MGT Module 3

There have been several studies of managers who fail (derailers) and managers who succeed in climbing the organizational hierarchy (arrivers). Which of the following statements describes one of the facts learned from these studies?

The top mistake made by derailers was that they were insensitive to others.

Which of the following is a characteristic of derailers?

They are abrasive and intimidating.

Identify the statement that is true about virtual teams.

They typically require smaller time commitment than traditional teams do.

Cygen Inc. reorganized its operations along customer lines to minimize the complexity in running projects at various levels. In doing so, it abandoned matrix departmentalization. Which of the following would most likely be the reason why Cygen Inc. engaged in such restructuring?

To end conflict between product managers in different parts of its matrix

Specialized jobs are characterized by simple, easy-to-learn steps; low variety; and high repetition. A. True B. False

True

20 men and 20 women applied for the role of ​delivery person for a restaurant. Out of all the applicants, 12 men and five women were hired for the job because the job required the applicants to be very good at riding scooters. The number of men employed were much more than the number of women employed. However, it was not an intentional discrimination but a part of the job requirement. In this context, _____ has occurred.

adverse impact

The term _____ refers to the degree to which someone is cooperative, polite, flexible, forgiving, good natured, tolerant, and trusting.

agreeableness

Minority domination will most likely be a problem _____.

as teams grow

The two basic types of diversity training programs are _____.

awareness and skills-based

Which of the following is an example of a subjective performance measure?

behavioral observation scale

The achievement of stretch goals is made easier when the team members have _____.

bureaucratic immunity

Justin, a prospective employer, calls a prior employer on a job applicant's behalf to find out the opinion of the former employer about the job applicant. If the prior employer provides unsubstantiated negative information, then the job applicant _____.

can sue the prior employer for defamation

Which of the following is NOT one of the core job characteristics in the job characteristics model (JCM)?

client relationships

Which of the following types of tests accurately predicts job performance in almost all kinds of jobs?

cognitive ability test

Which of the following types of conflicts is most strongly associated with improvements in team performance?

cognitive conflict

The primary advantage of a structured interview is its ability to:

compare applicants more easily

Grant works as a clerk in a company and earns $3,000 per year. Each time he gets promoted to a higher level, his salary increases by $1,000. Almost all the employees in the company have a similar pay structure. There is not much difference in pay at each level of the company. In this scenario, the company has a(n) ​_____ pay structure.

compressed

_____ pay structures have few pay levels and small differences in pay between levels.​

compressed

_____ skills are the ability to see the organization as a whole, to understand how the different parts of the company affect each other, and to recognize how the company fits into or is affected by its external environment such as the local community, social and economic forces, customers, and the competition.

conceptual

Which skills increase in their importance to success as managers' rise through the managerial ranks?

conceptual skills

Before beginning to recruit job applicants, organizations must _____.

conduct a job analysis

Stay Live!, a celebrity magazine, realized that there was a factual error in one of its issue. The magazines were swiftly retracted before it becoming a big problem. Which management function was used here?

controlling

Large accounting agencies typically have separate departments that deal with households, businesses, and governments. This allows them to better serve the needs of their clients by using _____.

customer departmentalization

In the stages of team development, a team first moves from growth to decline during the _____ stage.

de-norming

Which of the following is a legal problem employers may encounter in seeking, providing, or using employment references as part of the selection process?

defamation lawsuits

_____ can be best defined as the assignment of direct authority and responsibility to a subordinate to complete tasks for which the manager is normally responsible

delegation of authority

_____ can be best defined as a method of subdividing work and workers into separate organizational units that are responsible for completing particular tasks.

departmentalization

The primary benefit of the _____ is that it generally brings about fairer treatment of employees and increases demographic diversity.

discrimination and fairness paradigm

_____ is intentional discrimination that occurs when people are purposefully not given the same hiring, promotion, or membership opportunities because of their race, sex, age, ethnic group, national origin, or religious beliefs

disparate treatment

Jane, the CEO of Noble Inc. regularly interacts with her employees to give them all the necessary details about the company goals and objectives. She also shares information about how the company is performing in the industry. In the scenario, Jane is performing the managerial role of a _____.

disseminator

A modem factory in the U.S has 1,200 workers who speak 20 different languages. This factory illustrates _____.

diversity

A(n) _____ is a formal assessment that measures employee and management attitudes, investigates the extent to which people are advantaged or disadvantaged with respect to hiring and promotions, and reviews companies' diversity-related policies and procedures.

diversity audit

In the nursing home industry, pairing two younger workers with an older worker creates more job opportunities for the older workers. Furthermore, this pairing could be a significant advantage in nursing homes where an older worker may have more sensitivity to aging problems. This would be an example of a type of mentoring called _____.

diversity pairing

The primary disadvantage of geographic departmentalization is _____.

duplication of resources

Capital Chemicals Corp. is facing a forthcoming shortage of process operators and is hiring new ones as fast as it can. The average age of an effective process operator in Capital Chemicals is 50. The voluntary early retirements of the highly qualified and experienced operators is an example of _____.

