The “Sample Appraisal Interview” presented in the chapter between the banking
employee, Chris, and the manager, provides an example of a “best practices” approach
to conducting a formal appraisal interview.
Answer:
A ___ success occurs when the results are positive but the organization does not learn
from the experience.
a. Temporary
b. Enduring
c. Potential
d. None of the above
Answer:
A recommended business policy to promote innovation is to
a. financially reward employees for their innovations
b. design workspaces to encourage informal problem sharing
c. create an environment that communicates that “failures” are not tolerated
d. all of the above
e. a and b
Answer:
The most critical time for the manager to communicate the corporate culture to the
employee is in
a. the initial weeks of employment
b. the time period between the initial hiring and the employee’s first day of employment
c. after the 1st formal performance evaluation
d. none of the above
Answer:
“Data which provides relevant clues or news” best defines
a. data
b. information
c. knowledge
d. action
Answer:
What are some questions that managers can ask to help them implement
product-embedded information (PEI) practices?
a. Can products be electronically tagged to provide relevant information?
b. Can special sensors provide alerts to potential dangers?
c. Can product instructions be located on the equipment rather than in a manual?
d. All of the above
e. a and c
Answer:
Research on whistleblowers reveals that
a. many often commit “career suicide” after blowing the whistle
b. they typically experience depression and severed friendships
c. 50% were fired after reporting their concerns
d. All of the above
Answer:
What are some policy issues that your author suggests be addressed in developing a
strategic approach to corporate ethics?
a. What information should the organization gather?
b. How should the organization gather the information?
c. How should the organization use the information?
d. all of the above
e. a and c
Answer:
“Information is power” and “Employees are not sophisticated enough to grasp the big
picture” are assumptions of what message strategy?
a. withhold and uphold
b. underscore and explore
c. tell and sell
d. identify and reply
Answer:
A toothbrush that lets the user know when it’s time for a replacement or a
washing machine that rings a bell upon completion of the cycle are examples of
a. Knowledge-Sharing Entities
b. Efficient In-Time Information
c. Product Embedded Information
Answer:
An employee goes public with information about safety abuses in the organization. This
is an example of
a. ambiguity
b. gossip
c. leaks
d. whistle-blowing
Answer:
A successful 20-year old entrepreneur used the telephone almost exclusively as his
preferred communication tool because he wanted to downplay his youth. He wanted to
minimize visual cues because he thought that clients would not take him seriously if he
used face-to-face channels. This exemplifies what congruency test?
a. sender’s objectives compatible with the attributes of the message
b. message compatible with the channels
c. sender’s objectives compatible with the channels
d. messages compatible with the receivers’ characteristics
Answer:
A change initiator views an organizational change as nonroutine while a receiver views
the change as relatively routine. The likely communication impact of this situation is
a. under-communication from the change initiator
b. over-communication from the change initiator
Answer:
The message strategy where managers shower employees with all kinds of information,
hoping that employees will be able to sort out the significant from insignificant, best
describes ____
a. spray and pray
b. tell and sell
c. withhold and uphold
d. identify and reply
Answer:
The main assumption of the ____ approach is that those in leadership positions are in a
better position to recognize the need for change.
a. Top-down
b. Bottom-up
c. Integrative orientation
d. Entrepreneurial orientation
Answer:
Your author proposes that when employees are faced with a major change, they go
through stages of reaction similar to experiencing grief. The stages, in order, are:
a. depression, denial, anger, bargaining, acceptance
b. denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance
c. anger, denial, depression, bargaining, acceptance
d. depression, denial, bargaining, anger, acceptance
Answer:
Addressing issues such as: 1) what channels to use, 2) who should be the spokespeople
and 3) what should be the timing of the communications, are questions posed in what
phase of the change process?
a. contextual analysis
b. audience analysis
c. strategic design
d. tactical preparation
Answer:
A strength of the Arrow Approach is
a. An emphasis on the relational aspect of communication
b. An emphasis on encouraging managers to clearly think out their ideas
c. An emphasis on encouraging managers to provide sufficient specificity in their
instructions
d. All of the above
e. b and c
Answer:
The evaluation criteria, “Is the idea possible?” is the critical question to ask in what
stage?
a. idea generation
b. feasibility analysis
c. viability assessment
d. implementation
Answer:
The “Law of Large Numbers” implies that____
a. any message sent to enough people could be interpreted in almost any conceivable
way
b. for any message, we should expect some unreasonable interpretations
c. communicators have fallen into “black holes”
d. all of the above
e. a and b
Answer:
How successful was Procter and Gamble with its disposable diapers in the Japanese
market?
a. P & G lost market share when it didn’t act on recommendations about how to better
serve the market
b. P & G is the model success story: it has maintained its position as market leader by
adapting the diaper to better fit Japanese babies
c. P & G entered the market late, but became the market leader because of its better
understanding of the culture
Answer:
The Imperial, Inc. “upside down” organization chart presented in the chapter reveals a
a. a highly autocratic, centralized company
b. an “army-like” culture
c. top-down hierarchical structure
d. all of the above
e. none of the above
Answer:
According to the Diffusion of Innovation model, what category of technology adopters
tend to be the most venturesome and seek out new opportunities?
