organizational behavior ch 6

Which of the following is an example of externally caused behavior?

An employee is late to work because of a punctured tire.

Which of the following is an example of internally caused behavior?

An employee was fired from work because he violated a company policy.

What is anchoring bias?

Anchoring bias is a tendency to fixate on initial information and fail to adequately adjust for subsequent information. It occurs because our mind appears to give a disproportionate amount of emphasis to the first information it receives. Anchors are widely used by people in professions in which persuasion skills are important-advertising, management, politics, real estate, and law.

________ bias refers to the tendency for people to base their judgments on information that is easily accessible.

Availability

Johanna Murray, a climate campaigner at The National Footprint Foundation, is known in her organization to be a campaigner of caliber and high performance. She recently worked on a campaign against global warming during which she worked extremely hard to achieve project milestones. However, the campaign failed as it could not achieve the desired objective. Due to this, her manager, Brenda Owens, gave her a poor performance appraisal. In the appraisal, Brenda said that Johanna was not motivated and failed to reach out to 25,000 people through Internet media to spread awareness about climate change. Which of the following, if true, weakens Brenda's statement?

Brenda was unable to make time for Johanna to brief her on the tasks involved in carrying out the campaign's media strategy

Alicia Akers works as a marketing executive. She always talks in a high pitch and often draws a lot of attention wherever she is. Which of the following statements best explains the reason behind people noticing Akers?

Characteristics of the target affect people's perception.

________ refers to staying with a decision even when there is clear evidence it's wrong.

Escalation of commitment

Jeanne Edwards works as a campaign manager at Rainforest Alliance Trust, a forest protection organization in Indonesia. She is currently working on the Palm Oil Campaign, which aims to establish stringent laws against companies which aggravate deforestation by extracting palm oil for commercial use. Her role is to establish allies with other forest protection organizations and companies which use eco-friendly products that set good examples for other companies to follow. Jeanne allied with Griffin and Powell, a large multinational company, which, unknown to Jeanne, also has strong ties with local logging groups in Jakarta. Which of the following, if true, would strengthen the argument that Jeanne had an availability bias while establishing an ally with the company?

Griffin and Powell ensures that all their CSR initiatives on forests are regularly and substantially publicized.

Which of the following statements is true regarding the rational decision-making model?

It assumes that an individual is able to identify all relevant options in an unbiased manner.

Which of the following statements is true regarding a contrast effect?

It involves evaluation of a person's characteristics based on comparison with another person

Which of the following is true about intuitive decision making?

It involves making decisions based on distilled experience.

Janice is late for work each day by about ten minutes. How would attribution theory describe this behavior?

It shows consistency

Johanna Murray, a climate campaigner at The National Footprint Foundation, is known in her organization to be a campaigner of caliber and high performance. She has strong networks with the Ministry of Environment and allies with several environmental organizations in the country. Over the years, she has gained substantial knowledge on the issue of climate change. However, recently when she prepared a consolidated report on a conference she attended on climate change, it reflected major loopholes and limited information from the conference. Which of the following, if true, substantiates that Johanna had anchoring bias?

Johanna was moved by the arguments put forth by the first speaker.

Amanda Winter worked as a public engagement coordinator at Safe Food Alliance until three months ago when her manager, Laura Morris, promoted her to the position of a sustainable food campaigner. However, soon after this, Laura noticed that Amanda was facing major difficulties in achieving campaign milestones and the project was falling behind schedule due to her lack of performance. Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the argument that Laura was influenced by the halo effect in her decision to promote Amanda?

Laura sat in on only one of Amanda's presentations prior to giving her the promotion

Laura Simpson, a campaign manager at a child rights organization in Jakarta, planned a marathon for celebrities to raise money for underprivileged children. Though all arrangements for the event had been made, a few days before the event she realized that on the same day there was a political rally happening in the city which would block access to the route on which the marathon was supposed to be undertaken. In such a situation, what is Simpson, who suffers from self-serving bias, most likely to say?

My colleagues did not inform me about the rally.

What is selective perception?

