Quintanilla, Business and Professional Communication: KEYS for Workplace Excellence 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
Chapter 10: Leadership and Conflict Management
Test Bank
Multiple Choice
1. Early researchers believed that leadership ability was which of the following?
a. inherited gene
b. trait
c. socially based characteristic
d. myth
2. Organizations that pass the leadership roles onto the children of former leaders most likely
view leadership as which of the following?
a. trait
b. socially based characteristics
c. inherited personality
d. birthright
3. Mutual influence, common purpose, and collaboration are marks of which?
a. leadership
b. team-based skills
c. groups
d. team goals
4. A supervisor’s authority to approve a timesheet is what kind of power?
a. coercive power
b. authoritative power
c. legitimate power
d. superior power
5. A manager who takes away a promotion offer as punishment for an employee’s behavior is
exercising which kind(s) of power?
a. legitimate and coercive
b. legitimate and reward
c. legitimate
d. coercive
6. Managerial functions include important duties such as being in charge of and being
responsible for various goals and functions in an organization, while leadership functions
include affecting followers in what way(s) as opposed to subordinates?
a. influencing and guiding
b. being in charge and delegating tasks to
c. speaking in front of
d. having the job title of manager or supervisor in charge of
7. A company hires a consultant to give a presentation to the staff because she is a cocreator of
the customer relations management software the company uses. The consultant has which of
the following?
a. a freelance position
b. a subordinate status
c. an expert power
Quintanilla, Business and Professional Communication: KEYS for Workplace Excellence 4e
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d. a management connection
8. What belief is held by Theory X managers?
a. The average employee likes work.
b. Employees should be self-directed.
c. Employees prefer to not be told what to do.
d. Employees value job security above all else.
9. Theory Y managers believe which of the following?
a. Employees are not motivated.
b. Employees are underutilized.
c. Employees need to be directed.
d. Employees do not seek responsibility but accept it.
10. The idea that workers are for working and managers are for thinking is characteristic of
which leadership style?
a. Theory X
b. Theory Y
c. authoritative
d. democratic
11. Lucinda cares a lot about the amount of work being produced by her team, but she is also
concerned about her employees’ job satisfaction. Which style describes Lucinda?
a. team manager
b. compassionate leader
c. country club leader
d. Theory X leader
12. Ryan is a manager whose only concern is for his employees. Ryan is a which type of leader?
a. team
b. compassionate
c. country club
d. middle of the road
13. Excellent leaders assess each situation and then select the leadership style and
accompanying communication style that best fits the situation using three factors: the leader–
follower relationship, the task structure, and the position power. This is a situational leadership
theory called what?
a. Blake and Mouton’s Managerial Grid
b. Contingency Theory
c. Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Leadership Theory
d. being a transformational leader
14. Sheryl believes that her role as a leader is to participate in each step of the hiring process.
Sheryl is concerned at this point with which of these issues?
a. overseeing every aspect of every employee’s work
b. getting to know every applicant whether he or she is hired or not
c. the hiring process
d. delegating
15. When should a leader meet a new employee?
a. during the interview
b. sometime before the employee is hired
c. on the employee’s first day on the job
d. after the employee has been through an orientation
16. Giving team members homework or tasks at meetings accomplishes which of the following?
a. allows the team members to be more involved in each task
b. is a way to assert authority
c. helps maintain the line between subordinate and superior
d. will cause employees to forget the other points of the meeting
17. What should a leader do in between meetings?
a. allow his or her employees to work independently
b. send reminders of upcoming work to be discussed at the next meeting
c. take over a task that is not being completed in a timely manner
d. allow workers to switch tasks if they think that it will benefit the group
18. Kyler did not finish his task and is unable to report on it for the meeting. What should the
leader of his team do?
a. give the task to someone else to finish
b. tell Kyler to skip the meeting in order to work on the task
c. move Kyler to the agenda for the next meeting
d. require Kyler to attend and report on his unfinished work
19. Leaders should give their positive feedback in which way?
a. in private and sometimes publicly
b. on a regular basis
c. in public but never privately
d. in written form only
20. Negative feedback should be given in which way?
a. in private only
b. during a meeting
c. publicly
d. in written form only
21. Having which attribute means that you have magnetic charm, allure, and you are able to
appeal to others?
a. leadership traits
b. the qualities of a follower
c. charisma
Quintanilla, Business and Professional Communication: KEYS for Workplace Excellence 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
d. contingency traits
22. Which of the following is an appropriate use of reward power?
a. giving a good schedule to an employee for consistent timeliness
b. giving a raise opportunity for an employee’s poor performance
c. giving a cramped and undesirable office to a favorite employee
d. making an employee work extra hours with no extra pay
23. Matt recently landed a job at a successful company after he linked up with a former
fraternity member who was now the hiring manager. Matt’s case is an example of which kind of
power?
