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Chapter 8: Participative Management and Leading Teams
Multiple Choice Questions
1. The concept of employee participation is part of many management and leadership theories. Which
one of the following does not include the concept of participation?
a. Theory X and Theory Y
b. Leader behavior research
c. Contingency models
d. Trait approach
2. Ford Motor Co. is an example of a company that:
a. has moved fully towards team-based management
b. combines teams with more traditional structures
c. continues to be successful without using teams
d. has found the use of teams highly challenging
3. Research indicates that organizations can reap many benefits from employee participation and
involvement. Which of the following is not one of the typical programs used in today’s
organizations?
a. group decision making
b. teams
c. social audits
d. profit sharing
4. Space X company provides an example of a company that:
a. relies on technology to take the place of human interaction
b. values teamwork
c. continues to be successful without using teams
d. has found the use of teams highly challenging
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5. Which is not a method of employee participation?
a. stock-option plans
b. empowerment
c. use of teams
d. humane orientation
6. Royal Philips Electronics is counting on _________ to ________.
a. management; implement teams
b. employees; convince management about use of teams
c. teams; revive the company
d. top leadership; move towards teams
7. Gerard Kleisterlee, former CEO of Royal Philips, gathered people who wanted to make a contribution
to the organization, regardless of rank. What process best describes this example?
a. employee participation
b. self-managed teams
c. delegation
d. empowerment
8. Genencor International started its employee participation program:
a. when they built a new headquarters
b. after the leadership team took a trip to Japan
c. after they hired a new CEO
d. as a routine part of doing business
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9. _________ and __________ are two of the criteria managers should use to determine when to involve
employees in decision making.
a. Culture; cost
b. Efficiency; effectiveness
c. Leader style; financial issues
d. Task complexity; time
10. Participation may be undesirable in all of the following situations except when;
a. follower commitment is not necessary
b. the tasks are complex and quality is important
c. time is of the essence
d. interaction between leader and followers is restricted
11. Nelson has been a successful manager for over 30 years. He has considerable expertise and makes
most of the decisions by himself. He supervises over 200 people who are spread-out across 20 states.
Using employee participation may be a challenge for Nelson because of:
a. time and complexity of the task.
b. the leader’s style and the geographic dispersion.
c. follower commitment and readiness.
d. environmental factors and culture.
12. Which is not a criterion for the use of participation programs?
a. when the organizational culture is supportive
b. when interaction between leader and followers is restricted by the task
c. when follower commitment is needed
d. when the task complexity and quality is important
13. Li Wei is under pressure to make a quick decision on a project with which she has considerable
expertise and experience. Her team is inexperienced and generally supportive, and she needs the
members’ strong commitment to implement her decision. In this situation, Li Wei should:
a. make the decision by herself.
b. allow for employee participation.
c. seek more information.
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d. delegate the decision to the group.
14. The case of Kiwi Airlines is an example of:
a. successful participation.
b. a leader not being ready for participation.
c. lack of employee training in participation.
d. too much participation by employees.
15. Which of the following cultural values can affect employee participation in decision making?
a. collectivism
b. tolerance for ambiguity
c. ascription
d. time orientation
16. The more __________ a culture, the less likely it is that employees will participate in decision
making.
a. collectivist
b. ascriptive
c. power oriented
d. flexible
17. Which cultural values will least likely support employee participation and empowerment?
a. high power distance
b. collectivist
c. humane orientation
d. high time (future) orientation
18. ___________ combined with ___________ often create a challenge in implementing participation
and teams in countries such as the U.S. and Australia.
a. High power distance/competitiveness
b. High performance orientation/short time orientation
c. High individualism/low power distance
d. Low context/high tolerance for ambiguity
19. In spite of cultural and other differences, one of the keys to successful implementation of teams is:
a. followers’ involvement
b. organizational policies
c. slow implementation
d. leader’s belief in participation
20. Which of the following is one of the goals of delegation?
a. help the leader with excessive workload
b. share power with employees
c. empower employees
d. increase the leader’s power
21. Which one of the following is not one of the benefits of delegation?
a. develop followers
b. increase follower involvement in the task
c. increase follower motivation
d. increase leader’s power
22. John has found that delegating tasks allows him to manage his own workload and stress. What other
potential benefit does delegation offer John?
