Chapter 10 - Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace Revised Flashcards
List 6 structural sources of conflict
- Goal incompatibility
- Differentiation
- High task interdependence
- Scarce resources
- Ambiguous rules
- Communication problems
What occurs when the goals of one person seem to interfere with another person’s goals?
Goal incompatibility
What occurs when there are differences among people and work units regarding their training, values, beliefs, and experiences?
Differentiation
True or False:
Differentiation occurs when 2 people agree on a common goal but they have different beliefs on how to achieve the goal
True
What refers to the extent to which employees must share materials, information, or expertise to perform their jobs?
Task interdependence
Fill in the Blanks:
The risk of conflict _______ with the level of interdependence
Increases
Which type of interdependence has a higher risk of conflict?
Reciprocal interdependence
Which type of interdependence has a lower risk of conflict?
Pooled interdependence
What occurs when individuals operate independently except for reliance on common resources or authority?
Pooled interdependence
Why do scarce resources generate conflict?
People tend to undermine others who need the same resource to fulfill their goal
What does ambiguous mean?
Unclear
Why do ambiguous rules lead to conflict?
Uncertainty increases the risk that one party intends to interfere with the other party’s goals
Why do communication problems lead to conflict?
There is a lack of opportunity, ability, or motivation to communicate effectively
What is a process in which one party perceives that its interests are being opposed or negatively affected by another party?
Conflict
What are the 2 types of conflict?
- Task-related conflict
2. Relationship conflict
What occurs when people focus their discussion around the issue while showing respect for people with other points of views?
Task-related conflict
What does task-related conflict focus on?
Task issues
What are 3 benefits of keeping task-related conflict focused on task issues?
It helps recognize problems, identify solutions, and understand the task better
What does task-related conflict tend to produce?
Some negative emotions
What does task-related conflict tend to require?
Emotional labor
What can task-related conflict lead to if it is managed properly?
Constructive conflict
What does constructive conflict lead to?
Better performance and more innovative problem solving
What does relationship conflict focus on?
Interpersonal differences between opponents
What occurs when people focus on characteristics of other individuals, rather than on the issues, as the source of conflict?
Relationship conflict
What is relationship conflict viewed as?
A personal attack
What does relationship conflict attempt to undermine?
Another person’s competence
What is threatened by relationship conflict?
Self-esteem
What 2 processes does relationship conflict oppose?
Self-enhancement and self-verification processes
What is often produced by relationship conflict?
Intense negative emotions and defense mechanisms
List 3 things that relationship conflict promotes
- Perceptual biases and distorted information processing
- A competitive orientation
- Less constructive and more hostile behaviors
What is reduced by relationship conflict?
Mutual trust
Why does relationship conflict reduce mutual trust?
It emphasizes interpersonal differences that ruin the bonds between people
Which type of conflict escalates more easily?
Relationship conflict
Why does relationship conflict escalate more quickly than task-related conflict?
The adversaries become less motivated to communicate and share information
Fill in the Blank:
We should _______ task-related conflict and _______ relationship conflict
- Encourage
2. Minimize
List 3 attributes that minimize the level of relationship conflict
- Emotional intelligence and emotional stability
- Cohesive team
- Supportive team norms
When is relationship conflict less likely to occur?
When there is high emotional intelligence and stability
List 3 characteristics of employees with higher emotional intelligence and stability
- They regulate their emotions better
- They are more empathetic
- They practice perspective taking
What is the act of perceiving a situation or understanding a concept from an alternative point of view?
Perspective taking
List 2 characteristics of highly cohesive teams
- There is mutual trust and more latitude
2. They are motivated to minimize escalation
List 3 characteristics of supportive team norms
- Constructive conflict
- Discourage inappropriate behaviors
- Positive approach v. fault-finding
List the 4 phases of the conflict process model
- Sources of conflict
- Conflict perceptions and emotions
- Manifest conflict
- Conflict outcomes
What does the conflict process model begin with?
The sources of conflict
What do sources of conflict lead to?
