Business Communication Today, 14e (Bovee/Thill)
Chapter 2 Collaboration, Interpersonal Communication, and Business Etiquette
1) As an approach to resolving conflict during team activities, a ________ proposes that both
sides can satisfy their goals (at least to some extent) and seeks to minimize losses for everyone
involved.
A) lose-win strategy
B) lose-lose strategy
C) win-win strategy
D) break-even strategy
2) Which of the following requires working together to meet complex challenges and is a key
skill in a wide variety of professions?
A) Collaboration
B) Committees
C) Participative management
D) Groupthink
E) Agendas
3) In participative management
A) employees are involved in the company’s decision making.
B) all top-level managers participate in profit sharing.
C) teams are discouraged in favor of individual achievement.
D) an authoritarian management model is used.
4) Which of the following is one of the advantages of using cross-functional teams for problem
solving?
A) They have a long life span and can become part of the organization
B) The diversity of opinions and experiences can lead to better decisions
C) They can lead to increased participative management
D) There can be increased harmony as decisions are over-simplified
E) There will be clearly developed norms and standards of conduct
5) All of the following EXCEPT ________ are elements of the group development process.
A) anticipation
B) emergence
C) brainstorming
D) reinforcement
6) Which of the following is one of the disadvantages of teams?
A) Protected information and knowledge
B) Diversity of views
C) Hidden agendas
D) Decreased acceptance of a solution
E) Lower performance levels
7) A ________ usually has a long life span and typically deals with regularly recurring tasks.
A) task force
B) work group
C) committee
D) problem-solving team
8) Which of the following is an informal standard of conduct shared between group members,
guiding member behavior?
A) Groupthink
B) Agendas
C) Orientation
D) Norms
E) Alliance
9) Which one of the following is NOT a dysfunctional team role?
A) Controlling
B) Diverting
C) Initiating
D) Withdrawing
10) Which type of team member role is most likely to work to help a team reach its goals?
A) Team maintenance
B) Performing
C) Self-oriented
D) Diverting
E) Task-oriented
11) Which of the following is NOT a way that teams help organizations to succeed?
A) Increase information and knowledge
B) Increase groupthink among members
C) Increase performance levels
D) Increase diversity of views
12) In a functional team-maintenance role, what do members use to offer verbal and nonverbal
support to seek input from other team members?
A) Encouragement
B) Compromise
C) Procedure setting
D) Control
E) Harmonizing
13) Groupthink refers to
A) the willingness of individual group members to withhold contrary or unpopular opinions,
even when those objections are legitimate, and to favor majority opinion.
B) the four-step decision-making process in groups.
C) software programs that help groups make decisions.
D) the basic rules that underlie a group’s behavior and guide the group to make its decisions.
14) During what phase of team evolution do team members discuss their opinions on a topic and
become assertive in establishing their roles?
A) Orientation
B) Conflict
C) Brainstorming
D) Emergence
E) Reinforcement
15) A hidden agenda refers to
A) a meeting agenda that is not revealed to others outside the meeting group.
B) individuals harboring motives, which they conceal from the rest of the group.
C) an agenda that members must look for before they can attend a meeting.
D) an approach to group dynamics that helps facilitate group functioning.
16) Which of the following approaches to conflict will allow all sides to satisfy at least part of
their goals, and minimize losses for everyone?
A) Brainstorming
B) Groupthink
C) Win-win
D) Win-lose
E) Lose-lose
17) Which of the following best describes proactive behavior as a way to successfully resolve
conflict?
A) Have those involved in the conflict discuss issues on a regular basis
B) Encourage members to get feelings out in the open
C) Identify factual reasons for the source of the conflict
D) Deal with minor conflicts before they become major issues
E) Insist on fair outcomes instead of following the rules
18) Group members who are motivated mainly to fulfill personal needs play a
A) team-maintenance role.
B) task-facilitating role.
C) self-oriented role.
D) coordinating role.
19) If group members seem resistant to change, which of the following will encourage them to
share their concerns?
