Essentials of Organizational Behavior, 12e (Robbins/Judge)
Chapter 12 Leadership
1) Leadership is best defined as ________.
A) the ability to influence a group toward the achievement of a vision or set of goals
B) the process of drawing up formal plans and monitoring their implementation
C) the process of carrying out the vision and strategy provided by management
D) the process of coordinating and staffing the organization and handling day-to-day problems
E) the proper use of the influence gained exclusively as a result of one’s organizational position
2) Which of the following statements regarding leadership is true?
A) All leaders are managers.
B) Formal rights ensure good leadership.
C) All managers are leaders.
D) All leaders are hierarchically superior to followers.
E) Nonsanctioned leadership is as important as formal influence.
3) Which theory of leadership differentiates leaders from nonleaders by focusing on personal
qualities and characteristics?
A) Fiedler’s model
B) attributes theory
C) LMX theory
D) contingency theory
E) trait theory
4) Early research efforts at isolating leadership traits resulted in a number of dead ends. A
breakthrough, of sorts, came when researchers began ________.
A) organizing traits around the Big Five personality framework
B) using the Keirsey Temperament Sorter
C) using Cattell’s 16 personality factors
D) focusing on Eysenck’s three factor model
E) considering the Revised NEO Personality Inventory
5) According to research, which of the Big Five personality traits is the most important in
effective leaders?
A) conscientiousness
B) openness
C) extraversion
D) agreeableness
E) emotional stability
6) Emotional intelligence (EI) is critical to effective leadership because one of its core
components is ________.
A) conscientiousness
B) empathy
C) optimism
D) introversion
E) perfectionism
7) Which of the following statements accurately reflects the conclusions about the trait theories
of leadership?
A) Traits were better predictors of leadership 20 years ago than they are now.
B) The Big Five traits are inadequate for predicting leadership.
C) Traits are especially useful for distinguishing between effective and ineffective leaders.
D) Traits do a good job of predicting the emergence of leaders.
E) Overall, traits are poor predictors of leadership.
8) Your company’s HR director is a believer in trait theories of leadership. He believes that he
can differentiate leaders from nonleaders by focusing on personal qualities and characteristics.
The HR director plans to promote Lawrence, a highly extraverted manager with a great deal of
ambition and energy to the position of VP, Manufacturing. He asks for your expertise in helping
him to apply trait theory to leadership selection within your company. The director believes that
because of his innate characteristics, Lawrence will be highly effective at helping the company
achieve its production goals. You advise the director against basing his decision purely on traits
because ________.
A) research has identified emotional stability as the strongest predictor of leadership
effectiveness
B) studies have found that the Big Five traits are difficult to identify in leaders
C) studies have shown that traits are poor predictors of leadership effectiveness
D) research has found that conscientiousness is a better predictor of effectiveness than
extraversion
E) research has shown that effective managers are often unlikely to become effective leaders
9) Which of the following theories of leadership implies that individuals can be trained to
become leaders?
A) trait theories
B) LMX theory
C) contingency theories
D) behavioral theories
E) Fiedler model
10) The Ohio State Studies narrowed the independent dimensions of leader behavior to two that
substantially accounted for most of the leadership behavior described by employees:
consideration and ________.
A) employee-orientation
B) empathy
C) constructing vision
D) initiating structure
E) charisma
11) In the context of behavioral dimensions of leadership identified in the Ohio State Studies,
initiating structure refers to the extent to which ________.
A) a person’s job relationships are characterized by mutual trust, respect for employees’ ideas,
and regard for their feelings
B) a leader engages in participative management
C) a leader is accepting of and respects individual differences among various team members
D) a leader is likely to define and structure his or her role and those of employees in the search
for goal attainment
E) a leader initiates efforts to communicate personally with employees
12) Kimberley, a manager at a large company, tends to assign group members to particular tasks,
expects workers to maintain definite standards of performance, and emphasizes the meeting of
deadlines. In the light of the Ohio State Studies, this indicates that Kimberley, as a leader, is
________.
A) low in task orientation
B) high in consideration
C) relationship oriented
D) employee oriented
E) high in initiating structure
13) In the context of behavioral dimensions of leadership identified in the Ohio State Studies,
________ is the extent to which a person’s job relationships are characterized by mutual trust,
respect for employees’ ideas, and regard for their feelings.