dysfunctional turnover

_____ can be best defined as the loss of high-performing employees who voluntarily choose to leave a company.

dysfunctional turnover

Providing a great shopping experience for customers is one of the most important organizational objectives of Purple Fashions Inc., a clothing store. The company has a committed customer service professionals who ensures that the customers get exactly what they want. Purple Fashions has become a popular name because of this. The clothing store demonstrates _____.

effectiveness

People with high degree of _____ respond well under stress.

emotional stability

​_____ is the degree to which someone is not angry, depressed, anxious, emotional, insecure, or excitable.

emotional stability

Which of the following is NOT one of the Big Five personality dimensions?

empathy

The term _____ can be best defined as a feeling of intrinsic motivation, in which workers perceive their work to have meaning and perceive themselves to be competent, having an impact, and capable of self-determination.

empowerment

In the _____ role, managers adapt themselves, their subordinates, and their units to change.

entrepreneur

A virtual organization is an organization that outsources noncore business activities to outside companies, suppliers, specialists, or consultants.

false

Disparate treatment and adverse impacts are defined in labor laws issued by the National Labor Relations Board.

false

First-line managers are responsible for setting objectives consistent with organizational goals and planning and implementing strategies for achieving these objectives.

false

Full compliance with federal law is enough to ensure that an organization cannot incur liability in sexual harassment complaints.

false

In general, gainsharing is most effective for self-managing and self-directing teams performing complex tasks, while skill-based pay works best in relatively stable environments where employees can focus on improving the productivity, cost savings, or quality of their current work system.

false

In matrix departmentalization, as in other forms of departmentalization, most employees report to a single boss.

false

Middle managers engage in plans and actions that typically produce results within a short time period.

false

Product departmentalization organizes work and workers into separate units responsible for particular kinds of customers.

false

Since teams should be an end in themselves, it is appropriate to use them in most situations.

false

The term task description refers to the number, kind, and variety of tasks that individual workers perform in doing their jobs.

false

The three significant disadvantages that teams and teamwork are prone to are initially high turnover, social loafing, and legal risk.

false

While strong interpersonal conflict management skills are important for first-line managers, it is not a very important skill for team leaders.

false

Which of the following actions should a company NOT perform to make sure that people with disabilities have the same opportunities as everyone else?

having rigid work schedules

The central concern of the job characteristics model (JCM) is _____.

internal motivation

According to Mintzberg, which of the following is one of the three major roles managers fulfill while performing their jobs?

interpersonal roles

An organization that has increased the number of different tasks that a worker performs within one particular job has engaged in _____.

job enlargement

Bona fide occupational qualifications are most likely to be included in a(n) _____.

job specification

The CEO of Midwestern Sweets is often sits on the boards of other companies to share perspectives. The CEO performs the interpersonal role of a _____.

liaison

____ is defined as getting work done through others.

management

A(n) _____ is an organization that is characterized by specialized jobs and responsibilities; precisely defined, unchanging roles; and a rigid chain of command based on centralized authority and vertical communication.

mechanistic organization

_____ range from vacations to T-shirts, plaques, and coffee mugs and are especially effective when coupled with management recognition, such as awards, certificates, and praise.

nonfinancial rewards

The CEO of RNK Electronics believes that the first requirement of management is that it should make the fullest use of its members' capacities. Thus, every employee's job at RNK Electronics is as minimally defined as possible so that it shapes itself to the employees' special abilities and initiative. RNK Electronics most likely is a(n) _____.

organic organization

The term _____ refers to a work environment where each member is empowered to contribute in a way that maximizes the benefits to the organization, customers, and themselves, and the individuality of each member is respected by not segmenting or polarizing people on the basis of their membership in a particular group.

organizational plurality

Jane is in charge of her Rotary Club's annual fund-raising auction. She will decide who will ask local businesses for prizes, determine the site of the event, and decide who will sell tickets to customers, and who will work the night of the auction. She is engaged in the management function of _____ .

organizing

Which of the following provides employment counseling services for employees faced with downsizing?

outplacement services

_____ is the relatively stable set of behaviors, attitudes, and emotions displayed over time that makes people different from each other.

personality

Martha wanted to learn to sail, and she approached an institution which teaches sailing. Later, she came to know that the institution believed that sailing was solely for men and the institution did not enroll her. This made her find a tutor and start an institution that teaches sailing to both men and women. In this way, Martha succeeded in eliminating _____.

sex discrimination

​_____ occurs when people are treated differently because of their gender.

sex discrimination

If a CEO opens a nationwide sales force meeting with a crude sexually explicit joke, it would be an example of a(n) _____.

sexual harassment

An organization that rewards its team members through gainsharing is _____.

sharing the financial value of performance gains

A(n) _____ is a form of matrix departmentalization in which managers in different parts of the matrix negotiate conflicts and resources directly.

simple matrix

_____ is the degree to which group members are psychologically attracted to working with each other to accomplish a common objective.

social integration

Ravi works in the legal department at a large consumer products manufacturer. It is his job to craft warnings on package labels. This activity can be best categorized as a(n) _____.

staff function

_____ can be best defined as solving problems by consistently applying the same rules, procedures, and processes.

standardization

_____ can be best defined as the ability to change organizational structures, policies, and practices if doing so helps teams meet their stretch goals.

structural accommodation

_____ is defined as the degree to which a job is perceived to have a substantial impact on others inside or outside the organization.

task significance

The primary disadvantage of customer departmentalization is:

that it leads to duplication of resources.

