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Contemporary Organizational Behavior (Elsbach)
Topic Summary 1 Introduction to Organizational Behavior
1) The focus of organizational behavior is on ________.
A) Productivity
B) People in organizations
C) Leading and leadership processes
2) We are interested in improving the functioning of organizations because of the positive impact
on employees’ ________.
A) Physical and mental well-being
B) Productivity
C) Creativity
D) All of the above
3) Organizational behavior can be described as a(n) ________ discipline because the field of
study is directed toward how to change and improve organizations and the people in them rather
than solely focusing on theoretical issues.
A) Positive
B) Interdisciplinary
C) Applied
D) Qualitative
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4) Which of the following behaviors does organizational behavior seek to understand, solve, or
prevent?
A) Absenteeism
B) Effectiveness
C) Job satisfaction
D) Organizational citizenship behaviors
5) Which of the following is not one of the four organizational processes?
A) Individual
B) Interpersonal
C) Organizational
D) Corporate
Difficulty: Easy
6) Which of the following organizational processes would describe the pattern of interactions
among individuals that includes groups and teams, negotiation, and communication and
diversity?
A) Individual processes
B) Interpersonal processes
C) Organizational processes
D) Group or team processes
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7) Which of the following is not one of the three levels of organizational behavior?
A) Individual
B) Interpersonal
C) Organizational
D) Group or team
8) If we were interested in studying an organization from a financial perspective, which of the
following would we analyze?
A) Supply and demand
B) Company stock
C) Cash flow
D) External market influences
Difficulty: Hard
9) Contemporary organizations can be found in any industry and are constantly adapting to new
challenges but they all share some similarities. All of the following are common characteristics
of contemporary organizations except ________.
A) Measuring and using data to guide decision making
B) Needing individual and team performance
C) Diminished value on long-term relationships with employees
D) All of the above are characteristics of contemporary organizations
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10) One aspect that is present in all organizations is ________.
A) Working toward achieving a goal
B) People interacting with each other
C) An organizational structure
D) Shared responsibility
Difficulty: Easy
11) Which of the following is a positive organizational outcome?
A) Low turnover intention
B) Counterproductive work behavior
C) Incivility
D) Sabotage
LO: 1.3: Describe and provide examples of different types of organizations
Difficulty: Medium
12) A community of practice type of contemporary organization displays which of the following
characteristics?
A) Shared effort to accomplish a goal
B) Focus on doing social good
C) Interaction about the same topic
D) Shared leadership
Difficulty: Medium
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13) You can apply your knowledge of organizational behavior when you are ________.
A) A CEO
B) A manager
C) A front line employee
D) All of the above
Difficulty: Hard
14) The ________ approach to learning prepares you to understand how to handle situations you
encounter in the workplace.
A) Performance-based
B) Practice-based
C) Interpretive-based
D) Experience-based
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15) You can personally use concepts from organizational behavior to improve all of the
following except ________.
A) Computer skills
B) Develop yourself as a leader
C) Identify ways to motivate others
D) Learn skills that employers find important for the contemporary workplace
16) The objective of ________ learning is to recall and demonstrate basic knowledge, concepts,
terms, and theories associated with organizations.
A) Practice-based
B) Interpretive-based
C) Experience-based
D) Performance-based
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17) As a result of the ________ approach to learning, you will be able to understand the
relationships and interactions among different concepts and articulate how concepts function in
the organizational setting.
A) Experience-based
B) Performance-based
C) Interpretive-based
D) Practice-based
18) As a student, you may find the ________ approach to learning easier because you are asked
to relate and apply the concepts to your personal and workplace experiences.
A) Practice-based
B) Experience-based
C) Interpretive-based
D) Performance-based
19) How can you personally benefit from the study of organizational behavior? Describe five
ways that studying organizational behavior benefits you.
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20) A bakery is evaluating several new product ideas. They conducted focus groups and
conducted individual participant interviews. What is the bakery’s approach to researching their
new products?
A) Interview method
B) Group evaluation method
C) Qualitative method
D) Quantitative method
21) The Academy of Management established a division of organizational behavior in 1971.
The division provided a forum for research and discussion about important outcomes in
organizational behavior among researchers from many diverse fields, not just management.
What type of contemporary organization best describes the Academy of Management?
A) Community of practice
B) Network
C) Professional
D) Since the division was established in 1971, it is not classified as a contemporary organization
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22) A retail store manager wants to survey each employee to find what they value most so that
she can provide incentives each employee desires. The survey uses open ended questions to
assess what employees would find motivating and what would help to increase their satisfaction
at work. What type of research is this store manager conducting?
A) Interdisciplinary
B) Quantitative
C) Audit
23) The manager of a hotel chain believes that every check-in interaction with a guest should be
consistent so that the guest will receive the same high-quality, courteous and professional
experience regardless of location. This manager believes in which of the following approaches?
A) The equivalent approach
B) The universal approach
C) The situational approach
D) The interactive approach
Difficulty: Medium
24) Which of the following approaches would be used by a manager who takes time to determine
what each specific problem involves before creating a plan to address the issue?
A) The situational approach
B) The technical approach
C) The universal approach
D) The industrial approach
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25) Contemporary organizations must change and adapt continually to function effectively in an
environment filled with dynamic change. As a result, all of the following aspects are continually
shifting except ________.
A) How to analyze and apply market trends to develop products or services
B) How work is accomplished
C) How people view the nature of work
D) How to improve work