a. fraternal power
b. connection power
c. friend power
d. networking power
24. Alex recently began working for a new manager who motivates him to work for the good of
the company instead of for himself. Alex’s manager is an example of which type of leader?
a. motivational
b. inspirational
c. transformational
d. psychological
25. Which of the following is an example of healthy face-saving behavior?
a. blaming a coworker for a missed deadline
b. offering to take the blame for a failed project
c. blaming a budget cut for poor project results
d. saving negative feedback for a private setting
26. Which of these includes five managerial styles: impoverished, country club, authoritative,
middle of the road, and team?
a. situational leadership grid
b. managerial grid
c. Hersey grid
d. Benson grid
27. The five types of power identified by French and Raven are coercive power, legitimate,
power, reward power, connection power, expert power, and which kind of power?
a. referent power
b. real power
c. imposter power
d. punishment power
28. The first step of the KEYS approach requires you to understand how you act as a leader and
to assess if you would like working for which type of boss?
a. a boss like you
b. multiple bosses at one time
Quintanilla, Business and Professional Communication: KEYS for Workplace Excellence 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
c. an authoritative boss
d. a laissez-faire boss
29. According to the final step of the KEYS approach, people should always make sure that they
have the most complete and what other sort of information possible before they make
decisions that can affect both themselves and their employees’ professional careers?
a. reliable
b. unbiased
c. ethical
d. easiest to access
30. The third step of the KEYS approach involves which of these?
a. your communication interaction
b. evaluate the professional context
c. know yourself
d. step back and reflect
31. The first step of the KEYS approach, know yourself, suggests that you place yourself where?
a. in the office where you can be undisturbed and get more work finished
b. mingling with vendors
c. in your employees’ shoes
d. at every celebration of birthdays and anniversaries
32. Carlton has been with Shyster, Flywheel, and Shyster for a short time. He is working to learn
as much about the environment of the organization as he can. Which step of the KEYS approach
is Carlton applying?
a. your communication interaction
b. evaluate the professional context
c. know yourself
d. step back and reflect
33. Babs uses aggression and anger to get her way in the office. Most of the other employees
allow her to have what she wants to avoid a blowup. This type of behavior also gets her out of
many responsibilities, because no one wants to work with her. Babs exhibits which type of
behavior?
a. sniper
b. drama queen
c. bully
d. slacker
34. Jaxon is more appealing to his coworkers than is the run-of-the-mill slacker. When he is
around, there is often laughter and fun, but in the end, others always do his share of the work.
Which type of behavior is Jaxon exhibiting?
a. grump
b. vampire
c. distracter
d. team player
35. Judith has been with the organization for quite some time. She doesn’t like change and
often refuses to carry out changes in her duties. Judith is exhibiting which behavior?
a. grump
b. vampire
c. bully
d. roadblock to change
36. Pete does his job and he does it well. Pete also wants to take on extra duties, learn more,
and to advance his career. What term best describes Pete?
a. vampire
b. grump
c. star
d. roadblock to change
37. Alicia enjoys starting arguments, gossiping, holding grudges, and the like. She often blows
small things out of proportion for attention. Which term best describes Alicia?
a. grump
b. roadblock to change
c. slacker
d. drama queen
38. Sophie has been with the organization for a few months, and people have begun to see that
she increasingly finds excuses to get out of doing her assigned work. She has been known to say
“I don’t know how,” “No one trained me,” “That’s not my job,” or “You didn’t tell me to do
that.” Which descriptor best fits Sophie?
a. grump
Quintanilla, Business and Professional Communication: KEYS for Workplace Excellence 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
b. roadblock to change
c. slacker
d. drama queen
39. Bill has a big personality, but in meetings he often leads the team on tangents by adding
examples, comments, and questions that are long-winded and stray from the purpose of the
meeting. Which term best describes Bill?
a. grump
b. roadblock to change
c. slacker
d. distracter
40. Javier is considered by most to be a good leader. One of the things he does to earn that
consideration is to represent which of the following?
a. role model
b. vampire
c. roadblock to change
d. patient
41. ______ is a dynamic relationship based on mutual influence and common purpose.
a. Leadership
b. Management
c. Supervision
d. Charisma
42. ______ is a person’s rank or position in an organization.
a. Leadership
b. Title
c. Status
d. Charisma
43. The ______ is the higher-status person and the ______ is the lower-status person.
a. superior; subordinate
b. subordinate; superior
c. inferior; subordinate
d. superior; inferior
44. Under the ______ style, the leader makes all the decisions with little input from the team.
a. laissez-faire
b. authoritative
c. democratic
d. idiosyncratic
45. In the ______ style, the leader follows the will of the people, or at least the majority of the
people, with decisions often being made through voting.
a. laissez-faire
b. authoritative
c. democratic