Conflict Management Strategies 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which conflict strategy is most appropriate when the issue is trivial and preserving the relationship is more important than the outcome?
- Competing
- Accommodating (Correct answer)
- Avoiding
- Collaborating
Correct answer: Accommodating
Accommodating prioritizes the relationship over the issue, making it suitable when the matter is low-stakes.
Question 2: A project manager uses a structured problem-solving process to address a team dispute by identifying root causes together. Which strategy does this best represent?
- Compromising
- Collaborating (Correct answer)
- Forcing
- Smoothing
Correct answer: Collaborating
Collaborating involves joint problem-solving to find a solution that fully satisfies both parties.
Question 3: In distributive bargaining, parties treat resources as:
- Expandable through creativity
- Fixed and limited (Correct answer)
- Shared equally by default
- Irrelevant to the outcome
Correct answer: Fixed and limited
Distributive bargaining assumes a fixed pie, meaning one party's gain is the other's loss.
Question 4: Which strategy involves finding a middle-ground solution where both parties give up something to reach agreement?
- Avoiding
- Competing
- Compromising (Correct answer)
- Collaborating
Correct answer: Compromising
Compromising requires both sides to make concessions, resulting in a partial win for each.
Question 5: A supervisor uses positional authority to override an employee's objection and enforce a decision. This is an example of which strategy?
- Collaborating
- Compromising
- Accommodating
- Forcing (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Forcing
Forcing (competing) relies on power or authority to impose a resolution regardless of the other party's preferences.
Question 6: Which approach to conflict resolution focuses on satisfying the underlying interests of both parties rather than their stated positions?
- Positional bargaining
- Interest-based negotiation (Correct answer)
- Arbitration
- Avoidance
Correct answer: Interest-based negotiation
Interest-based negotiation, developed in the Harvard Negotiation Project, uncovers deeper needs behind stated demands.
Question 7: When two parties in conflict each have high concern for their own goals AND high concern for the relationship, which strategy is most indicated?
- Avoiding
- Accommodating
- Competing
- Collaborating (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Collaborating
Collaborating is used when both task outcomes and relationship quality are highly important to both parties.
Conflict Management Strategies 2
Which conflict strategy is most appropriate when the issue is trivial and preserving the relationship is more important than the outcome?