Management, 3e (Hitt)
Chapter 11 Communication and Negotiation
1) Communication is the process of transferring information, meaning, and understanding from
sender to receiver.
2) A medium is the message itself, not the method or means of transmitting the message.
3) The basic model of communication is fundamental and universal; therefore, it exists outside of
cultural, organizational, and personal contexts.
4) Noise can interfere at any point in the communication process.
5) Verbal communication includes both oral and written communication.
6) When verbal and nonverbal messages conflict, receivers often give more weight to the words
used.
7) The term media richness is used to classify different media according to their cost-benefit
ratio.
8) The structure and processes of organizations shape the effectiveness and nature of
communication that takes place within and between them.
9) Lateral communication is sent from lower organizational levels to higher levels.
10) In organizations with strong hierarchical values, upward communication tends to be more
frequent.
11) In recent years, the communication capabilities of the Internet have facilitated the emergence
of large-scale, word-of-mouth networks.
12) Networking is a process of developing regular patterns of communication with particular
individuals or groups to send and receive information.
13) Selective perception involves the tendency to oversimplify and generalize about groups of
people.
14) Individuals in high-context cultures tend to pay little attention to the situational factors
surrounding the communication process.
15) Culture cannot exist without communication, and human communication only occurs within
a cultural context.
16) Nonverbal communication cues are more important in low-context cultures than in high-
context cultures.
17) A “gatekeeper” is an associate who grants or declines permission for people to communicate
with people in positions of authority.
18) Since reaching an agreement inherently involves communication, negotiation and
communication are inseparably linked.
19) Within the context of negotiation, positions represent a party’s concerns and desires,
whereas, interests are a party’s stance regarding those positions.
20) Managers who are involved in negotiations can try to lessen the competition between the two
parties by establishing an atmosphere of collaboration.
21) ________ is defined as the process of transferring information, meaning, and understanding
from sender to receiver.
A) Management
B) Planning
C) Communication
D) Programming
22) The act of constructing a message is known as ________.
A) encoding
B) transmission
C) interpretation
D) receiving
23) Which of the following steps in the communication process involves interpreting a message?
A) encoding
B) sending
C) receiving
D) decoding
24) ________ refers to the interference with the transmission or decoding of a message.
A) Negative feedback
B) Medium
C) Positive feedback
D) Noise
25) Which of the following is an example of oral communication?
A) memos
B) faxes
C) videoconferences
D) reports
26) Which of the following is an advantage of written communication?
A) greater translation precision
B) decreased misinterpretation
C) high degree of flexibility
D) difficult to ignore
27) Which of the following is a disadvantage of oral communication?
A) subject to misinterpretation
B) low flexibility
C) easy to ignore
D) does not command attention
28) Which of the following is an example of nonverbal communication?
A) letters
B) e-mail
C) gestures
D) videoconferences
29) Which of the following statements is true of nonverbal communication?
A) The increasing use of electronic communication has lessened the importance of nonverbal
communication in today’s organizations.
B) When verbal and nonverbal messages are contradictory, receivers often give more weight to
the nonverbal signals than to the words used.
C) Nonverbal messages should be different from the verbal messages in order to increase the
diversity and range of the overall communication.
D) Nonverbal messages help simplify the dimensions of communication as they are nearly
universal in meaning, in contrast to verbal communication.
30) The means of transmitting information from sender to receiver is known as the ________ of
communication.
A) body
B) medium
C) essence
D) interference
31) Along which parameter are media classified based on their capacity to facilitate shared
meaning?
A) communication technology
B) cost of communication
C) content of the communication
D) media richness
32) When nonverbal messages are ________ the spoken message, the odds of effective
communication taking place are ________.
A) distinct from; improved
B) similar to; greatly reduced
C) consistent with; increased
D) incompatible with; unaffected
33) Which of the following is a characteristic typically found in lean media?
A) delayed feedback
B) multiple cues to aid in decoding
C) high cost of transmission
D) personal nature of communication
34) Which of the following is a characteristic typically associated with a rich medium?
A) impersonal nature of communication
B) multiple cues to aid in decoding
C) delayed feedback
D) wide reach
35) Which of the following is an example of a rich medium?
A) e-mail
B) memos
C) fax
D) face-to-face meeting
36) Which of the following is the leanest medium of communication?
A) face to face meeting
B) videoconference
C) e-mail
D) telephone call
37) Liam is a college major from the University of Long Beach, California. He is forced to take a
sabbatical from studies due to personal reasons and writes a detailed letter to his professor
explaining the circumstances of his decision to discontinue the course. The medium of this
communication between Liam and his professor is considered to be lean because ________.
A) Liam cannot receive a response from his professor immediately
B) the nature of the content of the communication is highly personal
C) Liam offers well-explained reasons for his decision to discontinue the course
D) a letter is a relatively more expensive mode of communication than e-mail
38) Which of the following situations is best suited for communication via a lean medium?
A) An airline plans to layoff a significant part of its ground crew.
B) A CEO wishes to announce the company’s merger with a competitor.