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a. enrich the job of his followers
b. create a more cohesive team
c. save his followers’ time
d. increase leader’s power
23. Delegation affects employees in all of the following ways except .
a. increasing their satisfaction
b. increasing their motivation
c. increasing organizational commitment
d. increasing their desire to leave the organization
24. This term refers to the process of delegating unpleasant, difficult and unmanageable task to
subordinates.
a. Relegation
b. Pre-development
c. Socialization
d. Dumping
25. Alberto is an over-worked manager who is trying to reduce his workload. He decides to assign all the
tasks that he does not like and that take a long time to his subordinates. What is Alberto doing?
a. delegating his tasks wisely
b. dumping on his subordinates
c. developing his subordinates
d. reducing his workload while training his subordinates in good management practice
26. Shane wants to delegate a task to one of his followers. What guidelines should he follow?
a. Delegate the task and leave the employee alone to finish it.
b. Monitor to make sure he can pull back if employee makes a mistake.
c. Clarify the goals and expectation, and monitor the employee.
d. Delegate the task, but make sure he keeps the authority to do it.
27. Leaders should generally not delegate which type of tasks or decisions?
a. Strategic decisions
b. Personnel decisions
c. Manufacturing tasks
d. Quality control
28. Selena has a new project for a key client that she needs to delegate to one of her employees. This is a
complex and important project. Which of the following employees should she pick?
a. James who is competent, but not motivated, so that she can motivate him.
b. Tanya who has performed poorly in many different instances, so that she can give her a
chance to improve.
c. Beverly who is new and does not have much experience or expertise, so that she can see
how she performs.
d. Ken who is competent and eager, but has recently failed at a task, so that she can give
him a chance to recover.
29. Not delegating tasks may be valid and acceptable ______________, but not effective ____________.
a. in the short-term; when the leader takes a long-term view.
b. for leaders who are Type As; most other leaders.
c. for leaders who have expertise; for less experienced leaders.
d. in complex situations; for simple tasks.
30. Which one of the following is not one of the typical excuses managers use for not delegating?
a. My followers are not ready
b. I can do the job quicker myself
c. The organization does not allow it
d. My followers do not have enough skills
31. Antonio is a highly stressed supervisor who is feeling overwhelmed with the amount of work he is
required to accomplish. His primary reason for not delegating to his employees is because ‘his
followers are not ready.’ Which argument is the strongest rationale to justify that he should indeed
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delegate more responsibility?
a. The leader’s job is to get followers prepared to take on new tasks.
b. Only a few tasks cannot be delegated.
c. Encouraging experimentation and tolerating mistakes are essential to learning and
development.
d. Doing busy work is not an appropriate use of a leader’s time.
32. Chantelle has been supervising employees for three years. She is feeling that she cannot continue all
of the responsibilities required of her. Chantelle’s rationale for not delegating more responsibilities is
because she does not want ‘her own manager to think she is not working hard.’ Which argument is
the strongest rationale to justify that she should indeed delegate more responsibility?
a. The leader’s job is to get followers prepared to take on new tasks.
b. Only a few tasks cannot be delegated.
c. Encouraging experimentation and tolerating mistakes are essential to learning and
development.
d. Doing busy work is not an appropriate use of a leader’s time.
33. Dawne supervises six employees who have all recently joined the organization within the past three
months. Dawne is feeling overworked because she believes her ‘subordinates do not have the
necessary skills and knowledge.’ Which argument is the strongest rationale to justify that she should
indeed delegate more responsibility?
a. The leader’s job is to get followers prepared to take on new tasks.
b. The leader’s responsibility is to train followers and prepare them for new challenges.
c. Encouraging experimentation and tolerating mistakes are essential to learning and
development.
d. Doing busy work is not an appropriate use of a leader’s time.
34. Which underlying factor may be a contributing factor to leader’s inability to delegate?
a. follower’s personality
b. leader’s personality
c. organizational policies
d. organizational culture
35. _________ are more likely to find it difficult to delegate tasks to their followers.
a. Experienced managers
b. Relationship-orientated leaders
c. Leaders who have trouble developing positive LMX
d. Type A leaders
36. Google achieves its exceptional customer service by:
a. training its leaders and managers
b. relying on self-managed teams
c. delegating tasks to the best employees
d. building a relationship between leaders and followers
37. How many factors distinguish teams from groups?
a. two
b. three
c. four
d. five
38. Which one of the following distinguishes teams from groups?
a. Team members are accountable to a manager.
b. Team members share leadership.
c. Team members have frequent conflict.
d. Team members accomplish their goals.
39. Teams have all the following characteristics, except:
a. members share a common goal.
b. members trust one another.
c. members are accountable to a manager.
d. the team achieves synergy.
