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Organizational Behavior, 18e (Robbins)
Chapter 12 Leadership
1) Leadership is best defined as ________.
A) the ability to merely project one's abilities in the lack of actual accomplishments
B) the ability to reduce the dependence of team members on each other
C) the ability to induce the team members to focus on individual goals rather than collective
goals
D) the ability to influence a group toward the achievement of a vision or set of goals
E) the ability to use factors like training and experience to reduce dependence on formal
leadership
2) Which of the following statements regarding leadership is true?
A) All managers are leaders.
B) Formal rights ensure good leadership.
C) Formal appointment is essential in creating leaders.
D) All leaders are hierarchically superior to followers.
E) Nonsanctioned leadership is as important as formal influence.
3) Which of the following is a desirable feature of leadership?
A) one-directional influence from the leader to the follower
B) coercive power and authority
C) lack of freedom
D) passivity of followers
E) coexistence of leaders and managers
4) Trait theories of leadership focus on ________.
A) the special relationship that leaders establish with a small group of their followers
B) the personal qualities and characteristics that differentiate leaders from nonleaders
C) the way the leader makes decisions
D) the extent to which followers are willing and able to accomplish a specific task
E) the match between the leader's style and the degree to which the situation gives the leader
control
5) Which of the following Big Five personality traits has been identified as the most important
trait in effective leaders?
A) conscientiousness
B) openness
C) extraversion
D) agreeableness
E) emotional stability
6) Emotional intelligence (EI) is critical to effective leadership because one of its core
components is ________, which reflects the consideration that leaders must be able to express.
A) conscientiousness
B) empathy
C) optimism
D) introversion
E) perfectionism
7) Trait theories most accurately predict ________.
A) distinguishing features of an effective leader
B) differences between an effective and an ineffective leader
C) success of a leader
D) roles to be played by the leader
E) emergence of a leader
8) Tim Wrench was leading the client services division of AmWeb for seven years when he was
asked to move to another region where the company was setting up its office. Before moving,
Tim was asked to help in finding a successor for him from his team. Tim's most obvious choice
was Judy Judge, and the management accepted his choice as Judy was a popular person across
the company. Judy was known for her vivacious nature, was often seen speaking to employees
from various divisions, and was always excited to take up a new opportunity. Once she became a
leader, she continued to give employees freedom and flexibility even if it resulted in deficiencies
on the work front like missed deadlines or low quality. Judy's initial weeks as a leader were full
of confusion among her team members, but many felt that the situation would come under
control. When things did not improve in the next two months and many complaints poured in
from clients, the management realized that Judy was not the best candidate to lead the team.
Which of the following, if true, would best explain this outcome?
A) Judy was a high-performing employee and enjoyed good relationships with everyone on the
team.
B) Everyone felt Judy was given insufficient time to prove her worth as a leader.
C) Research has shown that traits can predict the emergence of a leader, but not his or her
efficiency as a leader.
D) The client complaints were a common thing encountered by the company.
E) Judy demonstrated low levels of consideration and high levels of task-orientation.
9) According to the Big Five personality model, emotional stability is the most important trait of
effective leaders.
10) Trait theories of leadership most accurately predict the emergence and appearance of
leadership.
11) What is the role played by traits in predicting leadership behaviors?
12) The Ohio State Studies narrowed the independent dimensions of leader behavior to two that
substantially accounted for most of the leadership behavior described by employees:
consideration and ________.
A) employee-orientation
B) empathy
C) constructing vision
D) initiating structure
E) charisma
13) In the context of behavioral dimensions of leadership identified in the Ohio State Studies,
initiating structure refers to the extent to which ________.
A) a person's job relationships are characterized by mutual trust, respect for employees' ideas,
and regard for their feelings
B) a leader engages in participative management
C) a leader is accepting of and respects individual differences among various team members
D) a leader is likely to define and organize his or her role and those of employees in the search
for goal attainment
E) a leader initiates efforts to communicate personally with employees
14) Adrian Atwood, a senior manager at MNC, spends a lot of his time assigning group members
to particular tasks and scheduling their work such that deadlines are achievable. Adrian also sets
high expectations for standards of performance and holds regular meetings to ensure that
productivity and quality are up to the mark. In the light of the Ohio State Studies, this indicates
that Adrian, as a leader, is ________.
A) low in task orientation
B) high in consideration
C) relationship oriented
D) employee oriented
E) high in initiating structure
15) In the context of behavioral dimensions of leadership identified in the Ohio State Studies,
________ is the extent to which a person's job relationships are characterized by mutual trust,
respect for employees' ideas, and regard for their feelings.
A) consideration
B) transaction
C) authentication
D) task orientation
E) identification
16) Nellie Fritz, the head of client support services at Olson Inc., is very popular among her
subordinates. Many believe that Nellie has a knack for getting the work done without making the
employees feel pushed into a corner. She is often seen speaking to her subordinates and support
staff about their families, helping them with any personal problems they have, and praising
employees for their good work. In light of the Ohio State Studies, this indicates that Nellie, as a
leader, is ________.
A) task oriented
B) high in consideration
C) low in trust propensity
D) low in relationship orientation
E) production oriented
17) The Ohio State Studies started with more than a thousand dimensions of leader behavior.
18) The Ohio State Studies narrowed a list of more than a thousand dimensions to just one that
accounted for most of the leadership behavior described by employees: participation.
19) The behavioral theories view leadership as a set of actions that people can be trained in.
20) Explain mentoring with reference to the dimensions of initiating structure and consideration.
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21) Contingency theories focus on the ________ that impact leadership success.
A) personality variables
B) leader's abilities to inspire and transform followers
C) situational variables
D) values and ethics
E) features of the followers
22) Which of the following theories of leadership is based on situational variables?
A) attribution theory
B) trait theories
C) charismatic leadership theory
D) path-goal theory
E) behavioral theories
23) The least preferred co-worker (LPC) questionnaire is used to measure whether ________.
A) the followers are able and willing
B) a leader is task- or relationship-oriented
C) the members are in the ingroup or out-group
D) employees prefer servant leadership over situational leadership
E) the leader is high on the dimension of conscientiousness
24) Dora Lee has just completed and scored the LPC questionnaire given to her during an
evaluation exercise. She is surprised when she finds out that she described her least preferred co-
worker in relatively positive terms because she recalls being particularly annoyed by this
difficult co-worker several times in the past. Based on your understanding of Fiedler's model,
you explain to Dora that her LPC score makes sense within the model because ________.
A) Dora tends to become very dominating when given ambiguous tasks
B) Dora is usually much more focused on productivity than on developing relationships
C) Dora tends in general to focus on building good relationships with the other employees
D) Dora has a spotty work history and has tended to switch jobs every couple of years
E) Dora is usually chosen for positions of high responsibility within your organization
25) Fiedler's contingency model assumes that ________.
A) an individual's leadership style is essentially fixed
B) an individual is constantly striving to develop a more productive style
C) an individual's leadership is primarily determined by the features of the followers
D) an individual's leadership style can be altered much like his or her personality traits
E) an individual's leadership style must be task oriented to be effective
26) Fiedler defines the degree of confidence, trust, and respect that subordinates have in their
leader as ________.
A) leader-member relations
B) task structure
C) positional power
D) follower variables
E) path-goal frameworks
27) Trevor Guerney is a manager who believes that those who are to be affected by a change
must be involved in the change. Consequently, he always ensures that his subordinates have the
knowledge of what is happening around them, and he often holds meetings to obtain employee
opinion and suggestions before making any decision that would apply to them. Similarly,
Trevor's team proactively approaches him with problems and potential solutions as they know he
will not respond by criticizing them. From the information provided in the scenario, we can say
that ________.
A) Trevor's leadership is primarily task-oriented
B) Trevor's team has a low degree of trust propensity
C) Trevor's team requires more directive leadership
D) Trevor's team has positive leader-member relations
E) Trevor's team is unsatisfied with his power position
28) Which of the following situational dimensions identified by Fiedler relates to the degree to
which job assignments are regimented, that is, structured or unstructured?
A) task reflexivity
B) task significance
C) task structure
D) task complexity
E) task orientation
29) According to the Fiedler contingency model, a very favorable situation in which the leader
has a great deal of control is characterized by ________.
A) high task structure, good leader-member relations, and strong position power
B) limited position power, good leader-member relations, and low task structure
C) less structured jobs, strong position power, and moderate leader-member relations
D) broad employee responsibilities, low position power, and moderate leader-member relations
E) good leader-member relations, low position power, unstructured jobs
30) Which of the following theoretical approaches in the study of leadership focuses on
followers' readiness as a determinant of effective leadership?
A) Big Five personality model
B) behavioral theories
C) Fiedler contingency model
D) laissez-faire leadership
E) situational leadership theory
31) According to the situational leadership theory, if employees are unwilling and unable, the
appropriate leadership style in this situation would be ________.
A) participative
B) democratic
C) person-oriented
D) directive
E) supportive
32) According to the situational leadership theory, a follower with the desired ability and
willingness is likely to be ________.
A) lacking in the area of motivation
B) deficient in the specific skills required
C) comfortable in his ability to do the job well
D) highly skilled in relevant areas but low on experience
E) in need of leadership that is highly task oriented
33) Which of the following statements is true with regard to the path-goal theory of leadership?
A) The theory considers leadership to be a set of attributes ascribed to leaders by followers.
B) The theory proposes only a passive and supportive role for leaders.
C) The theory considers removing obstacles to be a component of effective leadership.
D) The theory proposes that leaders must work closely with followers throughout.
E) The path-goal theory represents a laissez-faire approach to leadership.
34) In the context of Fiedler's model, the situational dimension termed ________ relates to the
degree of influence a leader has over important variables such as hiring, firing, discipline,
promotions, and salary increases.
