Which of the following suggestions will help a manager run an effective meeting?
a. Start the meeting 15 minutes after the scheduled start time to allow people time to
socialize.
b. Use the agenda only as a general guideline, be flexible enough to add and subtract
items.
c. Make sure that someone is taking minutes.
d. Allow people to contribute as they are comfortable; do not call on people for
participation.
e. Schedule the meeting for a longer period of time than needed, just in case additional
issues come up for discussion.
Dynamo Designs is a seven year old organization. It has tried to establish an
organizational culture that emphasizes flexibility and change. What type of
organizational culture is Dynamo trying to create?
a. Clan
b. Community
c. Market
d. Adhocracy
e. Hierarchy
What competencies are important for creating and sustaining commitment and
cohesion?
a. Communicating honestly and effectively, working and managing across functions,
setting goals and objectives
b. Understanding self and others, mentoring and developing others, managing and
leading teams
c. Living with change, thinking creatively, managing change
d. Managing projects, designing work, managing across functions
e. Understanding self and others, communicating a vision for the organization,
developing employees
An organizations that tries to increase compliance with rules about conserving supplies
by locking the supply closet is using which compliance strategy?
a. Punitive ” similar to threatening employees with sticks
b. Preventative ” similar to putting hurdles up in front of employees
c. Remunerative ” similar to tempting employees with carrots
d. Generative ” similar to creating a fast track for employees to follow
e. Cognitive ” similar to enlightening employees about the benefits of compliance
The action imperative that is LEAST like the Compete action imperative is
a. Control
b. Co-opt
c. Collaborate
d. Create
e. Constrain
What do the competencies associated with the internal process model typically focus
on?
a. Having a caring empathetic orientation, exhibiting helpful, considerate, sensitive,
approachable, open, and fair behaviors.
b. Encouraging collective effort, building cohesion and morale, and managing
interpersonal conflict.
c. Creating continuity and stability, making sure that information flows smoothly,
ensuring that the necessary resources are available for activities
d. Establishing a clear direction for the organization, providing guidance so individuals
can help the organization achieve its goals
e. Reducing friction among individuals, work groups, and work units.
Head Gear Generation manufactures and markets cutting edge products that are
designed for young adults. Because preferences in this age group change rapidly, Head
Gear Generation spends a great deal of time and energy trying to understand its
customers and putting products into stores before any of its competitors. What type of
organizational culture would be most appropriate for Head Gear Generation?
a. Clan
b. Hierarchy
c. Market
d. Adhocracy
e. Community
What is organizing?
a. Deciding where you want to go and how best to get there
b. Dividing work into manageable components and assigning activities
c. Monitoring performance and comparing to the plan
d. Hiring the right people for the organization
e. Acquiring resources and allocating them based on performance
One of the disadvantages of a strong organizational culture is that
a. Strong organizational cultures may inhibit necessary organizational change
b. Strong organizational cultures cannot survive in stable environments
c. Strong organizational cultures are limited by the lifespan of the charismatic leaders
who established them
d. Strong organizational cultures inhibit innovation
e. All of these are disadvantages of strong organizational cultures
Which of the following is NOT one of the four psychological states required for “lift” to
occur?
a. Being other focused
b. Being guided by popular norms
c. Being internally directed
d. Being externally open
e. Being purpose centered
Casey has been trying to use the time management matrix approach to help improve his
performance at work. He is primarily evaluated on the number of hits that he gets
relative to the number of times that he comes up to bat. He is also evaluated on whether
or not he arrives on time for practice and how neat his locker is kept. Given this
situation, how should Casey classify the time that he spends cleaning his locker?
a. Not important but urgent
b. Important but not relevant
c. Not important and not urgent
d. Important and urgent
e. Important but not urgent
At the beginning of the competency, “Working and Managing Across Functions,” you
were asked to complete an assessment related to “mapping your organization” that
asked you to obtain a copy of the organizational chart for your employer or school.
What information can be found on an organizational chart?
a. Information about formal reporting relationships between people in the organizations
b. Information about where decisions are made in the organization
c. Information about how long it takes for decisions to be made in the organization
d. Information about formal reporting relationships between positions in the
organization
e. Information about informal reporting relationships among employees in the
organization
As proposed by Kurt Lewin, the force field analysis model
a. Can be used to help managers understand whether a change is needed
b. Can be used to help managers understand whether a change is likely to be successful
c. Can be used to help managers determine whether a change will be resisted
d. All of these
e. Can be used to help managers understand whether a change is needed and whether a
change will be resisted, but not whether a change is likely to be successful
Which of the following is TRUE about face-to-face communication?
a. Video-conferencing can replace all aspects of face-to-face communication.
b. Face to face meetings are still necessary
c. Teams perform just as well whether or not they ever have any face-to-face meetings.
d. If they are limited in the number times they can meet face to face, teams should save
face to face meetings for the end of the project.
e. It is easier to convey difficult emotions with email than with face-to-face
communication.
