Chapter 10 Understanding Work Teams
MULTIPLE CHOICE
Why Have Work Teams Become So Popular?
1. Teams typically outperform individuals when the tasks being completed _____.
a. require multiple skills
b. require judgment
c. require experience
d. all of the above
e. none of the above
(d; Moderate; p. 338)
2. Which of the following helps explain the current popularity of teams? Teams _____.
a. are easier to manage
b. are a way to better utilize employee talents
c. are less expensive
d. promote socialization
e. are very efficient
(b; Easy; p. 338)
3. Which of the following does not explain the current popularity of teams? Teams _____.
a. outperform individuals when the tasks require multiple skills
b. enable organizations to better utilize employee talents
c. are a means to increase employee motivation
d. allow employee independence in making operating decisions
e. outperform individuals when the tasks require experience
(d; Moderate; p. 338)
4. Teams generally have a(n) _____ impact on employee motivation.
a. inconsistent
b. unknown
c. positive
d. discouraging
e. neutral
(c; Moderate; p. 339)
Differences Between Groups and Teams
5. Which of the following statements best defines a work group?
a. The performance of a work group is generally greater than the sum of its inputs from individual
members.
b. A work group interacts primarily to share information, rather than to engage in work that
requires joint effort.
c. A work group consists of 3 or more people who take on self-supervising responsibilities.
d. A work group consists of 3 or more people from across departmental or functional lines.
e. A work group is a group comprised of 10 or more people.
(b; Challenging; p. 339)
6. Which of the following qualities is not found in work groups?
a. energy
b. enthusiasm
c. synergy
d. objectives
197
e. security
(c; Moderate; p. 339)
7. _____ results in a level of performance that is greater than the sum of the individual inputs.
a. Synergy
b. Enthusiasm
c. Energy
d. Initiative
e. Inversion
(a; Moderate; p. 339)
Types of Teams
8. Which is not one of the most common types of teams?
a. problem-solving
b. interdepartmental
c. self-managed
d. virtual
e. cross functional
(b; Easy; p. 340)
9. Which type of team meets to discuss ways to improve quality, efficiency, and the work
environment?
a. self-managed
b. virtual
c. problem-solving
d. cross-functional
e. committee
(c; Easy; p. 340)
10. Which of the following types of teams would most likely be assembled to improve the efficiency of
a company’s production process?
a. cross-functional
b. problem-solving
c. self-managed
d. virtual
e. co-evolving
(b; Moderate; p. 340)
11. Which of the following types of teams would most likely empower its team members to make
work-related decisions?
a. technical
b. self-managed
c. problem-solving
d. management
e. reactive
(b; Moderate; p. 341)
12. Self-managed teams are typically comprised of how many members?
a. 2-5
b. 5-10
c. 8-12
d. 10-15
e. over 100
(d; Moderate; p. 341)
198
13. Which of the following best demonstrates the effectiveness of self-managed teams?
a. an increase in the number of teams required to manufacture a product
b. a reduction in the number of employees qualified to participate on the teams
c. an increase of complaints from team members regarding the lack of team leadership
d. a significant reduction in response time for resolving customer concerns
e. an increase in the technology budget for connecting team members
(d; Moderate; p. 341)
14. Which of the following statements best characterizes self-managed teams?
a. Their team members often have low levels of job satisfaction.
b. Their team members prefer to work alone.
c. Their productivity is generally low.
d. They perform poorly during times of employee layoffs.
e. They tend to operate best in non-hierarchical societies.
(d; Challenging; p. 341)
15. _____ teams are made up of employees from about the same hierarchical level.
a. Problem-solving
b. Self-managed
c. Cross-functional
d. Multifaceted
e. Star matrix
(c; Easy; p. 341)
16. A _____ is a temporary cross-functional team.
a. quality circle
b. work group
c. task force
d. TQM group
e. hierarchical team
(c; Moderate; p. 342)
17. A committee represents _____.
a. an example of a cross-functional team.
b. an example of a work group.
c. a type of management structure for virtual teams.
d. an example of a task force.
e. a specialized type of problem-solving team.
