OB Practice Test

_____ is often called the "father" of stress research.

Hans Selye

Which of these statements about the contact hypothesis is true?

Increased contact with someone tends to reduce our tendency to use stereotypes to perceive that person.

_____ studies suggest that specific organizational behavior characteristics are important "positive screens" for selecting companies with the highest and most consistent long-term investment gains.

Investment portfolio

Which of the following statements is true about human capital in an organization?

It is a key variable in the HPWP model of organizational effectiveness.

Which of the following is true according to the systematic research anchor?

OB should study organizations by forming questions, collecting data, and testing hypotheses against those data.

Which of the following statements about the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is true?

Research suggests that the MBTI is most popular for career counseling and executive coaching.

One worry about using most personality tests to select job applicants is that applicants might fake their answers because

they are self-reported scales.

Which of the following statements is true of emotions in the workplace?

Emotions are directed toward someone or something.

Why do Americans vary in their values and personalities across regions?

Regional institutions have a greater influence on socialization practices and resulting personal values.

Which of the following does the most to improve ethical conduct?

a set of shared values

What is the organization's main source of competitive advantage?

human capital

Employees from cultures with a high power distance are more likely to

readily accept the high status of other people in the organization.

Which of the following typically results in a loss of intellectual capital?

The company sells one of its divisions and its employees now work for the other organization.

______ occurs when a general negative impression of a person based on one prominent characteristic is made, and that impression affects the perception of other characteristics in that same person.

The halo effect

Barney, a manager, is very conventional, resistant to change, habitual, and does not accept new ideas very easily. This implies that Barney has:

low openness to experience.

________ involves modifying behavior to be consistent with required emotions but continuing to hold different internal feelings.

Surface acting

People who have high moral sensitivity

can more quickly and accurately estimate the moral intensity of the issue.

By viewing someone (including yourself) as a New Yorker, for example, you remove that person's individuality and, instead, see him or her as a prototypical representative of the group called New Yorkers. This process then allows you to distinguish New Yorkers from people who live in, say, Texas or North Carolina. This is an example of

categorization

Organizational effectiveness is a composite of four perspectives Which of the following is not one of these perspectives?

closed systems

The best leadership style, the best conflict-handling style, and the best organizational structure are all examples of

contingencies

Lawrence stole a clock from his workplace. Which of the following refers to Lawrence's activity?

counterproductive behavior

Customer service representatives (CSRs) often conceal their frustration when serving an irritating customer. This behavior from the CSRs is an example of

emotional labor.

Emotions will have a greater influence on our perceptions, attitudes, decisions, and behavior than cognition because

emotional processes often occur before cognitive processes.

People with more positive emotions typically have higher ____________ and are extroverted.

emotional stability

Systematic research investigation is the basis for

evidence-based management.

According to general adaption syndrome, the alarm reaction stage activates various biochemical, psychological, and behavioral mechanisms that give the individual more energy and engage coping mechanisms to overcome or remove the source of stress.

false

Phoebe, a manager at a firm, was conventional, resistant to change, and unimaginative. This implies that Phoebe possessed openness to experience.

false

Emotional labor is higher in jobs requiring

frequent interaction with clients.

You have just hired several new employees who are motivated, able to perform their jobs, and have adequate resources. However, they are not sure what tasks are included in their job. According to the MARS model, these new employees will likely

have lower job performance due to poor role perceptions.

Etoni is a new employee who comes from a culture that values respect for people in higher positions and values the well-being of others more than goal achievement. Etoni's culture has

high power distance and strong nurturing orientation.

You are more likely to make a(n) _____ about someone's poor performance if you have also observed the person performing a task poorly in the past and have observed other employees performing the task well.

internal attribution

A problem with the utilitarian principle of ethical decision making is that

it is almost impossible to evaluate the benefits or costs of many decisions.

When people experience emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and reduced feelings of personal accomplishment, they are experiencing

job burnout

Twice every year, a major car parts manufacturer brings together the production and engineering specialists from its eight divisions to discuss ideas, solutions, and concerns. This helps to minimize the "silos of knowledge" problem that exists in many organizations. This practice is primarily an example of

knowledge sharing.

Personality is shaped by

nature and nurture.

Travel Happy Corporation gives simple accounts to newly hired employees, and then adds more challenging accounts as employees master the simple tasks. This is an example of

person-job matching.

A firm has good associations with its customers, suppliers, and others who provide added mutual value for the firm. Name the form of intellectual capital that is possessed by the firm due to its good associations.

relationship capital

_____ is the extent to which people like, respect, and are satisfied with themselves.

self-esteem

Values directly motivate actions by

shaping the relative attractiveness of choices.

A company's financial success is _____by the quality of its CEO.

significantly influenced

Homogenization and differentiation are two activities in the process of forming and maintaining our

social identity.

At Clickz, an American photography magazine firm, more than half of the senior management positions are held by women. African Americans represent 40 percent of the company's workforce. The description of Clickz's diversity refers to

surface-level diversity.

A global mindset includes the capacity to empathize and act effectively across cultures.

true

Organizational effectiveness is considered the ultimate dependent variable in organizational behavior.

true

People who believe that their successful completion of a project is due to their skill and hard work are making an internal attribution.

true

Surface acting may result in stress and job burnout.

true

Utilitarianism suggests that we should choose the option that provides the highest degree of satisfaction to those affected.

true

Vacations and holidays allow employees to withdraw from various organizational stressors and reenergize for future challenges.

true

The key concept of ____ refers to how similar a person's value hierarchy is to the values hierarchy of another entity.

value congruence

Which of these organizational behavior trends is corporate social responsibility most closely related to?

workplace values and ethics