Which of the following is a topic that can be asked during a job interview?

the employment history of the applicant

After six months as a manager, new managers typically believe their job is:

to solve problems for subordinates

Autonomy is the degree to which workers have the discretion, freedom, and independence to decide how and when to accomplish their jobs.

true

Cognitive conflict is strongly associated with improvements in team performance, and affective conflict is strongly associated with decreases in team performance.

true

Companies look for a total of four sets of skills in individuals to identify potential managers. These desired skills are technical skills, human skills, conceptual skills, and the motivation to manage.

true

Companies that plan have larger profits and faster growth than companies that don't.

true

For a typical company, employee turnover costs amount to more than 90 percent of the employees' salaries.

true

Functional departmentalization organizes work and workers into separate units responsible for particular business functions or areas of expertise.

true

In diversity pairing, people of different cultural backgrounds are paired together for mentoring.

true

Norms are informally agreed-upon standards that regulate team behavior. They are valuable because they let team members know what is expected of them.

true

Teams are typically required when tasks are complex, require multiple perspectives, or require repeated interaction with others to complete.

true

The different methods or paradigms for managing diversity include the discrimination and fairness paradigm, the access and legitimacy paradigm, and the learning and effectiveness paradigm.

true

The glass ceiling is the so-called invisible barrier that prevents women and minorities from advancing to the top jobs in organizations.

true

The primary benefit of the discrimination and fairness paradigm is that it generally brings about fairer treatment of employees and increases demographic diversity.

true

To enhance work team effectiveness, managers should carefully set team goals and priorities and take care when selecting, training, and compensating team members.

true

Training provides opportunities for employees to develop the job-specific skills, experience, and knowledge they need to do their jobs or improve their performance

true

Training provides opportunities for employees to develop the job-specific skills, experience, and knowledge they need to do their jobs or improve their performance.

true

Upper-level managers may actually spend more time dealing directly with people than lower-level managers.

true

_____ typically amount to more than 90 percent of employees' salaries.

turnover costs

A salesperson who works in the shipping division is told by the accounting department that he must turn in a weekly expense account. His supervisor in the shipping division wants expense accounts submitted monthly. The salesperson is likely experiencing a problem with _____. A. line authority B. delegation of authority C. unity of command D. organizational synergy

unity of command

Jason is a member of a self-managed team at TREX Electronics. His team's top priorities are understanding customer requirements and expectations. It would appear that TREX is:

using its employees to create a competitive advantage.

Which of the following is the approach to managing interorganizational processes that can be best described as one which changes its composition depending on what an organization wants at the moment?

virtual organizations

Jennifer applied for the job of a waitress at Sam's Coffee shop. During the recruitment, the recruiter asked her to make five different types of beverages and wait the tables for an hour. In this scenario, the recruiter performed a(n) _____ test.​

work sample

_____ is a legal doctrine that requires employers to have a job-related reason to terminate employees.​

wrongful discharge

Which of the following statements is true regarding the learning and effectiveness paradigm?

​It acknowledges cultural differences among people and recognizes the value in those differences.

​Which of the following statements is true regarding the discrimination and fairness paradigm?

​It focuses only on surface-level dimensions of diversity.

A violation of the _____ used by the courts and federal agencies to determine whether there is evidence of adverse impact occurs when the members of a particular race, sex, or ethnic group are unintentionally harmed or disadvantaged because they are hired, promoted, or trained (or any other employment decision) at substantially lower rates than others.

80 percent rule

Which of the following persons most likely performs a staff function?

A member of a company's finance department who provides advisory assistance to the marketing department

How are organizations using teams to help increase customer satisfaction?

By training teams to meet the needs of specific customers

Which of the following statements explains why diversity makes good business sense?

Diversity helps companies attract and retain talented employees.

Which of the following questions is deemed acceptable for employers to ask applicants during the selection process?

Have you ever been convicted of a crime?

Which of the following statements about decentralization is true?

It leads to more satisfied customers and employees.

Which of the following is the key difference between line authority and staff authority?

Line authority is the right to command immediate subordinates, whereas staff authority is the right to advise but not command others who are not subordinates.

Which of the following statements about performance appraisals is true?

Performance appraisals are used for making administrative decisions.

Which of the following typically happens during the storming stage of team development?

Team members begin to work together, and different personalities and work styles clash.

According to a recent census, over 40 percent of the Australian population was born overseas or had one parent born overseas. The abilities of these immigrants add value to the Australian workplace. The Australian government would have employers welcome these migrants and their children into their organizations as valued workers. Which paradigm for managing diversity does the Australian government most likely support?

The access and legitimacy paradigm