A) consideration
B) initiating structure
C) production orientation
D) task orientation
E) position power
14) Jim, a VP at a large company, helps employees with personal problems, is friendly and
approachable, treats all employees as equals, and expresses appreciation and support. In the light
of the Ohio State Studies, this indicates that Jim, as a leader, is ________.
A) task oriented
B) high in consideration
C) high in initiating structure
D) low in relationship orientation
E) production oriented
15) The two dimensions of leadership behavior identified in the University of Michigan studies
are ________.
A) absolute leadership and contingency leadership
B) transformational leaders and authentic leaders
C) employee-oriented leaders and production-oriented leaders
D) initiating structure and consideration
E) initiation and completion
16) The University of Michigan studies define a(n) ________ leader as one who takes a personal
interest in the needs of his/her subordinates.
A) contingency
B) task-oriented
C) employee-oriented
D) production-oriented
E) structure initiating
17) If a leader’s main concern is accomplishing his/her group’s tasks, the University of Michigan
studies label this leader ________.
A) employee-oriented
B) high in consideration
C) relationship-oriented
D) low in initiating structure
E) production-oriented
18) The behavioral dimensions identified by the University of Michigan’s Survey Research
Center are closely related to those identified in the Ohio State Study. Employee-oriented
leadership is similar to ________, and production-oriented leadership is similar to ________.
A) initiating structure; consideration
B) task-orientation; relationship-orientation
C) transformational leadership; authentic leadership
D) authentic leadership; transformational leadership
E) consideration; initiating structure
19) Contingency theories focus on the ________ that impact leadership success.
A) leader’s personal characteristics and qualities
B) leader’s abilities to inspire and transform followers
C) situational variables
D) values and ethics
E) aspects of the leader’s behavior
20) The first comprehensive contingency model for leadership was developed by ________.
A) Hersey and Blanchard
B) Blake and Mouton
C) Fred Fiedler
D) John Kotter
E) Douglas Surber
21) Which model represents the theory that effective group performance depends on the proper
match between a leader’s style and the degree to which the situation gives control to the leader?
A) leader-member exchange model
B) Fiedler’s contingency model
C) Hersey and Blanchard’s situational leadership model
D) Vroom and Yetton’s leader-participation model
E) House’s path-goal model of leadership
22) If a survey respondent sees his or her least preferred co-worker in unfavorable terms, Fiedler
would categorize the respondent as ________.
A) high in consideration
B) task-oriented
C) low in initiating structure
D) employee-oriented
E) relationship oriented
23) Fran has just completed and scored the LPC questionnaire given to her during an evaluation
exercise. She is surprised when she finds out that she described her least preferred co-worker in
relatively positive terms because she recalls being particularly annoyed by this difficult co–
worker several times in the past. Based on your understanding of Fiedler’s model, you explain to
Fran that her LPC score makes sense within the model because ________.
A) Fran tends to become very dominating when given ambiguous tasks
B) Fran is usually much more focused on productivity than on developing relationships
C) Fran tends in general to focus on building good relationships with the other employees
D) Fran has a spotty work history and has tended to switch jobs every couple of years
E) Fran is usually chosen for positions of high responsibility within your organization
24) Fiedler’s contingency leadership model assumes that ________.
A) an individual’s leadership style is essentially fixed
B) an individual can use the LPC to change his/her style to a more productive style
C) there is no ideal way to match leadership styles with situations
D) all leaders can learn to adapt to different contingencies
E) each person’s style will change in accordance with the situation at hand
25) Fiedler labels the degree of confidence, trust, and respect that subordinates have in their
leader as ________.
A) leader-member relations
B) task structure
C) position power
D) leader-member exchange
E) leader-member orientation
26) Which of the following situational dimensions identified by Fiedler relates to the degree to
which job assignments are procedurized, that is, structured or unstructured?
A) leader-member relations
B) task orientation
C) task structure
D) initiating structure
E) productivity oriented
27) In the context of Fiedler’s model, the situational dimension termed ________ relates to the
degree of influence a leader has over power variables such as hiring, firing, discipline,
promotions, and salary increases.
A) task structure
B) leader-member exchange
C) position power
D) initiating structure
E) leader-member relations
28) If you were using the Fielder contingency model of leadership to establish a scenario in your
company which gives managers maximum control, which of the following combinations of
situational dimensions would you seek to achieve?
A) high task structure, good leader-member relations, and strong position power
B) limited position power, good leader-member relations, and low task structure
C) less structured jobs, strong position power, and moderate leader-member relations
D) broad employee responsibilities, low position power, and moderate leader-member relations
E) good leader-member relations, low position power, and unstructured jobs
29) According to the Fiedler contingency model of leadership, task-oriented leaders perform best
in situations of ________, while relationship-oriented leaders perform best in ________
situations.
A) moderate control; high and low control
B) high control; low and moderate control
C) high and moderate control; low control
D) high and low control; moderate control
E) moderate and low control; high control
30) Which of the following leadership theories argues that because of time pressures, leaders
establish a special relationship with a small group of their subordinates—the in-group, who are
trusted, get a disproportionate amount of the leader’s attention, and are more likely to receive
special privileges?
A) situational leadership theory
B) leader-member exchange
C) path-goal
D) expectancy
E) Fiedler’s theory
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As you have observed your department manager and her interactions with the department’s
employees, you have come to believe in LMX theory. Sarah and Joe get less of the manager’s
time. Sally gets fewer of the preferred rewards that the manager controls and John has a
relationship with the manager based on formal authority interactions. Rebecca is trusted. Jennifer
gets a disproportionate amount of the manager’s attention and is more likely to receive special
privileges.
31) According to LMX theory, the in-group is likely to be composed of ________.
A) Rebecca and Jennifer only
B) Jennifer only
C) Rebecca only
D) John, Rebecca, and Jennifer only
E) Sarah, Joe, Sally, and John only
32) According to LMX theory, which of the following employees is likely to be included in the
out-group?
A) Rebecca only
B) Jennifer only
C) Sarah and Jennifer only
D) Sarah and Joe only
E) Sarah, Joe, Sally, and John only
33) According to the LMX theory, a leader implicitly categorizes followers as “in” or “out”
________.
A) after careful performance analysis
B) on a temporary basis
C) early in the interaction
D) because of political pressure
E) only after several months of working together
34) According to research relating to the LMX theory of leadership, which of the following does
not appear to characterize in-group members?
A) demographic characteristics similar to those of the leader
B) attitudes similar to those of the leader
C) personality characteristics similar to those of the leader
D) gender opposite to that of the leader
E) higher level of competence than out-group members
35) Which of the following is true according to research testing the LMX theory of leadership?
A) There is substantive evidence that leaders differentiate among followers.
B) Disparities in how leaders treat different followers are largely random.
C) The in-group shows no measurable difference in positive outcomes compared to the out-
group.
D) In-group members usually show lesser “citizenship” behavior at work.
E) In-group members are no more satisfied with their leader than out-group members.
36) Believing that in-group members are the most competent, leaders invest their resources in
them. This, in turn, leads the in-group members to show higher levels of performance at their
jobs. This chain of events reflects the concept of ________.
A) assumption fallacy
B) reverse engineering
C) self-fulfilling prophecy
D) Newcomb’s paradox
E) predestination paradox
37) Who was the first researcher to consider charismatic leadership in terms of OB?
A) Max Weber
B) Robert House
C) Fred Fiedler
D) John Kotter
E) Douglas Surber
38) Which theory of leadership proposes that followers attribute heroic or extraordinary
leadership abilities when they observe certain behaviors?
A) transformational leadership theory
B) authentic leadership theory
C) transactional leadership theory
D) attributional leadership theory
E) charismatic leadership theory
39) Which of the following is not a key characteristic of a charismatic leader?
A) sensitivity to follower needs
B) unconventional behavior
C) vision and articulation
D) focus on maintaining status quo
E) willingness to take risks
40) Which of the following is true regarding whether charismatic leaders are born or made?
A) Charismatic individuals are not born with traits that make them charismatic.
B) Charismatic leaders are usually not achievement oriented.
C) Charisma cannot be learned.
D) Most experts believe individuals can be trained to exhibit charismatic behaviors.
E) Personality has shown no link to charismatic leadership.