Chapter 11
Teams: Characteristics and Diversity
True / False Questions
1.
A team consists of two or more people who work independently over some time period to
accomplish common goals related to some task-oriented purpose.
2.
Work teams are designed to be relatively permanent.
3.
Management teams are formed to take on “one-time” tasks that are generally complex.
4.
A football team is an example of an action team.
5.
On a highly self-managed team, there are strict rules regarding goals, procedures, and roles.
6.
High levels of self-management may be most advantageous for teams where members have
high levels of team-relevant knowledge obtained from outside experts and others in their
social networks.
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7.
In the storming stage of team development, feelings of solidarity develop as members work
toward team goals.
8.
The sequence of forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning applies to the
development of all teams.
9.
With pooled interdependence, group members complete their work assignments
independently, and then this work is simply “piled up” to represent the group’s output.
10.
Jan works on the budget team. Members include the bookkeeper who tracks the daily
expenditures and revenues of the company; the accountant who takes the bookkeeper’s work
and organizes it into financial statements, including the cash flow statement, the income
statement, and the balance sheet; and the analyst who interprets the financial statements.
Once these three tasks have been accomplished, Jan prepares and presents the results to
top management. Jan’s team engages in reciprocal interdependence.
11.
In sequential interdependence, the member performing the task in the latter part of the
sequence depends on the member performing the task in the earlier part of the sequence,
but not the other way around.
12.
In reciprocal interdependence, members are specialized to perform specific tasks.
13.
Comprehensive interdependence requires less interaction and coordination among members
than pooled interdependence.
11-3
14.
In groups with comprehensive interdependence, the members have little discretion in terms
of what they do and with whom they interact in the course of the collaboration involved in
accomplishing the team’s work.
15.
A high degree of goal interdependence exists when team members have a shared vision of
the team’s goal and align their individual goals with that vision as a result.
16.
One way to create high levels of goal interdependence is to ensure that the team has a
formalized mission statement that members buy into.
17.
As the level of task interdependence increases, members must spend increasing amounts of
time communicating and coordinating with other members if they want to complete tasks
effectively.
18.
A high degree of outcome interdependence exists when team members share in the rewards
that the team earns.
19.
Low outcome interdependence exists in teams in which individual members receive rewards
and punishments on the basis of their own performance.
20.
In teams with high outcome interdependence, team members depend on the performance of
other team members for the rewards that they receive.
21.
In leader-staff teams, the leader makes decisions for the team and provides direction and
control over members who perform assigned tasks.
22.
The coordinator is a team building role.
23.
A harmonizer attempts to find the halfway point to end conflict.
24.
The orienter determines the direction of the team’s discussion.
25.
Cognitive ability is more important to teams when team members have to learn from one
another to adapt to unexpected changes, compared with contexts in which team members
perform their assigned tasks in a routine fashion.
26.
Tasks in which the performance of an entire team depends on the best performer are called
disjunctive tasks.
27.
Cora frequently challenges the teams’ assumptions and status quo. Cora exhibits the devil’s
advocate role.
28.
Additive tasks are those that depend on the performance and the abilities of the “weakest
link.”
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29.
In tasks with an objectively verifiable best solution, the member who possesses the highest
level of the ability relevant to the task will have the most influence on the effectiveness of the
team.
30.
According to the similarity-attraction approach, a team with high diversity will have high team
effectiveness.
31.
The effects of team diversity on team performance are independent of the nature of the team
or the organizational context.
32.
According to the value in diversity problem-solving approach, diversity on attributes such as
cultural background, race, and attitudes are associated with communication problems and
ultimately poor team effectiveness.
33.
Having a greater number of members is beneficial for management and project teams but not
for teams engaged in production tasks.
34.
Team viability refers to the likelihood that the team can work together effectively into the
future.
35.
One reason that understanding task interdependence’s effect on team performance is
important is because task interdependence is one of the most important characteristics that
distinguish true teams from mere groups of individuals.
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36.
Low outcome interdependence promotes higher levels of cooperation because members
understand that they share the same fate.
37.
Team reward structures with hybrid outcome interdependence reward members based on
how well they perform as individuals rather than overall team performance.
38.
Members tend to be more productive in high task interdependence situations when there’s
low outcome interdependence.
39.
Team members prefer low task interdependent situations when there’s low outcome
interdependence.
Multiple Choice Questions
40.
Which of the following is
true
of teams?
41.
Teams differ from groups because:
42.
Which of the following is the purpose of work teams as compared to other types of teams?
43.
Which of the following is most likely to be categorized as a work team?
44.
While _____ teams focus on the accomplishment of core operational-level production and
service tasks, _____ teams focus on integrating the activities of subunits across business
functions.
45.
In what way are management teams similar to work teams?
46.
Which of the following is most likely to be categorized as a management team?
47.
Of the following, which is most likely to be categorized as an action team?
11–10
48.
