d.
Decline will inevitably occur in every team.
e.
None of these statements about team development is true.
61. Which of the following is one of the stages that teams pass through as they develop and grow, rather
than decline?
a.
de-norming
b.
de-storming
c.
de-forming
d.
performing
e.
reforming
62. A group in Great Britain has been established to improve the employment, retention, and promotion
prospects of black and other ethnic minorities as well as women in the Fire and Rescue Service, which
at present has a largely white, male demographic. By the ____ stage of team development, the group
members will have resolved petty differences, developed friendships, and established strong group
cohesiveness.
a.
reforming
b.
storming
c.
norming
d.
forming
e.
performing
63. A group in Great Britain has been established to improve the employment, retention, and promotion
prospects of black and other ethnic minorities as well as women in the Fire and Rescue Service, which
at present has a largely white, male demographic. At its inception, this group was in the ____ stage of
team development.
a.
reforming
b.
storming
c.
norming
d.
forming
e.
performing
64. Group cohesion tends to be relatively strong at the ____ stage of team development.
a.
storming
b.
norming
c.
forming
d.
conforming
e.
informing
65. A team has finally matured into a fully-functioning team at the ____ stage of development.
a.
norming
b.
de-norming
c.
performing
d.
conforming
e.
informing
66. Many orthopedic parts are almost identical in size and shape. Stryker Howmedica Osteonics in New
Jersey used a semi-autonomous work group to develop Product Recognition Technology that makes
sure parts are identified correctly and orders are filled correctly. What happened when the team
reached the storming stage of team development?
a.
Team members began to work together, and different personalities and work styles
clashed.
b.
Team members engaged in brainstorming.
c.
Team members began to settle into their roles as team members.
d.
The comfort level of team members began to decrease.
e.
Team members feel mutual accountability.
67. In the stages of team development, a team moves from growth to decline during the ____ stage.
a.
storming
b.
de-forming
c.
de-storming
d.
de-norming
e.
reforming
68. The achievement of stretch goals is made easier when the team members have ____.
a.
localized synergy
b.
bureaucratic immunity
c.
strategic diversity
d.
organizational accommodation
e.
limited cohesiveness
69. With ____, teams no longer have to go through the frustratingly slow process of multilevel reviews
and signoffs to get management approval before making changes.
a.
administrative reciprocity
b.
structural accommodation
c.
fast-track approval
d.
virtual accommodation
e.
bureaucratic immunity
70. E-Lab (the “E” stands for experience) has project teams perform field research for its clients. One team
had to spend time riding in the back seat of a squad car, accompanying cops on drug raids, as part of
research for a new communications device for police departments. Another team studied how people
get sick with a cold to create a new over-the-counter cold remedy. Often clients give team members
extremely ambitious goals which the team members initially have no idea how to solve. In other
words, project teams are given ____.
a.
temporal missions
b.
myopic visions
c.
proximity goals
d.
options-based objectives
e.
stretch goals
71. ____ is the ability to change organizational structures, policies, and practices if it helps teams meet
their stretch goals.
a.
Structural accommodation
b.
Bureaucratic immunity
c.
Structural immunity
d.
Bureaucratic accommodation
e.
Administrative reciprocity
72. Which of the following is NOT necessary for stretch goals to effectively motivate teams?
a.
a high degree of autonomy
b.
the empowerment to control resources
c.
structural accommodation
d.
conflict management training
e.
the ability to change organizational policies and procedures
73. Which of the following is a factor that companies should carefully manage in order to increase the
likelihood that teams will succeed?
a.
the development of formalized rules and regulations
b.
bureaucratic immunity
c.
administrative reciprocity
d.
the use of synergy
e.
stonewalling
74. ____ describes the average level of ability, experience, personality, or any other factor on a team.
a.
Team diversity
b.
Group synergy
c.
Team level
d.
Team conformity
e.
Team performance
75. E-Lab (the “E” stands for experience) has project teams perform field research for its clients. These
project teams are composed of students of theology, actors, and musicians as well as the more
traditional marketing experts and statisticians. E-Lab teams benefit from ____.
a.
group norms
b.
team diversity
c.
aggregated creativity
d.
collectivism
e.
structural accommodation
76. A group in Great Britain has been established to improve the employment, retention, and promotion
prospects of black and other ethnic minorities as well as women in the Fire and Rescue Service, which
at present has a largely white, male demographic. The group is trying to increase ____ within the fire
fighting teams.
a.
group norms
b.
team diversity
c.
aggregated creativity
d.
collectivism
e.
structural accommodation
77. Which of the following statements about team training is true?
a.
