Essentials of Organizational Behavior, 12e (Robbins/Judge)
Chapter 10 Understanding Work Teams
1) Which of the following helps explain the current popularity of teams? Teams ________.
A) are easier to manage
B) better utilize employee talents
C) are less expensive
D) promote socialization and cohesion
E) increase the speed of decision making.
2) Which of the following statements best defines a work group?
A) A work group’s performance 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 5 or more people who work collaboratively.
D) A work group has a positive synergy and no active group dynamics, resulting in greater
outputs.
E) A work group is a group comprised of 10 or more people who belong to the same department.
3) Which of the following statements is true regarding a work team?
A) Today, work teams are rarely used in organizations.
B) Work teams are less flexible than traditional departments.
C) Work teams generate positive synergy through coordinated effort.
D) Work teams are less responsive to changing events than are traditional departments.
E) Work teams impede employee participation in decision making.
4) ________ results in a level of performance that is greater than the sum of the individual
inputs.
A) Synergy
B) Positive affect
C) Emotional labor
D) Cognitive dissonance
E) Emotional dissonance
5) Which of the following statements is true regarding a work group?
A) Individuals working in a work group, work on different objectives and are not dependent on
each other.
B) Work groups primarily engage in collective work that requires joint effort.
C) Work groups do not generate any positive synergy through coordinated effort.
D) Information sharing is not the primary function of a work group.
E) The performance level of the work group is greater than the summation of each group
member’s individual contribution.
6) Which of the following is not a difference between work groups and work teams? Work
groups ________, and work teams ________.
A) have neutral synergy; have positive synergy
B) rely on independent accountability; rely on mutual and independent accountability
C) require joint efforts; are the summation of the individual contribution
D) have random and varied skills; have complementary skills
E) share information; rely on collective performance
7) A team consists of employees from the same department who meet for a few hours each week
to discuss ways of improving the work environment but they do not have the authority to
unilaterally implement any of their suggestions. This is most likely to be a ________ team.
A) cross-functional
B) virtual
C) self-managed
D) problem-solving
E) task
8) Self-managed teams typically consist of ________ employees.
A) two to four
B) four to eight
C) ten to fifteen
D) twenty to thirty
E) forty to fifty
9) Which of the following types of teams is most likely to be assembled to improve the
efficiency of a company’s production process?
A) cross-functional
B) problem-solving
C) self-managed
D) critical
E) task
10) ________ teams are groups of employees who perform highly related or interdependent jobs
and take on many of the responsibilities of their former supervisors.
A) Critical
B) Self-managed work
C) Cross-functional
D) Problem-solving
E) Task
11) Which of the following statements is true regarding self-managed work teams?
A) Self-managed work teams typically consist of forty to fifty employees.
B) Self-managed work teams typically manage conflicts well.
C) Members of self-managed work teams typically report lower job satisfaction.
D) Self-managed work teams are typically composed of employees from different departments
who work independent of each other.
E) In the case of self-managed work teams, supervisory positions take on decreased importance.
12) Which of the following teams are more likely to be made up of employees from about the
same hierarchical level but different work areas?
A) problem-solving
B) self-managed
C) cross-functional
D) task
E) rapid action
13) ________ 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) Task
E) Command
14) The Boeing Company created a team made up of employees from production, planning,
quality control, tooling, design engineering, and information systems to automate shims on the
company’s C-17 program. This team is most likely to be an example of a ________ team.
A) command
B) cross-functional
C) self-managed
D) problem-solving
E) task
15) Which of the following statements is true regarding a cross-functional team?
A) A cross-functional team is made up of employees from different hierarchical levels.
B) A cross-functional team is made up of employees from the same department.
C) Today, cross-functional teams are rarely used in well-established organizations.
D) In the case of a cross-functional team, the early stages of development are typically very
short.
E) Cross-functional teams are used for developing new ideas and coordinating complex projects.
16) Which of the following types of teams allows for collaboration between team members who
are physically dispersed?