Jackson High School formed several teams to plan and execute the 150th anniversary
celebrations of the school. Over a period of two months, the teams organized events, oversaw
logistics, and coordinated student activities. The events that were planned were on a large
scale and required a lot of input from the teachers and students. This is an example of a(n)
_____ team.
49.
Tom, Dan, and Philip work in different teams at Springfield Automobiles. Tom’s team ensures
that all the raw materials, machinery, tools, and other production equipment are available for
the employees around the clock. Any procurement needs have to be addressed to Tom, who
also takes part in high-level decisions regarding the number of units to be produced,
exported, and so on. Dan works as part of a team of eight members who concentrate on the
day-to-day production; they also ensure the quality checks are done and inspect each other’s
work. Philip is the operations manager, who works for five hours in the production
department and then spends the rest of his time assisting management as an internal
consultant on manufacturing issues. His input is crucial in improving the production process.
Dan’s contribution is toward the _____.
11–11
50.
Tom, Dan, and Philip work in different teams at Springfield Automobiles. Tom’s team ensures
that all the raw materials, machinery, tools, and other production equipment are available for
the employees around the clock. Any procurement needs have to be addressed to Tom, who
also takes part in high-level decisions regarding the number of units to be produced,
exported, and so on. Dan works as part of a team of eight members who concentrate on the
day-to-day production; they also ensure the quality checks are done and inspect each other’s
work. Philip is the operations manager, who works for five hours in the production
department and then spends the rest of his time assisting management as an internal
consultant on manufacturing issues. His input is crucial in improving the production process.
Philip is part of the _____ team.
51.
Tom, Dan, and Philip work in different teams at Springfield Automobiles. Tom’s team ensures
that all the raw materials, machinery, tools, and other production equipment are available for
the employees around the clock. Any procurement needs have to be addressed to Tom, who
also takes part in high-level decisions regarding the number of units to be produced,
exported, and so on. Dan works as part of a team of eight members who concentrate on the
day-to-day production; they also ensure the quality checks are done and inspect each other’s
work. Philip is the operations manager, who works for five hours in the production
department and then spends the rest of his time assisting management as an internal
consultant on manufacturing issues. His input is crucial in improving the production process.
Tom is part of a(n) _____ team.
52.
Which of the following teams focuses on providing recommendations and resolving issues?
53.
A team was formed to coordinate the impending ISO accreditation process for a company
over a period of six months. The team members are drawn from various departments. Which
of the following types of teams does this most signify?
54.
Quality circles, which consist of individuals who normally perform core production tasks but
also meet regularly to identify production-related problems and opportunities for
improvement, are an example of:
55.
A planning team composed of engineers, architects, designers, and builders, charged with
designing a suburban town center is a(n) _____ team.
56.
A musical group and a surgical team are examples of _____ teams.
57.
Action teams:
58.
Work at Digicorp is accomplished continuously because members of a team who have
finished their workday in one country electronically hand off the work to team members in
another country who have just arrived at their workplace. This type of workflow is known as
_____.
59.
Which of the following represents the predictable sequence of stages in team development?
60.
In the _____ stage of group development, members typically try to get a feel for what is
expected of them, what types of behaviors are out of bounds, and who’s in charge.
61.
In the _____ stage of group development, members remain committed to ideas they bring with
them to the team and are unwilling to accommodate others’ ideas. This triggers conflict that
negatively affects some interpersonal relationships.
62.
In the _____ stage of team development, members come to realize that they need to work
together to accomplish team goals, and consequently, they begin to cooperate with one
another.
63.
In the _____ stage of team development, members are comfortable working within their roles,
and the team makes progress toward goals.
64.
In the _____ stage of group development, members experience anxiety and other emotions as
they disengage and ultimately separate from the team.
65.
Which of the following statements is
true?
66.
Which of the following best describes the group development pattern known as punctuated
equilibrium?
67.
The degree to which team members interact with and rely on other team members for the
information, materials, and resources needed to accomplish work for the team is known as:
68.
The type of task interdependence with the lowest degree of required coordination among
team members is _____ interdependence.
69.
With _____ interdependence, different tasks are done in a prescribed order, and the group is
structured such that the members specialize in these tasks.
11–18
70.
Springfield Automobiles utilizes a classic assembly line in manufacturing its automobile
products. Which type of interdependence is depicted?
71.
Member 1 → Member 2 → Member 3 → Member 4 → Output
Which type of interdependence is represented by this diagram?
72.
In _____ interdependence, members interact with a subset of other members to complete the
team’s work.
11–19
73.
The highest level of interaction and coordination among members is required in _____
interdependence.
74.
As the level of task interdependence _____, members must spend _____ amounts of time
communicating and coordinating with other members to complete tasks.
75.
A high degree of _____ interdependence exists when team members share in the rewards that
the team earns.
76.
When team members have a shared vision and align with that vision, the team is said to have
a high degree of ______ interdependence.
77.
Which of the following is
not
a desirable characteristic of a mission statement?
78.
To assure a high level of goal interdependence, a team should: