Chapter 9
Employee
Empowerment and
Interpersonal
Interventions
TEST QUESTIONS
True/False Questions
1. An underlying assumption in most OD programs is that as the individual becomes
more effective, the greater the probability that he or she will be promoted to higher
ranks of influence and power, and therefore the organization as a whole will become
more effective.
2. Delegation of power and decision-making to lower levels is a central idea of
employee empowerment.
3. Transactional Analysis and laboratory learning are two terms that are used
interchangeably to describe the same interpersonal intervention.
4. Laboratory learning typically uses the work group such as other team members to
experiment and increase interpersonal skills.
5. Laboratory learning is increasingly used by OD consultants as a training technique.
6. The focus on laboratory learning is on what goes on in the group and on the
interpersonal dynamics between group members.
7. Laboratory learning can be viewed as a training method for participants to learn away
from the work site and with strangers. In the sessions they experiment with new
behaviors and receive candid feedback from others on the effectiveness of those
behaviors.
8. The blind area of the Johari Window represents behaviors and feelings not known to
oneself or to others.
9. Disclosure and feedback allow a person to alter the four areas of the Johari Window.
10. According to structural analysis concept of Transactional Analysis, complementary,
crossed, and ulterior are the three ego states.
11. The child ego state is a collection of feelings, attitudes, and behaviors retained from
the person’s childhood.
12. In most people only one ego state resides in a person. As a person matures from an
infant to retirement age, this ego state changes.
13. Using structural analysis in the Transaction Analysis model is to help a person to
understand better the sources of their values, behaviors, and thoughts.
14. A transaction occurs when one person, communicating with a second person, directs
one of his or her specific ego states through a message to any one of the other
person’s ego states.
15. A crossed transaction occurs when a message sent from one ego state receives an
expected response from the other person’s appropriate ego state.
16. A conditional stroke is a transaction tied to some type of performance of the receiver.
17. Crooked strokes are similar to ulterior transactions as both transmit a message
different from the words that a person uses.
18. The “I’m not OK, you’re not OK” psychological position suggests lower feelings of
self-esteem or feelings of lack of power when compared to others.
19. One of the most helpful aspects of Transactional Analysis is that it provides a helpful
way of analyzing others and pointing out to them how they can improve their
communications.
20. The purpose of career life planning is to find promotional opportunities for top levels
of management so that the OD program will have supporters at the highest levels.
21. Career development is becoming more important as those serving in management
ranks are less secure in their positions and are less likely to get promotions than in
previous times.
22. The first step in career life planning is to decide what types of jobs or work the
participant would like to be doing at the end of ten years.
23. The results of career life planning have shown that turnover declines dramatically
and employees express higher satisfaction with their work.
24. Stress in some situations may be positive, as when it causes someone to be
challenged in their performance.
25. Some studies on the effects of job stress have shown that jobs causing the most
problems with high blood pressure were not those jobs with a great deal of pressure
to work hard and fast such as high-powered executive jobs. Instead, the types of jobs
causing increases in blood pressure were lower-level jobs where there was a high
psychological demand coupled with little control over the work place and little use of
skills.
26. Job burnout typically occurs among people who work on an assembly line doing
repetitive work without having the opportunity to interact with others.
Multiple-Choice Questions
27. An underlying assumption in the development of the individual member of an
organization is that _____.
