401
Chapter 13
Work Team
Development
TEST QUESTIONS
True/False Questions
1. The trend in organizations is for more of the decision-making authority to be pushed
down to the lowest levels in the organizations where people are most aware of the
problems.
2. The individual and the work group are becoming the mechanism in which work is
organized.
3. Job characteristics model attempts to develop objective measures of job
characteristics that can directly affect employee attitudes and work behaviors.
4. Skill variety, job feedback, and autonomy jointly determine a job’s meaningfulness
according to job characteristics theory.
5. A high score in the job feedback dimension of the job characteristics theory is an
indication that the employee is feeling personally responsible and accountable for the
results of the work he or she does.
6. Taking fractionalized tasks and putting them back together to form a new and larger
module of work is an example of producing positive impact on the core job
dimensions of the job characteristic theory.
7. Frederick Herzberg says in his job enrichment theory that job satisfaction occurs
when employees experience work situations that lead to rewards such as high pay.
8. Based on the job enrichment theory, an employee or work group should be given a
natural and complete unit of work. This is opposite to the practice of specialization of
labor that has dominated the structure of most organizations in the last 100 years.
9. An approach to enriching jobs is to form natural work units by giving an employee a
task that is an identifiable and meaningful whole.
10. Job enrichment theory holds to the principle that accountability and controls over an
employee should be removed.
11. Total quality management strives for a partnership with both customers and
suppliers.
12. Total quality management is a strategy that is usually reserved for the production
systems of an organization.
13. Total quality management relies primarily upon the individual and not the team as the
basis for improving quality.
14. Total quality management attempts to change the context of a job as the work
environment is typically not a function of total quality management.
15. Quality includes aesthetics, reliability, and serviceability.
16. Total quality management was once widely used by Japanese and U.S. corporations
but has since been replaced by individual leadership programs.
17. TQM and OD are compatible, though TQM needs not to be present in an OD
program
18. Self-managed work teams may be composed of either permanent or temporary work
teams.
19. Cross-functional team is another term sometimes used instead of self-managed work
team.
20. Most companies that have successful self-managed work teams set up the teams
throughout the organization and not just at specific sites.
21. Though self-managed work teams are more common in production facilities than the
service sector, they have been successfully applied in service-oriented organizations.
22. Self-managed work teams usually have members with similar organization
backgrounds and experiences so that they can work harmoniously with one another.
23. Self-managed work teams operate best when the work team has a physical site with
boundaries with which members can identify.
24. Most work sites that have self-managed work teams have well-defined job
descriptions for each of the jobs.
25. Task significance occurs in self-managed work teams when team members use many
different skills and talents.
26. Functional departments such as accounting, personnel, engineering, and production
increase in number as self-managed work teams are established in organizations.
27. The organization structure that results from self-managed work teams is one that is
flat with few levels of managers and little support staff.
28. There are normally three elements in self-managed work teams. They are upper
management, coordinator, and team leader.
29. Upper management in self-managed work teams is sometimes called the support
team.
30. The term chimney buster or barrier buster is sometimes used to describe the
coordinator’s responsibilities in self-managed work teams. This person runs
interference for the team by breaking up the rigid and narrow bureaucratic obstacles.
31. The reward system used in self-managed work teams is normally a profit-sharing
system where a team member’s reward is based on the entire organization’s
performance.
32. Unions are not part of the process involved in establishing and operating self-
managed work teams, as the union is typically involved in fringe benefits and wages.
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33. A lack of training, especially for team members in group process and team building,
is believed by some OD practitioners to be a major reason for failure of self-managed
work teams.
Multiple-Choice Questions
34. The trend in many profit and not-for-profit organizations is toward _____.
a. decentralization
b. more levels of management
c. increases in staff positions
d. narrower spans of control
e. centralization
35. Current changes in work design include _____.
a. bringing top management down to the lowest level within the work place
by doing away with the formal organization structure
b. creating clear and distinct lines of authority and responsibility
c. designing the work of employees so as to improve productivity and
employees’ job satisfaction
d. redesigning jobs so that each person has explicit job descriptions
e. answers b and d
36. A strategy of altering the nature of a job to include planning and controlling where
normally these activities are not present is _____.
a. job description
b. job enlargement
c. job analysis
d. job planning
e. job design
37. Which of the following are specific high-involvement productivity interventions that
are related to improving work processes?
a. stress management
b. self-managed work teams
c. learning laboratories
d. intergroup development
e. all of the above
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38. Work design productivity interventions are more closely related to _____.
a. behavioral changes
b. technical changes
c. structural changes
d. distributed changes
e. transaction analysis
39. A current trend regarding job design in OD programs is to _____.
a. design jobs that will improve the worker’s satisfaction and productivity
b. increase productivity based upon technological innovations
c. design jobs that will increase the customer’s satisfaction
d. scientifically design a job by breaking it down into its smallest and
simplest task so that the job may be appropriately automated
e. answers a and d
40. Which of the following does NOT go with job design?
a. redesign jobs that will improve workers satisfaction and productivity
b. add additional activities and skills to the job
c. improve the degree of independence associated with a job
d. provide additional independence
e. all of the above are part of job design
41. Customer complaints being sent directly to the production floor is an example of
_____ in job characteristics theory.
a. work commitment
b. job feedback
c. task creativity
d. work ownership
e. skill improvement
42. According to the job characteristics model, work motivation and satisfaction are
affected by _____.