a. Laggards
b. Early Majority
c. Late Majority
d. Innovators
e. Early Adopters
Answer:
What are some ways that a company can integrate boundary spanning into its structure?
a. build boundary spanning into job descriptions
b. support job switching and job shadowing
c. redesign the physical environment
d. all of the above
Answer:
An underlying assumption of the ____ manager is that credibility is something the
speaker possesses and not something given to the speaker by the audience.
a. Arrow
b. Circuit
c. Dance
Answer:
“Using a less offensive expression instead of one that may cause distress” defines
a. ambiguity
b. equivocation
c. euphemism
d. apology
Answer:
A ____ manager would most likely say, “My e-mail gave specific and explicit
directions. Sometimes I think my employees intentionally want to screw things up.”
a. Arrow
b. Circuit
c. Dance
Answer:
What is true about high-context cultures?
a. They communicate in ways that depend on the shared experiences and relationships
of the communicators
b. Examples of high-context cultures are Germany, Sweden and the U.S.
c. The message itself relays much of the contextual information
d. All of the above
Answer:
What type of manager would most likely say, “Being aware of the interaction patterns
between people to be able to adapt messages as well as interpret them in light of these
patterns.”
a. Arrow
b. Circuit
c. Dance
d. All of the above
Answer:
In dealing with a nonroutine change, your author proposes that managers spend the
majority of their communication resources dealing with what type of issues?
a. determining what channels to use
b. crafting the actual communication message
c. determining the timing of the communication
d. analyzing the context and the audiences
Answer:
___ bring together people from different departments to manage a project.
a. brainstorming sessions
b. matrix teams
c. cross-functional teams
d. parallel functional teams
Answer:
A bank manager says to one of her employees, “You do a nice job explaining savings
products to our customers.” How would you evaluate this feedback?
a. It’s effective: it’s positive feedback and likely to be motivating to the employee
b. The manager could explain what “nice job” means by discussing specific behaviors
the employee engages in
c. The manager could discuss the importance of explaining savings products and how
it’s linked to the company values (e.g., customer service)
d. All of the above
e. b and c
Answer:
“Negotiating common standards,” and “Integrating the priorities and plans of units” are
examples of what communication goal?
a. inspiring
b. educating
c. coordinating
d. relating
Answer:
Which communication orientation is based on the assumption that “understanding =
effective communication”?
a. Arrow
b. Circuit
c. Dance
d. All of the above
Answer:
“The potential benefits that could have been received by selecting an alternate channel”
best defines what type of channel cost?
a. opportunity costs
b. learning costs
c. coordination costs
d. switching costs
Answer:
Once a user determines the value of a communication channel, the value will stay pretty
much the same over time.
Answer:
Your author recommends focusing more on quantitative (rather than qualitative) data
when managing the data-information relationship.
Answer:
The management theorist Warren Bennis points out how effectively The New York
Times produced a culture of candor as exemplified in its handling of the Jayson Blair
situation.
Answer:
“Our mission is to make the best damn product we can” would be considered an
actionable cultural statement.
Answer:
Your author suggests that cultural statements should be very general, such as “We are in
the business of serving customers.”
Answer:
If a person is effective using one type of communication channel, the chances are good
that the person will be effective using other channels.
Answer:
The most financially successful innovations tend to be product focused.
Answer:
Senders of communication are most often the cause of communication breakdowns.
Answer:
The most effective communicators minimize ambiguity in messages.
Answer:
A majority of employees (61%) believe that their organization tolerates poor performers
and over 40% of employees say their good work goes unrecognized.
Answer:
Your author suggests that it may be appropriate to speed up the process even at
the expense of accuracy because most people eventually make the right decisions
without totally accurate data and information.
Answer:
Due to the speed of organizational change, your author suggests that it is
often advisable to move directly from the “Information” phase to “Action” phase.
Answer:
Your author’s research reveals that employees are more satisfied with information about
their job requirements than they are with information about how they are being judged.
Answer:
Strengths of the critical incidents appraisal technique are that it: 1) focuses on employee
behavior, 2) provides specific evidence and 3) avoids appraisals of employee
personality.
Answer:
“Rich” channels are usually better for communicating nonroutine communication
because they allow for rapid feedback and quick adaption to employee concerns.
Answer:
Euphemisms should be avoided in communication because misunderstandings may
result.
Answer:
High power cultures, such as Austria, Israel and Ireland, show great deference to those
in authority positions (high power) vs. cultures such as Russia and Mexico, which
exhibit more collegial relations (low power).
Answer:
Examining corporate slogans and value statementsrather than reflecting on the type of
people in the organization — are the most revealing ways of discovering the corporate
culture.
Answer: