Organizational Behavior Final

32) The traditional view of conflict argues that conflict ________. A) cannot be avoided B) helps generate discussion C) improves creativity of a group D) improves productivity E) must be avoided

Answer: E Explanation: E) The traditional approach to conflict assumed all conflict was bad and to be avoided.

19) Which theory of leadership differentiates leaders from non-leaders by focusing on personal qualities and characteristics? A) Fiedler's model B) attributes theory C) LMX theory D) contingency theory E) trait theory

Answer: E Explanation: E) Trait theories of leadership focus on personal qualities and characteristics. The search for personality, social, physical, or intellectual attributes that differentiate leaders from nonleaders goes back to the earliest stages of leadership research.

49) Which of the following is most likely to result from a strong organizational culture? A) low employee turnover B) low employee satisfaction C) low organizational commitment D) high absenteeism E) low behavioral control resulting from the climate within the organization

Answer: A Explanation: A) A strong culture should reduce employee turnover, because it demonstrates high agreement about what the organization represents. Such unanimity of purpose builds cohesiveness, loyalty, and organizational commitment. These qualities, in turn, lessen employees' propensity to leave.

8) ________ results in a level of performance that is greater than the sum of the individual inputs. A) Synergy B) Positive affect C) Emotional labor D) Cognitive dissonance E) Emotional dissonance

Answer: A Explanation: A) A work team generates positive synergy through coordinated effort. The individual efforts result in a level of performance greater than the sum of those individual inputs.

9) Before communication can take place it needs a ________. A) purpose B) channel C) receiver D) filter E) decoder

Answer: A Explanation: A) Before communication can take place it needs a purpose, a message to be conveyed between a sender and a receiver. The key parts of the communication process are (1) the sender, (2) encoding, (3) the message, (4) the channel, (5) decoding, (6) the receiver, (7) noise, and (8) feedback.

20) Early research efforts at isolating leadership traits resulted in a number of dead ends. A breakthrough, of sorts, came when researchers began ________. A) organizing traits around the Big Five personality framework B) using the Keirsey Temperament Sorter C) using Cattell's 16 personality factors D) focusing on Eysenck's three factor model E) considering the Revised NEO Personality Inventory

Answer: A Explanation: A) Early research efforts at isolating leadership traits resulted in a number of dead ends. By the 1990s, after numerous studies and analyses, about the best we could say was that most leaders "are not like other people," but the particular traits that characterized them varied a great deal from review to review. A breakthrough, of sorts, came when researchers began organizing traits around the Big Five personality framework. Most of the dozens of traits in various leadership reviews fit under one of the Big Five, giving strong support to traits as predictors of leadership.

17) Leadership is best defined as ________. A) the ability to influence a group toward the achievement of a vision or set of goals B) the process of drawing up formal plans and monitoring their implementation C) the process of carrying out the vision and strategy provided by management D) coordinating and staffing the organization and handling day-to-day problems E) the proper use of the influence gained exclusively as a result of one's organizational position

Answer: A Explanation: A) Leadership can be defined as the ability to influence a group toward the achievement of a vision or set of goals. Leaders can emerge from within a group as well as by formal appointment.

37) Which one of the following is not one of the primary ways to group jobs? A) skill B) customer C) function D) product E) service

Answer: A Explanation: A) One popular way to group activities is by functions performed. Businesses also departmentalize jobs by the type of product or service the organization produces. A firm can also departmentalize on the basis of geography, or territory. A final category of departmentalization uses the particular type of customer the organization seeks to reach. Grouping jobs by skills required is not a primary way of grouping jobs.

26) Leadership requires ________. A) congruence between the goals of the leader and those being led B) focus on tactics for gaining compliance C) a dependency of those being led on the leader D) followers who share behavioral traits with their leaders E) a dependency of the leader on those being led

Answer: A Explanation: A) Power does not require goal compatibility, merely dependence. Leadership, on the other hand, requires some congruence between the goals of the leader and those being led.

31) According to the traditional view of conflict, conflict is ________. A) harmful B) natural C) necessary D) healthy E) rational

Answer: A Explanation: A) The traditional approach to conflict assumed all conflict was bad and to be avoided. It was viewed negatively and discussed with such terms as violence, destruction, and irrationality to reinforce its negative connotation.

6) Which of the following statements best defines a work group? A) The performance of a work group is generally greater than the sum of its inputs from individual members. B) A work group interacts primarily to share information, rather than to engage in work that requires joint effort. C) A work group consists of 3 or more people who take on self-supervising responsibilities. D) A work group consists of 3 or more people from across departmental or functional lines. E) A work group is a group comprised of 10 or more people who belong to the same department.

Answer: B Explanation: B) A group consists of two or more individuals, interacting and interdependent, who have come together to achieve particular objectives. A work group is defined as a group that interacts primarily to share information and to make decisions to help each group member perform within his or her area of responsibility. They have no need or opportunity to engage in collective work that requires joint effort.

5) Which of the following helps explain the current popularity of teams? Teams ________. A) are easier to manage B) better utilize employee talents C) are less expensive D) promote socialization and cohesion E) increase the speed of decision making.

Answer: B Explanation: B) As organizations have restructured themselves to compete more effectively and efficiently, they have turned to teams as a better way to use employee talents.

4) Julia, Bree, and David work in different departments but often eat lunch together. They are an example of a(n)________ group. A) formal B) informal C) command D) task E) interest

Answer: B Explanation: B) Informal groups, such as friendship groups, are neither formally structured nor organizationally determined. An interest group consists of individuals who affiliate to attain a specific objective with which each individual is concerned. Three employees from different departments who regularly have lunch or coffee together are an informal group.

38) Alessio's boss doesn't care whether Alessio works at home, at the office, or from his beach house. All he cares about is that the project is completed on time, on budget, and with exemplary quality. Which characteristic of organizational culture best describes this aspect of Alessio's job? A) low risk taking B) high outcome orientation C) high attention to detail D) low aggressiveness E) high stability

Answer: B Explanation: B) Outcome orientation is the organizational culture characteristic that describes the degree to which management focuses on results or outcomes rather than on the techniques and processes used to achieve them. Alessio's boss has a high focus on outcome.

57) Which of the following resistance to change is implicit? A) strike B) increased error C) resignation D) complaint E) work slowdown

Answer: B Explanation: B) Resistance to change that is implicit or deferred is difficult to manage. Examples of such responses are loss of loyalty or motivation and increased errors or absenteeism.

52) Organizations are increasingly adjusting their processes and positioning their products as environment friendly and sustainable in order to increase their appeal to consumers. This is a response to changes in ________. A) demographic trends B) social trends C) cultural trends D) legal requirements E) nature of the workforce

Answer: B Explanation: B) Social trends don't remain static. Consumers now meet and share information in chat rooms and blogs. Companies must continually adjust product and marketing strategies to be sensitive to changing social trends. Consumers, employees, and organizational leaders are more sensitive to environmental concerns. "Green" practices are quickly becoming expected rather than optional.

45) Cultures that tend to develop in large organizations to reflect common problems, situations, or experiences faced by groups of members in the same department or location are often called ________. A) micro-cultures B) subcultures C) divisional cultures D) microcosms E) counter cultures

Answer: B Explanation: B) Subcultures tend to develop in large organizations to reflect common problems, situations, or experiences faced by groups of members in the same department or location. The purchasing department can have a subculture that includes the core values of the dominant culture plus additional values unique to members of the purchasing department.

29) The ________ power is based on the fear of the negative results from failing to comply. A) legitimate B) coercive C) punitive D) referent E) abusive

Answer: B Explanation: B) The coercive power base depends on fear of the negative results from failing to comply. It rests on the application, or the threat of application, of physical sanctions such as the infliction of pain, frustration through restriction of movement, or the controlling by force of basic physiological or safety needs.

47) The primary or dominant values that are accepted throughout the organization are known as ________. A) foundational values B) core values C) shared values D) institutional traits E) unique values

Answer: B Explanation: B) The dominant culture includes the core values, the primary or dominant values that are accepted throughout the organization.