A) problem-solving teams
B) self-managed teams
C) task teams
D) virtual teams
E) command teams
17) Which of the following statements is true regarding virtual teams?
A) Virtual teams are less task oriented than face-to-face teams.
B) In the case of virtual teams there is less social rapport and direct interaction among members.
C) Virtual teams report more satisfaction with the group interaction process than do face-to-face
teams.
D) Virtual teams exchange more social–emotional information than face-to-face teams do.
E) For increasing the efficiency of a virtual team, managers should empower the team and avoid
monitoring its progress closely.
18) Eva is not getting the results she needs from her data base administration team. She believes
that this problem is occurring because the administration team is a virtual team. Which of the
following is one of the things that Eva should do to create an effective virtual team?
A) Conduct training for improving interpersonal skills.
B) Allow more independence among members.
C) Monitor progress of the team closely.
D) Include peer evaluation in the appraisal system.
E) Avoid publicizing team successes company-wide.
19) Which of the following is not one of the key components of effective teams?
A) team efficacy
B) large size
C) adequate resources
D) member flexibility
E) leadership and structure
20) With reference to the team effectiveness model, which of the following is one of the key
components of an effective team, included under the category of contextual factors?
A) team efficacy
B) climate of trust
C) common purpose
D) social loafing
E) specific goals
21) According to the team effectiveness model, which of the following is a process variable that
influences effectiveness of a team?
A) leadership and structure
B) team efficacy
C) member flexibility
D) performance evaluation and reward systems
E) abilities of members
22) The team effectiveness model classifies the key components of effective teams into three
general categories; context, composition, and process. Which of the following variables belongs
to the composition category?
A) adequate resources
B) conflict level
C) team efficacy
D) performance evaluation system
E) personality of team members
23) In a ________ team, the manager’s job becomes more about managing outside the team.
A) technical
B) self-managed
C) problem-solving
D) task
E) virtual
24) Leadership is especially important in ________, in which different teams coordinate their
efforts to produce a desired outcome.
A) technical teams
B) self-managed teams
C) problem-solving teams
D) management teams
E) multi-team systems
25) Araceli is a team member in a large corporation. She never speaks in team meetings because
she has seen members talk behind each other’s back after the meetings. Members are constantly
monitoring the other members’ work, looking for mistakes to point out in a meeting. According
to the information provided, which contextual factor is most likely hindering the success of
Araceli’s team?
A) adequate resources
B) climate of trust
C) team structure
D) performance evaluations
E) leadership
26) In addition to evaluating and rewarding employees for their individual contributions,
management should consider using ________ 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
27) David is part of a work team. He exhibits good listening skills and provides effective
feedback to team members, when required. He also successfully resolves conflicts within the
team. Which one of the following skills would sum up his abilities?
A) technical
B) problem-solving
C) decision-making
D) interpersonal
E) cognitive appraisal
28) A high-ability team is composed of mostly intelligent members. Which of the following
statements is true regarding a high-ability team?
A) High-ability teams are also less adaptable to changing situations as compared to low-ability
teams.
B) When tasks are simple, high-ability teams perform better than low-ability teams.
C) High-ability teams should be reserved for tackling the tough problems.
D) Low-ability teams can more effectively apply existing knowledge to new problems than high-
ability teams.
E) When the task entails considerable thought, lower-ability teams perform better than high-
ability teams.
29) People scoring high on ________ are valuable in teams because they’re good at backing up
fellow team members and at sensing when that support is truly needed.
A) conscientiousness
B) positivity
C) emotional stability
D) agreeableness
E) openness to experience
30) Teams that are composed of people who score high on ________ are more creative and
innovative.
A) emotional stability
B) agreeableness
C) openness to experience
D) extraversion
E) conscientiousness
31) Teams that consist of team members that score ________ are more likely to perform poorly.
A) high on conscientiousness
B) high on openness to experience
C) high on emotional stability
D) low on extraversion
E) low on agreeableness
32) ________ suggests that attributes such as age or the date of joining should help us predict
turnover.
