Practice questions for Business Management and Behavioral Studies

1. Chapter 10 – Conflict and Negotiation Skills
Past paper questions 1
Q. What is a Third Party Negotiation? Briefly explain the role of each of the following
parties who may be involved in third party negotiations.
(i) A mediator (ii) An arbitrator (iii) A conciliator (iv) A consultant (10)
Q. Intergroup Conflicts are widely prevalent in organisations where the functions are
segregated and allocated to different groups. Managers recognise intergroup conflicts
as a common feature of group behaviour and must manage and resolve these conflicts
to achieve the organisational goals. The approaches to resolving intergroup conflicts
may be classified as (i) authoritative/commanding (ii) problem solving/collaborative
(iii) avoiding and (iv) compromising.
Briefly explain each of these four approaches of resolving intergroup conflicts and state
the situations in which each of these approaches would yield optimal results. (10)
Q. (a) What is meant by the term Negotiations? (02)
(b) What roles are performed by a Mediator and an Arbitrator in the Negotiation
process?(04)
Q. (a) What do you understand by the term Functional/Constructive Conflict? (03)
(b) Explain briefly how Functional/Constructive Conflict can contribute to improve the
performance in an organization. (05)
Q. Distributive Bargaining and Integrative Bargaining are the two types of approaches
which are usually adopted in the process of Negotiations. These approaches are
different in their bargaining characteristics which include goals, motivation, focus,
interests, information sharing and duration of relationship.
Identify the basic differences between Distributive Bargaining Approach and
Integrative Bargaining Approach in the context of their respective bargaining
characteristics mentioned above. (10)
Q. Group Conflicts are accepted as inevitable part of organisational interactions and bring
to mind connotations of antagonism and undesirable state of affairs. Identify and
explain any six factors which are responsible for creating group-conflicts in business
organisations. (09)
Q. Explain what do you understand by Negotiations? Briefly explain the various stages of
the negotiation process. (10)
Q. White Peak Mountain Resorts Limited (WMRL) owns and operates a chain of facilities
at three different holiday locations in the northern areas. The facilities include five star
hotel accommodation, mountain camping sites, a fleet of vehicles, horses for riding
enthusiasts and a host of other entertainments for affluent holiday-makers to make their
visits enjoyable. A large number of staff with diverse skills is involved in the
management and operation of these facilities.
A substantial portion of the facilities have been expanded and upgraded at a
considerable cost in the last 2 years. However, the actual performance has not been
satisfactory and the revenues and profitability have fallen far short of expectations. It
appears that rivalries and conflicts among the staff at the three different facilities have
adversely affected the quality of service resulting in customer complaints which has
brought a bad name to WMRL.

2. Chapter 10 – Conflict and Negotiation Skills
Past paper questions 2
You are required to identify and explain briefly the factors which could be responsible
for conflicts in WMRL and affecting the quality of services rendered to the
customers.(10)
Q. List any four positive outcomes of conflict. (02)
Q. Serious efforts are required to avoid deadlocks in negotiations. Quite often the deadlock
appears when the negotiation process is in an advanced stage. List any four measures
which a skilled negotiator may adopt to avoid a deadlock in the final stages of
negotiations. (06)
Q. (a) What do you understand by the term Negotiations?
(b) In what situation would Third Party involvement in Negotiations be considered to be
appropriate?
(c) List and explain briefly the basic roles of the four different types of Third Party
negotiations. Mention the unique characteristics of each of the Third Party negotiators
with their basic differences. (09)
Q. Apollo Industries Limited (AIL), is currently experiencing intense conflict and work
friction between the Research & Development Department and the Marketing
Department. The Marketing Department often puts forth the argument that the
customers are not willing to pay premium price for the co-called innovations and
improvements in the products. The increase in costs on account of perceived
improvements in product designs results in higher prices which undermine the
marketing efforts in the face of intense competition. The R&D Department is of the
firm opinion that in the absence of sustained efforts to upgrade and improve the quality
of the products, AIL would lose its competitive advantage and its image as an industry
leader would be adversely affected. The Marketing Department has not been able to
achieve its targets and apportions the blame on the inability of the R&D Department to
understand the current competitive environment. The CEO is most concerned about the
situation as it is adversely affecting the overall performance of the company.
You are required to explain to the management of AIL the following:
(a) Identification of the various factors which give rise to inter-group conflicts.
(b) Both the positive and negative outcomes of internal conflict.
(c) The steps that should be taken by AIL to reduce the negative impact of internal conflict
in the above situation. (12)
Q. Akbar is the Manager Sales in your firm. As a part of his job, Akbar is required to
negotiate every now and then. As a mentor, advise Akbar about the qualities needed
for an effective negotiation. (03)
Q. As a negotiator, how will you influence the other party to reach to a final deal of your
choice? (05)
Q. Current agreement with the company’s union is due to expire in two months time. The
union has sent a list of demands. What preparations should management make before
actual talks commence? (10)
Q. Explain four sources of interpersonal conflict between a manager and his
subordinates.(04)