Human Behavior in Organizations
Which of the following is not one of the predominant models of the causes of job satisfaction?
Cognitive dissonance
_______ is an alternative dispute resolution technique in which a neutral third party informally acts as a communication conduit between the disputing parties.
Conciliation
Jonathan decides that rather than hire an employee to replace someone who left, he will eliminate the position. Jonathan is
dissolving the problem.
Multitaskers end up switching tasks hundreds of times a day. This makes them ______ in their work environment.
less efficient
Professor Jones asks Professor Brown to cover class for her while she is out of town presenting a paper at a conference. They are good friends and work together effectively on several committees. Professor Brown not only covers the class, but develops a special lecture and exercise for the students. Professor Jones is using her _______ power and Professor Brown is ________.
referent; committed
Individuals who are conceptual in decision-making style
rely on intuition and discussions with others to acquire information.
Wendy is running the weekly staff meeting at Janus Services. Brad, a coworker, is unprepared for the meeting and doesn't have the correct information for his department. He is increasingly rude and impatient, annoying the other staff members. Brad is exhibiting a lack of
temperance.
The contingency approach suggests that
the best answer depends on the situation.
Interactional justice is defined as the perceived fairness of
the quality of interpersonal treatment received.
Nita is the office manager at a service station. Two applicants, Max and Tim, arrive to interview for the open mechanic's position. Max's clothes are dirty, his hair is unwashed, and he doesn't make eye contact when he gives Nita his name. Tim dresses in clean jeans and a nice shirt, is shaved, and shakes Nita's hand when he introduces himself. After the interview, Keith the head mechanic, asks Nita what she thought. Both men have the skill set needed for the position. Nita recommends Tim. She is responding to her perception of
the target.
_________ occurs when people perceive that they are being attacked or threatened.
Defensiveness
Which of the following is not a suggestion for managers who want to reduce voluntary turnover?
Reward all employees equally
__________ leadership focuses on increased benefit to others rather than to oneself.
Servant
We all use shortcuts or ________ when making decisions.
judgmental heuristics
Which of the following is false about stress?
All stress is bad.
Which of the following would not necessarily require an apology?
An organization has criticized another organization.
________ occur(s) when organizations divide the work in pursuing the common goal among groups and individuals performing separate but related tasks.
Division of labor
Which of the following is not an element of POB?
Employees are self-absorbed and anxious. -POBs are positive organizational behaviors. Self-absorbed and anxious does not qualify as positive.
You are a management consultant. An executive from Swell Systems asks you to present a workshop on empowerment to her managers. Which of the following ideas should you include?
Empowerment is a matter of degree, not an either-or proportion.
Maria focuses on community volunteerism, while Anna focuses on getting a promotion at work. _____ are represented by Maria's and Anna's focuses.
Endpoints of one of the dimensions of values
______ is not a content theory of motivation.
Expectancy theory
_____ intelligence is the potential to understand and regulate oneself.
Intrapersonal
Jill is a sales representative for a large pharmaceutical corporation. According to the current compensation system, if Jill meets her target for the quarterly sales projections, she will receive a bonus equivalent to 7 percent of her annual salary. Jill is working hard to meet the sales goal so that she can buy a new car. Which of the following is true regarding Jill's motivation?
It is extrinsically motivated.
______ power is the basis of power that most people think of as authority.
Legitimate
In some business situations, you will make recommendations to solve a problem. Which of the following actions can help improve the quality of your recommendations?
Make sure that your recommendations address the causes of the problem.
Which of the following statements about tendencies in managerial decision making is false?
Managers study the problem too extensively and collect too much data.
Recently, the Acme Explosives Company was sold to a new owner, Roadrunner Inc. The operations of the two organizations are going to be merged, with several of the manufacturing locations possibly to be eliminated. ______ is the most likely OB perspective to apply.
Organizational -Because it will involve the entire organization. Although, individual and group perspectives may also be used, the OB perspective will have to target the entire organization.
______ is the interdisciplinary field dedicated to understanding and managing people at work.
Organizational behavior
_____ is the set of processes and managerial behaviors that involve defining, monitoring, measuring, evaluating, and providing consequences for performance expectations.