34) According to the interactionist's perspective, a group that functions without conflict is ________. A) living up to behavioral standards B) prone to becoming static and apathetic C) likely to be responsive to the need for change and innovation D) the most productive E) a rare phenomenon

Answer: B Explanation: B) The interactionist view of conflict encourages conflict on the grounds that a harmonious, peaceful, tranquil, and cooperative group is prone to becoming static, apathetic, and unresponsive to needs for change and innovation

11) In a communication process, the ________ is the actual physical product of the sender's encoding. A) channel B) message C) feedback D) transmitter E) noise

Answer: B Explanation: B) The message is the actual physical product of the sender's encoding.

21) According to research, which of the Big Five personality traits is the most important in effective leaders? A) conscientiousness B) openness C) extraversion D) agreeableness E) emotional stability

Answer: C Explanation: C) A comprehensive review of leadership literature, when organized around the Big Five, has found extraversion to be the most important trait of effective leaders but more strongly related to leader emergence than to leader effectiveness. Conscientiousness and openness to experience also showed strong relationships to leadership, though not quite as strong as extraversion.

2) Which of the following statements is true regarding informal groups? A) Informal groups are defined by the organization's structure. B) In informal groups, the behaviors team members should engage in are stipulated by and directed toward organizational goals. C) A group of people, who come together to protest against a new law, is an informal group. D) The six members of an airline flight crew are an informal group. E) Command groups and task groups are examples of informal groups.

Answer: C Explanation: C) An informal group is neither formally structured nor organizationally determined. Informal groups are natural formations in the work environment that appear in response to the need for social contact. Command groups and task groups are examples of formal groups. A group of people, who come together to protest against a new law, is an informal group.

30) ________ is defined as a process that begins when one party perceives another party has or is about to negatively affect something the first party cares about. A) Problem solving B) Assessment C) Conflict D) Negotiation E) Collective bargaining

Answer: C Explanation: C) Conflict is defined as a process that begins when one party perceives another party has or is about to negatively affect something the first party cares about.

53) Consumers now meet and share information in chat rooms and blogs. This is an example of changes in the ________. A) competition B) nature of the workforce C) social trends D) legal requirements E) economy

Answer: C Explanation: C) Consumers meeting and sharing information in chat rooms and blogs is an example of changing social trends.

14) In a communication process, ________ is the check on how successful we have been in transferring our messages as originally intended. A) editing B) decoding C) feedback D) encoding E) noise

Answer: C Explanation: C) Feedback is the check on how successful we have been in transferring our messages as originally intended. It determines whether understanding has been achieved.

24) Which of the following statements is true regarding power? A) A is said to have power over B if B controls something that A desires. B) The greater A's dependence on B, the greater A's power in the relationship. C) If A has the capacity to influence the behavior of B, then A is said to have power over B. D) A can have power over B only if A is the B's leader. E) A can have power over B only when A and B have similar goals.

Answer: C Explanation: C) If A has the capacity to influence the behavior of B then A is said to have power over B. The most important aspect of power is that it is a function of dependency. The greater B's dependence on A, the greater A's power in the relationship.

60) Which of the following is an example of a source of individual resistance? A) limited focus of change B) product orientation C) fear of the unknown D) structural inertia E) employee orientation

Answer: C Explanation: C) Individual sources of resistance to change are habit, security, economic factors, fear of the unknown, and selective information processing.

1) Which one of the following characteristics is not necessarily true about groups? A) Group members are interdependent. B) Groups have two or more members. C) Groups are determined by the organization chart. D) Groups interact. E) Groups have particular objectives.

Answer: C Explanation: C) Informal groups, such as friendship groups, are neither formally structured nor organizationally determined. They don't establish goals or purposes in general.

15) Helena and Laura were talking on the phone. Laura's two year old son fell and started crying loudly. Laura could no longer hear what Helena said. This is an example of ________. A) feedback B) decoding C) noise D) encoding E) filtering

Answer: C Explanation: C) Noise represents communication barriers that distort the clarity of the message, such as perceptual problems, information overload, semantic difficulties, or cultural differences. The crying baby represents noise.

