Briefly describe the “social issues” that are some of the most difficult aspects of negotiating that keep firms such as PointCast

Briefly describe the “social issues” that are some of the most difficult aspects of negotiating that keep firms such as PointCast from reaching agreement.

The chapter opens with a description of PointCast, one of the Silicon Valley’s hottest start-ups on the 1990s, in merger negotiations with Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation. Though media speculation valued PointCast at $750 million, Murdoch offered a package of $450 million that PointCast rejected. Subsequent decisions to go public also failed and ultimately, PointCast was sold for $7 million. The missed opportunity is often cited as one of the biggest mistakes in Internet history and is largely credited to the social issues of ego and corporate pride which created conflict in the initial merger negotiations. Apparently PointCast CEO Christopher Hassett believed the hype about his firm and was unwilling to alter his perception during negotiations. Social issues can get in the way of fruitful negotiations and produce painful lessons.

138. Name the three types of conflict and briefly describe each.

Conflict is the process that involves people disagreeing. The three types of conflict include intrapersonal conflict (which arises in a person due to uncertainty about what is wanted or expected or when you feel inadequate to perform a task), interpersonal conflict (which is conflict between individuals sometimes due to personality or competition differences), and intergroup conflict (which occurs between groups like union and management or different departments within the same firm).

139. Describe the inverted-U relationship that exists between conflict and performance.

Conflict in an organization is not always bad. Research tends to suggest that both low and high levels of conflict lead to lower performance. Moderate conflict, on the other hand, leads to higher levels of performance. The moderate conflict is viewed as optimal because it creates a situation where there is healthy debate on ideas, stimulating, for example, creativity. In general, personal conflict is never healthy, but others, like task conflict can be beneficial to the firm.

140. Describe two root causes of conflict at work.

Six root causes of workplace conflict are: organizational structure, limited resources, task interdependence, incompatible goals, personality differences and communication problems.

An organizational structure like a matrix can present workplace conflict because it has each manager reporting to two bosses while a bureaucratic structure has different levels of people with different power creating high-power and low-power clashes.

Limited resources like money create conflict around budget time when an increase in one department’s budget will necessitate a decrease in a second department’s budget.

Task interdependence creates conflict when the output of one individual is the input of another. If the first individual delays his output, he has negatively impacted another.

Incompatible goals create conflict when two parties believe their goals to be mutually exclusive and then end up being connected in some manner. For example, compensation systems often reward salespeople for the amount of sales they make regardless of the production department’s ability to fill those orders.

Personality differences are the most common basis of conflict in the organization. Type A and Type B personalities often do not mix when work needs to be completed on a deadline.

Communication problems also create conflict. Dealing with people who do not return phone calls can be very trying for many individuals.

141. What are two positive and two negative outcomes of conflict?

Positive conflict outcomes include: considering a broader range of ideas resulting in a stronger idea; bringing forward assumptions that may be inaccurate or invalid; increasing participation or creativity; and clarifying individual views.

Negative outcomes of conflict include: increased stress and anxiety which decreases productivity and satisfaction; the feeling of defeat or detachment that some people experience which lowers their morale; and the development of a climate of distrust which hinders teamwork and cooperation.

142. What are some of the factors that increase the risk for you to experience workplace violence on the job?

Two general categories of situations increase your risk of experiencing workplace violence: dealing with people and being in high-risk situations.

In dealing with people, circumstances like caring for others either emotionally or physically, interacting with frustrated customers, supervising other and denying requests others make of you increases your chances of experiencing workplace violence.

Being in high-risk situations like dealing with valuables and money; handling weapons; working with drugs, alcohol or those under the influences of either of them; and working nights and weekends increases your chances of experiencing workplace violence.

The traditional “fixed-pie” approach where negotiators see the situation as a pie that has to be divided between them is the ______________ negotiation strategy.

The social issues of _________ and ____ derailed the PointCast deal and are among the most difficult aspects of negotiating mergers today.

(ego, corporate pride)

112. __________ is the process that involves people disagreeing.

(Conflict)

113. When you are uncertain about what is expected or wanted, or have the sense of being inadequate to perform a task, you are experiencing _____________ _____________.

(intrapersonal conflict)

114. Union and management conflicts are examples of ____________ conflict.

(intergroup)

115. A __________ amount of conflict is related to high performance.

(moderate)

116. Two root causes of work conflict are task _______________ and ____________ goals.

(interdependence, incompatible)

117. The _________ conflict handling style is uncooperative and unassertive.

(avoidance)

118. A person with a(n) _________ conflict handling style might say, “If it’s important to you, I can go along with it.”

(accommodation)

119. The conflict handling style in which an individual has some desire to express his own concerns and get his way but still respects the other person’s goals is the _______________ style.

(compromising)

120. The conflict handling style in which people are highly assertive but low on cooperation is _______________.

(competition)

121. When two people who are in conflict emphasize problem solving and integration of each other’s goals, they are utilizing a ____________ conflict handling style.

(collaboration)

122. The ____________ conflict handling style has the most potential to be highly effective in many different situations.

(collaboration)

123. The process where two parties work toward an agreement is ____________.

(negotiation)

124. BATNA stands for _____ ___________ ___________ ___________ ____________.

(best alternative to negotiated agreement)

125. A key stage that is often ignored in the negotiating process is the ____________ phase where information is gathered.