a. individual interventions are implemented with all organization
members
b. it is usually successful and therefore more cost effective than most
other methods
c. if the individual becomes more effective, the total organization will
also be improved
d. it is usually not successful but the method is still used as it is part of an
overall change program
e. answers a and d
28. A central idea of employee empowerment is to _____.
a. change the flow of work throughout the organization
b. delegate power and decision making to lower levels
c. improve the flow of the formal communications throughout the
organization
d. increase the size of an employee’s Johari Window
e. all of the above
29. The effectiveness of an organization is a function of _____.
a. the skills of the individual members
b. how effectively the needs of individual members are integrated with
overall objectives
c. the manager’s leadership style
d. the integration of its sociotechnical system with that of the individual
members
e. the relationship of a manager’s motivation to the overt communication
patterns of his/her subordinates
30. Another term for laboratory learning is _____.
a. encounter groups
b. Johari Window
c. wellness program
d. Transactional Analysis
e. meditation
31. Laboratory learning is a means of improving individual skills and _____.
a. the ability to set concrete objectives
b. determining an effective organizational structure
c. group process
d. installing stress management programs
e. all of the above
32. A group session of laboratory learning normally requires _____.
a. one day to be optimally successful
b. an ongoing period of time but typically no longer than one year
c. about a half year with meetings usually conducted once a month
d. a one- or two-week time span
e. no specific time as the overall needs of the organization will dictate the
duration
33. A goal of laboratory learning is to _____.
a. improve the structure of organizations
b. increase awareness of personal style
c. promote a feeling of support and warmth among members
d. increase productivity
e. answers b and c
34. Laboratory learning is characterized by _____.
a. focusing on openness and candid feedback
b. focusing on what goes on in the group during training
c. an unstructured process
d. all of the above
e. answers a and c
35. Studies on the results of the application of laboratory learning to organizations
_____. a. are not available
b. are typically negative
c. show it to improve organization productivity better than other
interventions including technical and structural interventions
d. point to increased self-insight and observable changes in participants
e. have show it to be more effective in large organizations than small
ones
36. Mask–to–mask communication _____.
a. is usually present in adult-to-adult communication
b. occurs when people say what they think others want to hear
c. only occurs in “I’m OK, You’re OK” psychological positions
d. is a result of negative reinforcement
e. is effective because it prevents disagreements between people
37. What is one of the most critical dimensions preventing organizational
effectiveness?
a. bureaucratic structures
b. out of date technology
c. poor communications
d. government regulations
e. centralized organizations
38. In the Johari Window Model, the sharing of information is directly correlated to
_____. a. the degree of effectiveness in personal interactions
b. openness of communication
c. leadership styles
d. the manager’s personal values
e. answers c and d
39. An underlying assumption of the Johari Window Model is that _____.
a. the supportive and integrative areas should be as large as possible
b. interpersonal effectiveness is directly related to the amount of mutually
shared information
c. people should be completely open and honest with every one
d. feedback is a method to reduce the public area
e. all of the above
40. Giving away true feelings via behavioral gestures is a characteristic found in the
_____ area of the Johari Model.
a. public
b. closed
c. blind
d. persuasive
e. non-verbal
41. In the Johari Window Model, the four areas are _____.
a. public, blind, closed, unknown
b. cheerleader, pathfinder, analyzer, stabilizer
c. supportive, persuasive, analytical, and integrative
d. goals, technical, structural, behavioral
e. I’m OK, you’re OK, I’m not OK, you’re not OK
42. The _____ area of the Johari Window involves behavior, thoughts, and feelings
known only to oneself but not to others.
a. transactional
b. unknown
c. public
d. mask-to-mask
e. closed
43. The objective in utilizing the Johari Window Model is for the manager to _____.
a. reduce disclosure
b. learn to manage without feedback
c. set up formal lines of communication and authority
d. reshape areas to allow more trust, sharing, and risk taking
e. all of the above
44. According to structural analysis concept of Transactional Analysis, every person
has three separate sources of behavior called ego states. The ego states are _____.
a. child, parent, and adult
b. public, closed, and blind
c. complementary, crossed, and ulterior
d. positive, negative, and crocked
e. I’m OK, You’re OK, They’re OK
45. The _____ ego state demonstrates an independent set of feelings, attitudes, and
behaviors involving the basis of objective facts.
a. public
b. unconditional
c. We’re OK
d. parent
e. adult
46. The purpose of structural analysis in the Transactional Analysis model is to _____.
a. better understand and psychoanalyze others’ behaviors and motives
b. modify others’ behavior to help you change their personal style
c. assist you in improving your crossed and ulterior transactions
d. help you to better understand the source of your values, behaviors, and
thoughts
e. help you give more unconditional strokes
47. A complementary transaction _____.
a. occurs when a message from one ego state receives a response from an
inappropriate ego state
b. occurs when a message sent from one ego state receives an expected
response from the other person’s appropriate ego state
c. is a positive response tied to some type of performance of the receiver
of the transaction
d. occurs when the words of the transaction mean one thing but the
underlying intent means something much different
e. should normally be avoided in OD programs
48. A transaction which involves two ego states at the same time by one individual is
_____. a. an example of an ulterior transaction
b. when two transactions complement each other
c. an unexpected ego state
d. not possible
e. a child-to-child transaction
49. The psychological position that suggests a tendency to mistreat and blame others
and to put down others is referred to as _____ in Transactional Analysis
terminology.