Organizations often overestimate the amount of training required to make teams effective.
b.
Cross-training is less appropriate for teams of highly skilled workers.
c.
The most common type of training provided is training in technical skills.
d.
Team leaders typically do not require training.
e.
The most common type of training provided is training in conceptual skills.
78. ____ is a compensation system in which companies share the financial value of performance gains
such as productivity, cost savings, or quality with their workers.
a.
Skill-based pay
b.
Gainsharing
c.
A draw account
d.
Profit sharing
e.
Optional equity
79. Which of the following is a method used for compensating employees for team participation and
accomplishments?
a.
hourly wages
b.
gainsharing
c.
piecework pay
d.
retained earnings
e.
all of these
80. An organization that rewards its team members through gainsharing is ____.
a.
using a nonfinancial reward
b.
sharing the financial value of performance gains
c.
paying employees to gain new skills
d.
paying hourly wages
e.
engaging in cross training
81. A producer of mobile aerial work platforms rewards employees for the number of basic skills they can
perform rather than for the jobs to which they are assigned. Prior to initiating this system, pay
increases were based on a merit system. The merit system is still in effect; however, the new program
emphasizes continued acquisition of new skills. The company uses ____.
a.
hourly wages
b.
gainsharing
c.
piecework
d.
retained earnings
e.
skill-based pay
82. The city of College Station, Texas has implemented a program to reward employees for finding ways
to save money for the city through improved operations and innovations. The city government is using
____.
a.
hourly wages
b.
gainsharing
c.
piecework pay
d.
retained earnings
e.
skill-based pay
83. Which of the following statements about team compensation is generally true?
a.
Skill-based pay is more effective for self-managing teams.
b.
Skill-based pay is more effective for self-directing teams performing complex tasks.
c.
Gainsharing works well is relatively stable environments.
d.
Gainsharing better allows employees to focus on improving their productivity.
e.
All of the statements about team compensation are generally true.
84. In general, ____ is most effective for self-managing and self-directing teams performing complex
tasks, while ____ works best in relatively stable environments where employees can focus on
improving the productivity, cost savings, or quality of their current work system.
a.
skill-based pay; nonfinancial reward
b.
gainsharing; nonfinancial reward
c.
nonfinancial reward; skill-based pay
d.
skill-based pay; gainsharing
e.
gainsharing; skill-based pay
Mattel
Ivy Ross, Mattel’s head of design and packaging for its girls division, needed a new toy that was part
construction set and part craft kit. Ross built a team from various departments (designers from research
and development, model makers from production, copywriters from marketing, etc.) and assigned
them the task of developing the new toy. The twelve members of the team were freed from all other
duties so they could concentrate on developing this new toy. During their first week together, members
were exposed to different ways of thinking. One of the hardest things the group had to deal with was
the lack of structure. It took participants nearly two weeks to realize that there was no schedule for
their activities. The strength of the team lay in its members’ abilities to build on each other’s ideas and
to trust one another.
85. Refer to Mattel. One of the advantages associated with the creation of such teams is ____.
a.
social loafing
b.
self-limiting behavior
c.
the avoidance of legal risks
d.
increased job satisfaction
e.
groupthink
86. Refer to Mattel. Mattel was able to make effective use of teams because ____.
a.
the group had a clear purpose
b.
rewards were available for individual performance
c.
the job could be done by individuals working independently
d.
the resources needed to create a new toy were not available
e.
groupthink provides valuable input
87. Refer to Mattel. Which of the following terms could also be used to describe Mattel’s team?
a.
tactical
b.
peripheral
c.
cross-functional
d.
tangential
e.
hierarchical
88. Refer to Mattel. During the first two weeks of its existence, the Mattel team was in the ____ stage as
its members dealt with scheduling and similar concerns.
a.
reforming
b.
forming
c.
performing
d.
norming
e.
conforming
89. Refer to Mattel. By not setting a time schedule for completion of the new toy development process,
Mattel gave the team members ____ even though team members did not retain this benefit when they
returned to their normal duties.
a.
power-sharing
b.
administrative control
c.
group norms
d.
structural accommodation
e.
bureaucratic control
Standard Motor Products
Standard Motor Products makes aftermarket auto parts for repairs and replacement that are sold by
warehouse distributors like Carquest and NAPA (National Automotive Parts Association) and auto
parts retailers like Advance Auto Parts and Auto-Zone. Its products include emission and engine
controls, voltage regulators, sensors, ignition wires, distributor caps and rotors, ignition and electrical
parts, air-conditioning compressors, accumulators, fan clutches, heater cores and valves, evaporators,
hoses, and window lift motors. Although the aftermarket auto parts market was $56 billion in 2008,
it’s incredibly competitive, and companies that don’t continue to improve quickly lose market share
and profits.
Right now, Standard Motor Products is struggling. Downtime—when machines aren’t
running—is up significantly, and, when parts aren’t being produced, revenues aren’t being generated.
Not surprisingly, productivity is also down, and costs are up. Since Standard competes in an industry
where the difference between a profit and a loss is three cents per hose, it can’t continue to incur rising
costs. The company is already losing millions per year and is closing down money-losing production
facilities. You’re worried that your plant, which is facing a perfect storm of problems, is next.
Problem number one is a top-down, authoritarian culture where managers pride themselves on
being tough on workers. Combine that with a work force that is 50 percent unionized, and let’s just say
there’s no love lost between managers and workers. Second, the workers dislike each other, too.
Language difficulties separate the white and African American workers from the Hispanic and Asian
workers. In fact, negative feelings were so strong that when the company introduced English language
classes, almost no one attended. With their noise and nonstop pressure to keep costs low, quality high,
and production on schedule, manufacturing plants are already challenging places to work. Stir in an
authoritarian culture, intense hostility between labor and management, a militant employee union,
basic communication/language problems between employees, and hard feelings all around, and you’ve
got the recipe for poor results that are sure to lead company headquarters to shut this place down.
In response to this situation, management decided to implement a team-based structure at the
Edwardsville, Kansas plant. In the end, managers decided to give the teams the highest level of
autonomy. Consequently, the teams directly control all their tasks, how those tasks get done, and who
does or does not become a member of each team. To compensate employees, Standard Motor Products
shares the financial value of performance gains such as productivity, cost savings, or quality with its
workers. The company hands out cash awards each quarter, the amount depending on how much it
saves in terms of increased productivity, quality, returned products, and safety. In the first year of the
program, the average annual award at the Edwardsville plant was $2,000 per employee.
90. Refer to Standard Motor Products. What common disadvantage of teams would you expect Standard
Motor Products’ Edwardsville plant to have experienced when it introduced teams?
a.
lower customer satisfaction
b.
poor product quality
c.
initially high employee turnover
d.
inefficiency in new-product development
e.
groupthink
91. Refer to Standard Motor Products. When Standard Motor Products’ Edwardsville plant decided to give
its teams the highest level of autonomy, it created ____.
a.
self-designing teams
b.
sequentially interdependent teams
c.
semi-autonomous work groups
d.
self-managing teams
e.
self-autonomous teams
92. Refer to Standard Motor Products. At Standard Motor Products’ Edwardsville plant, team members
lead the teams and leadership rotates among the different team members. Each member on a team, not
the management, takes turns scheduling their team’s daily work, deciding what gets done, who does
what, and ultimately taking responsibility for quality and timely production of automotive parts. This
demonstrates the use of ____.
a.
structural accommodation
b.
administrative reciprocity
c.
structural immunity
d.
bureaucratic accommodation
e.
bureaucratic immunity
93. Refer to Standard Motor Products. As is very common in team-building, you could expect the
management at Standard Motor Products’ Edwardsville plant to give its team members ____.
a.
cross-diversity training
b.
team mentoring
c.
training in interpersonal skills
d.
coaching skills
e.
