Exam 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

Employees at a specialty steel company are divided into the 'hot end' and the 'cold end' of the production process.The hot end forms the steel rods that make their way down the line to the cold end,where they are packed for shipment to clients.Employees at the cold end are primarily responsible for quality control because they are the last ones to see the product before it leaves the plant.Their performance is measured by an index of customer complaints and returns,so they are motivated to reject any rods that don't meet quality standards.But employees at the hot end of the production line earn bonuses based on their output and rejection rate.The fewer rods rejected by employees at the cold end,the fatter the bonuses of employees at the hot end.This creates conflict between the hot-end and cold-end employees.Hot-end employees complain that their cold-end colleagues are too fussy about product quality.Cold-end employees don't like the hot-end employees questioning their quality control decisions.Discuss the source(s)of conflict in this situation and recommend a solution to this conflict.

Most of us experience some degree of relationship conflict whenever we are engaged in constructive debate.

Communication and understanding interventions should be applied only after differentiation between the parties has been reduced.

Two business units operate out of different buildings in a large city.They offer distinct products to customers and have their own budgets.However,they must share training facilities located at headquarters,also located in the city.This often creates conflict because both business units tend to want the training facilities at the same time.Describe the source(s)of conflict that are apparent in this situation and describe two potential solutions that would minimize this conflict.

The bargaining zone model illustrates:

The bargaining zone model states that:

Canuck Airlines International (CAI)is the result of five airlines that merged over six years.These airlines had energetic leaders who established distinct operating procedures and demanded absolute loyalty from their employees.When the airlines merged into CAI,employees continued their allegiance to their former airline by identifying themselves with its colour-blue for Pacific Airlines,orange for Northern Air,green for EastAir,and so on.Coffee break groups began to form around colour codes rather than work groups.Employees who transferred to different work units were routinely asked what colour they came from.In some areas,colour heritage decided a promotion,explained a botch-up,or was offered as a reason why things couldn't change.Discuss this incident in terms of the sources and consequences of conflict in organizational settings.

Which of the following statements about time deadlines and passage in negotiations is FALSE?

Which of the following best describes relationship conflict?

Effective negotiators:

Constructive conflict helps people to recognize problems,identify a variety of solutions and better understand the issues involved.

Emotional intelligence and team cohesiveness are two ways to:

Which of the following is a third-party conflict resolution strategy with high process control and high outcome control?

Deconstructive conflict is one of the more serious forms of relationship conflict.

Increasing inventories between sequential work units tends to reduce potential conflict by:

Conflict is more likely to occur between two departments with pooled interdependence than reciprocal interdependence.

The poor work ethic of Generation-X employees is one of the main sources of conflict in work organizations.

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

Integrators reduce conflicts by reducing the frequency of direct interaction among work units with diverse goals and perspectives.

The two main forms of conflict are: