Industrial Organizational Psychology Module 5

An employee who ______ might be vulnerable to being downsized.

has a lot of idle time

When employees feel stressed and take a "mental health day," they:

have a short-term decrease in stress

Anita is typing and starts to make mistakes when she notices that the person sitting next to her is typing much faster and making fewer mistakes. Anita's increase in mistakes is probably due to:

comparison

A manager who asks such questions as "Why are we doing this?" and "How and when did we start doing this?" is:

conducting a sacred cow hunt

A local grocery store has identified hours that everyone must work. These hours are known as:

core

When something affects one member of the group, it affects all members. This is known as ______ and is a criterion for being considered a group.

corresponding effects

Most of the people who commit workplace violence are:

criminals committing other crimes

To create a good atmosphere for change, it is important for an organization to create:

dissatisfaction with current system

Most companies that downsize:

do not increase their financial success

In the _____ stage of team development, team members get to know each other and decide what roles each member will play.

forming

The most flexible work schedule is:

gliding time

Some people have a high need for attention. The _____ yells a lot for attention and the _____ gets attention by poking fun at others.

grenade / friendly sniper

A situation in which a group becomes so cohesive and like-minded that it makes poor decisions by ignoring information relevant to the decision-making process is:

groupthink

Which of the following levels of employee input and control is the first to remove a "redundant" system?"

ownership of own product

Employees on the 7th floor go to lunch together and employees on the 2nd floor play together in a city basketball league. These examples demonstrate the importance of ____ in forming groups.

physical proximity

The barriers to interpersonal communication that can cause conflict are:

physical/cultural/psychological

Of the following, the most common way that employers try to reduce employee stress related to child care is to:

provide a child care referral service

The human body cools down two different ways. These are through:

radiation and evaporation

Every memo that Cheryl receives indicates that an immediate response is required. Cheryl thinks these timelines are unnecessary are nothing more than a:

speed cow

During the _____ stage of team development, team members often become frustrated with their roles.

storming

The physical and psychological consequences to stress are called:

strains

Mary notices that none of the other members of her group are working hard so she decides to lower her effort. Her behavior support the _____ theory of social loafing.

sucker-effect

A difficult worker obsessed with completing a task quickly is classified as a _____, whereas one who dominates conversations and does not listen to other's ideas is a _____.

tank / know-it-all

A group member who coordinates the group's activities and finds new information is _____ oriented whereas one who's main role is encouraging and supporting others is ____ oriented.

task / social

In general, empowering employees ______ job satisfaction and _______ stress.

the effects depend on the employee

Leaders can make decisions without consulting others unless:

the problem is unstructured

The East Barbarians softball team in the Great White North Softball League has continually improved its record over the nine years it has been in the league. Most recently, the East Barbarians, with the same team members as in the previous eight years, won the league championship for the first time. In this scenario, winning the championship probably BEST exemplifies the effects of:

the stability of group membership

A manager wants to increase the quality of his employee's decisions. He should have:

them work in groups

An example of a compressed work week involves:

working 4 days a week, 10 hours a day

Which of the following interventions are designed to ease the stress associated with child care?

All three are designed to reduce stress

Which of the following services is NOT needed by layoff victims?

All three are needed

Which of the following is NOT true about the effects of layoffs?

All three are true

Which of the following would be least likely to react negatively to stressors?

Type B

A manager asks an employee to study an issue and report back with recommendations on how the issue can be resolved. In this example, the employee is at the _____ level of input and control.

advisory

POWs who were isolated from other prisoners had a lower need to live than POWs housed with older soldiers. This negative emotional reaction demonstrates the need for:

affiliation

Research on compressed work weeks indicates that compressed schedules are associated with:

all of these

Approximately what percentage of workplace deaths are homicides?

12%

Because many employees provide elder care, approximately _____ of organizations provide company-sponsored elder care referral services and ___ provide a company-sponsored elder care facility. to help alleviate stress to their employees.

9%/1%

Raja has been working for Shahidi Enterprises for five years. She works by herself in a building sorting mail. She is allowed two 20-minutes breaks each day and can take them whenever she wants. In an empowerment chart, at what level would she be at regarding her authority to make decisions about when these two breaks should occur?

Absolute

Which of the following does not fit the profile of the typical perpetrator of workplace violence?

Age 21

Which of the following should a leader NOT do to reduce groupthink?

Apply pressure on members to conform

Which of the following is NOT an alternative to layoffs?

Both are alternatives

Mary always asks her boss if she needs help and is willing to stay late. Beth talks negatively about her coworkers and keeps important information from them. Which of the following is true?

Beth and Mary are both playing politics

In _____ , a neutral outside party listens to the arguments of both sides in a conflict and then makes a decision that each side must accept.

Binding arbitration

Melba is under a great deal of pressure and seems to be feeling the effects of stress. Which of the following should she eliminate from her diet?

Caffeine

Julie provides information to Temea who provides information to Juan who provides information to Julie. This is an example of which type of communication network?

Chain

Which of the following would most likely say "If it ain't broke, break it"?

Change agent

According to Denton (1996), what is the first step in implementing change?