a. skill diversity, task identity and significance, independence, and
feedback
b. management working in collaboration with a union to bring needed
changes to the work place
c. achievement, recognition, the work itself, money, status, and benefits
d. social relevance of work life, constitutionalism in the work organization,
and fair compensation
e. wellness programs
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43. The degree to which a job provides for substantial freedom, independence, and
discretion to the individual for scheduling work and determining procedures is
_____. a. job feedback
b. authority
c. autonomy
d. skill variety
e. task identity
44. The degree to which the job requires completion of a whole and identifiable piece of
work is _____.
a. skill variety
b. task identity
c. scientific management
d. task significance
e. job context
45. _____ is NOT one of the five core job dimensions of the job characteristics theory.
a. Skill variety
b. Task identity
c. Autonomy
d. Motivating potential
e. Feedback
46. _____ determines a job’s meaningfulness.
a. Skill variety
b. Task significance
c. Task identity
d. all of the above
e. answers a and c
47. Job enrichment theory holds that the _____ should be increased.
a. challenge of the work
b. monetary rewards for doing a job
c. fringe benefits
d. all of the above
e. answers b and c
48. Job satisfaction occurs when employees experience work situations that entail
increases in _____.
a. money
b. health insurance
c. achievement
d. union membership
e. answers a and b only
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49. Job enrichment encompasses _____.
a. the addition of additional tasks that are similar in nature
b. increased responsibility and authority
c. new challenges
d. all of the above
e. answers b and c
50. The results of job design programs suggest that they can be successful if _____.
a. the model of job design is consistent and followed without alterations
b. the implementation occurs over a short period of time so employees can
see the results
c. managers depend heavily on outside practitioners
d. they have employee involvement
e. all of the above
51. Total quality management is normally applied _____
a. in board meetings
b. throughout the organization
c. in lower-level management
d. in both lower- and middle-level management
e. production line
52. TQM is a(n) ______ program that considers many needs and requirements of
customers and suppliers.
a. technical based
b. individual employee
c. outdated but still often used
d. comprehensive and organization wide
e. rarely used but excellent
53. Characteristics of TQM include _____.
a. assurances of not being laid off
b. support by top management
c. do it right the first time
d. insured promotions for individuals who qualify
e. answers b and c
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54. Which of the following is a characteristic of total quality management?
a. partnership with customers and suppliers
b. small work teams meeting together where they make suggestions for
quality improvement to upper management.
c. upper management identifying and implementing new ways to improve
customer satisfaction
d. middle managers developing new and improved production techniques
e. all of the above
55. A key component of total quality management is _____.
a. everyone in an organization has a customer
b. the organization values everyone
c. doing the job faster
d. all of the above
e. answers a and b
56. Quality as defined in total quality management programs is _____.
a. the customer’s perception of quality
b. measured by a product’s life
c. the comfort of a customer using it
d. the ease and speed of repair
e. all of the above
57. Another term used instead of self-managed work team is _____.
a. detailed work team observation
b. interteam cross training
c. autonomous work groups
d. reverse team development intervention
e. all of the above
58. Self-managed work teams are more commonly used in _____.
a. production facilities
b. government agencies
c. colleges and universities
d. service-oriented organizations
e. none of the above
59. The size of a self-managed work team is usually _____.
a. from 10 to 20 members
b. from 5 to 15 members
c. from 8 to 12 members
d. from 12 to 18 members
e. not important
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60. Which of the following is the typical work of self-managed work teams?
a. setting their goals and production schedules
b. setting rewards for team members
c. having a voice in who is hired and fired in the work team
d. ordering their materials and equipment
e. all of the above
61. The success of a self-managed work team depends on members being skilled and
knowledgeable in a variety of areas including _____.
a. technical skills
b. finance and accounting
c. competition in the marketplace
d. all of the above
e. answers a and c
62. The structure that results from self-managed work teams is one that _____.
a. is flat with few levels of managers
b. has no functional responsibilities (such as accounting and engineering)
c. has little support staff
d. all of the above
e. answers a and c
63. Within a work site that has implemented self-managed work teams, there are usually
three distinct levels of management. They are _____.
a. president, department manager, and supervisor
b. upper management, coordinator, and internal team leader
c. president, team leader, and supervisor
d. upper management, lower level management, and team member
e. none of the above as self-managed teams do not have managers or
anyone performing the function of a manager
64. Self-managed work teams normally reward members _____.
a. in a way similar to reward systems in traditional organizations
b. based on an hourly rate
c. based on skills, gain sharing, and employee ownership
d. based on evaluations of supervisors
e. answers a and d
65. A caution to consider with self-managed work teams is _____.
a. that as the number of organization layers are increased, there is
movement out of the teams into newly created management positions
b. over eagerness of the organization to implement the change
c. lack of rewards
d. all of the above
e. answers a and c
66. Available research into the effectiveness of self-managed teams _____.
a. indicates employees experience greater satisfaction with their work
b. points to their effectiveness for the organization
c. indicates employees perform better when supervisors encourage self–
direction
d. all of the above
e. answers a and c
Essay Questions
67. Explain the job characteristics model and how it can be used to enrich jobs.
68. Using the job enrichment theory, what are some suggestions for improving
motivational factors as part of a job design effort?
69. What are the major characteristics of self-managed work teams?