A) task structure
B) leader-member exchange
C) position power
D) initiating structure
E) leader-member relations
35) According to the situational leadership theory, if followers are unable and willing to do a
task, then a leader needs to ________.
A) follow a supportive style
B) engage in participative leadership
C) refrain from providing too many inputs
D) display high task and relationship orientation
E) demonstrate high task and low relationship orientation
36) Maura Ruiz has been working in the e-learning industry for over eight years. She is aware of
the fact that in this industry, once an employee has learned his or her job, the work becomes
fairly automatic and competence can be achieved rapidly. She has been noticing how in her
team, this competence has come along with a lot of complacency; the employees, though able,
are unwilling to work hard. According to the situational leadership theory, to rectify this
situation, Maura would benefit the most if she uses the ________ style of leadership.
A) task-oriented
B) production-oriented
C) participative
D) directive
E) autocratic
37) George has been a project leader at NSys for five years. George's job description involves
scheduling work for his team, coordinating their work with that of the other departments, and
providing feedback. George, who has successfully led this team, believes that it is his task-
oriented and directive approach that has helped him in the last five years. Which of the
following, if true, would weaken his argument supporting a directive leadership?
A) The members of the team are resentful with George's directives relating to work.
B) George has seen that employees in his team lack initiative and motivation to work hard.
C) The team's workload is expected to rise substantially as the company is growing at an
unprecedented rate.
D) George's team is organized as a wheel network and depends on his ability to coordinate
amongst members of the team and between other departments.
E) NSys hires only highly qualified and experienced employees.
38) Leslie is a middle-level production manager at the California branch of ALT Corp. ALT
Corp. is an automobile manufacturing company that specializes in the manufacture of heavy
motor vehicles. Leslie's job is to supervise his assembly line employees. Leslie has worked in
this position for over four years, and he strongly believes that a supportive leadership style is
most suitable in his context. Which of the following, if true, would strengthen Leslie's approach
to leadership in this case?
A) The company has recently announced its move to diversify into manufacturing light motor
vehicles because of high profitability in that line.
B) Most of the assembly line employees are highly experienced in their jobs and committed to
Leslie.
C) With developments in technology, the company was enhancing the role of assembly line
employees with new tasks combined into natural work units.
D) The company has initiated many changes in the tasks of assembly line workers in its attempts
to refine the process of manufacturing.
E) A good proportion of the assembly line employees are new employees.
39) Leslie is a middle-level production manager at the California branch of ALT Corp. ALT
Corp. is an automobile manufacturing company that specializes in the manufacture of heavy
motor vehicles. Leslie's job is to supervise his assembly line employees. Leslie has worked in
this position for over four years, and he strongly believes that a supportive leadership style is
most suitable in his context. Which of the following, if true, would weaken Leslie's approach to
leadership in this case?
A) The company is planning to lay off some employees in the near future.
B) The company has stopped the production of most of its older models as it wants to focus on
the most profitable models.
C) The assembly line jobs are routine and highly structured by nature.
D) The recent round of OSHA inspections revealed that many assembly line employees were not
complying with stipulated safety measures.
E) The company's workforce is comprised primarily of employees of the baby boomer
generation.
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40) Max Hiller was recently hired by Sync, a consumer goods company. During his first meeting
with the sales team, Max impressed upon his team that work performance is the only criterion he
would use to evaluate them. To help them perform well and meet their targets, he pushed his
team to work extra hours. He also gave very clear instructions to each member regarding their
job responsibilities and continually verified if they were meeting their targets. Which of the
following, if true, would weaken Max's approach?
A) Max is leading many new employees who have joined his team directly after training.
B) Max's team functions in a sluggish manner and picks up pace only a week or so before the
monthly operations cycle meetings.
C) Max's sales team is comprised of independent and experienced employees who are committed
to their jobs.
D) Max's team does not display high levels of cohesiveness, and members fail to coordinate with
each other.
E) Sales figures for the region that Max's team is responsible for have improved in the last
quarter.
41) The leader-participation model focuses on ________.
A) the personality traits of leaders
B) the presence of charisma in the leader
C) the way decisions are made by the leader
D) the mere projection of successful leadership by the leader
E) the use of ingroups by the leader
42) In the context of the Fiedler contingency model, leader-member relations measures the
degree of influence a leader has over power variables such as hiring, firing, discipline,
promotions, and salary increases.
43) The situational leadership theory focuses on follower readiness to determine the appropriate
leadership behavior.
44) According to the path-goal theory, directive leadership is likely to be welcomed and accepted
by employees with high ability or considerable experience.
45) According to the Fiedler model of leadership, how can leader effectiveness be improved?
46) Describe the path-goal theory of leadership.
47) Which of the following leadership theories argues that because of time pressures, leaders
establish a special relationship with a small group of their subordinates–the ingroup, who are
trusted, get a disproportionate amount of the leader's attention, and are more likely to receive
special privileges?
A) situational leadership theory
B) leader-member exchange
C) path-goal
D) expectancy
E) Fiedler's theory