Conflict perceptions and emotions
What do conflict perceptions and emotions produce?
Manifest conflict
What is manifest conflict?
The decisions and behaviors of one party towards another
What causes manifest conflict to revert back into conflict perceptions and emotions?
Conflict escalation
What do manifest conflicts produce?
Conflict outcomes
List 3 behaviors that lead to manifest conflict
- Conflict-handling style
- Decisions
- Overt behaviors
List 3 positive conflict outcomes
- Better decisions
- Responsive firm
- Team cohesion
List 5 negative conflict outcomes
- Lower performance
- More stress/turnover
- Less coordination
- More politics
- Less team cohesion
What may range from subtle nonverbal behaviors to warlike aggression?
Conflict episodes
What is a series of conflict episodes that potentially cycle into conflict escalation?
The conflict process
List 3 behaviors that lead to conflict escalation
- Inappropriate comments
- Misunderstandings
- Actions that lack diplomacy
True or False:
Even if the first party did not intend to demonstrate conflict, the second party’s response may create that perception
True
List 6 strategies to manage conflict
- Superordinate goals
- Reduce differentiation
- Reduce task interdependence
- Increase resources
- Clarify rules & procedures
- Improve communication
What are goals that conflicting parties value?
Superordinate goals
What 3 things does the attainment of superordinate goals require?
Common objectives, joint resources and effort
What is one of the oldest recommendations for resolving conflict?
Emphasizing superordinate goals
What 2 problems does superordinate goals reduce?
Goal incompatibility and differentiation
How do you reduce differentiation?
By using practices that promote common experience, shared values, and cooperation
List 3 ways to reduce differentiation
- Rotate employees to different jobs, departments, and locations
- Promote cross-functional collaboration
- Build and maintain a strong organizational culture
What does the rotation of employees to different jobs, departments, and locations develop?
Common experiences around the entire company
What makes improving communication and mutual understanding more difficult and risky?
High levels of differentiation
List 4 ways to improve communication
- Informal gatherings
- Formal dialogue sessions
- Meaningful interaction and team-building
- Disclosure and feedback
What does improving communication increase?
Employees understanding and appreciation of each other’s views
List 4 ways to reduce task interdependence
- Dividing shared resources fairly
- Combine tasks
- Use buffers
- Use integrators
What are integrators also known as?
Coordinators
What is the benefit of increasing resources?
It reduces conflict costs
List 2 ways to clarify rules and procedures
- Clarify resource distribution policies
2. Clarify roles and responsibilities
List 5 conflict management styles
- Problem solving
- Forcing
- Avoiding
- Yielding
- Compromising
What is problem solving also known as?
Win-win orientation
What is forcing also known as?
Win-lose orientation
What is the belief that conflicting parties will find a mutually beneficial solution to their disagreement?
Win-win orientation
What is the belief that conflicting parties are drawing from a fixed pie, so the more one party receives, the less the other party will receive?
Win-lose orientation
What is a greater willingness to openly share information and to collaborate?
Trust
Which conflict-handling style tries to find a solution that is beneficial for both parties?
Problem solving
Which conflict-handling style tries to win the conflict at the other’s expense?
Forcing
Which conflict-handling style tries to smooth over or evade conflict situations altogether?
Avoiding
Which conflict-handling style involves giving in completely to the other side’s wishes?
Yielding
Which conflict-handling style involves looking for a position in which your losses are offset by equally valued gains?
Compromising
What is the motivation to satisfy one’s own interests?
Assertiveness
What is the motivation to satisfy other party’s interests?
Cooperativeness
What is the forcing conflict management style’s level of cooperativeness and assertiveness?
It has high assertiveness and low cooperativeness
What is the problem solving conflict management style’s level of cooperativeness and assertiveness?
It has high assertiveness and high cooperativeness
What is the avoiding conflict management style’s level of cooperativeness and assertiveness?
It has low assertiveness and low cooperativeness
What is the yielding conflict management style’s level of cooperativeness and assertiveness?
It has low assertiveness and high cooperativeness
What is the compromising conflict management style’s level of cooperativeness and assertiveness?
