California State University, Northridge

MGT 360

Organizational Behavior, Version 1.1

Bauer & Erdogan

FWK Test Item File Chapter 10

TRUE/FALSE

1)Social issues of ego and corporate pride played a key role in the falling apart of PointCast negotiations.

2. Managing conflict and engaging in effective negotiations are key factors for a successful organization.

3. Conflict management and negotiation tactics are art, not skills, and are very difficult to learn.

4. Intrapersonal conflict can arise due to role ambiguity and role conflict.

5. Interpersonal conflicts should be centered around individual differences, not ideas, to avoid conflict escalation.

6. Conflict in an organization is always bad.

7. If conflict in an organization is too low, performance is also likely low.

8. Personal conflicts can be good in certain circumstances, but task conflicts are never good.

9. Research on effective teams indicates that they are characterized by low but increasing levels of process conflict.

10. Research on effective teams indicates that they are characterized by low but increasing levels of task conflict.

11. Matrix-structured organizations often experience decisional conflict because each manager reports to two bosses.

12. Task independence is a root cause of much conflict in the organization.

13. Conflict can result in both positive and negative outcomes.

14. Conflict can be dysfunctional if it involves personal attacks.

15. A high-risk situation where workplace violence has an increased risk is being a bank teller.

16. If your job involves caring for others in a nursing home, you have an increased risk of experiencing workplace violence.

17. If the conflict in your workplace is between two individuals on a team, a good way to manage the conflict is to take a majority vote among other team members to determine who is right.

18. The avoidance conflict handling style is characterized by high levels of cooperativeness and assertiveness.

19. An individual who deals with conflict by saying, “Maybe we can both agree to give in a little,” has an accommodating conflict handling style.

20. Competition is an effective conflict handling style if the alternatives proposed are unethical.

21. The strategy to utilize to achieve the best outcome from conflict is the collaborating style.

22. Research suggests that when it comes to dealing with conflict, managers are more likely to engage in avoiding, accommodating or compromising styles than their subordinates.

23. The key to keeping conflict or disagreement healthy in an organization is to focus the discussion on the task, not the personalities.

24. Healthy conflict can be stimulated in a firm by having appointed individuals play “devil’s advocate.”

25. The BATNA phase of the negotiation process should be ignored.

26. The first place to begin the investigation phase of negotiation is to look at yourself.

27. The party with the best alternative to a negotiated agreement is in the best negotiating position.

28. Making a concession during negotiation is a sign of weakness.

29. The closure phase of the negotiation process may include finding a final offer that is unacceptable and from which the party has walked away.

30. The integrative approach is a new creative approach to negotiation that can lead to a “win-win” situation.

31. It is a perfectly acceptable business practice to attempt to negotiate a higher salary with your boss.

32. A common mistake women make is failing to negotiate their salary offers.

33. Those with unreasonable expectations in negotiations are no more likely to fail at negotiations than those with reasonable expectations.

34. Mediation is the process of bringing in a third party who has the authority to act as a judge and make a binding decision in the conflict situation.

35. The arbitration-mediation approach had led to voluntary agreements in a greater percentage of situations than the more common mediation-arbitration approach.

36. If your negotiating counterpart feels you are unfair or dishonest, he or she is less likely to make concessions.

37. The platinum rule of negotiations is to care for others enough to treat them the way they want to be treated and long-term relationships will be established.

38. Americans have a higher tolerance for conflict as a way of working through issues than their Japanese counterparts.

39. Japanese negotiators learn information from what is not said as well as what is said that is then used in negotiations.

40. Western cultures view negotiations as a social activity while their Eastern culture counterparts view it as a business activity.

FILL IN THE BLANK

41. The social issues of                               and              derailed the PointCast deal and are among the most difficult aspects of negotiating mergers today.

42.         is the process that involves people disagreeing.

43. When you are uncertain about what is expected or wanted, or have the sense of being inadequate to perform a task, you are experiencing                                                                                      

                                   .

44. Union and management conflicts are examples of                                                  conflict.

45. A     amount of conflict is related to high performance.

46. Two root causes of work conflict are task                                                         and                                   

goals.

47. The conflict handling style is uncooperative and unassertive.

48. A person with a(n)                             conflict handling style might say, “If it’s important to you, I can go along with it.”

49. The conflict handling style in which an individual has some desire to express his own concerns and get his way but still respects the other person’s goals is the

                                          style.

50. The conflict handling style in which people are highly assertive but low on cooperation is          .

51. When two people who are in conflict emphasize problem solving and integration of each other’s goals, they are utilizing a                                                                                     conflict handling style.