Performance management
____ is one characteristic that describes an organization with positive OB.
Positive deviance
______ is a lack of concern for others, impulsive behavior, and a lack of remorse or guilt when one's actions harm others.
Psychopathy
We have the cognitive capacity to process words at a much higher rate than people speak. Which of the following can result from this?
We miss or lose some of what we hear.
____ is the need to have a goal and the determination to achieve it.
Willpower
Extreme examples of unethical and illegal conduct are the exception in the business community. Which of the following statements about this behavior is false?
You can rely on the legal system to manage or assure ethical conduct at work. -What is legal is not necessarily ethical and vice-versa.
An artifact is
a physical manifestation of an organization's culture.
Chris has studied for his mathematics test and his English test. He expects to do moderately well in both subjects. He gets an "A" in English, but fails mathematics. While Chris feels that the grade he got for English was well-deserved, he blames his failure in mathematics on the fact that his teacher, Mr. Wallace, does not like him. In this situation, Chris is exhibiting
a self-serving bias.
Which of these would you not see from an inspiring transformational leader?
authoritarian leadership
Al starts work at a law firm. For the first three weeks that he's there he is in constant contact with other new hires, all of whom wear lanyards distinguishing them from more tenured employees. Al and the other newcomers are put through a training session that introduces them to the values and policies of the firm, and clarifies the specific tasks that they would be performing. Al's socialization is ________ in nature.
collective
Which of the following situations is most likely to result in conflict?
competition for limited resources
The ________ conflict handling style is a give-and-take approach.
compromising
Roger runs a small nonprofit group. He wants to buy a copier, because he knows it will be cheaper than going to the copy store. One of the other employees remarks that they should make do with an inexpensive copier from Walmart or Staples, but Roger wants one that will copy legal documents and collate reports. Roger may be impacted by _______ bias.
confirmation
In ________, one party perceives that its interests are being opposed or negatively affected by another party.
conflict
Mark marches to the beat of his own drummer, while Simon plans on following in his father's footsteps. Mark is open to change, while Simon embraces
conservation
In the leniency perceptual error, a person
consistently evaluates people in an extremely positive fashion. -This type of bias occurs during interviews and appraisals. Keywords for identifying the right answer: leniency, consistently and extremely positive.
Which of the following is not an example of a crucial conversation?
conveying routine feedback
Which of the following is an organizational function of a group?
coordinate interdepartmental efforts
The __________ phase spans two to five years and entails the junior person receiving a host of career and psychosocial guidance.
cultivation
Louis is a member of the marketing team on the Superb Mattress account. Recently, he has emerged as a team leader. His supervisor, Michele, is letting Louis make the final decision as to which campaigns are presented to the client. This provides Louis with
decision-making discretion.
Roberto is meeting with Professor Plum in his office during advising hours. As Roberto is describing the problems he is having in his accounting course, Professor Plum is checking his e-mail. Professor Plum is exhibiting the ________ style of listening.
detached
Which of the following is not a characteristic of an in-group exchange?
economic exchange
Which of the following is the least fixed of a person's individual differences?
emotions
Research shows that when an organization breaches a psychological contract,
employees are likely to be less committed and satisfied and more likely to quit, and their performance is likely to be lower.
Perception is the process that
enables us to interpret and understand our surroundings.
Pietro has his bachelor's degree in management. He comes from a middle-class background; his father worked in lower management for his entire career. Pietro wants a different life than his father's. He has saved his money, and he's always been lucky. Pietro might be a(n)
entrepreneur.
Waco Company monitors employees' perceptions of fairness by quarterly surveys and occasional focus groups. Management is following the _____ model.
equity
In a learning organization, the _________ subprocess leads to shared understanding among individuals and groups.
knowledge integration
Three years ago, the City of Recker committed to build a park and music venue by the river. It was expected to cost $2.5 million and be paid for from an additional meals tax in the community. The residents pushed back. Local restaurants suffered as people ate out less or patronized restaurants in neighboring communities. The project has stalled, but the town council kept pushing it on. This spring, a flood devastated the venue.The town council appears to have suffered from _______ bias.
escalation of commitment
Jamie is a prize-winning weightlifter who desires to increase the amount of weight she can bench press in a matter of weeks. When a person aims for a goal with a deadline, it can be a source of stress. However, Jamie has enough time to work steadily toward a realistic goal. This is known as "good" stress or
eustress.