A) Employee mobility
B) Organizational demography
C) Residential mobility
D) Demographic environment
E) Population dynamics
33) Which of the following factors typically improves the creativity of a diverse team?
A) individual goals
B) large team size
C) proper leadership
D) independent members
E) team popularity
34) According to the concept of organizational demography, if team members have dissimilar
experiences, it will lead to ________.
A) increased employee satisfaction
B) decreased level of conflicts
C) higher employee motivation
D) higher employee turnover
E) higher team efficacy
35) Which of the following terms indicates the degree to which members of a work unit (group,
team, or department) share a common attribute, such as age, sex, race, or educational level?
A) demographic environment
B) residential mobility
C) organizational demography
D) population dynamics
E) employee mobility
36) Generally speaking, the most effective teams have ________ members.
A) two to four
B) three to five
C) five to nine
D) ten to fifteen
E) fifteen to twenty
37) Which of the following statements is true regarding size of teams?
A) Generally speaking, the most effective teams have twelve to fifteen members.
B) When teams have excess members, cohesiveness declines.
C) As team size increases, social loafing decreases.
D) When teams have excess members, mutual accountability increases.
E) As team size increases, coordination problems tend to decrease.
38) A team that has a good plan, but is also willing to adjust their master plan and adapt when
conditions call for it demonstrates high ________, an important variable in successful team
processes.
A) goal specificity
B) goal congruency
C) social loafing
D) diversity
E) reflexivity
39) Effective teams begin their work by ________.
A) allocating roles to team members according to their personalities and preferences
B) analyzing the team’s mission
C) developing a climate of trust among team members
D) developing team efficacy
E) discussing individual goals
40) In the case of a team, when each member’s contribution is not clearly visible, ________.
A) team efficacy tends to increase
B) team cohesiveness tends to decrease
C) motivation of the team members tends to increase
D) team members tend to decrease their efforts
E) mutual accountability of the team members tends to decrease
41) ________ illustrates a process loss from using teams.
A) Emotional contagion
B) Cognitive dissonance
C) Social loafing
D) Positivity offset
E) Emotional dissonance
42) Members of successful teams put a tremendous amount of time and effort into discussing,
shaping, and agreeing on ________ which then provides direction and guidance under any and
all conditions.
A) the level of individual contribution
B) allocation of resources
C) a common purpose
D) allocation of roles
E) developing team efficacy
43) Alberto’s team is evaluating and developing the database for the water pollution data of three
cities. He wants to improve the team efficacy of his team. Which of the following actions can
Alberto take to increase team efficacy before the project starts?
A) plan a team outing for the team members
B) make sure that his team is not comprised of more than nine people
C) spend considerable time evaluating team members and allocating proper roles for each
D) provide client’s software and database training for all the team members
E) create team goals that are very challenging
44) Effective teams have confidence in themselves and believe they can succeed. This
confidence is called ________.
A) social facilitation
B) goal congruence
C) social loafing
D) team efficacy
E) self-serving bias
45) Which of the following is most likely to increase team efficacy?
A) providing measurable goals
B) helping the team achieve small successes
C) improving the reflexivity of the team
D) ensuring that team goals are challenging
E) reducing the number of members on a team
46) When teams are under acute stress, they are particularly likely to have ________.
A) inaccurate mental models
B) high team efficacy
C) goal congruence
D) a self-serving bias
E) high reflexivity
47) If team members have similar mental models then it means that the team members have
similar ________.
A) roles within the team
B) self-efficacy
C) knowledge and skills
D) beliefs about how the work gets done
E) attitudes towards social loafing
48) Which type of conflict is almost always dysfunctional?
A) task conflict
B) efficacy conflict
C) relationship conflict
D) resource conflict
E) goal conflict
49) Coasting on the group effort is termed ________.
A) emotional labor
B) cognitive dissonance
C) social loafing
D) positivity offset
E) self-concordance
50) On teams performing nonroutine activities, ________ conflicts stimulate discussion, promote
critical assessment of problems and options, and can lead to better team decisions.
A) relationship
B) efficacy
C) resource
D) task
E) social