Creating an atmosphere for change

A hotel room attendant does not show up to clean his rooms on a given day. Due to his absence, the other room attendants are assigned additional rooms to clean. This scenario BEST exemplifies which criteria of group membership?

Corresponding effects

Bad, or negative stress is called:

Distress

According to Sherriton and Stern (1997), what is the fifth and final step in assessing the new culture following organizational change?

Evaluation of the new culture

If an employee threatens another employee with violence, the employee should be:

Fired

Larry is a junior at Raynes College and has trouble sleeping. He keeps worrying about not getting a job when he graduates and never finding the right person to marry. Larry's stress might be the result of:

Forecasting

Wasting time and energy worrying about the future and asking "What if?" are good examples of:

Forecasting

______ refers to the extent to which group members like and trust one another.

Group cohesiveness

Andrew is a 21-year old white male. He is an excellent employee who doesn't seem to have much of a life outside of his work. His only hobby is hunting and gun collecting. Which is the only part of this profile that is not consistent with the typical perpetrator of workplace violence?

His age

Which of the following is NOT a criteria for being a group?

Identification

Which of the following characteristics suggests that a collection of five employees is a team rather than a "group" or a "committee?"

Increased social distance

Which of the following is a disadvantage of working from home?

It is difficult to enforce safety and fair treatment standards

______ help reduce the potential for stress that comes from role conflict and role ambiguity.

Job

Which source of conflict results when geographical boundaries or lines of authority are unclear?

Jurisdictional ambiguity

Clarence has been under a great deal of stress at work. His wife told him that they should watch some sitcoms on TV. Her advice is sound because laughter can:

Laughter

A manager is about to make a decision regarding work schedules. He has been with the company for 20 years and has all of the information needed to make the decision. Though work schedules are a touchy issue, the manager is well thought of by his employees. How should he make the decision?

Make the decision himself

Which of the following is true about gender and race differences in stress?

Minorities are more stressed than nonminorities

Which of the following is true?

Most employees keep in touch with work while on vacation

Which of the following aspects of noise would most reduce employee performance?

Noise that is high pitched

Which of the following is true about brainstorming?

Nominal groups are best at creating idea

______ teams consist of representatives from various departments within an organization.

Parallel

Which of the following would most likely say If it's broke, I'll help fix it?

Receptive changer

Which of the following methods of avoiding downsizing is based on the premise that most economic recessions last less than a year?

Reduced employee pay

Xui Li was yelled at by her boss because she has not been doing all of her duties. She is anxious and depressed because she never knows what tasks are hers and what tasks are supposed to be performed by others. Xui Li's stress level can probably be explained by:

Role ambiguity

Darnell was hired as a cook's assistant but all he has been doing for the past five months is clean tables and take out the trash. Darnell's stress level can probably be explained by:

Role conflict

Which of the following can help reduce stress?

Self-empowerment

Which of the following is NOT a factor that determines whether a collection of employees is a team rather than a "group" or a "committee?"

The members use casual language

Which of the following is true about voucher systems for child care?

They probably don't reduce employee absenteeism

After organizational change has occurred, what is the first step in assessing the new culture?

Training

Assigning a task to a group instead of an individual is best under what circumstances?

Under both circumstances

A non-smoker may not feel comfortable working for a tobacco company because of:

a lack of person-organization fit

Role _____ is when an individual's job duties and performance expectations are not clearly defined.

ambiguity

Most incidents of workplace violence are the result of:

another crime being committed

Type B personalities:

are less likely to react negatively to stress

Compared to employees with only one job, moonlighting employees:

are no different in terms of performance

A person who ignores conflict and hopes it will go away is using a(n) _______ style.

avoiding

With ______, an employee works on an irregular or as-needed basis.

casual work

Four bank tellers are working side-by-side. This arrangement will result in:

coaction effects

High effective temperatures adversely affect performance on:

cognitive, physical, and perceptual tasks

When employees receive word of downsizing, the first stage they go through is:

denial

When organizations undergo change, the first stage employees go through is called:

denial

The effective temperature in an environment is higher when:

humidity is high and air flow is low

Every Friday, a group of bank employees wear matching tee-shirts with the logo of their bank's baseball team. This best demonstrates the needs for:

identification

People under stress do all of the following except:

increase productivity

When organizations undergo change, the final stage employees go through is called:

internalization

Bob works from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. every day as a clerk; Sue works in that same position except from 1:00 p.m. -5:00 p.m. They are working an alternative work schedule called:

job sharing

Many teams are formed to solve problems but are not given sufficient authority to conduct their business. This is a problem involving:

lack of empowerment

In negotiation, a BATNA will affect a person's:

least acceptable result

A group comprised of 12 members will be _____ cohesive and have ____ morale than one comprised of five members.

less / lower

Akira closes his eyes and engages in several minutes of slow, rhythmic breathing. He is trying to reduce stress through:

meditation

Liam makes "to do" lists and carefully plans his schedule. He is trying to reduce stress through:

time management

If an empowered employee makes a wrong decision, a manager should:

train the employee

Henri is the president of a company with 10 employees. Each employee has full medical benefits and Henri doesn't have the time or knowledge to administer the benefits program. His best bet would be to:

use outsourcing