48) Which of the following will help in making communities of practice successful?
A) conducting face-to-face meetings, instead of online meetings
B) having clear accountability and managerial oversight
C) encouraging members to nurture competing goals
D) focusing on simple and routine issues, that can be easily tackled
49) Searching for new ideas beyond an organization’s boundaries and allowing changes to easily
transfer inward and outward is known as ________.
A) strategic partnering
B) knowledge management
C) customer relationship management
D) open innovation
50) A cell phone maker has created a digital platform that allows it to directly interact with its
customers. Customers are allowed to post their ideas regarding the features they want in the
phones that the company plans to launch. What is this process of interaction between the
company and its customers called?
A) open innovation
B) strategic partnership
C) joint venturing
D) customer relationship management
51) ABC Corp. decides to enter the cell phone market. Before launching its new handset, it
creates a digital platform which allows the general public to post their ideas and opinions about
the features they want in the new phone. In this scenario, the company is ________.
A) forming a joint venture
B) creating a boundaryless organization
C) promoting open innovation
D) forming a strategic partnership
52) Which of the following is an advantage of open innovation?
A) It can be implemented even if the organization follows a rigid structure.
B) It requires minimal support from top management.
C) It gives customers a voice and allows them to be heard.
D) It requires few, if any, changes in the way knowledge is shared.
53) Which of the following is a drawback of open innovation?
A) It increases the level of risk associated with product development.
B) It diverts the organization’s attention away from the marketplace.
C) It nurtures external relationships but not internal ones.
D) It requires extensive support.
54) Collaborative relationships between two or more organizations in which they combine their
resources and capabilities for some business purpose are known as ________.
A) communities of practice
B) strategic partnerships
C) joint stock companies
D) organizational task forces
55) A strategic partnership ________.
A) promotes efficiencies because of its flexible and informal arrangements
B) leads to dysfunctional conflict, as opposed to synergy, among the parties involved
C) entails a lot of paperwork when creating and disbanding projects
D) does not allow either firm to retain its brand identity
56) The management is thinking of joining hands with its one time rival, CG-VAK Software, in
order to gain access to new markets and technologies. By doing this, the organization is
nurturing a ________.
A) joint stock company
B) task force
C) community of practice
D) strategic partnership
57) Which of the following is a characteristic of a strategic partnership?
A) It allows multiple parties to share the risks and expenses.
B) It is limited to five or fewer participants.
C) It provides access to new sources of financing.
D) It prevents rival firms from collaborating.
58) Collaborative work increases communication and coordination among participants.
59) A cross-functional team has no artificial boundaries and thus, the team focuses on working
together to achieve organizational goals.
60) A task force is a permanent committee or team formed to tackle a long-term problem
affecting several departments of an organization.
61) Communities of practice refer to groups of people who share a concern, a set of problems, or
a passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in that area by interacting
on an ongoing basis.
62) In order to make communities of practice effective, it is important to remove any sort of
managerial supervision.
63) Open innovation refers to opening up the search for new ideas beyond the organization’s
boundaries and allowing innovations to easily transfer inward and outward.
64) Strategic partnerships are collaborative relationships between two or more organizations in
which they combine their resources and capabilities for some business purpose.
65) List some of the benefits and drawbacks of collaborative work.
66) Briefly describe the characteristics of cross-functional teams and task forces.
67) What are communities of practice? What can organizations do to make such communities
successful?
68) Explain the concept of open innovation and highlight some of its benefits and drawbacks.
69) Explain the concept of strategic partnerships and highlight some of their advantages.
70) ________ is a work arrangement in which employees work at home and are linked to the
workplace by computer.
A) Outsourcing
B) Coworking
C) Telecommuting
D) Hot desking
71) Cheryl’s company wants to grow without incurring costs for a new office building,
equipment, or parking lots. Which would be the best option for the company?
A) It can give its employees the option of telecommuting.
B) It can adopt the open innovation approach.
C) It can enter into a strategic partnership.
D) It can compress the workweek of its employees.
72) Which of the following is the best option for a qualified, female employee with a baby
wishing to work from home?
A) telecommuting
B) job sharing
C) flextime
D) compressed workweeks
73) Carl has been working from home several days per month. At first everything was fine but
the appeal is beginning to wear off. Carl is finding that ________.