People who are outgoing, talkative, sociable, and assertive are likely to score high on
extraversion.
The perceptual model of communication depicts communication as a process in which
receivers create meaning in their own minds.
At the weekly staff meeting, Carrie is always criticizing one project manager or another. She claims to run a "tight ship," and she doesn't listen to explanations of delays or additional workload. Carrie's employees dread and resent these meetings. To move forward, these employees need to learn
forgiveness. -Forgiveness means to give up blame or faultfinding. In the workplace, forgiveness is difficult because organizational and legal structures create cultural norms that do not support acts of forgiveness.
To enhance a worker's expectancy, a manager could
give feedback and coach the employee. -Associate expectancy with the question "If I put enough effort, will I achieve my desired outcome?" If you use that question, you can see that feedback is the best response.
Fiona is the daytime supervisor for an online sales company. She supervises 57 people who perform relatively routine jobs that require minimal training. The shop is unionized, so Fiona has little latitude when it comes to dismissing poor performers. However, she does have the authority to transfer employees and has been known to reassign poor performers to less desirable jobs on in the company. Fiona has a reputation for only transferring employees with just cause, and generally is viewed as a fair supervisor by her employees. Although she would like greater autonomy to determine salaries, Fiona generally divides bonuses and raises equally among her employees. To do otherwise would likely create conflict with union members and representatives. According to Fiedler's model, how would Fiona's leader-member relations be described?
good
As part of a work group, Bob's main job is to resolve conflicts between other group members. Whenever there is an argument, he tries to figure out a solution that benefits both parties, or he quickly defuses the tension with some jokes. Which of the following roles is Bob performing within his work group?
harmonizer
Many organizations, such as Google, Zappos, Salesforce.com, and Yahoo!, are designing the work environment to encourage casual conversations among employees who don't generally work together. They also are "installing playful prompts, like trivia games, to get workers talking in traditional conversational dead zones, such as elevators." It is thought that __________ demonstrate a form of social support for employees, leading them to put more effort into creative behaviors.
high-performance work systems
Veronica just accepted a job at QuizBiz. She left a large company that offered big bonuses for salespersons who exceeded their quotas. At QuizBiz, the individual bonuses are smaller, but there are team rewards as well. This is known as a _____ reward system.
hybrid
Inez was content with her job at Pieces Packaging until the company added two levels of supervision, lowered bonuses, and decreased breaks. Her current dissatisfaction reflects ______ factors.
hygiene -Remember that according Herzberg, motivator factors cause satisfaction, and hygiene factors cause dissatisfaction. -Hygiene factors cause dissatisfaction but they cannot cause satisfaction.
Deep-level characteristics of diversity
include attitudes, opinions, and values.
A person who clarifies key issues for a group has taken on the role of
information seeker/giver.
A(n) ________ negotiation describes a situation where an agreement can be found that is better for both parties.
integrative
The advantage of _________ as a means of overcoming change is that it can be a relatively quick and inexpensive solution to resistance problems.
manipulation and co-optation
Troy starts a job right out of college. He feels lucky to have found a position in the financial industry. Troy knows that he needs help to form and maintain the lasting developmental relationships that will further his career. Troy should first establish a(n)
mentoring plan.
Which of the following is not a symptom of groupthink?
minority dissent
Which of the following is not a characteristic of an out-group exchange?
mutual liking
The first step of the ABCDE method of cognitive restructuring is
name the event or problem.
Marianne is in her business statistics class, sitting by Darius. Darius is holding his cell phone under the desk, texting someone, and it is distracting Marianne from listening to the professor's lecture. This is an example of
noise.
Jennie and Lacey are having an argument. As Lacey speaks, Jennie crosses her arms and looks at the ground. Lacey gets the message even thought Jennie isn't saying anything. Jennie is using ________ in the conversation with Lacey.
nonverbal communication
A feeling of team spirit is sometimes experienced during the _______ stage because members believe they have found their proper roles. Group cohesiveness, defined as the "we feeling" that binds members of a group together, is the principal by-product of Stage 3.
norming
The levels of organizational culture are
observable artifacts, espoused values, and basic underlying assumptions.
