Conflict management Part 1

Conflict management Part 1

Examples

Conflict is an expressed struggle between at least two interdependent people who perceive incompatible goals, scarce resources, or interference in achieving their goals.

• In a workplace, conflict could arise between two designers on a project.

• One designer, Sarah, prefers bold, flashy designs, while the other, Jason, favours a minimalist approach (incompatible goals).

• They must use elements from the company's limited graphic design resource pool (scarce resources).

• This difference in style and resource needs could lead to tension and arguments (expressed struggle) as they try to move the project forward.

Examples

Conflict is a process that begins when one party perceives that another party has negatively affected, or is about to affect negatively, something that the first party cares about.

• Mark, a salesperson, just closed a big deal with a client. He's excited about the commission and recognition he expects to receive. However, he hears rumours that the manager plans to credit the entire sale to the marketing team who "brought in the lead." (Perceived negative impact)

• Mark cares deeply about getting credit for his work (something he cares about). This perception that the manager might take away his credit (negative impact) lays the groundwork for potential conflict.

• This situation creates the potential for conflict because Mark perceives the manager's actions (or potential actions) as negatively affecting something he cares about.

Multiple Choice

Fill in the blanks using the correct option.

Imagine you and your sibling are sharing a bag of chips. There's only one bag __________, and you both want it ________. This disagreement might lead to an argument _______to get the chips.

• Incompatible goals; scarce resource; expressed struggle.

• scarce resource; Incompatible goals; expressed struggle.

• expressed struggle; scarce resource; Incompatible goals.

Multiple Choice

In the summary of the past, researchers have ________.

• considered all conflict to be harmful

• considered all conflict to be necessary to generate discussion

• considered all conflict to be necessary to improve the creativity of a group

• argued about whether conflict was uniformly good or bad

• argued about whether conflict was rational and cannot be avoided

Multiple Choice

Contemporary perspectives tend to differentiate types of conflict based on their ________.

• Impact

• being good or bad

• emotional impact

• task orientation

• relationship orientation

Levels and forms of Conflict

Multiple Choice

During a server migration, Mike, the security expert, insists on extensive user testing, while Jessica, the network engineer, prioritizes a quick cutover to minimize downtime, creating tension. This could be considered ________.

• Process Conflict

• Status Conflict

• Relationship Conflict

• Task Conflict

Multiple Choice

Mark constantly criticizes Sarah's code in public code reviews, making her feel belittled and discouraged. This has created a strained relationship between them, making collaboration difficult. This could be considered ________.

• Process Conflict

• Task Conflict

• Relationship Conflict

• Status Conflict

Multiple Choice

Maya, a junior graphic designer, presented a creative concept during a marketing campaign brainstorming session. However, her manager Rahul dismissed her idea and presented a similar one as his own, creating tension and undervaluing Maya's contributions. This could be considered ________.

• Process Conflict

• Task Conflict

• Relationship Conflict

• Status Conflict

Multiple Choice

Studies demonstrate that ________ conflicts are almost always ________.

• relationship; formal

• relationship; informal

• relationship; dysfunctional

• relationship; functional

• task; reactive

Multiple Choice

Conflict that relates to the content and goals of work is called ________ conflict.

• job

• task

• relationship

• process

Multiple Choice

Conflict that hinders group performance is a ________ conflict.

• process

• traditional

• task

• interpersonal

• dysfunctional

Multiple Choice

Mike and Keith are on the same team; they work well with other people in the same team but don't get along with each other. This type of conflict can best be described as ________.

• intragroup

• Interpersonal

• Intrapersonal

• Intergroup

Multiple Choice

Conditions that can create conflicts can be classified into three categories. Which of the following is one of these three categories that includes variables such as jurisdictional clarity, member/goal compatibility, and leadership styles?

• communication

• structure

• personal variables

• group interactions

• process variables

Multiple Choice

Stage II of the conflict process deals with the conflict being ________.

• perceived and felt

• apparent and experienced

• expressed and resolved.

• analyzed

• internalized

Multiple Choice

The terms negotiation and ________ are used interchangeably.

• bargaining
• win-lose

• accommodation

• compromise

Multiple Choice

The ________ stage of the conflict process is important because it's where conflict issues tend to be defined.

• potential opposition

• cognition and personalization

• intention

• behavior

• reaction and transference

Multiple Choice

________ is the third stage in the conflict process and it intervenes between people's perceptions and their overt behavior.

• Potential for opposition

• Intention

• Cognition

• Attribution

• Behavioral manifestation