In contrast to groups, teams are ________.
A) a loose collection of individuals
B) empowered to make their own decisions
C) designed around specific workplace functions
D) trained in one area of expertise
Table 9.2
A student of organizational communication, John is studying how the target of a
communication shapes the communication. In his studies, he notes that the technical
professionals tend to not tell middle managers about problems they are having with the
system or about shutdowns they will implement to change something. This isn’t a
problem for John because he hears about the system shut downs from the IS department
secretary who calls him up to warn him about 10 minutes before the system goes down.
However, up and down the hall, John can hear managers swearing, as the system goes
down and their work disappears for anywhere from 15 minutes to a couple of hours.
The marketing manager tends to work fairly hard at keeping the sales and operation
managers current on her plans for product campaigns so the sales people can talk about
them and operations can make sure there is enough product on hand to meet demand.
Refer to Table 9.2. The way John hears about the system shut downs is an example of:
A) informal communication.
B) cross-departmental interchange.
C) downward communication.
D) inside communication.
Table 10.1
Brian, Chen, Adrienne, Sandra, and Jill are working on a company problem. Jill is
deeply concerned for the company and how the solution will affect the personal
development of employees. She is open to the others’ suggestions and will tend to make
her decision in the meeting. On the other hand, Brian wants a simple, clear, quick
solution. He only gathers the minimum necessary information and tends to rest on rules
or precedent to make his decision. Adrienne has just retired from a successful 20-year
career in the Army as a logistics officer.In contrast to Brian, Chen enjoys the
problem-solving process. He wants to look at a complex solution because he wants the
best possible solution. Sandra is the facilitator of the group. She reminds the group to
think of the solution’s impact on the employees. Sandra has a strong future orientation
and enjoys her role as facilitator because it allows her to initiate new ideas.
Refer to Table 10.1. Chen has a ________ decision style.
A) directive
B) analytical
C) conceptual
D) behavioral
Table 15.3
You are studying a medium-sized service company. You find that Joe, a customer
service representative, has been doing his job for five years. He takes about 200
customer calls a day and helps customers with their product questions. Bridgette, the
CEO, has been with the company about three years and is in the process of making its
structure more organic and flexible. Between Bridgette and Joe is Fred, who conveys
management’s decisions and policies to Joe and helps Bridgette stay in touch with the
several hundred ‘Joes’ who work in customer service. Sally is the corporate attorney and
works with Bridgette on corporate legal matters.
Refer to Table 15.3. Sally represents the ________ in Mintzberg’s model.
A) technostructure
B) strategic apex
C) operating core
D) support staff
The notion that one should never show humility:
A) learning goal orientation.
B) performance goal orientation.
C) avoidance goal orientation.
D) Machiavellianism.
Suppose a supervisor gets a subordinate to do what she wants by threatening him with
suspension or firing. It can be said that the supervisor is relying on:
A) reward power.
B) coercive power.
C) expert power.
D) legitimate power.
In dealing with desk rage, experts suggest that you:
A) identify the trigger.
B) deal with the feud within the workplace.
C) try to confront the person.
D) encourage all involved to confront the issue immediately.
________ represent common understanding among team members regarding how their
team operates.
A) Shared mental models
B) Cross-functional representations
C) Intrapersonal schematics
D) Symbiotic interrelationships
Table 1.1
Simon is initiating an organizational behavior effort at his company.He wants to look at
how people communicate with each other and coordinate their work efforts. His boss,
Bill, is skeptical, “We conducted a study of this kind ten years ago. I’m not sure we need
to do it again at this time.” Simon convinces his boss they need to press ahead anyway.
As Bill and Simon discuss the OB effort, Simon learns several things about his boss.
Bill believes that the key thing for a business is to fit the right person to the right job.
He agrees with Simon’s interest in careful selection and training of current and future
employees.But, Bill believes that there is only one right way to run a company and do a
job. Simon thinks that the company should create clearer lines of authority by
eliminating their matrix organizational structure, they should encourage employees to
formulate and implement plans, and they should increase specialization among
employees and managers. As Bill and Simon discuss the company’s problems and ways
to improve performance, they mutually come to the conclusion that company’s current
poor performance is probably a function of the fact that they are setting the same goals
and expectations for everyone and not considering individual strengths and weaknesses
or taking the different work circumstances into consideration.
Refer to Table 1.1. Bill’s management philosophy would seem to be most compatible
with a ________ view of people and business.
A) scientific management
B) human relations
C) classical organizational theory
D) modern era
People with high levels of positive affectivity are likely to:
A) be managers.
B) make superior decisions.
C) function less effectively.
D) be targets of aggression.
In the attribution process, correspondent inferences are:
A) explanations for events.
B) judgments about people’s dispositions.
C) judgments about organizational contexts.
D) inferences based on similarities between people.
The use of plants and flower arrangements to create the look of friendly,
person-oriented culture represents which of the following tools for transmitting culture?