MBO training
94. Refer to Standard Motor Products. The team-based compensation used at Standard Motor Products is
an example of ____.
a.
hourly wages
b.
gainsharing
c.
piecework pay
d.
retained earnings
e.
skill-based pay
WWYD Cessna
“Cessna Skyhawk” has special meaning for anyone who learns to fly with it—and Cessna is a storied
name in aviation. It had $1 billion in sales in the 1980s, and then, in one of the worst downturns in the
history of aviation business, nearly went out of business over the next decade and a half. Cessna’s
sales of piston-engine planes, like the Skyhawk, eventually dropped to just 600 units. Even layoffs
could not stop losses, so Cessna stopped making piston-engine planes altogether. However, after the
economy improved and the U.S. Government approved the General Aviation Revitalization Act
(barring product liability lawsuits on planes older than 18 years), which would keep prices down,
Cessna started building Skyhawks again.
One advantage of starting over is that you get to design the entire production facility, from its
location to the new workers to the suppliers. For instance, Cessna does most of its production in
Wichita, Kansas. But Wichita mostly produces a small number of highly customized jets each year,
just the opposite of high numbers of standardized, single-engine planes. So the new single-engine
plane factory was located in nearby Independence, Kansas. In a more radical step, especially for a
conservative-minded company like Cessna, was the decision to use teams to assemble Skyhawks
rather than the traditional production line. In an incredible departure from the engineering-based
standards in which the motions of every worker on the assembly line are studied for time, cost, and
efficiency implications, production teams would be completely responsible for assembling the planes,
for costs, and for quality.
In selecting workers to team-build the Skyhawk, Cessna focused exclusively on team skills. If
tests indicated that you weren’t a “team player” with an aptitude and willingness to take on
responsibility and work with others, Cessna didn’t hire you. However, Cessna had trouble finding
experienced manufacturing workers. In fact, most of the people Cessna hired to work in the plant had
never worked in a manufacturing setting before. In terms of team level, the average ability on a team,
Cessna’s production teams was extraordinarily good in terms of being strong team players, but
extraordinarily bad in terms of manufacturing experience. Cessna was hoping it could quickly train its
workers in manufacturing, but that took much longer than expected. For instance, Cessna hoped to
produce 1,000 single-engine planes in the factory’s first year. But due of worker inexperience, it only
produced 360 planes that year. It took four years to reach the annual goal.
Cessna’s single-engine production teams had no experience, so the company brought in 60
retirees who had built Skyhawks before. These mentors worked with teams, gradually instilling
confidence, and increasing production speed without sacrificing quality, such that they could also
refocus learning how to resolve team conflict, solve problems, and increase flexibility. Eventually,
Cessna’s production teams will be highly skilled at manufacturing and teamwork. However, with
teams taking nearly twice as long as planned to build each single-engine plane, it will be some time
before the plant is profitable. Clearly, teams take time.
When Cessna chose a team approach at its Independence factory, its goal was to change from
a “people–blaming” culture to a “process–oriented” culture, in which teams would have much more
authority, and would own and control their work. Now, rather than engineers deciding the “standard”
time that it takes to complete a task, teams decide the standard.
Besides production teams, Cessna also used teams in purchasing. In particular, it created
commodity teams with workers from seven different areas, purchasing, manufacturing engineering,
quality engineering, product design engineering, reliability engineering, product support and finance.
Each commodity team created strategic plans dealing with make versus buy decisions, sourcing (who
to buy from), plant and quality improvements, and training suppliers to reduce costs and increase
quality. For example, Cessna has long been one of the most vertically integrated aviation
manufacturers, meaning that it has typically produced most of the parts for its planes, rather than
buying those parts from suppliers. However, because of the new commodities teams, it began
reexamining that strategy. When the new commodities teams examined make versus buy decisions,
they looked at every major category of parts, from engines, to wings, to electronics, and took a hard
look at Cessna’s areas of expertise and production capabilities. In the end, they came up with groups of
parts that could be completely outsourced to suppliers at a lower cost and higher quality. Thus, Cessna
got rid of its aluminum shearing division, and now pays less to buy aluminum precut to its rigorous
specifications directly from Alcoa.
95. Refer to WWYD Cessna. Which of the following was not considered a disadvantage likely to be faced
by Cessna when the new teams started to build the Skyhawk?
a.
Teams have a learning curve.
b.
Teams tend to be composed of younger people.
c.
The outlay in costs is significant.
d.
Teams have a higher chance of not working than working.
e.
Teams might not have been the best choice given the type of work done at the factory.