(a; Moderate; p. 342)
18. _____teams are an effective way to allow people from diverse areas within an organization to
exchange information, develop new ideas and solve problems, and coordinate complex projects.
a. Self-managed
b. Problem-solving
c. Cross-functional
d. Multifaceted
e. Star matrix
(c; Moderate; p. 342)
19. The early stages of development of a cross-functional team are time-consuming because _____.
a. most cross-functional team members are comprised of individuals from similar backgrounds
b. members must research the causes of problems which they are assigned to solve
c. most cross-functional team members have already established trust
d. members have to learn how to perform new functional tasks
199
e. members must learn to work with diversity and complexity
(e; Challenging; p. 342)
20. Which of the following types of teams allows for collaboration between team members who are
physically dispersed?
a. Local
b. Interactive
c. Real-time
d. Virtual
e. Global
(d; Easy; p. 342)
21. Which is not one of the primary factors that differentiate virtual teams from face-to-face teams?
a. the absence of nonverbal cues
b. limited social context
c. decreased satisfaction with work processes
d. the ability to overcome time and space constraints
e. limited paraverbal cues
(c; Moderate; p. 343)
22. Which of the following is not true about virtual teams?
a. There is an absence of paraverbal cues.
b. Members report greater satisfaction with the group process.
c. There is limited social context.
d. They are more task-oriented.
e. Members are more focused on production.
(b; Moderate; p. 343)
Creating Effective Teams
23. There are four contextual factors that appear to be most significantly related to team
performance. Which of the following is not one of those factors?
a. adequate resources
b. work autonomy
c. effective leadership
d. a performance evaluation and reward system that reflects team contributions
e. all of the above are contextual factors
(b; Moderate; p. 344)
24. Which of the following statements best characterizes the use of work teams?
a. Teams are unnecessary if an individual can do the job better.
b. Teams are necessary for encouraging individuals to work independently.
c. Within a company, teams perform best if they are structured similarly.
d. Employees are usually responsible for suggesting that teams be created.
e. In successful companies, teamwork is always preferable to individual work.
(a; Moderate; p. 345)
25. Which of the following is not one of the key components of effective teams?
a. effective work design
b. recognized company identity
c. supportive contextual influences
d. well-managed team processes
e. appropriate team membership
(b; Moderate; p. 345)
200
26. To provide teams with adequate resources, a company must supply which of the following?
a. proper equipment
b. adequate staffing
c. encouragement
d. all the above
e. none of the above
(d; Moderate; p. 345)
27. To succeed in achieving their goals, teams must _____.
a. have strong leadership
b. have autonomy
c. receive support from management
d. all of the above
e. none of the above
(c; Moderate; p. 345)
28. On traditionally managed teams, which factor(s) seems to be important to team performance?
a. the leader’s expectations
b. the leader’s mood
c. the leader’s trust of the members
d. A and B
e. all of the above
(d; Moderate; p. 345)
29. In addition to evaluating and rewarding employees for their individual contributions, management
should consider using which of the following to reinforce team effort and commitment?
a. personalized incentives
b. consistent wages for all team members
c. individual performance evaluations
d. fixed hourly wages
e. profit sharing
(e; Moderate; p. 346)
30. Effective teams require which of the following skills?
a. problem-solving skills
b. technical expertise
c. interpersonal skills
d. all of the above
e. none of the above
(d; Moderate; p. 346)
31. Team members with good listening, feedback, and conflict resolution skills possess _____.
a. technical expertise
b. problem-solving skills
c. decision-making skills
d. interpersonal skills
e. cognitive appraisal skills
(d; Easy; p. 346)
32. Which of the following statements best serves to WEAKEN the argument that trust contributes to
team effectiveness?
a. The most cooperative teams are those that share the greatest amount of trust.
b. Team members who trust each other tend to spend less time monitoring each other’s
behavior.
c. Regardless of trust level, most individuals resist exposing vulnerabilities to their co-workers.
201
d. Research shows that trust among team members is directly linked to members’ willingness to
take risks.
e. Teams with the highest trust ratings for their leadership tend to outperform teams with lower
leadership trust ratings.
(b; Challenging; p. 346)
33. One stream of research has identified potential team roles the people prefer to play. The “creator”
role is one who _____.
a. champions ideas
b. initiates new ideas
c. provides structure
d. coordinates and integrates
e. manages subordinates
(b; Challenging; p. 348)
34. Of the nine key roles on teams, the “promoter” is the group member most likely to _____.
a. develop original ideas
b. defend and support newly-developed ideas
c. provide structure for the team
d. fight battles with those outside of the team
e. conflict with other team members
(b; Moderate; p. 348)
35. Which of the following is not one of the nine potential team roles identified for successful teams?
a. organizer
b. allocator
c. controller
d. maintainer
e. promoter
(b; Easy; p. 348)
36. You find that in a team situation you prefer to be the one who examines details and is concerned
with enforcing rules and regulations. Your role is that of the _____.
a. maintainer
b. linker
c. controller
d. promoter
e. resource allocator
(c; Moderate; p. 348)
37. On her work team, Michelle develops detailed tasks lists and work flow charts to help her team