A) Slogans
B) Symbols
C) Stories
D) Jargon
________ is a structured social system consisting of groups and individuals working
together to meet some agreed-upon objective.
A) An open system
B) An organization
C) A work team
D) Scientific management
________ may be considered the “dark side” of organizational power.
A) Position power
B) Employee empowerment
C) Corporate centrality
D) Organizational politics
Training on how to help others alleviate misunderstanding that may result from cultural
differences would involve which of the following tools of skills-based training?
A) Cross-cultural understanding
B) Facilitation skills
C) Flexibility and adaptability
D) Intercultural communication
According to the interactionist perspective in organizational behavior:
A) behavior is solely determined by personality.
B) behavior is a function of personality and situational factors.
C) the environment is the dominant element in determining behavior.
D) personality is not a valuable concept even though certain traits do exist.
Bobbie Joe’s team has information that Billie Jean’s team needs but Bobbie Joe’s team
won’t provide it because they are upset about how the other team took credit for one of
their projects in the past. Billie Jean’s team has some extra resources that Bobbie Joe’s
team needs but can’t requisition but they won’t share them since Bobbie Joe’s team
won’t give up the information. It looks like these teams may fail because:
A) the two teams are failing to cooperate with each other.
B) they haven’t seen enough soap operas to know this doesn’t work.
C) there is a lack of support from management.
D) neither team has sufficient resources or autonomy to accomplish their tasks.
The Hawthorne studies were an example of OB research at the ________ level.
A) individual
B) group
C) organizational
D) managerial
A leadership development technique that involves customized one-on-one learning
aimed at improving the leader’s performance is:
A) mentoring.
B) executive coaching.
C) action learning.
D) regression.
Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of a healthy organizational culture?
A) Everyone is humble.
B) People are held accountable.
C) People are not free to take risks.
D) The commitment to doing things well is high.
Organizations like Royal Dutch Shell and the U.S. Army have gone through major
change efforts and learned several things that helped facilitate their changes, including:
A) keep the change effort at top management level to avoid employee resistance.
B) calm people by explaining the status quo is okay, we’re just making incremental
improvements.
C) create an urgency for the change by setting challenging goals or straightforward
communication.
D) explaining how the executives are also suffering and feel the pain of the employees.
Table 13.2
In preparation for grid training, the managers of your company are having their current
styles assessed. Elizabeth seems to have a high concern for production and a high
concern for people. Bill on the other hand, has a low concern for both dimensions.
Recently Elizabeth noticed that one of her employees was not doing well on the job. He
was listless, late to work, and his work products were degenerating in quality. Elizabeth
decided he had been working too hard and gave him a couple of days off. Bill was
transferred to another department. He took three of his subordinates from his old
department with him. After being there six months he gave all employees performance
appraisals. The subordinates who came with him to the new department all did better
than the more experienced people who had been on the job. In fact, the subordinates
who came with Bill were having a hard time adjusting to the new department and had
not been performing all that well.
Refer to Table 13.2. Bill’s behavior is best explained by which leadership theory?
A) Attribution theory
B) Management grid
C) Contingency theory
D) Leader-member exchange model
Research has shown that when people have social support:
A) their ability to resist the adverse effects of stress increases.
B) their ability to resist the adverse effects of stress decreases.
C) they experience less strength.
D) they are less likely to experience role ambiguity.
The process of systematically training people to expand their capacity to function
effectively in leadership roles is :
A) situational leadership.
B) leadership development.
C) grid training.
D) LMX training.
The four steps involved in the process of appreciative inquiry are:
A) defining, discussing, developing, and deploring.
B) defining, deducing, deploring, and delivering.
C) discovering, dreaming, designing, and delivering.
D) discovering, debating, deciding, and delegating.
Which of the following is true about management and leadership?
A) Often, the differences are blurred in practice.
B) Some managers may be leaders, but leaders are never managers.
C) The distinction between the two is quite clear.
D) There is no real difference except in theory.
Which of the following laws provides mechanisms for reporting fraudulent behavior
against U.S. government agencies?
A) Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
B) False Claims Act
C) Sarbanes-Oxley
D) Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations
All of the following are ways to control anger EXCEPT:
A) practice relaxation.
B) change the way you think.
C) use humor.
D) stay in the room to confront the situation.
Which of the following is true about companies’ experience with older workers?
A) They tend to be out sick more often.
B) Most companies have found older workers difficult to train and slow to learn.
C) They have good skills, high commitment, and strong safety records.
D) Younger workers tend to displace them.
Joe was administered a test which used a series of question to determine his personality.
This is an example of:
A) projective tests.
B) objective tests.
C) reliability.
D) validity.
The formal configuration between individuals and groups with respect to the allocation
of tasks, responsibilities, and authority within organizations is known as:
A) organizational structure.
B) organizational design.
C) an organizational chart.
D) division of labor.