A) his household expenses have increased
B) the line between work and home becomes even more blurred
C) his relationship with his co-workers has improved
D) he is working longer hours per day but fewer days per week
74) Which among the following is the best way to convince employees to become remote
workers?
A) By telling them that telecommuting eventually blurs the line between work and home.
B) By pointing to the pay “increase” employees would receive from money saved through
telecommuting.
C) By telling them that they are unlikely to miss the camaraderie and social exchanges of the
workplace.
D) By offering free high-speed Internet access and office furniture.
75) When Carl offered to work from home several days each month, his manager feared that
________.
A) she would not be able to provide adequate supervision when he would not see Carl regularly
B) she would miss the camaraderie of having Carl in the office every day
C) Carl would ask for an increase in pay
D) Carl would not be able to handle working alone
76) A compressed workweek is one wherein ________.
A) employees work longer hours per day but fewer days per week
B) employees work the same number of hours per week but do more work
C) employees work fewer days per week but also do lesser work
D) employees work for a lesser number of hours per day in the week
77) The most common arrangement in a compressed workweek is ________.
A) four 10-hour days
B) three 12-hour days followed by one 4-hour day
C) five 8-hour days
D) four 9-hour days followed by one 4-hour day
78) A ________ schedule typically designates certain common core hours when all employees
are required to be on the job, but allows starting, ending, and lunch-hour times to vary.
A) telecomputing
B) flextime
C) job sharing
D) compressed workweek
79) Brent works in the accounts department at a small firm. All employees at his firm are
expected to clock-in 40 hours of work per week. After five years in the work force, Brent decides
to go back to school but on a part-time basis while continuing to work his full 40 hours each
week. The classes he is taking are currently scheduled for three days in a week, between 3 to 6
pm. Which of the following work arrangements is most suitable for Brent’s situation?
A) flextime
B) telecommuting full time
C) job sharing
D) compressed workweek
80) The practice of having two or more people split a full-time job is known as ________.
A) moonlighting
B) job rotation
C) job sharing
D) temping
81) Margaret works mornings from 8 to 12:30. Her twin Marjorie comes in at noon and works
until 4:30. They share a desk and job responsibilities. The twins are ________.
A) using flextime
B) contingent workers
C) temporary employees
D) job-sharing
82) Telecommuting is a work arrangement in which employees work at home and are linked to
the workplace by telephone.
83) A compressed workweek is a workweek where employees work longer hours per day but
fewer days per week.
84) What are some of the different types of flexible work arrangements?
85) Temporary, freelance, or contract workers are known as ________.
A) communities of practice
B) contingent workers
C) passive labor
D) virtual employees
86) Contingent workers on a movie set are an example of workers in a ________ organization.
A) learning
B) virtual
C) network
D) project
87) Which of the following is one of the main issues businesses face with their contingent
workers?
A) classifying who actually qualifies as a contingent worker
B) deciding the remuneration for contingent workers
C) allocating work resources to contingent workers
D) providing the option of a compressed workweek to contingent workers
88) Identify the correct statement regarding contingent workers.
A) The more control a company has over a worker, the more likely that the individual is a
contingent worker rather than an employee.
B) Companies are required to pay Social Security, Medicare, and unemployment insurance taxes
on workers classified as independent contractors.
C) Managers should have a method of establishing goals, schedules, and deadlines for the
contingent employees.
D) Monitoring the work performance of contingent workers is not mandatory, especially if the
contingent employee is working off-site.
89) An organization finds it very easy to differentiate between independent and non-independent
contractors.
90) Companies have to pay Social Security, Medicare, and unemployment insurance taxes for
workers classified as independent contractors.
91) Discuss the organizing issues associated with a contingent workforce.
92) Which of the following is a major characteristic of today’s organizations?
A) constant managerial supervision
B) loyal employees
C) full-time, permanent jobs
D) mobile employees
93) Which of the following is the biggest issue faced by organizations employing widely
dispersed, mobile employees who do work anywhere and at anytime?
A) employee remuneration
B) security
C) lawsuits
D) attrition
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94) A major structural design challenge for managers today is to find a way to offer flexibility
and at the same time keep widely dispersed and mobile employees connected to the organization.
95) Researchers have concluded that the structures and strategies of organizations worldwide are
vastly different from one another.
96) What are the major challenges for managers seeking organizational designs that will best
support and facilitate employee efficiency and effectiveness in today’s business environment?