27) Leadership focuses on the ________. A) importance of lateral and upward influence patterns B) elimination of dependency relationships C) downward influence of a leader on his or her followers D) ways of establishing control over followers E) resolution of conflicts among followers

Answer: C Explanation: C) One difference between power and leadership relates to the direction of influence. Leadership focuses on the downward influence on followers. It minimizes the importance of lateral and upward influence patterns. Power does not.

44) Which of the following statements is true regarding an organization's culture? A) Organizational culture is evaluative rather than descriptive. B) Large organizations rarely have subcultures. C) A dominant culture expresses the core values shared by a majority of the organization's members. D) A strong culture would increase employee turnover. E) Subcultures and dominant cultures do not share any common values.

Answer: C Explanation: C) Organizational culture is descriptive. Most large organizations have a dominant culture and numerous subcultures. A dominant culture expresses the core values shared by a majority of the organization's members. A strong culture should reduce employee turnover, because it demonstrates high agreement about what the organization represents.

28) Unlike leadership research, research on power tends to focus on ________. A) individual styles in using power B) strategies for goal attainment C) tactics for gaining compliance D) the administration of rewards E) gaining dependency

Answer: C Explanation: C) Research on power focuses on tactics for gaining compliance. It goes beyond the individual as the exerciser of power because groups as well as individuals can use power to control other individuals or groups.

39) Which of the following is not a characteristic of organizational culture? A) attention to detail B) innovation and risk raking C) process orientation D) team orientation E) outcome orientation

Answer: C Explanation: C) Seven primary characteristics seem to capture the essence of an organization's culture: innovation and risk taking, attention to detail, outcome orientation, people orientation, team orientation, aggressiveness, and stability.

46) Which of the following statements is not true regarding subcultures? A) Subcultures includes core values of the organization. B) Subcultures typically exist within a department. C) When we talk about an organization's culture, we are referring to its subculture. D) If organizations were composed only of numerous subcultures, organizational culture as an independent variable would be significantly less powerful. E) Subcultures influence members' behavior.

Answer: C Explanation: C) Subcultures tend to develop in large organizations to reflect common problems, situations, or experiences faced by groups of members in the same department or location. Subcultures include the core values of the dominant culture plus additional values unique to the respective department. If organizations were composed only of numerous subcultures, organizational culture as an independent variable would be significantly less powerful. Subcultures influence members' behavior. When we talk about an organization's culture, we are referring to its dominant culture.

7) Which of the following statements is true regarding a work team? A) Today teams are rarely used in organizations. B) Teams are less flexible than traditional departments. C) A work team generates positive synergy through coordinated effort. D) Work teams are less responsive to changing events than traditional departments. E) Teams impede employee participation in decision making.

Answer: C Explanation: C) Today most of the organizations use teams. Teams are more flexible and responsive to changing events than traditional departments or other forms of permanent groupings. A work team generates positive synergy through coordinated effort. Teams facilitate employee participation in operating decisions.

12) With reference to the communication process, when a sender speaks, the speech is the ________. A) channel B) filter C) message D) noise E) transmitter

Answer: C Explanation: C) When we speak, the speech is the message.

59) Which of the following reactions from employees is preferable as a response to change? A) silence B) apathy C) resignation D) open discussion E) increase in the use of sick time

Answer: D Explanation: D) Employees who have negative feelings about a change cope by not thinking about it, increasing their use of sick time, and quitting. All these reactions can sap the organization of vital energy when it is most needed. Resistance to change can be positive if it leads to open discussion and debate. These responses are usually preferable to apathy or silence and can indicate that members of the organization are engaged in the process, providing change agents an opportunity to explain the change effort.

10) In a communication process, the ________ initiates a message by encoding a thought. A) receiver B) decoder C) channel D) sender E) signal

Answer: D Explanation: D) In a communication process, the sender initiates a message by encoding a thought.

