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KEY
Chapter 10: Leadership and Decision Making in Groups
Multiple-Choice Questions
1. __________ is the ability to influence others’ behaviors and thoughts toward a productive end.
2. Positions like “Manager,” “Professor,” and “President” convey which kind of power?
3. Jen had a tough time getting her sorority sisters to commit to helping her clean up after the homecoming party
until she offered to order pizza and treat everyone who helped out to a movie night. What type of power did Jen
exercise over the group?
4. Power that stems from a leader’s ability to threaten or harm others is referred to as
5. Leaders who are respected or admired by their followers are said to have
6. A leader who controls the group’s communication by conveying specific instructions to the members uses
which leadership style?
7. Gail could see that the members of her work team were tired and losing their focus on the task. She took a
moment to gather them together and said, “I’ve been watching the clock, too. I know it’s late, and I know
we’ve all put in more hours than anyone could have expected today, and I want you to know how much I
appreciate your dedication. Nobody else could do what you all have done today, and I hope you’ll power
through this last little bit to help us meet this deadline.” What leadership style is Gail using?
8. Al’s speech coach sat him and the rest of his teammates down at the beginning of the season and said, “We
have everything it takes to be the best team in the region this year, and I need every one of you to do your best
in every round of competition so we can fulfill that expectation.” The coach appears to be using which
leadership style?
9. When Tina stepped up to serve as the organizer for the sustainability committee’s organizational meetings, she
decided to get the group organized by having anyone who was interested join her for an open forum where they
could help define the group’s mission, identify problems, and brainstorm some actions they could take to help
her campus go green. What leadership style was Tina using?
10. What unethical behavior consists of a leader who uses harsh criticism, name-calling, gossip, slander, personal
attacks, or threats to safety or job security in order to get members to follow him or her?
11. __________ is the extent to which less powerful members of a group accept that power is distributed
unequally.
12. The group members’ thoughts, beliefs, and emotions relate to which of the forces that shape a group’s decision
making?
13. __________ refer to group members’ personal motives, goals, attitudes, and values.
14. The first step in the problem-solving process is
15. The stage in the problem-solving process in which members of a group would employ brainstorming techniques
is
16. Ashley noticed that the group was coming up to the end of their meeting and wanted to see how close the group
was to making a decision. So she took an informal vote—a tactic we call a/an
True/False Questions
4. Groups with more than one leader (co-chairs, for example) are less effective than groups with a single leader.
6. Coach Jackson’s team is young and inexperienced, so he leads them by calling all of the plays and telling each
7. Achievement-oriented leadership works best when group members see themselves as competent and are
8. Leaders who are perceived as knowledgeable, experienced, and respectable can be effective even if their
11. In a low power distance culture, people tend to defer decision making to those with higher status or authority.
12. Many groups find it difficult to accomplish their goals because they do not spend enough time identifying the
13. After selecting and implementing a solution, a group should identify criteria for a good solution so that they can
14. A leader should determine, before calling a meeting, what he or she hopes to accomplish, and whether the
15. Agendas are crucial to the success of large meetings, but are more constraining than they are helpful in small
17. Group leaders should avoid setting time limits on any components of the discussion because it leads to poor
18. Productive conflict can benefit a group because those who have engaged in the conflict feel a sense of
19. Even though making decisions by consensus takes more time than deciding by majority does, consensus should
20. While virtual meetings work well initially, they must always move on to face-to-face interaction once the group
1. Define leadership.
H = Understanding Group Leadership (p. 212); C = knowledge; D = 1
2. What is the difference between expert and referent power?
H = Five Sources of Power (pp. 213‒214); C = comprehension; D = 2
3. What type of power comes from a person’s ability to punish or harm others?
H = Five Styles of Power (p. 213); C = knowledge; D = 1
4. List the four leadership styles discussed in your textbook.
H = Leadership Styles (p. 215); C = knowledge; D = 2
5. Gossiping, ignoring members of the group, harsh criticism, and slander are all examples of which unethical
leadership tactic?
H = Competence and Ethics (p. 217); C = knowledge and competence; D = 1
6. A leader who grew up in a/an __________ culture might make suggestions to the members of his or her group,
whereas a leader who grew up in a/an __________ culture would probably communicate more directly by
dictating orders or imposing solutions on the group.
H = Context and Power Distance (p. 219); C = knowledge; D = 2
7. Define power distance as it applies to leadership.
H = Context and Power Distance (p. 219); C = knowledge; D = 1
8. List the six steps in the group decision-making process described in your textbook.
H = The Problem-Solving Process (pp. 220‒223); C = knowledge; D = 3
9. During the generating solutions step of the group decision-making process, members will __________ potential
solutions, as well as define the __________ that eventual solutions will have to meet.
H = Generating Solutions (p. 221); C = knowledge; D = 2
10. A document that details the subject and goal of a meeting, the participants, and logistics such as time and place
for a meeting is called a/an __________.
H = Set an Agenda (p. 225); C = knowledge; D = 1
11. List two of the four questions you can ask yourself to assess how well your group is meeting its interpersonal
performance goals.
H = Interpersonal Performance (p. 229); C = knowledge; D = 2
1. Briefly define the five sources of power and describe how various leaders you have interacted with use each
type of power.
C = comprehension; D = 1
2. Compare and contrast the four leadership styles, including directive, participative, supportive, and
achievement-oriented. Identify groups you have been involved in where the leader used each style. Which
group(s) did you feel the most satisfied with, and which ones did you feel the least satisfied with? Why do you
think this is?
C = comprehension and evaluation; D = 2
3. Synthesizing what you have learned throughout this chapter and others, what behaviors would you label as
unethical for a leader to use?
C = synthesis and analysis; D = 2
4. Is a masculine or a feminine leadership style more effective? Are there contexts or particular kinds of groups
where you believe a masculine style or a feminine style would be more or less effective?
C = comprehension and evaluation; D = 2
5. Using a group you have participated in as the example to illustrate your answer, compare and contrast the three
forces (cognitive, psychological, and social) that influence a group’s decision making.
C = comprehension and analysis; D = 2
6. Consider two groups you have participated in: one that was successful in accomplishing its goals and another
that was either not successful or that struggled to accomplish its goals. Briefly describe each group and
compare the way the two different groups went about solving their problem or coming to a decision. What did
one group do well that the other one did not? What could the unsuccessful group do to become more efficient?
C = analysis and evaluation; D = 3
7. You have just been elected president of your school’s student government. Based on what you have read in this
chapter, describe the steps you need to take to be effective at running the group’s meetings.
C = comprehension; D = 1
8. Consider someone you have worked with whom you would characterize as a highly effective leader. What
kinds of power does this person use to influence group members? What type of leadership style does he or she
use? What does he or she do well to make sure that meetings are managed effectively?
C = analysis and synthesis; D = 3
9. Describe, in detail, the three considerations one would use to evaluate a group’s performance.
C = comprehension; D = 2
10. Frank wants to start a gamer club at his college. He knows there are other students who are interested in joining
the club, but he will need to take responsibility for leading the group through the forming and into the norming
stages of their development. Synthesizing what you have learned throughout this chapter, what
recommendations do you have for Frank to help him function effectively as a leader for this group? Consider
what type and style of leadership might work well, the forces that might shape how the group interacts, and the
process they should take to accomplish their goals.
C = synthesis, analysis, and evaluation; D = 3
