Organizational Behavior Human Behavior At Work 14th Edition By John Newstrom – Test Bank

Chapter 11
Conflict, Power, and Organizational Politics

True/False Questions

1. It is impossible for intrapersonal role conflict to emerge from within an individual.
Ans: False
Feedback: It is possible for intrapersonal role conflict to emerge from within an individual, as a result of competing roles taken.
Page: 289
Difficulty: Easy

2. Intergroup conflict in organizations is never intentionally stimulated.
Ans: False
Feedback: Intergroup conflict is sometimes escalated—intentionally stimulated in organizations because of its constructive consequences.
Page: 290
Difficulty: Medium

3. Managers should prevent intergroup conflict in every situation.
Ans: False
Feedback: The managerial challenge is to keep conflict at a moderate level (where it is most likely to stimulate creative thought but not interfere with performance).
Page: 290
Difficulty: Medium

4. Unless there is a good cause, workplace incivility can cause tensions to rise, anger to flare, and conflict to emerge.
Ans: False
Feedback: Regardless of the cause, workplace incivility can cause tensions to rise, anger to flare, and conflict to emerge.
Page: 290
Difficulty: Medium

5. Giving constructive criticism objectively is a solution to the incivility problem.
Ans: True
Page: 292
Difficulty: Medium

6. If all conflict with co-workers is avoided, each party is likely to be deprived of useful information about the other’s preferences and views.
Ans: True
Page: 293
Difficulty: Easy

7. Conflict is consistent in the speed of its emergence and in the degree of its predictability.
Ans: False
Feedback: Conflict varies in the speed of its emergence and in the degree of its predictability.
Page: 293
Difficulty: Medium

8. The forcing and smoothing approaches are basically useful for hiding or diminishing the conflict process.
Ans: False
Feedback: The avoiding and smoothing approaches are basically useful for hiding or diminishing the conflict process.
Page: 295
Difficulty: Medium

9. The idea of smoothing is attractive if the objective is to escape from a conflict with minimal cost, but it often stifles creativity.
Ans: False
Feedback: The idea of compromise is seductive if the objective is to escape from the conflict at minimal cost, but it often stifles creativity.
Page: 295
Difficulty: Medium

10. Only the confronting strategy can truly be viewed as a resolution approach.
Ans: True
Page: 295
Difficulty: Easy