58) Organizations have built-in mechanisms—like their selection processes and formalized regulations—to produce stability. When an organization is confronted with change, these mechanisms act as a counterbalance to sustain stability. Which of the following organizational sources of resistance to change is represented by these mechanisms? A) group inertia B) selective information processing C) employee-orientation D) structural inertia E) product- orientation

Answer: D Explanation: D) Organizations have built-in mechanisms—like their selection processes and formalized regulations—to produce stability. When an organization is confronted with change, these mechanisms act as a counterbalance to sustain stability. These mechanisms represent structural inertia.

40) Which of the following characteristics of an organization's culture indicates the degree to which management decisions take into consideration the effect of outcomes on employees within the organization? A) attention to detail B) outcome orientation C) team orientation D) people orientation E) stability

Answer: D Explanation: D) People orientation indicates the degree to which management decisions take into consideration the effect of outcomes on people within the organization.

25) Which of the following terms best represents a point of difference between power and leadership? A) control B) influence C) cognitive dissonance D) goal compatibility E) negative affect

Answer: D Explanation: D) Power does not require goal compatibility, merely dependence. Leadership, on the other hand, requires some congruence between the goals of the leader and those being led.

23) Power is a function of ________. A) goal congruency B) realization C) inheritance D) dependency E) altruism

Answer: D Explanation: D) Power is a function of dependency.

22) Which one of the following is not implied in the definition of power? A) influence B) potential C) dependency D) actualization E) capacity

Answer: D Explanation: D) Power refers to a capacity that A has to influence the behavior of B so B acts in accordance with A's wishes. Someone can thus have power but not use it; it is a capacity or potential. Probably the most important aspect of power is that it is a function of dependency.

13) With reference to the communication process, the ________ is the medium through which the message travels. A) feedback B) noise C) encoder D) channel E) decoder

Answer: D Explanation: D) The channel is the medium through which the message travels.

43) Which of the following statements distinguish organizational culture and job satisfaction? A) Job satisfaction is descriptive, whereas organizational culture is evaluative. B) Organizational culture is static, whereas job satisfaction is dynamic. C) Job satisfaction is immeasurable, whereas organizational culture is measurable. D) Organizational culture is descriptive, whereas job satisfaction is evaluative. E) Organizational culture measures how employees feel about organization's expectations, whereas job satisfaction is concerned about how employees perceive the organization's culture.

Answer: D Explanation: D) The concept of organizational culture is concerned with how employees perceive the characteristics of an organization's culture, not whether they like them, and is therefore a descriptive term. On the other hand, the concept of job satisfaction seeks to measure how employees feel about the organization's expectations, reward practices and therefore is an evaluative term.

33) According to the ________ view of conflict, conflict can be a positive force in a group and some conflict is absolutely necessary for a group to perform effectively. A) resolution focused B) traditional C) managed D) interactionist E) transactional

Answer: D Explanation: D) The interactionist view of conflict encourages conflict on the grounds that a harmonious, peaceful, tranquil, and cooperative group is prone to becoming static, apathetic, and unresponsive to needs for change and innovation.

51) The recent bankruptcy of auto manufacturers General Motors and Chrysler were caused due to _______. A) changes in the social trend B) political instability C) changes in legal requirements D) economic shocks E) changing nature of the workforce

Answer: D Explanation: D) The recent bankruptcy of auto manufacturers General Motors and Chrysler were caused due to global recession.

55) A(n) ________ resistance to change clouds the link between the change and the reaction to it and may surface weeks, months, or even years later. A) overt B) immediate C) active D) explicit E) deferred

Answer: E Explanation: E) A deferred resistance to change clouds the link between the change and the reaction to it and may surface weeks, months, or even years later

42) The key characteristic of organizational culture that addresses the degree to which people are competitive rather than easygoing is termed ________. A) assertiveness B) team orientation C) aversiveness D) risk taking E) aggressiveness

Answer: E Explanation: E) Aggressiveness describes the degree to which people are aggressive and competitive rather than easygoing.

56) Which of the following resistances to change is overt and immediate? A) loss of loyalty B) increased absenteeism C) loss of motivation D) increased error E) complaint

Answer: E Explanation: E) Complaint is an overt and immediate response to change.