Horatio loves extreme sports and works as white-water rafting instructor. This reflects the values in the ____________ dimension of Schwartz's model.
openness to change
Teams with high levels of ______ and ______ deal with task conflict better than those without these characteristics.
openness; emotional stability
Kamal argues that 9 AM is a bad time to sign up for a small discussion group because he will be too tired from the previous night's activities. He prefers to sign up for a large lecture class at that time. Raoul disagrees, noting that this small discussion group is something they both wanted to do and will require their attention, while they may not focus in the lecture class. Kamal says that this is not a commonsense approach. What weakness does Kamal exhibit?
over-reliance on hindsight -Remember that common sense has 3 weaknesses: over-reliance on hindsight (may overemphasize past performance), lack of rigor (may not address the real problem), and lack of objectivity (subjective personal bias).
Tanya believes that people should be kind to each other. She notices that Ellie is picking on a new employee, Michele. Tanya asks Ellie to stop bullying Michele, but Ellie's behavior doesn't change. Tanya confronts Ellie and a heated argument ensues, after which Tanya suggests that Ellie transfer to another department. In this case, Tanya's ________ are different from her values.
personal beliefs
Otto is convinced that social media offers many benefits for employees and wants to institute a plan at Compass Inc. Which of the following is not a potential benefit for employees?
personal stability
In Maslow's needs hierarchy theory, _______ is the lowest level and __________ is the highest level.
physiological; self-actualization
Prosocial behaviors are
positive acts performed without expecting anything in return. -Remember that prosocial behaviors are one type of OCBs.
Core self-evaluations represent a broad personality trait comprised of all of the following except
proactivity.
Maria is having an argument with her father. He believes that focusing on her computer skills is the most important of Maria's college experience. Maria disagrees, arguing that ______ is/are the more critical.
problem-solving skills
A local political group is divided on how to present their candidate. The debate is getting heated. Finally, the head of the group focuses the team on defending their idea based on facts, rather than personal preference. This is an example of ______ conflict.
programmed
Hugh tries his best to convince Irene about a new business proposal, but Irene presents some good counterarguments and stalls the proposal. This is an example of
resistance.
Joseph wants Taylor to pick up some snacks to bring to a meeting. In this case, Joseph is the ______ (the person wanting to communicate information), and Taylor is the _______ (the person, group, or organization for whom the message is intended).
sender; receiver
After a year of mentoring, Andrew is starting his own bakery. He has listened to all of his mentor's advice, especially about developing networks. To help him out, his father's friend, who owns a supermarket, offers him a supply of flour and sugar at discount prices. Andrew's close friend, who is a real estate agent, gives him advice on how to get a large loft in the downtown area at a reasonable price. His mother, who has strong political ties in the community, uses her contacts with locals to spread the word about Andrew's new business. Andrew now possesses high level of _______ capital.`
social
Roberto is a manager at XYZ Corporation. Every day, he eats lunch in the company cafeteria so he can learn the latest news and rumors. Roberto is exhibiting his
social awareness.
Maxine spends almost one day every week just managing e-mail and at least another two days a week in meetings. She clearly needs help to accomplish all of her responsibilities. To do this will necessitate _______ and _______ empowerment
structural; psychological
Managers should _______ in order to empower them, to lead for competence.
support and coach employees
Lana is frustrated with her OB project group. She frequently asks: "What's the problem with our group? We don't seem to be getting anywhere." This is a(n) ____ function.
task
Ellen has worked on a project to market a new medication from beginning to end—advertising, packaging, etc. The design program wins an award. Ellen's _____ is high.
task identity -Task identity is the overall extent to which a job is done from beginning to end. In this question, that is the key for identifying the answer, beginning to end.
The self-transcendence part of Schwartz's model is composed of
universalism and benevolence.
James believes the best thing he can do is hire based on
using CSE as one broad personality characteristic.
Philip got an e-mail from his supervisor with compliments and praises for his work over the past few months. This is an example of a __________ schedule of reinforcement.
variable interval