C) A manager wants to postpone a scheduled meeting by a few days.
D) A team leader needs to address a “clear-the-air” meeting in the light of some team
disharmony.
39) A manager has to resolve a serious disagreement between two of her sales staff, one of
whom accuses the other of “stealing” his clients. ________ would be the best way for the
manager to expedite the resolution of this dispute.
A) Face to face meetings
B) E-mail correspondence
C) Formal letters
D) Telephone conversations
40) Which of the following situations is best suited for communication via a rich medium?
A) A team leader has to intimate team members of the schedule for the next meeting.
B) An employee wishes to discuss a hike in his salary.
C) An accountant requests employees to file their income tax returns.
D) A salesperson has to claim reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses.
41) Which of the following technologies provides the greatest degree of richness in
communications carried out by participants located at great distances from each other?
A) videoconferencing
B) electronic mail
C) mobile telephony
D) social network sites
42) Which of the following factors is the most important to be considered when choosing a
medium based on its richness?
A) cost of using the communication medium
B) ease of use of the communication technology
C) degree of potential ambiguity in the message
D) level of comfort users have with the medium
43) Which of the following is a defining characteristic of an organization that affects
communication?
A) Organizations are composed of only groups, rather than individuals.
B) Organizations have continuity through time.
C) Organizations have only integrated functions.
D) Organizations are oriented towards performance, rather than goals.
44) ________ refers to messages sent from higher organizational levels to lower levels.
A) Upward communication
B) Parallel communication
C) Downward communication
D) Lateral communication
45) ________ refers to messages sent from lower organizational levels to higher levels.
A) Upward communication
B) Lateral communication
C) Synchronous communication
D) Downward communication
46) ________ refers to messages sent across essentially equivalent levels of an organization.
A) Synchronous communication
B) Lateral communication
C) Parallel communication
D) Vertical communication
47) Which of the following is an example of downward communication within an organization?
A) a CEO’s mail congratulating employees for their performance
B) an employee requesting permission from his boss to go on leave
C) a supervisor reporting his division’s performance to his manager
D) the HR department requesting performance reports from the engineering department
48) Which of the following is an example of upward communication within an organization?
A) an HR manager reporting the results of the recruitment process to her boss
B) a team leader addressing a team meeting
C) the marketing department requesting the IT team’s help with a software problem
D) a manager’s message to employees indicating the schedule of the next meeting
49) Which of the following is an example of lateral communication within an organization?
A) a manager’s message to employees indicating the schedule of the next meeting
B) a supervisor reporting his division’s performance to his manager
C) managers of two marketing teams discussing joint training programs
D) an employee requesting permission from his boss to go on leave
50) The contents of communications within organizations usually vary according to ________.
A) the richness of the media being used for communications
B) the speed of feedback expected of the receiver
C) the size of the communication’s audience
D) the direction of the communication activity
51) Which of the following is most likely to be the content of an upward communication in an
organization?
A) directions
B) decisions
C) questions
D) goals
52) Which of the following is most likely to be the content of an downward communication in an
organization?
A) feedback
B) questions
C) suggestions
D) dissent
53) Lateral communication is oriented toward ________ —both formal and informal—that assist
or affect coordination and joint problem solving.
A) asking questions
B) exchanging information
C) reporting problems
D) establishing goals
54) Which of the following types of communication is the least frequent in an organization with
strong hierarchical values?
A) upward communication
B) parallel communication
C) downward communication
D) lateral communication
55) Which of the following is a feature of upward communication in an organization with a
strong hierarchical culture?
A) Subordinates address superiors by their first names.
B) Upward communication focuses on providing directions and decisions.
C) Upward communication is more frequent than downward communication.
D) Conversations between superiors and their subordinates tend be highly formal.
56) A(n) ________ is a route for communication that an organization authorizes, plans, and
regulates and that is directly connected to the organization’s official structure.
A) formal communication channel
B) lateral communication channel
C) parallel communication channel
D) unsanctioned communication channel
57) A(n) ________ is a communication route that the organization doesn’t prespecify but that
develops through the interpersonal activities of employees.
A) informal communication channel
B) sanctioned communication channel
C) authorized communication channel
D) regulated communication channel
58) Which of the following statements is true of formal communication channels?
A) Formal communication channels tend to operate more laterally than vertically compared to
informal communication channels.
B) Formal communication channels define who has responsibility for information dissemination
and indicate the proper recipients of work-related information.
C) Formal communication channels facilitate faster movement of information as people are
highly motivated to pass information on.
D) Formal communication channels are designed to carry both work-related and nonwork
information that can be easily regulated by the organization.
59) Which of the following is a disadvantage of informal communication channels in an
organization?
A) They carry only nonwork related information and are detrimental to organizational
productivity.
B) Some of the messages passed through them are inaccurate and focus only on negative
information.
C) Lateral communication is greatly hindered as messages are closely regulated by the
organization.
D) Informal communication channels are incompatible with advances in Internet and other
modern communication technologies.