Human Relations for Career & Personal Success, 11e (DuBrin)
Chapter 9 Specialized Tactics for Getting Along with Others in the Workplace
1) The most vital strategy for impressing your manager is to ________.
A) take the initiative in asking for help
B) enjoy your work
C) be dependable and honest
2) Which of the following will probably not demonstrate a strong work ethic?
A) Demonstrate competence even on minor tasks
B) Accept undesirable assignments willingly
C) Suggest that others take the responsibility for free-floating problems
D) Get your projects completed promptly.
3) A good organizational citizen will work hard for the good of the firm ________.
A) so long as a valuable reward will be forthcoming
B) even without the promise of a specific reward
C) providing the organization cares about preserving the environment
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4) Ava demonstrates good organizational citizenship behavior when she ________.
A) votes for the same political party favored by the company CEO
B) does extensive volunteer work in her community
C) confines her work activities to those included in her job description
5) Which of the following is not recommended as a way of creating a strong presence?
A) Get involved in high visibility projects
B) Get involved in teams
C) Maximize opportunities for working from home
D) Make constructive suggestions about earning or saving money
6) Ed is valued by his employer because of the way he handles complaints. It is likely that Ed
________.
A) asks his boss to solve his complaints
B) goes to his boss’s boss with his complaints
C) gets his coworkers involved with his complaints
D) backs up complaints with action plans
7) A surgical nurse brings her complaint directly to the top administrator of the hospital. She is,
therefore, violating the tactic called ________.
A) learn from your boss’s mistakes
B) stay in touch
C) recognize that your boss has problems too
D) avoid bypassing your manager
8) Studies have shown that a good way of ingratiating yourself to your boss and others in the
workplace is to ________.
A) poke fun at the stated purpose of the organization
B) engage heavily in self-promotion
C) make effective use of humor
9) Tony, a financial analyst, must deliver the bad news to his boss that the company will most
likely lose a lot of money this quarter. To help maintain a good relationship with his boss, Tony
should ________
A) suggest a way for reducing the loss next quarter.
B) emphasize that the sales force is to blame.
C) explain that the problem belongs to the boss, not to him.
D) say, Don’t shoot me, I’m only the messenger.”
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10) An example of a cross-cultural factor in developing a good relationship with your boss
would be ________.
A) whether or not the manager expects to be respected
B) the type of respect the manager expects
C) whether or not you are expected to attain performance standards
13) Lauren takes the initiative by assuming personal responsibility for problems, so we have a
hint that she has a weak work ethic.
14) A good way to impress most managers is to stick to tasks that are part of your job
15) In this age of information technology and connectivity, dependability and honesty are no
16) The tactic of creating a strong presence refers basically to actions designed to make you
visible and noted in the workplace.
17) To help build a good relationship with your manager you should back up complaints with a
18) When Judy doesn’t like something her boss does, she quickly sends a tweet to higher
management complaining about her boss. We must give Judy credit for having developed an
19) When you have to deliver bad news to your manager it is best to blame yourself to the
20) An example of a possible cross-cultural factor in having a good relationship with your
manager is that managers from some cultures expect more respect than managers from other
21) Ellie is referred to as a micromanager because she is a manager who ________.
A) carefully monitors the work of group members
B) has responsibility for small computers in the office
C) enjoys punishing group members for small mistakes
D) gives group members too much freedom
22) Baxter’s boss, Alberto, has the pet peeve of wanting text message progress reports twice a
day. Baxter thinks that these reports are a waste of time. A recommended approach for Baxter
would be to ________.
A) report Alberto’s behavior to Alberto’s boss
B) negotiate with Alberto on the frequency of reports
C) take the initiative to send only weekly updates
D) send the updates to Alberto at least twice a day
23) A study involving over 1,000 employees suggested that supervisors who are abusive are
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24) One hint that Garfield is a micromanager is that he checks each of his team members at least
once a day to make sure they are seated correctly at their desks to avoid ergonomics problems.
25) If Margot would like to have more access to the boss, power, and information she should
________.
A) spy on her coworkers
B) become part of the office in-group
C) become part of the office out-group
D) decrease her organizational citizenship behavior
26) A study showed that two important factors in building good coworker relationships are
________.
A) low self-esteem and being at the edge of a communication network
B) high self-esteem and being at the center of a communication network
C) being introverted and avoiding communication networks
D) low self-esteem and sending Tweets to coworkers
27) Making other people feel important is an honest relationship-building tactic because
________.
A) most workers need a daily dose of flattery to keep going
B) making others feel important is part of most job descriptions
C) approximately 95 percent of workers are narcissists
D) every worker in an organization has a contribution to make
28) A basic part of being civil is ________.
A) demanding your rights
B) gently poking fun at the clothing of coworkers
C) practicing good basic manners
D) confronting coworkers about their mistakes
29) Sebastian could be engaging in the BYB phenomenon at the office when he explains to
coworkers how he ________.
A) plans to remove mites from his mattress
B) make suggestions for updating the purchasing system
C) appreciates being a member of his team
D) would like more first-hand information about the company fitness club
30) Amy is given a gold pin honoring her 25 years of good service to the firm. Which of the
following compliments paid her best fits the qualities of an appropriate compliment?
A) “I don’t know where the company would be without you.”
B) “I guess the company isn’t fussy.” (Said with a laugh.)
C) “I’m impressed with your reputation and stability.”
D) “With your record, you should be an executive.”
31) Niki wants to be part of the in-crowd in the office so she should exert effort into developing
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32) A study with healthcare workers showed that having low self-esteem was associated with
high popularity because workers with low self-esteem do not create jealously problems.
33) Being uncivil toward coworkers helps build relationships with them because uncivil
behavior, including rudeness, has become the norm in the workplace.
34) Following the Golden Rule has become too old-fashioned a tactic to be an effective way to
build teamwork in the modern workplace.
35) Group norms are usually communicated to employees through orientation programs and
company manuals.
36) A major problem in deviating from group norms is that you run the risk of being isolated
from the group.
37) Companies are more likely to discourage romantic relationships between employees at the
same level than restricting managers from dating subordinates.
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38) The purpose of the consensual relationship (or love) contract is to set an upper limit on how
much the couple can sue the company should they split within three years.
39) Serena engages in proactive customer service performance when she investigates how much
the customer could really afford to pay for her company’s product.
40) An employee who wants to be a good team player should ________.
A) avoid giving information and opinions to others
B) avoid asking for favors from other team members
C) keep jokes to himself or herself
41) Linda wants to be a better team player, so maybe she should decrease ________.
A) providing emotional support to coworkers
B) sharing confidential information with teammates
C) sharing credit with coworkers
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42) Alex develops a good relationship with coworker Lori, but then backstabs her by ________.
A) telling their supervisor that Lori might be looking for a new job
B) giving her suggestions on how to improve her productivity
C) laughing at her new arm tattoo
D) asking Lori for a date
43) Gilbert has a strong customer service orientation, so he works hard at ________.
A) getting customers to make large purchases
B) helping customers
C) encouraging customers to shop by price
D) selling the most profitable items first
44) Tanya is a sales representative for a software developer for organizations. Tanya engages in
proactive customer service performance when dealing with a customer when she ________.
A) explains that her company’s software is too advanced for the company’s computer system
B) offers the potential customer a rebate
C) tells the customer to buy now because the software in question will become obsolete in six
months
D) demands payment in advance for the company’s software
45) Which one of the following behaviors least fits service-oriented organizational citizenship
behavior?
A) Performs duties with unusually few mistakes
B) Makes constructive suggestions for service improvement
C) Cautions outsiders about coming to work at his or her company
46) Banquet manager Juan delivers a “wow” experience to a customer when he ________.
A) asks the customer to fill out a lengthy customer survey
B) adds a surcharge to the bill
C) gives everyone attending the banquet a bottle of water
D) provides the customer with an unusually sensitive and warm surprise
47) Assistant hotel manager Wendy is informed that a couple staying at the hotel will be
celebrating their 75th wedding anniversary at the hotel. Wendy gives the couple a “Wow”
experience when she presents the couple with a small wedding cake with the number 75 written
48) Customer service workers are advised to engage in shallow rather than deep acting to deal
better with customers.
49) Truck sales representative Lloyd engages in emotional effort when he expresses the
emotional response his customer expects such as saying, “You will feel like a powerful person
50) Sales representative Carlos is fluent in English and Spanish. So when a customer with a
Spanish accent talks to him in English, according to a recommendation in the human relations
text he should respond to her only in Spanish.