COMM 331 Final Exam
Communication within a human relations organization tends to be less formal than in an organization run with a classical approach.
T
Research concerning participation in decision making has shown small, but consistant, effects on satisfaction and performance.
T
Scholars of organizational culture see it as something that is both emergent and highly complex.
T
Support from supervisors is most likely to come in the form of informational and instrumental support.
T
Tokens are highly visible representatives of the majority group in an organization.
T
Taylor's Theory of Scientific Management proposes that the apprenticeship system is the ideal system of job training, as it teaches both job skills and workplace values.
F
The "New Science" systems theory is founded on the notion that all systems in nature and society are like those described by classical physics.
F
Theory and research suggest that decision making is a perfectly rational process of information search and decision choice.
F
Weber believed that rules are most effective when they are retained flexibly in oral form.
F
Reactions to organizational change by lower level employees that interfere with change implementation processes are called:
resistance.
According to Weick, the primary goal of organizations is to:
Reduce uncertainty
Organizations that adopt new technologies are marked by an overall increase in the amount of communication.
T
The role making phase of development is a two-way exchange between the boss and the subordinate and is characterized by negotiation.
T
Organizational communication scholars can address issues related to global warming by
helping local, state, national, and international agencies coordinate their activities to cope with the human consequences of global warming.
Cecil does not like working with Jane because every time they disagree she fights until she gets her own way. Jane uses a style characterized by
high concern for self, low concern for others.
With regard to communication patterns, new technologies tend to lead to
a and b
Both profit and non-profit organization increasingly can be characterized as service organizations.
F
Allie works for a large manufacturing firm and enjoys the feeling of being a "cog" in the machine and being able to leave work behind when she leaves the plant. When she is forced to participate in a new workplace democracy program, she thinks, "If this is democracy, how come they can make me go to these mettings." What paradox of participation does Allie illustrate?
the paradox of power
The theory of Scientific Management sought to eliminate
uneven work and systematic soldiering.
The four key components of Deal and Kennedy's "strong cultures" are
values, heroes, rites/rituals, and the cultural network.
The personal branding movement primarily offers solutions to
White, professional men
Communication is enacted at which phase in the conflict process?
manifest conflict
According to McGregor, which of the following characterize the assumptions of a "Theory X" manager?
All of the above
Systems theory originated with the study of:
Biology
Which of the following approaches considers conflict as inefficient, counterproductive and manageable through third party intervention?
Classical
Asking questions about the organization during an interview is considered by experts on interviewing to be inappropriate behavior.
F
Burnout and tedium are synonymous terms for being overwhelmed by the pressures of work.
F
Classical management principles are no longer used in today's organizations.
F
Depersonalization refers to the feeling of not being able to face another day at work.
F
Discrimination refers to negative attitudes toward an organizational member based upon gender or perceived culture.
F
Emotional communication at work is only stressful if the emotions communicatied are "fake" or non-genuine.
F
In Weick's view of organizing, responding to highly equivocal information requires the use of assembly rules.
F
In a crisis, effective leaders will wait awhile before they begin communicating.
F
In a cybernetic system, enactment serves to maintain the system goal.
F
In an organization characterized by cultural separatism, members of the minority culture are forced to adopt the norms and values of the dominant culture.
F
Jobs that are characterized by emotional labor emphasize the expression of genuine feelings by employees.
F
Non-profit organizations are unlikely to utilize classical approaches to improve efficiency.
F
Planned change always involves top management dictating change processes to lower level employees.
F
When new communication media are developed, older communication technologies are not used anymore.
F
What did the research team conducting the Hawthorne Studies conclude about why worker productivity improved during many portions of the study?
Hawthorne Effect: People acting different bc they know they are being watched - Informal social factors lead to increased or decreased productivity - Can be more powerful than formal organization factors - Began a shift away from a strict mechanistic view of organizations (NOT Productivity improved as a function of social factors within the workgroup/all the above)
In order to save money on real estate costs, Jacques' company asked him to begin teleworking. What is Jacques most likely to feel concerned about?
His isolation from the rest of the company.
To deal with the negative consequences of affirmative action programs, it is recommended that organizations also incorporate which criteria for hiring and promotion?
Merit
McDonalds is an example of a company as it has restaurants in almost every country in the world from Russia to Mexico.
Multinational
The content of communication in a classical organization tends to be about
NOT: All of the above
Taylor would like to sign up for organizational communication class and she wants to decide who is the single best instructor in the department from which to take the class. Taylor's decision making process would best be characterized as:
an optimizing model
Wilbur typically logs onto his computer first thing in the morning to pick up electronic mail messages that had been sent to him the previous day. This is an example of
asynchronous communication
Because emotional contagion can lead to burnout, researchers suggest that caregivers learn and practice
empathic concern.
An increase in the diversity of workgroup members has been found to have what impact on communication?
enhanced problem solving
Hylmo and Buzzanell found that telework often results in
greater individuality and more teamwork.