A) Brainstorm
B) Use constructive criticism
C) Encourage flexibility
D) Form an alliance
E) Listen
20) During the ________ of the group-development process, the members of a problem-solving
team would begin to discuss their positions and become more assertive in establishing their roles.
A) conflict phase
B) reinforcement phase
C) orientation phase
D) brainstorming phase
21) ________ refers to working together to meet complex challenges.
A) Collation
B) Collaboration
C) Gathering
D) Meeting up
22) Sometimes, a group member may have a hidden agenda: a private, counterproductive motive
that will affect the group’s interaction. All of the following EXCEPT the desire to ________ are
examples of possible hidden agendas.
A) take control of the group
B) reconcile schedule conflicts for group meetings
C) undermine someone else on the team
D) pursue a business goal that runs counter to the group’s mission
23) The term ________ refers to the interactions and processes that take place among the
members of a team.
A) group dynamics
B) process reconciliations
C) interpersonal rotations
D) cross-functional interlocutions
24) ________ are informal standards of conduct that members share and that guide member
behavior.
A) Norms
B) Expectations
C) Dynamics
D) Responsibilities
25) Conflict between persons or groups in an organization is always destructive and must be
avoided at all costs.
26) Conflict can be a constructive part of teamwork.
27) Briefly explain why the ability to work effectively in teams is so important in business.
28) What can be done to show team members you are listening when they are resistant to ideas
or change?
29) Identify the seven steps that can help minimize conflict in team settings.
30) During collaboration, what should be the main focus of the team?
A) Team objectives
B) Individual priorities
C) Hidden agendas
D) Technology
E) Group dynamics
31) Which of the following is one of the ways used to encourage collaboration among new team
members?
A) Assume things are going well if there is no negative feedback
B) Allow members bonding time
C) Invite all interested parties to collaborate
D) Encourage each team member to work in a style best suited to their personality
E) Compose written information as a group
32) Which of the following can be used to improve the collaborative writing process when
working on conventional websites?
A) PDF files
B) Wikis
C) Content management system
D) Virtual communities
E) Communities of shared practices
33) Which of the following is one of the benefits of using a wiki when writing collaboratively?
A) Accuracy of material
B) Workflow features for page design
C) Knowledge from multiple experts can be captured
D) Freedom to post and revise material
E) Files can only be changed with permission
34) Which of the following is a type of collaborative technology that can help people work on
documents simultaneously, share files, and share the knowledge of multiple experts?
A) Shared workspaces
B) Virtual communities
C) Communities of practice
D) Unified communication
E) Groupware
35) Which of the following allows all group members to have access to the same resources and
information through the use of intranets or extranets?
A) Virtual offices
B) Wikis
C) Clouds
D) Communities of practice
E) Unified communications
36) When an organization links employees with a supplier or customer that shares their interest,
what type of network has been developed?
A) Knowledge organization
B) Community of practice
C) Intranet
D) Multimedia
E) Unified
37) What is the integration of multiple communication channels and capabilities in a single
system called?
A) Fixed web collaboration
B) Cloud computing
C) Unified communication
D) Online brainstorming
E) Social networking
38) Which of the following is a type of feedback designed to focus on the process and outcome
of the communication rather than the people involved?
A) Unified
B) Destructive
C) Parliamentary
D) Constructive
E) Content
39) Which of the following should be the focus of constructive feedback?
A) Suggested changes
B) Flaws in the writer’s arguments
C) Providing personal feedback
D) General behaviors
E) Controllable variables
40) Writing for websites often involves the use of ________, which organize and control content
and support teamwork.
A) wikis
B) shared workspaces
C) word processing software
D) content management systems
41) When composing collaborative messages, the best strategy is to
A) assign the writing task to one person or divide larger projects among multiple writers.
B) begin by letting all members “do their own thing” and then seeing what they all produce.
C) let all members use their own preferred software.
D) make the team as large as possible so that every possible area of expertise will be covered.
42) Social networking technologies can help a company create virtual communities of practice
that
A) allow employees to develop new workplace skills.
B) encourage disgruntled employees t their frustrations.
C) discourage socializing so that individual employees can get their work done.
D) link employees to others with similar professional interests throughout the organization.