Research shows that individual differences for various times of the day are real and are
important to job performance.
While employee demographics and performance gaps in organizations often prompt
unplanned change, government regulation only affects strategic planned change in
organizations.
People join groups both because they share mutual goals but also for protection from
other groups.
Team leaders should focus on training and directing individuals.
If Danny Poe is conducting a group interview for a management position at his firm,
SencorTeck, and he chooses a candidate within the first 5 minutes of the interview, then
Danny could be using an the explicit favorite option.
Executive coaching is a leadership development technique involving a continuous
process of learning and reflection that is supported by colleagues and that emphasizes
getting things done.
Management by objectives (MBO) requires goal setting at the management level only.
The degree to which an individual is creative, curious, and cultured versus practical
describes his/her Big Five personality dimension of openness to experience.
For learning to take place there must be a relatively permanent change in behavior as a
consequence of the corresponding experience.
Global competition and technology are two forces driving unplanned change in
organizations.
Having a diverse workforce ensures that creativity will flourish.
Proficiency in the use of a wide range of techniques for inducing positive reactions in
others is known as social perception.
A psychological consequence of stress is drug abuse.
A normative or prescriptive approach is one that describes how decision makers ideally
ought to behave so as to make the best possible decisions.
There are a number of assumptions underlying strategic planning including the
assumption that strategies are formulated to bring about change when current objectives
can not be met by what the company is currently doing.
Situational leadership adjusts the manager’s leadership style based on the goals set by
followers and what is needed to help them achieve those goals.
While prejudice can make the work environment unpleasant for the person it is directed
towards, it seldom has any real effect on the individual’s career.
Simply put, creativity is a “flash of brilliance.” It is not a process that can be modeled.
It is essential in developing creativity to reduce ideas to their simplest level and then
rebuild them in your mind.
According to the dispositional model of job satisfaction, people who like whatever job
they’re doing at one point in time are expected to like the jobs they’re doing at another
point in time, even if they’re doing different jobs.
Due to standardizations in organizational performance evaluations, the appraisal
process is generally an unbiased, rational procedure.
The best way to create an innovative climate is to specifically link organizational goals
to innovations and to connect each innovation to some type of monetary reward.
Almost all the workers surveyed by the Society of Financial Service Professionals
reported playing computer games while at work.
Supportive communicators do not say what they mean, and they focus on the person,
not the problem, in their communication.
People have an infinite number of different emotions.
Mick and Charlie are having an informal get-together over lunch to discuss what’s
going on in the company.They are having a brown bag meeting.
In the rational-economic decision-making model, the decision maker makes a decision
as soon as possible on as little information as possible.
The degree of impact a job is believed to have on others is known as task identity.
Tense muscles, higher blood pressure, and an elevated heart rate are all symptoms of
stress.
Research has shown that most people prefer using coercive power.
Generally speaking, companies are doing more, not less, to encourage diversity.
Power based in one’s ability to reward others is known as legitimate power.
The extent to which a job requires doing different activities using several skills and
talents is known as skill variety.
Informal collections of individuals who share a common identity with regard to factors
such as race or ethnicity are affinity groups.
When Garret Memorial Hospital decided to share expenses with Cumberland Memorial
Hospital to build and operate an MRI unit, they formed a:
A) joint venture.
B) mutual service consortia.
C) value chain partnership.
D) spin-off.
When a company allows its employees to work fewer but longer days, it is using:
A) a flextime program.
B) job sharing.
C) compressed work weeks.
D) voluntarily reduced work time programs.
A behavioral approach to leadership focuses on:
A) what the leader does.
B) who the leader is.
C) who are the followers of the leader.
D) when the leader uses what style of leadership.
The contingency perspective is useful because it respects that:
A) organizations may be rigid.
B) the scientific method may be limited.
C) different situations produce different answers.
D) few managers address personal characteristics.
The idea that people possess certain characteristics that make them leaders:
A) is the contingency theory of leadership.
B) Is the great person theory.
C) describes normative theory.
D) is the basis of situational leadership theory.
Max Weber’s contribution to organizational behavior lay in his search for:
A) the best way to identify and consider employee motivation and attitude.
B) the ideal way to perform a job.
C) the most efficient way to structure an organization.
D) the key characteristics of effective executive leadership.
Psychological contracts vary with respect ________.
A) time frame
B) performance requirements
C) both “A” and “B”
D) neither “A” nor “B”
Which of the following is an example of constructive organizational deviance?
A) Workplace aggression
B) Violence
C) Whistleblowing
D) Both A and B.
The most important organizational cultural element for managing innovation is:
A) the ability to apply time pressure on employees without making them quit.
B) the balancing of goals, rewards, and time pressure.
C) the firm’s senior leadership.
D) market research.
Table 14.2
As an innovation consultant, you work with a number of firms. Better Mousetraps
builds inexpensive but sophisticated mousetraps. They have very capable designers and
engineers who are highly motivated by a personal desire to rid the world of mice, yet
innovation is low. The CEO asks you to conduct some creativity training. You lead the
key designers through a process for coming up with new ideas by reframing common
problems in unique ways to come up with multiple or alternative solutions. Along with
the training, you interview the designers and engineers and discover that they are not
clear on what the CEO wants. You also find they perceive a corporate bias towards the
status quo, not an encouragement to innovate.
