NU530 Unit 5 DQ 1: conflict with a superior at work
Describe a conflict you had with a superior, discuss the roles negotiation, power and organisational politics played in its resolution, classify the outcome as lose-lose, win-lose, compromise or win-win, say what could have created a win-win, and judge whether growth actually followed.
Editorial process
Last reviewed · August 14, 2026
Conflict upward is a power problem, not just a disagreement
The prompt's own framing tells you what it wants: conflict resolution would be easier if it were always with peers, and this one was not. So the analysis has to take the power asymmetry seriously rather than narrating the argument. Use a recognised typology of power — legitimate, reward, coercive, expert and referent — and say which kinds each party actually held, because a staff nurse in conflict with a manager usually holds expert and referent power while the manager holds legitimate, reward and coercive. That asymmetry is what shapes the negotiation: it explains why the obvious moves were unavailable to you, and why organisational politics — who else had influence, which relationships were in play, what the manager could and could not be seen to concede — did as much work as the merits did. Keep the narrative short. Two or three sentences of story is enough to hold the analysis that follows.
Classify the outcome honestly against the four options rather than reaching for win-win, and give the reason for the classification. Most real upward conflicts land on compromise or win-lose, and saying so is more credible than claiming an outcome the facts do not support. The next question then asks what could have been handled differently, which is where negotiation theory earns its place: separating the people from the problem, moving from stated positions to underlying interests, inventing options before deciding among them, and knowing your alternative if no agreement is reached. Name the move you did not make. The final question asks whether the organisation and the individuals actually grew and learned, and the honest answer is sometimes no — which is a legitimate answer if you explain what would have had to be different. Every component needs peer-reviewed evidence behind it, so the frameworks are not decoration.
Likely learning objectives
Inferred from the brief — check these against your own rubric.
- 01Analyse a workplace conflict in terms of power bases held by each party.
- 02Explain how organisational politics shapes what resolutions are available.
- 03Classify a conflict outcome against a recognised typology.
- 04Apply interest-based negotiation to identify a missed alternative.
- 05Judge whether a conflict produced individual and organisational learning.
Read the full question
Review every instruction before using the planning guidance that follows.
Course-wide instructions that accompany this question
ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS Discussion Questions (DQ) Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words. Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source. NU530-8D Unit 5 DQ 1 One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words. I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses. Weekly Participation Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately. In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies. Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work). Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week. APA Format and Writing Quality Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required). Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation. I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition. Use of Direct Quotes I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly. As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content. It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source. LopesWrite Policy For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me. Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes. Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own? Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score. Late Policy The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies. Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances. If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect. I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension. As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading. Communication Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me: Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class. Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.
Turn the brief into deliverables
- 01A brief account of a conflict with a superior.
- 02The roles negotiation, power and organisational politics played in the resolution.
- 03The outcome classified as lose-lose, win-lose, compromise or win-win, with reasons.
- 04What could have been handled differently to create a win-win.
- 05Whether the organisation and the individuals developed, grew and learned.
- 06Peer-reviewed journal evidence and APA citations.
Narrate briefly, then analyse at length
The conflict, briefly
Set the situation, the parties and what was at stake in a few sentences.
Power, mapped
Name which power bases each party held and how that constrained the exchange.
Negotiation as it actually ran
Describe positions, interests and what was traded.
Organisational politics
Explain who else mattered and what could not be conceded publicly.
Classifying the outcome
Choose one of the four categories and defend it.
What would have made it win-win, and what was learned
Name the missed move and judge whether growth actually followed.
Frameworks for power, negotiation and conflict style
Recommended databases
- CINAHL
- Business Source Complete
- PubMed
- StatPearls via NCBI Bookshelf
- Fisher and Ury, Getting to Yes
Search sequence
- 1.Read a source on the bases of social power and map your case onto it.
- 2.Read an account of interest-based negotiation before writing the alternative.
- 3.Find peer-reviewed evidence on conflict in nursing hierarchies.
- 4.Decide the outcome classification before drafting, and check the facts support it.
- 5.Look for evidence on whether conflict produces organisational learning, and under what conditions.
Reference shortlist
These are authoritative starting points, not a ready-made bibliography. A qualified reviewer must confirm that each source fits the assignment and supports the claim beside which it is cited.
Nothing here is cleared for citation until you have read it.
- 01
Conflict Management in Healthcare
StatPearls, NCBI Bookshelf · 2023
Conflict styles and resolution approaches, and the outcome categories this prompt names.
- 02
Feedback in Medical Education
StatPearls, NCBI Bookshelf · 2023
What makes an upward conversation survivable, which is the missed move in most of these cases.
- 03
Nursing Shortage
StatPearls, NCBI Bookshelf · 2023
Links unresolved workplace conflict to turnover, which is the organisational stake in the learning question.
- 04
Managing Workplace Conflict
Society for Human Resource Management · 2024
Practical negotiation and escalation options, for the what-could-have-been-different section.
Review before submission
Common mistakes
- Spending most of the post narrating the conflict rather than analysing it.
- Treating power as a single thing instead of naming which bases each party held.
- Skipping organisational politics, which is a named component of the question.
- Classifying the outcome as win-win because it feels better to say so.
- Suggesting improvements with no negotiation framework behind them.
- Omitting the final learning question, or answering it without evidence.
Submission checklist
- The narrative is brief and the analysis is long.
- Specific power bases are named for both parties.
- Organisational politics is addressed explicitly.
- The outcome classification is justified against the four categories.
- The alternative approach names a negotiation technique.
- Peer-reviewed sources support each component, cited in APA form.
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