40. As compared to groups where leadership is ________, in teams, leadership is ________.
a. temporary; permanent
b. assigned; shared
c. required; unnecessary
d. primary; secondary
41. In teams, members often share ________.
a. a culture
b. norms
c. history
d. personal experiences
42. The XYZ team manages its own work, has members with different expertise, shares leadership, and
has power to implement its own decisions while it coordinates activities with other teams. Based on
this description, the XYZ team is:
a. an effective team
b. an advanced team
c. a self-managed team
d. a self-leadership team
43. Which one of the following is not one of the characteristics of self-managed teams?
a. power to manage their work
b. members with different expertise
c. absence of outside manager
d. ability to determine their work without consulting with others
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44. Self-managed teams use leadership based on:
a. cooperation
b. consideration
c. shared responsibility
d. facilitation
45. Which of the following is not one of the factors that contribute to the success of teams?
a. careful selection of team members
b. commitment to a team goal
c. complex tasks
d. competition
46. ___________ is one of the key factors in effective teams.
a. Building trust
b. A good leader
c. Clear rules
d. A goal handed down from upper management
47. Which is not an aspect of building trust within self-managed work teams?
a. open conflict
b. rewarding cooperation
c. competence and hard work
d. mutual respect
48. Robert wants to increase the trust among his team members. What should he do?
a. Create friendly competition among the members.
b. Set up formal communication mechanisms.
c. Reward cooperation.
d. Assign a formal leader.
49. Using a sports team model in management, all of the following are key elements of creating effective
work teams except?
a. taking time to practice
b. keeping membership stable
c. encouraging cooperation and competition
d. reviewing performance, but ignoring mistakes
50. Teams require specialized training. Which one of the following is not the type of specialized training
that may help teams?
a. team building
b. coordination training
c. assertiveness training
d. leadership training
51. Stefania is the leader of a self-managed work team. During a recent team meeting she challenged
members to express themselves appropriately when making requests and providing feedback. This
approach is best known as .
a. a cross training session
b. a team building activity
c. coordination training
d. assertiveness training
52. Curt was recently appointed as team leader of an inter-departmental self-managed team. He recently
facilitated a team meeting whereby he helped all team members to understand one another’s tasks.
His effort can be best categorized as .
a. a cross training session
b. a team building activity
c. coordination training
d. assertiveness training
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53. XYZ Corporation recently created a new project team to investigate the feasibility of introducing a
new line of products. Nigel was appointed leader of the team and during the first meeting he lead the
team through a series of activities intended to clarify goals and member roles as well as create norms
for acceptable interaction. This approach is best known as .
a. a cross training session
b. a team building activity
c. coordination training
d. assertiveness training
54. is intended to teach team members to monitor, assess and correct their behavior in the team.
a. Self-guided correction
b. Cross training
c. Coordination training
d. Assertiveness training
55. Self-guided correction is one of the skills that effective teams need. It means
a. team members monitor and correct their own behavior
b. the team is able to correct mistakes of other teams
c. the leader guides the members in correcting mistakes
d. the organization guides the members to self-correct their behavior
56. Self-leaders are individuals who:
a. are visionary.
b. accomplish things by influencing themselves.
c. establish clear exchange relationships that allow followers to reach their goals.
d. provide clear and consistent rewards to their followers.
57. Heroic leaders , whereas self-leaders .
a. provide answers; think independently
b. encourage independent thinking; provide answers
c. ask questions; protect and save subordinates
d. encourage creativity; support conformity
58. Isabelle wants to become a self-leader. She has learned to set her own goals. What else can she do?
a. Develop a positive and motivating thought pattern.
b. Find a mentor to guide her.
c. Make sure the organization rewards her for her effort.
d. Provide a vision for others.
59. Self-leadership is similar to which of the other theories of leadership?
a. Fiedler’s Contingency Model
b. the LMX model
c. the substitutes for leadership
d. Situational leadership
60. Self-leaders _________ instead of ___________.
a. keep information; sharing information
b. make sure everyone is on board; letting employees develop their own goals
c. provide a vision; letting the team set goals
d. self-reinforce; waiting to be rewarded
61. Which one of the following is not one of the strategies for the development of self-leaders?
a. listen more; talk less
b. ask questions; don’t provide answers
c. share information; don’t hoard information
d. be decisive; don’t consult too much
62. The leadership traits identified by IBM to revive the company include which of the following?
a. being a visionary
b. developing people and enabling growth
c. being able to take charge
d. having both task and people skills
63. Which term is most often used when describing the role of leaders in teams?
a. facilitator
b. visionary
c. self-leader
d. team member
64. Which one of the following is not one of the roles of leaders in a team environment?
a. obtaining resources for the team
b. helping team set boundaries
c. setting goals for the team
d. assessing the team’s ability
65. All of the following are roles for leaders in a team environment except?
a. obtaining necessary training
b. continuing to do real work
c. helping the team develop an implementation plan
d. setting norms for the team
66. The use of teams in the U.S. was triggered by:
a. globalization.
b. the growth of the Chinese economy.