Refer to Table 14.2. Your interviews of employees has uncovered a weakness in which
organizational component for innovation?
A) The way innovation is managed
B) The resources to innovate
C) The motivation to innovate
D) None of these.
Table 3.3
Tony manages a small group of customer service representatives and is responsible for
all their training. His coaching style is to catch people doing this right, then offer praise
and small rewards for proper performance. When Tony works with the customer service
representatives who handle customer correspondence, he pays random surprise visits to
each representative to encourage, coach, and correct behavior. He believes this keeps
the representatives on their toes. With his customer service representatives who handle
phone calls, Tony drops in on each one after they have taken between 50-100 calls. He’s
able to monitor their call rate from his computer terminal.
Refer to Table 3.3. Tony’s learning philosophy is an example of:
A) operant conditioning.
B) observational learning.
C) modeling.
D) classical conditioning.
In which of the following stages does an individual do whatever adheres to universal
moral principles?
A) Preconventional level
B) Conventional level
C) Postconventional level
D) Ethical relativism
The management team is discussing whether to use self-managing teams or more
traditional work groups. The team dimension they are debating is:
A) the mission or purpose of the team.
B) the duration of the team.
C) the authority structure of the team.
D) the degree of operational autonomy.
A ________ is a workplace bully who denies his or her victims the resources they need
to work.
A) Constant Critic
B) Two-Headed Snake
C) Vindictive Gatekeeper
D) Screaming Mimi
To be effective, organizational discipline should:
A) be delivered after a short delay to reinforce the intensity of the punishment.
B) start with a severe negative consequence for the first offense to ensure it being
extinguished.
C) use moderate levels of punishment.
D) be directed at the individual personally.
David is in charge of the marketing department, and he has been assigned to head up
the new MOV VI Product-Development Team. David is a:
A) top leader.
B) functional boss.
C) matrix boss.
D) product champion.
The stage of the creative process that involves gathering the appropriate information
and concentrating on the problem is:
A) allowing ideas to incubate.
B) documenting insight.
C) verify ideas.
D) preparing to be creative.
The relative social position or rank given to a social unit is called:
A) precedents.
B) status.
C) structure.
D) social facilitation.
Table 10.3
Nancy recently tried to talk her executive management team into moving into
international markets. She emphasizes the positive opportunities that were possible, but
her supervisors turn her idea down because they fear the risks involved. They preferred
expanding existing markets to entering new markets. Nancy reviews the meeting with
her supervisor later to see how she could improve it. Her supervisor says that she didn’t
provide sufficient information prior to the meeting and several of the executives were
drawing on information currently on their desks, showing the international market was
a dangerous place to be, rather than the exciting opportunity Nancy tried to present.
Gail, Nancy’s friend, suggested at lunch that the ‘old-boys’ network was functioning,
and she was turned down because they weren’t going to let some pushy woman tell
them what they should be doing. About four months after the presentation, the
executive management team meets again to decide about the investment of capital and
effort. Existing markets are drying up, and if the company doesn’t move into new
markets, especially internationally, it may well fail. Obsolescence of the product line
and the growth of competition is destroying their market share and profitability.
However, the management team decides to invest more money and effort into existing
markets and to let the international idea sit.
Refer to Table 10.3. Nancy’s immediate boss’s explanation for the turndown is related
to:
A) a representativeness heuristic.
B) an availability heuristic.
C) bias toward an implicit favorite.
D) bounded discretion.
John is looking at employee perceptions, attitudes, and motives in order to improve
worker productivity. John is conducting OB research at which level?
A) Organizational
B) Group
C) Individual
D) None of these; this is not OB research.
Ana is helping her employees break their mental sets and think more complexly in
order to improve their creativity. Ana is helping them to develop their:
A) creativity-relevant skills.
B) intrinsic behavioral skills.
C) affect-based skills.
D) domain-relevant skills.
Which of the following is characteristic of a mechanistic organization?
A) The replacement of people with technology
B) Proliferation of generalist positions
C) Involvement in a dynamic business environment
D) High employee specialization
Table 16.3
As an organizational development consultant, you are discussing the various OD
techniques the CEO could choose from in bringing about change in her company. You
suggest that she begin the process with a quick, inexpensive data gathering from the
employees. She likes the idea, especially since the technique you recommend allows
them to also receive information. Once you have the data, you suggest she go for a
program that helps her managers work together more effectively. You suggest that small
groups of managers meet on a regular basis to identify and discuss problems in the
workplace. The CEO says this all sounds good, but wants to know how to improve
organizational and individual goal setting and accomplishment. She wants a way to plan
and implement strategic change for the organization, not get lost in a number of
individual programs. You conclude the meeting by talking about employee job
satisfaction and asking what her thoughts are on it. She says that it is relatively high,
and while important, it can wait to be addressed until these other issues are dealt with.