It has moderate assertiveness and moderate cooperativeness
What is the preferred conflict-handling style?
Problem solving
List 3 instances when the problem solving conflict management style is the most appropriate style to use
- Interest are not perfectly opposing
- Parties have trust, openness, and time to share information
- Issues are complex
What is a disadvantage of the problem solving conflict management style?
You’re sharing information that the other party might use to their advantage
List 3 instances when the forcing conflict management style is the most appropriate style to use
- You have a deep conviction about your position
- Dispute requires a quick solution
- Other parties would take advantage of more cooperative strategies
List 2 disadvantages of the forcing conflict management strategy
- It has the highest risk of relationship conflict
2. It may damage long-term relations, which reduces future problem solving
List 2 instances when the avoiding conflict management style is the most appropriate style to use
- Conflict has become too emotionally charged
2. The cost of trying to solve the problem outweighs the benefits
List 2 disadvantages of the avoiding conflict management style
- It doesn’t usually solve the problem
2. It may increase the other party’s frustration
List 3 instances when the yielding conflict management style is the most appropriate style to use
- The other party has substantially more power
- The issue is much less important to you than the other party
- The value and logic of your position isn’t as clear
What is a disadvantage of the yielding conflict management style?
It increases the other party’s expectations in future conflict episodes
List 3 instances when the compromising conflict management style is the most appropriate style to use
- The parties have equal power
- There is time pressure to solve the problem
- The parties lack trust/openness for problem solving
What is a disadvantage of the compromising conflict management style?
It produces suboptimal solutions where only mutual gains are possible
Emotional intelligence, emotional stability, team cohesion, and supportive team norms are:
A. attributes of teams that are used to reduce task-related conflict
B. characteristics of cooperation in the conflict handling styles model
C. characteristics of people who prefer to use the problem-solving conflict handling style
D. attributes of teams that are used to reduce relationship conflict
D. attributes of teams that are used to reduce relationship conflict
The conflict escalation cycle:
A. Rarely occurs in organizational settings
B. Helps employees to shift from relationship to constructive conflict
C. Helps the conflicting parties to remove the sources of conflict
D. Includes the situation where behaviors during manifest conflict influence the perception of conflict to the other party
D. Includes the situation where behaviors during manifest conflict influence the perception of conflict to the other party
Sales people at Widget Corp. complain that they lose sales bonuses when the production department is out of stock of a particular item. This sometimes causes customers to buy elsewhere rather than wait for the next production run. Meanwhile, production employees complain that sales people don’t appreciate the need to minimize inventory costs, for which production staff are rewarded. This is mainly an example of conflict due to:
A. Ambiguity of rules
B. Communication problems
C. Differentiation
D. Goal incompatibility
D. Goal incompatibility
A common problem with __________ conflict is that it causes people to rely on perceptual biases about the other party.
A. Manifest
B. Relationship
C. Task-related
D. Constructive
B. Relationship
Which conflict management style is characterized as having high assertiveness and high cooperativeness?
A. Problem solving
B. Forcing
C. Yielding
D. Compromising
A. Problem solving
The belief that conflicting parties are drawing from a fixed pie, so the more one party receives, the less the other party will receive refers to:
A. Manifest conflict
B. Constructive conflict
C. Compromising
D. Win-lose orientation
D. Win-lose orientation
Manifest conflict includes:
A. The outcomes of conflict
B. The behaviors of the parties towards each other
C. Conflict emotions
D. The sources of conflict
B. The behaviors of the parties towards each other
True or False:
Increasing task interdependence usually leads to less conflict
False
A __________ is a goal that both conflicting parties value and whose attainment is beyond the resources and effort of either party alone.
A. Superordinate goal
B. Learning goal
C. Performance goal
D. Stretch goal
A. Superordinate goal
Rotating employees to different jobs or departments and promoting cross-functional collaboration are actions taken to reduce:
A. Resource interdependence
B. Goal incompatibility
C. Rule ambiguity
D. Differentiation
D. Differentiation