3) Which of the following groups is most likely to be determined by the organizational chart? A) informal B) task C) friendship D) interest E) formal

Answer: E Explanation: E) Formal groups are defined by the organization's structure, with designated work assignments establishing tasks. In contrast, an informal group is neither formally structured nor organizationally determined.

48) Which of the following is most likely to be the indicator of a strong organizational culture? A) high employee turnover B) narrow span of control C) horizontal organizational charts D) presence of several subcultures E) widely shared values

Answer: E Explanation: E) In a strong culture, the organization's core values are both intensely held and widely shared. narrow span of control, presence of several subcultures, and horizontal organizational charts do not indicate a strong culture. A strong culture should reduce employee turnover, because it demonstrates high agreement about what the organization represents.

16) John Kotter's view argues that management focuses on coping with complexity, whereas leadership focuses on coping with ________. A) conflict B) success C) day-to-day matters D) morale E) change

Answer: E Explanation: E) John Kotter of the Harvard Business School argues that management is about coping with complexity. Good management brings about order and consistency by drawing up formal plans, designing rigid organization structures, and monitoring results against the plans. Leadership, in contrast, is about coping with change. Leaders establish direction by developing a vision of the future; then they align people by communicating this vision and inspiring them to overcome hurdles.

36) Organizational structure has six key elements. Which of the following is not one of these six key elements? A) chain of command B) departmentalization C) work specialization D) span of control E) location of authority

Answer: E Explanation: E) Managers need to address six key elements when they design their organization's structure: work specialization, departmentalization, chain of command, span of control, centralization and decentralization, and formalization.

54) It is easiest for management to deal with resistance when it is ________. A) covert B) deferred C) passive D) implicit E) overt

Answer: E Explanation: E) Resistance doesn't necessarily surface in standardized ways. It can be overt, implicit, immediate, or deferred. It's easiest for management to deal with overt and immediate resistance, such as complaints, a work slowdown, or a strike threat. The greater challenge is managing resistance that is implicit or deferred.

41) "Stability" is one of the seven primary characteristics that capture the essence of an organization's culture. It indicates the degree to which ________. A) employees are encouraged to be innovative and take risks B) management focuses on results or outcomes rather than on the techniques and processes used to achieve them C) management decisions take into consideration the effect of outcomes on people within the organization D) work activities are organized around teams rather than individuals E) organizational activities emphasize maintaining the status quo in contrast to growth

Answer: E Explanation: E) Stability indicates the degree to which organizational activities emphasize maintaining the status quo in contrast to growth.

35) According to the interactionist view of conflict, ________. A) all conflicts are bad and need to be avoided B) it's critical to resolve naturally occurring conflicts productively C) relationship conflicts are almost always functional conflicts D) task conflicts are highly beneficial for groups performing routine tasks E) for process conflict to be productive, it must be kept low

Answer: E Explanation: E) The interactionist view of conflict recognizes that a minimal level of conflict can help keep a group viable, self-critical, and creative. It says that relationship conflicts are almost always dysfunctional. Groups performing routine tasks that don't require creativity won't benefit from task conflict. For process conflict to be productive, it must be kept low.

50) All of the following is most likely to result in the changing nature of the workforce except ________. A) immigration B) outsourcing C) multicultural environment D) demographic changes E) changing literacy levels

Answer: E Explanation: E) The nature of the workforce is most likely to change due to a multicultural environment, demographic changes, immigration, and outsourcing.

18) Which of the following statements regarding leadership is true? A) All leaders are managers. B) Formal rights ensure good leadership. C) All managers are leaders. D) All leaders are hierarchically superior to followers. E) Non-sanctioned leadership is as important as formal influence.

Answer: E Explanation: E) The source of a leader's influence may be formal, such as that provided by managerial rank in an organization. But not all leaders are managers, nor, for that matter, are all managers leaders. Just because an organization provides its managers with certain formal rights is no assurance they will lead effectively. Non-sanctioned leadership—the ability to influence that arises outside the formal structure of the organization—is often as important, or more important, than formal influence.