures.

Q: Creating common experiences for all employees would help organizations reduce organizational conflicts.

Q: People from collectivist cultures tend to apply a forcing style of conflict with colleagues more than do people from individualist cultures.

Q: The yielding conflict management style can produce more conflict than it resolves.

Q: The yielding conflict management style is preferred when both parties have equal power and enough trust to share information.

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

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

Q: The problem-solving conflict management style involves a high degree of assertiveness and cooperativeness.

Q: The five interpersonal conflict management styles are distinguished by the level of interdependence between the conflicting parties.

Q: People are more motivated to communicate and engage in exchanges when there is a perception of conflict.

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

Q: Frank and Jorge are employees from different departments. They are evaluated on different performance criteria and compensated based on different reward systems. They are likely to experience conflict due to goal incompatibility.

Q: Conflict perceptions and emotions produce manifest conflictthe decisions and behaviors of one party toward the other.

Q: Constructive conflicts tend to escalate into relationship conflict among employees in highly cohesive teams.

Q: Employees with high emotional intelligence are more likely to avoid the escalation of constructive conflict into relationship conflict.

Q: When conflict reduces each side's motivation to communicate, they rely more on stereotypes to reinforce their perceptions of the other side.

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

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

Q: Relationship conflict focuses on the other party as the source of conflict.

Q: Conflicts could result in stronger team cohesion when conflict occurs between the team and an outside source.

Q: Organizations will be more responsive to the changing business environment if they have very little conflict.

Q: Constructive conflict tests the logic of arguments and encourages participants to re-examine their basic assumptions.

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

Q: Conflict is based on the technical skills of the parties involved and is independent of their perceptions.

Q: Conflict is a process in which one party perceives that its interests are being opposed or negatively affected by another party.

Q: Joe wears his "signature" clothing to work every day: black shirt, black tie, black pants. This could be called his "personal brand."

Q: As impression management is inherently unethical, it is discouraged by career professionals.

Q: Impression management is a common strategy for people trying to get ahead in the workplace.

Q: In persuasive communication, the inoculation effect involves warning listeners that others will try to influence them in the future and that they should be aware of the opponent's arguments.

Q: People are more persuasive when they rely on logical arguments and avoid emotional appeals.

Q: A coalition gains power by symbolizing the legitimacy of the issue supported by the coalition.

Q: A coalition attempts to influence people outside the group by pooling the resources and power of its members.

Q: A feature of influence is that it operates down the corporate hierarchy but not up or across that hierarchy.

Q: People who have more power over others engage in more automatic rather than mindful thinking.

Q: As people become more powerful they tend to become less goal-oriented, less motivated, and more focused on gaining additional power.

Q: Bridging a structural hole makes a person a broker, who controls information flow and gains additional power in the network.

Q: The gap between two clusters of people in a social network is called a structural hole.

Q: Three factors determine your centrality in a social network: betweenness, closeness, and degree (number) centrality.

Q: Centrality is both an important contingency of power and an important factor in social networks.

Q: To understand how much social capital people have from their social networks, we need to consider the number, depth, variety, and centrality of the connections that they have in their networks.

Q: Networking is a form of influence that tends to increase the individual's expert and referent power.

Q: Managers with an internal locus of control are viewed as more powerful because they don't act like they lack discretion in their job.

Q: First-line supervisors often hold legitimate, reward, and coercive power over their subordinates, as well as high levels of discretion.

Q: The CEO of an organization has absolute power over his or her vice presidents.

Q: The power of the CEO of an organization is not as extensive as most people realize because their discretion is restricted.