(investigation)

126. ___________ is the third phase of the negotiation process where you assemble the gathered information in a way to support your position.

(Presentation)

127. The ______________ phase of the negotiation process is where each party discusses his goals and seeks to get an agreement.

(bargaining)

128. A _____________ is giving up something to get something in return.

(concession)

129. The final phase of the negotiation process, ______________, is where the two parties either come to an agreement on terms or one party has found the final offer to be unacceptable and walks away from it.

(closure)

130. The traditional “fixed-pie” approach where negotiators see the situation as a pie that has to be divided between them is the ______________ negotiation strategy.

(distributive)

131. The ____________ negotiation strategy looks for ways for the two parties to integrate goals under a larger umbrella.

(integrative)

132. Mediation, arbitration and other ways of resolving conflicts with the help of a specially trained third party without need for a formal trial or hearing is called _____________ _________ _____________.

(Alternative Dispute Resolution)

133. ___________ is a process where an outside third party enters the situation with the goal of assisting the parties to reach an agreement.

(Mediation)

134. The conflict resolution process where a neutral third party listens to each side’s case and makes a binding decision is called ___________.

(arbitration)

135. Commonly, the conflict resolution process of _________ follows that of ___________ but research indicates that the process of _____________ followed by ____________ actually leads to more voluntary agreements between the parties.

(arbitration, mediation, arbitration, mediation)

136. If your counterpart feels you are being __________ in your negotiations, he is less likely to make any concessions.

(unethical or dishonest or unfair)

Social issues of ego and corporate pride played a key role in the falling apart of PointCast negotiations.

TRUE/FALSE

1. Social issues of ego and corporate pride played a key role in the falling apart of PointCast negotiations.

(True)

2. Managing conflict and engaging in effective negotiations are key factors for a successful organization.

(True)

3. Conflict management and negotiation tactics are art, not skills, and are very difficult to learn.

(False)

4. Intrapersonal conflict can arise due to role ambiguity and role conflict.

(True)

5. Interpersonal conflicts should be centered around individual differences, not ideas, to avoid conflict escalation.

(False)

6. Conflict in an organization is always bad.

(False)

7. If conflict in an organization is too low, performance is also likely low.

(True)

8. Personal conflicts can be good in certain circumstances, but task conflicts are never good.

(False)

9. Research on effective teams indicates that they are characterized by low but increasing levels of process conflict.

(True)

10. Research on effective teams indicates that they are characterized by low but increasing levels of task conflict.

(False)

11. Matrix-structured organizations often experience decisional conflict because each manager reports to two bosses.

(True)

12. Task independence is a root cause of much conflict in the organization.

(False)

13. Conflict can result in both positive and negative outcomes.

(True)

14. Conflict can be dysfunctional if it involves personal attacks.

(True)

15. A high-risk situation where workplace violence has an increased risk is being a bank teller.

(True)

16. If your job involves caring for others in a nursing home, you have an increased risk of experiencing workplace violence.

(True)

17. If the conflict in your workplace is between two individuals on a team, a good way to manage the conflict is to take a majority vote among other team members to determine who is right.

(False)

18. The avoidance conflict handling style is characterized by high levels of cooperativeness and assertiveness.

(False)

19. An individual who deals with conflict by saying, “Maybe we can both agree to give in a little,” has an accommodating conflict handling style.

(False)

20. Competition is an effective conflict handling style if the alternatives proposed are unethical.

(True)

21. The strategy to utilize to achieve the best outcome from conflict is the collaborating style.

(True)

22. Research suggests that when it comes to dealing with conflict, managers are more likely to engage in avoiding, accommodating or compromising styles than their subordinates.

(False)

23. The key to keeping conflict or disagreement healthy in an organization is to focus the discussion on the task, not the personalities.

(True)

24. Healthy conflict can be stimulated in a firm by having appointed individuals play “devil’s advocate.”

(True)

25. The BATNA phase of the negotiation process should be ignored.

(False)

26. The first place to begin the investigation phase of negotiation is to look at yourself.

(True)

27. The party with the best alternative to a negotiated agreement is in the best negotiating position.

(True)

28. Making a concession during negotiation is a sign of weakness.

(False)

29. The closure phase of the negotiation process may include finding a final offer that is unacceptable and from which the party has walked away.

(True)

30. The integrative approach is a new creative approach to negotiation that can lead to a “win-win” situation.

(True)

31. It is a perfectly acceptable business practice to attempt to negotiate a higher salary with your boss.

(True)

32. A common mistake women make is failing to negotiate their salary offers.

(True)

33. Those with unreasonable expectations in negotiations are no more likely to fail at negotiations than those with reasonable expectations.

(False)

34. Mediation is the process of bringing in a third party who has the authority to act as a judge and make a binding decision in the conflict situation.

(False)

35. The arbitration-mediation approach had led to voluntary agreements in a greater percentage of situations than the more common mediation-arbitration approach.

(True)

36. If your negotiating counterpart feels you are unfair or dishonest, he or she is less likely to make concessions.

(True)

37. The platinum rule of negotiations is to care for others enough to treat them the way they want to be treated and long-term relationships will be established.

(True)

38. Americans have a higher tolerance for conflict as a way of working through issues than their Japanese counterparts.

(True)

39. Japanese negotiators learn information from what is not said as well as what is said that is then used in negotiations.

(True)

40. Western cultures view negotiations as a social activity while their Eastern culture counterparts view it as a business activity.

(False)