a. I’m not OK, you’re OK
b. I’m OK, you’re OK
c. ulterior transactions
d. negative or crooked strokes
e. I’m OK, you’re not OK
50. Proponents of TA feel that _____ transactions are most effective within an
organization.
a. parent-to-parent
b. adult-to-parent
c. adult-to-adult
d. ulterior
e. parent-to-child
51. Individual career problems can often be linked to _____.
a. larger organizational problems
b. restructuring of organizations that reduce management levels
c. personal goals becoming lost in the “organization trap”
d. a rigid bureaucratic structure and intergroup conflict
e. all of the above
52. The objective in career life planning is to _____.
a. find out why a manager is presently unsatisfied
b. develop a list of goals
c. identify trends in past experiences
d. find a new and more challenging position
e. all of the above
53. The implication of a study on job strain reported in the Journal of the American
Medical Association is that _____.
a. top management positions need to be altered to reduce the pressure on
managers
b. not much can really be done to reduce job strain as the tendency for an
individual to suffer from strain is biological and is therefore out of
control of the organization
c. the problem of strain can be reduced through meditation and
biofeedback
d. improving the design of jobs, better use of worker skills, and
increasing worker participation in decision-making should be
undertaken
e. none of the above
54. Factors in potentially stressful work activities include _____.
a. little control of the work environment
b. lack of participation in decision making
c. sudden reorganizations and unexpected changes in work schedules
d. ambiguity in duties expected to be achieved
e. all of the above
55. Job burnout has come to be recognized as a major work stress problem. Which of
the following about job burnout is true?
a. Job burnout primarily results in a state of physical exhaustion.
b. Job burnout is more common in professions in which people do not
have contact with others and must primarily work alone.
c. Job burnout is more common in men than women.
d. Job burnout is the result of continued strain associated in dealing
extensively with other people.
e. Job burnout occurs more frequently in boring jobs.
56. A characteristic common to individuals who experience job burnout include _____.
a. being overweight
b. being a perfectionist
c. lack of exercise
d. apathy toward their work
e. answers a and c
57. Job burnout is most common in employees who _____.
a. must work primarily alone
b. operate delicate instruments or expensive machinery
c. deal extensively with other human beings who are troubled or having
problems
d. work in dangerous occupations
e. are in top-management positions where large numbers of people or
money are controlled
58. Methods of identifying and counteracting stress are _____.
a. biofeedback and meditation
b. diet and exercise
c. wellness programs
d. training programs in stress management
e. all of the above
Essay Questions
59. Why are interpersonal interventions important to the organization?
Organizations use the energy and ability of individuals to do work and realize
goals. The success of the organization, then, depends on how effective individual
members are. Interpersonal interventions are intended to improve the basic skills
that improve individual effectiveness.
60. What are some unique features of laboratory learning sessions that make them
different from a weekly department meeting?
Laboratory learning is normally held off site among participants who do not work
with or know one another. The agenda usually develops as the learning session
progresses and there is no appointed leader. The focus is on how (process) the
group behaves and interacts with one another. Weekly department meetings differ
substantially. Meetings are typically held in the work area with employees from the
same work area. There is usually a published agenda with the meeting conducted by
an appointed leader such as a supervisor or manager. The focus of the meeting is on
what (content) the group does.
61. How can OD be used by the organization to help members deal with crisis in their
careers?
Career life planning interventions as part of an OD program can help organization
members who feel caught in an organizational trap or who feel their personal goals
have become lost in the organization bureaucracy.
62. What are some of the more common characteristics of individuals that encounter job
burnout?
Individuals having job burnout have common personality characteristics. They
experience much stress because of job-related stressors and they are perfectionists
or self-motivating achievers. The also seek unrealistic or unattainable goals.