Fairhurst argued that _______ has the most impact on organizational change.
management support
____________ are usually described as being interactional, contextual, episodic and improvisational.
Cultural performances
When McDonald's changes its menu based on the national location of the franchise, McDonald's is __________ its environment.
NOT: Imposing itself on NOT: Adapting to
Time and motion studies were used to determine the
NOT: most time efficient way to accomplish tasks.
A business practice associated with globalization involves businesses moving manufacturing and service centers to countries where labor is cheap. This practice is commonly known as
Outsourcing
The workforce is now increasingly temporary, part-time, and independent.
T
In order to deal with the variety of challenges posed by a complex environment, a system must incorporate which of the following properties?
Requisite variety
In order to fulfill the requirements of her new job, Jade must attend a seminar on desk-top publishing. Through this seminar, she will learn_______ information.
Role-related
Theory X and Theory Y involve the assumptions that managers hold about workers.
T
There is a difference between studying organizational culture as something an organization is versus something that it has.
T
According to Likert, a System III organization will exhibit good performance and moderate levels of absenteeism and turnover.
T
According to the prescriptive approach to culture, successful companies can be identified in terms of their cultures.
T
An organization in second generation affirmative action has met the legal goals and has moved its emphasis toward supporting female and minority members.
T
An out-group member is likely to do their job based on their job description.
T
Anticipatory socialization primarily involves the process of learning about certain occupations before entering the organization.
T
Artifacts are the most visible level of culture in Schein's model.
T
Because they are often unaware of the organizational context in which stress occurs, friends and family members are less able to provide effective informational support.
T
Blake and Mouton suggest that all managers should adopt a team management approach.
T
Bounded rationality suggests that decision makers make decisions that are limited by human cognitive practices and by the practices of organizational life.
T
Communication in classical organizations is highly formal and standardized.
T
Coordinating the interaction between the federal government and local police to deal with a terrorist threat is an organizational communication issue.
T
Fayol's Theory of Classical management suggests that organizations will be most effective when central management has control over decision making and employee activities.
T
Human resources theorists argue that communication about new ideas is a critical component of organizations.
T
In a global economy, communication helps an organization obtain the resources, information, and experience needed to survive.
T
In laissez-faire capitalism, the government takes a "hands off" approach to business and allows market forces to balance trade.
T
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory was developed as a general theory of human motivation.
T
Miller, Johnson, and Grau found that perceived quality of information was the strongest predictor of workers' openness to organizational change attempts.
T
Organizations advocating a trait approach to leadership often use personality tests to select people for leadership roles.
T
Tacit knowledge typically is saved in organizational documents.
T
The personal branding movement pushes individuals to market themselves by determining (or creating) an identity that is notable and distinguishable.
T
The relational tradition of network analysis was a response to the fact that the organizational chart was not the best representation of communication flow within an organization.
T
The difficulty organizations are facing with e-commerce is that consumers are not coming back to the website and purchasing more. One reason for the difficulty is
all transactions are self-service.
Georgette has always thought she and Ted had the perfect marriage. Every time they disagree, she pushes for her side, and he wants her happy, so she always gets her way. Georgette uses a _________ style of conflict resolution and Ted uses a _________ style.
competitive/ accommodative
A leader who models the behaviors he or she wants followers to do is fulfilling which concept of transformational leadership?
exemplification
Which of the following is not a tactic used by newcomers to seek information?
in-group relationships
Which mediation tactic is used to clarify misunderstandings and gather information?
nondirective
Josh is a nurse at a hospital in Ames, Iowa. He is working on a patient who appears to be suffering from flu-like symptoms from a bacterial infection. Yolanda is a scientist for the Center for Disease Control. She has been studying bacteria samples that were found in Ames which appear to be traces of a biological terrorist weapon that creates the flu-like symptoms Josh has been observing in his patient. The difficulty of getting Yolanda and Josh to exchange helpful information through the work of the Department of Homeland Security is really a problem of , according to the text.
organizational communication
Mosha realizes that he is coming dangerously close to burning out on his job as a CPA for a large manufacturing company because of the conflicting demands of his job. Consequently, he has asked his supervisor to provide a specific job description and have a meeting to formulate specific job-related goals. This behavior is an example of which of the following coping strategies?
problem-centered coping
From an orgnization's perspective, what is the most important function of the employment interview?
recruiting and screening
Molly did not hear about the opening for the Director of Public Relations position in her place of employment because she is not tapped into the informal communication network. Molly has experienced difficulty in access resulting from
relational barriers
The themes identified by Peters and Waterman characterize excellent organizations as
staying focussed on what they do best and avoiding radical diversification.
Julian's coworkers often come to him for information about how their company handled disgruntled customers in the past since he has worked for the company for 25 years. The information he provides is not written down, but is invaluable in helping coworkes in making decisions about how to deal with difficult customers. Julian's information is an example of __________ knowledge.
tacit