Refer to Table 16.3. The CEO’s concerns about an overall program would be best met
by:
A) team building.
B) quality of work life initiatives.
C) survey feedback.
D) management by objectives.
One way to minimize distortion and omission problems in communication is the
practice of:
A) redundancy.
B) active listening.
C) queuing.
D) information skimming.
The personality dimension found to most closely relate to task is:
A) extroversion-introversion.
B) conscientiousness.
C) high self-monitoring skills.
D) emotional stability.
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. What characteristic of organizational behavior is the “boss”
apparently not aware of?
A) OB’s tie to the improvement of people’s quality of work life.
B) The contingency orientation of OB.
C) OB’s recognition of the dynamic nature of organizations.
D) OB’s confrontation of the changing nature of work.
John is working at overcoming some resistance to organizational change. He has talked
the CEO into telling the managers that this is an important change and he’s supporting
it. John has used which technique for overcoming resistance?
A) Rewarding constructive behavior
B) Educating the workforce
C) Involving employees in the change effort
D) Gaining leadership support
The belief that financial success is the only thing that matters is known as:
A) ethical relativism.
B) bottom-line mentality.
C) exploitative mentality.
D) Madison Avenue mentality.
Table 3.2
William and Malcolm are interviewing high school students for jobs at a newly opened
fast food restaurant. William knows his first interviewee; he coached him on the local
community softball team. William doesn’t expect the interview to go well or to hire the
young man because he wasn’t very open to advice when he was coached. Malcolm’s
first candidate is late and runs up disheveled and out of breath. Malcolm assumes the
young man had difficulty on his way to the interview and gives him time to calm down
and improve his appearance. Several hours into the process William is interviewing his
20th candidate, Jane. When she sits down she drops into her seat, folds her arms, and
pinches her lips together. She’s wearing a T-shirt with the image and name of a local
heavy metal band on it. William prepares himself for a hostile and unfriendly interview
but is surprised that after the first couple of questions Jane turns out to be quite polite
and friendly. Malcolm’s last candidate is friendly, has similar interests to Malcolm and
knows several of the people Malcolm knows in the community. Malcolm comments to
William as they are picking up their files, “That kid reminds me of me when I was 17.”
Refer to Table 3.2. Malcolm is probably making what perceptual bias error with his last
job candidate?
A) Fundamental attribution error
B) Halo effect
C) Similar-to-me effect
D) First-impression error
Table 13.1
Tom leads a work team on the line at his manufacturing company. Tom works well with
his team because he is willing to cooperate; he doesn’t try to dominate, he develops
coalitions within the team, and he has extensive networks with other people in the
company for getting resources needed to accomplish their job. His crew consists of
highly competent, technical professionals, who program the computers that run the
equipment on the manufacturing line. Because of his excellent leadership skills, Tom
was given the responsibility to train a new team of technicians fresh from vo-tech
school. Once he had them trained, he would return to leading his regular team.
Refer to Table 13.1. In terms of orientation to task or people, Tom seems to be:
A) high in initiating structure.
B) high in personalized leadership motivation.
C) low in consideration.
D) high in consideration.
Table 7.3
Randy, Marvin, and Mary Virginia sell for Made-for-You. As they are having lunch
together, Randy discovers that he is receiving a higher commission rate than Marvin or
Mary Virginia. When he excuses himself, Marvin and Mary Virginia start talking about
how Randy sells less than they do, has higher expenses, and has less time with the
company than they do. They are doing a slow burn by the time Randy returns to the
table.
Refer to Table 7.3. Mary Virginia, in comparison to Randy, may be in the state of:
A) equitable payment.
B) low instrumentality.
C) underpayment inequity.
D) overpayment inequity.
________ involves decreasing undesirable behavior by following it with undesirable
consequences.
A) Extinction
B) Punishment
C) Positive reinforcement
D) Negative reinforcement
In work settings where employees are inexperienced or underqualified for their jobs, or
when subordinates adopt an adversarial stance, the best leadership style is:
A) permissive autocrat.
B) directive autocrat.
C) permissive democrat.
D) directive democrat.
Which of the following would be the best candidate to go virtual?
A) A multinational conglomerate
B) A software company writing software for Windows applications
C) A pharmaceutical company that produces the only product for treating a certain
disease
D) Any of these would be effective as virtual companies.
Describe the four characteristics of individuals who are inclined to behave aggressively.
Identify and explain the six common politics tactics used in organizations.
What are the steps in appreciative inquiry?
What is networking, and why is it beneficial to leadership development?
What are the four aspects of group structure?
What were the early influences on the study of organizational behavior?
What is the decision style model?
What are reliability and validity, and why are they of critical importance to personality
testing?
What is organizational citizenship?
Describe the key characteristics of a group.
Explain the value theory of job satisfaction.
Identify and discuss the five organizational forms of Mintzberg’s framework.
Define whistle blowing.
Discuss the two theoretical approaches used to study the use of power in groups or
subunits.
What are the five key principles of effective training?
Name the major causes of organizational conflict.