The purpose of relational messages is to
a. Introduce people
b. Build trust
c. Provide facts
d. Stimulate change
e. Direct action
Which of the following is NOT a key paradox that managers often face when they try
to maintain tight controls in the organization?
a. Leaders who exert tight controls are often more effective at higher levels of the
organization than at lower levels.
b. Tight controls and rules to improve organizational effectiveness can become
impediments to individual performance.
c. By stifling creativity, tight controls can result in lower profits which then reduces that
ability of the organization to survive
d. Employees who are frustrated by tight controls may choose to leave the organization,
reducing stability
e. Tight controls can make it difficult to serve customers efficiently because requests
must be passed up the chain of command
Reading Becoming a Master Manager and completing the assignments in the textbook
can help you become a master manager because
a. You have a framework to help you appreciate the importance of performing in areas
that do not come naturally
b. You have had the opportunity to practice using different competencies
c. You should be able to continue to build on the competencies identified and explored
in this book
d. All of these are true
e. None of these are true
The effectiveness of your communication can be improved if you:
a. Find a role model and copy their communication style
b. Try to tailor your communications for different audiences
c. Find your own authentic voice and use it to establish a connection with your audience
d. Find a role model and copy their communication style and try to tailor your
communications for different audiences, but do not find your own authentic voice and
use it to establish a connection with your audience
e. Try to tailor your communications for different audiences and find your own
authentic voice and use it to establish a connection with your audience, but do not find a
role model and copy their communication style
What kinds of activities can help you move beyond you comfort zone?
a. Looking at things from different points of view
b. Focusing on perfecting your current job performance
c. Emphasizing interdependencies that are consistent with your current beliefs
d. All of these will help you beyond your comfort zone
e. Looking at things from different points of view and emphasizing interdependencies
that are consistent with your current beliefs will help you move beyond your comfort
zone, but not focusing on perfecting your current job performance
Which of the following statements is true about advocacy groups?
a. They are a method for stimulating conflict.
b. They are similar to the collaborative method of conflict resolution.
c. Their purpose is to create higher quality decisions.
d. All of these are true about advocacy groups.
e. They are similar to the collaborative method of conflict resolution and their purpose
is to create higher quality decisions but they are not a method for stimulating conflict.
In their landmark work on results and execution, Bossidy and Charan (2009) conclude
that organizations are abysmal when it comes to execution because of:
a. They do not see it as critical
b. They rely too heavily on front line managers
c. Newer generations of talent rebel against too much structure
d. A lack of discipline
e. All of these
Kaplan and Norton’s “balanced scorecard” includes measures that can be related to
three of the four quadrants of the competing values framework. Which quadrant is NOT
included in the balanced scorecard?
a. Open systems
b. Rational goal
c. Internal process
d. Human relations
e. Contingency theory
The concept of positive deviance is used to refer to situations where
a. There is no cost to the organization when an employee fails to comply with
organizational rules
b. There is no cost to the employee when he fails to comply with organizational rules
c. The situation in question makes not complying with organizational rules the most
ethically appropriate action
d. There is a short term benefit to individuals who do not comply with organizational
rules
e. There is no alternative to not complying with organizational rules
In which step of the ALAPA model will you apply the competencies to a work-like
situation while in the classroom?
a. Assessment
b. Learning
c. Analysis
d. Practice
e. Argumentation
Which source of power is attached to formal roles and authority in an organization?
a. Position
b. Opportunity
c. Wealth
d. Energy
e. Relationship
One of the benefits of aligning compensation and reward systems with the types of
behaviors desired by the organization is that this alignment
a. Reduces the costs associated with noncompliance
b. Increases the likelihood that that employees will be compliant
c. Reduces the costs associated with compliance
d. Increases the likelihood that instances of noncompliance will be reported by
employees
e. Reduces the opportunities for noncompliance
Wanting to create extraordinary results relates to which of the four key psychological
states required for lift to occur?
a. Being other focused
b. Being guided by popular norms
c. Being internally directed
d. Being externally open
e. Being purpose centered
Which resource needs to be monitored during a project?
a. Time
b. People
c. Money
d. All of these
e. None of these
Janice is starting a new custom clothing business. She has decided to hire workers to
focus on different tasks such as taking measurements, cutting out fabric, and sewing
garments. Which design principle is Janice applying in this situation?
a. Unity-of-command
b. Scalar principle
c. Span of control
d. Division of labor
e. Management by objective
What is the critical path in a PERT/CPM diagram?
a. The chain of activities that takes the longest time to proceed through the network
b. The chain of activities that contains the greatest amount of slack
c. The chain of activities that contains the largest number of nodes
d. The chain of activities with the earliest finish time
e. The chain of activities with the fewest nodes
Which model uses stability and continuity as its criteria of effectiveness?
a. Rational Goal
b. Emotional Intelligence
c. Internal Process
d. Human Relations
e. Open Systems
What does it mean to ‘spill the beans” in the context of a presentation?
a. Lead with a question
b. Lead with the main point
c. Lead with the support for the main point
d. Use the appropriate sequence
e. Keep the audience in suspense until the end of the presentation
What is meant by behavioral complexity?
a. The ability to act out a cognitively complex strategy by playing multiple, even
competing, roles in a highly integrated and complementary way
b. The ability to act in different ways under different circumstances
c. The number of different competencies that and individual is aware of and can apply
in different situations
d. The number of different ways that an individual is able to ‘see” a situation and come
up with alternative approaches for responding to that situation
e. None of these is the meaning of behavioral complexity
U.S. federal sentencing guidelines for organizations apply to criminal conduct by
a. Corporations
b. Partnerships
c. Non-profit organizations
d. Unions
e. All of these
Discuss the four approaches to implementing change and how they are related to the
competing values framework. Give an example of how a change would be implemented
using each of these four approaches.
What has research over the past ten years found with respect to managing execution and
driving for results in organizations?
Compare and contrast the competencies associated with the human relations quadrant
and the rational goal quadrant. (Page 20)
Note: Students can be asked to compare and contrast any two quadrants.
Discuss five [or specify a smaller number] different reasons why employees engage in
noncompliance in the workplace.
Note: This question can be revised to ask specifically for the “triggers” identified by
Litzky et all (2006) or the “explanations” used as categories in the text. Asking the
question in a more generalized way give students the chance to use either approach or a
combination of both approaches while still demonstrating a mastery of the key
concepts.
What is meant by the “negative zone” with respect to individual leaders? Give an
example of the type of leader behavior are you likely to observe when a leader is in the
negative zone for each of the four quadrants of the competing values framework. (Pages
316-317)
Discuss the relationship between behavioral complexity and managerial effectiveness.
What do the profiles of more effective managers look like when scores on their
competencies are plotted on the competing values framework? (Pages 316-318)
Note: Students can also be asked to describe their own plan for integrating the
competencies in the future, based on specific situations they expect to face.
In thinking about yourself in your role as a student and your objective of doing well in
your classes, how can you go about building up your social capital?
Assume you have been assigned to manage a cross-functional team. What are eight
guidelines that can help you make sure you and your team are successful?
Note: Students can be asked for fewer guidelines or can be asked to explain guidelines
in more detail, rather than just listing them.
Discuss Fisher and Ury’s approach for “Getting to Yes” and explain how you could
apply it to a situation in your workplace.
What is meant by “lift” in relation to the competing values framework? When does
“lift” occur? Why is the concept of lift important to managers? What are the four
guiding questions you should ask to help generate the power of lift in yourself and
others? (Pages 321-323)
Which individual barriers to creative thinking do you find most challenging? How can
you overcome these barrier?
What is meant by “the vanishing human moment?” According to your text, is this is this
a serious problem? Why or why not?
Explain what needs to happen for the power of a vision to be realized.
Describe the open systems model and the social conditions in which it emerged. (Pages
7-9)
Note: This question can be asked for any of the foundational models. It can be
simplified by omitting the description of the social conditions. To provide additional
guidance for students, the instructor can specify particular elements to be described,
such as the criteria of effectiveness, the means-ends theory, the action imperative, the
emphasis, and/or the climate.
Explain the two basic types of variables that influence compliance. Give an example
based on your own behavior of how each type of variable influenced your behavior.
Which type of variables do managers have more control over? Does that mean that they
can ignore the other type of variables?
Describe the four elements of a message recommended by the OABC method. Do these
elements change based on your audience or the communication media? If so, provide an
example. If not, explain why there are no differences.