52. The                                    conflict handling style has the most potential to be highly effective in many different situations.

53. The process where two parties work toward an agreement is                                            .

54. BATNA stands for                                                                                                                       

                                 .

55. A key stage that is often ignored in the negotiating process is the                                                   

phase where information is gathered.

56.                                is the third phase of the negotiation process where you assemble the gathered information in a way to support your position.

57. The                                         phase of the negotiation process is where each party discusses his goals and seeks to get an agreement.

58. A     is giving up something to get something in return.

59. The final phase of the negotiation process,                                             , is where the two parties either come to an agreement on terms or one party has found the final offer to be unacceptable and walks away from it.

60. The traditional “fixed-pie” approach where negotiators see the situation as a pie that has to be divided between them is the                                                                         negotiation strategy.

61. The                                    negotiation strategy looks for ways for the two parties to integrate goals under a larger umbrella.

62. Mediation, arbitration and other ways of resolving conflicts with the help of a specially trained third party without need for a formal trial or hearing is called

                                                                                                 .

63.                                is a process where an outside third party enters the situation with the goal of assisting the parties to reach an agreement.

64. The conflict resolution process where a neutral third party listens to each side’s case and makes a binding decision is called                                                                             .

65. Commonly, the conflict resolution process of                                        follows that of

                               but research indicates that the process of                                            followed by                                   actually leads to more voluntary agreements between the parties.

66. If your counterpart feels you are being                                  in your negotiations, he is less likely to make any concessions.

SHORT ANSWERS

67. Briefly describe the “social issues” that are some of the most difficult aspects of negotiating that keep firms such as PointCast from reaching agreement.

68. Name the three types of conflict and briefly describe each.

69. Describe the inverted-U relationship that exists between conflict and performance.

70. Describe two root causes of conflict at work.

71. What are two positive and two negative outcomes of conflict?

72. What are some of the factors that increase the risk for you to experience workplace violence on the job?

73. Describe two ways in which organizational conflict can be managed.

74. List and briefly describe each of the five conflict handling styles.

75. List the steps in the negotiation process.

76. Briefly describe the two negotiation strategies.

77. List and describe two common mistakes made in negotiation.

78. Describe two alternative dispute resolution techniques.

ESSAY

79. Janice is a new manager for XYZ Corporation. She is about to attend two weeks of management training. The first topic she will examine is that of conflict and its management. You are the instructor for the conflict seminar. Describe the types of conflict Janice and other managers may face in the workplace, their underlying causes and some strategies for managing those conflicts in the workplace.

80. Angelo is the new superintendent of the school district. In his first two weeks on the job he makes it a point to talk to every staff and faculty member as well as key stakeholders in the community and those who interact with the district on a regular basis. His assessment after those interviews is that the district is conflict- ridden. Seemingly everywhere he turns intrapersonal, interpersonal and intergroup conflicts are found. Discuss how he can get his arms around this situation and begin to manage some of the conflicts he is encountering.

81. Nejah and Omar are two supervisors in the production department of a manufacturing firm. The two have known each other since high school intensely dislike each other and their animosity repeatedly spills over into the workplace. Kareem is the production department manager. After yesterday’s five-minute shouting match between Nejah and Omar on the factory floor with the production crew looking on, Kareem is at wit’s end. Using the conflict handling style grid as a focal point, discuss what style Kareem might use to handle this situation.

82. The Challenger incident is widely recognized as a situation of groupthink at NASA. While some testing had indicated potential concerns with cold weather and the sustainability and performance of “O-rings” in the shuttle design, the desire of NASA executives to meet a timetable for budgetary and public relations reasons caused that information to not be properly presented in the debate over launch timing. What are some ways that NASA executives could stimulate conflict in such meetings to avoid future tragedies?

83. Mario is preparing to negotiate a marketing agreement for his product with an advertising firm. What are the key steps he should prepare for in that negotiation?

84. Clarissa is preparing for a meeting with a manager at a firm that has just offered her a job. Clarissa was approached by this firm while she was working for one of its competitors and the new firm has convinced her that she has greater opportunities there so she has tentatively accepted its offer contingent on salary negotiations. What advice would you offer to Clarissa to assist her in obtaining a higher salary from those negotiations?

85. Antonio is preparing to negotiate his individual contract with a financial services firm. He is very nervous and does not want to shortchange himself. Provide him some advice for being successful at negotiations.

86. Alemeda has just been hired by an aluminum maker to negotiate supply agreements between the aluminum firm and various international companies. What are some cultural issues that Alemeda should keep in mind as she begins negotiations?