The tendency to selectively interpret what one sees on the basis of one's interests, background, experience, and attitudes

According to the attribution theory, which of the following behaviors is most likely to be attributed to an external cause?

a behavior that scores high on consensus

________ bias is a tendency to fixate on initial information and fail to adequately adjust for subsequent information.

anchoring

Which of the following types of biases is most likely to play a significant role during a negotiation?

anchoring bias

When individuals observe another person's behavior, they attempt to determine whether it is internally or externally caused. Which of the following attempts to explain this phenomenon?

attribution theory

________ explains the ways in which we judge people differently, depending on the meaning we assign to a given behavior.

attribution theory

A manager doing performance appraisals gives more weight to recent employee behaviors than to behaviors of six or nine months earlier. This shows that the manager's perception is affected by ________ bias.

availability

An area of study that analyzes how people behave when confronted with ethical dilemmas is ________.

behavioral ethics

A process of making decisions by constructing simplified models that extract the essential features from problems without capturing all their complexity is known as ________.

bounded rationality

The tendency to seek out information that reaffirms past choices and to discount information that contradicts past judgments is known as ________ bias.

confirmation

According to the attribution theory, if everyone who faces a similar situation responds in the same way, we can say the behavior shows ________.

consensus

Attribution theory suggests that when we observe an individual's behavior, we attempt to determine whether it was internally or externally caused. That determination, however, depends largely on three factors. Which of the following is one of these three factors?

consistency

If a person responds to a particular situation in the same way over a long time period, then the attribution theory states that the behavior demonstrates ________.

consistency

During team meetings, Amber Downing always notices that Rhona Law tends to ask many questions and suggest ideas at each discussion. However, Law stands out in the meetings only because she is the only one making suggestions. If both of them were part of team meetings where almost all members made suggestions and asked questions, Law would not have drawn as much attention from Downing. Which of the following factors has most likely influenced Downing's perception of Law?

context

Jessica recently joined a new company and was first introduced to Michelle, her cubicle neighbor. Michelle came across as amiable and cheerful. During lunch she met another colleague, Carrie, who did not come across as friendly as Michelle. In this situation, Jessica's interpretation of Carrie's personality is most likely to be affected by ________.

contrast effect

________ refers to the evaluation of a person's characteristics that is affected by comparisons with other people recently encountered who rank higher or lower on the same characteristics.

contrast effect

Which of the following terms refers to choices made from among two or more alternatives?

decision

What is the first step in the rational decision-making model?

defining the problem

Anne Warner, a climate campaigner at an environmental organization, is in charge of implementing a campaign activity where she needs to increase the use of renewable energy in the villages of Vietnam. For her project, she uses the rational decision-making model to implement activities. She has just completed identifying an appropriate criteria for decision making and has allocated weights to the criteria. Which of the following is Warner most likely to undertake next according to the model?

develop options of wind, solar, and hydro energy

According to the attribution theory, ________ is one of the three main factors which attempt to determine an individual's behavior.

distinctiveness

With reference to the attribution theory, which of the following terms indicates the extent to which an individual displays different behaviors in different situations?

distinctiveness

Which of the following describes the halo effect?

drawing a general impression about an individual on the basis of a single characteristic

Monica Walden feels that people who use plastic bags are insensitive toward the environment. She believes that people have a certain obligation toward their environment and should take it upon themselves to protect and preserve it. Which of the following factors has most likely influenced Walden's perception of plastic bag users?

expectation

Which of the following is a component of the three-component model of creativity?

expertise

A candidate is likely to receive a more favorable evaluation if preceded by mediocre applicants and a less favorable evaluation if preceded by strong applicants. This is an example of the halo effect.

false

A focus on utilitarianism creates an environment that hinders productivity and efficiency.

false

A person's tendency to believe he or she can predict the outcome of random events is known as the self-serving bias.

false

According to attribution theory, if a behavior scores high on consensus and distinctiveness, we tend to consider it as an internally caused behavior.

false

According to attribution theory, the more consistent a behavior, the more we are inclined to attribute it to external causes.

false

Men make better decisions than women.

false

The perception of a target is unaffected by the perceiver's personality or past experiences.

false

The rational decision-making model takes into consideration the fact that all information pertaining to a problem might not be available to the decision maker.

false

The tendency for individuals to attribute their own successes to internal factors and put the blame for failures on external factors is known as confirmation bias.

false

The tendency to draw a general impression about an individual on the basis of a single characteristic is known as the contrast effect.

false

The tendency to underestimate the influence of external factors and overestimate the influence of internal factors when making judgments about the behavior of others is known as the randomness error.

false

Johanna Springer, who works as a sales executive at Pascal's Bank, is upset at the way her manager, Emma Womack, always calls her in for one-on-one meetings to discuss her underperformance. Though Springer makes a higher number of sales calls and works longer hours than last year, her sales figures are still low. She knows that the main reason behind her underperformance is the recent economic meltdown in the country. However, her manager feels that Springer's underperformance is the result of her laid-back attitude and has nothing to do with external factors. In this situation, Womack's behavior is characterized by a(n) ________.

fundamental attribution error

Which of the following terms best describes the tendency to underestimate the influence of external factors and overestimate the influence of internal factors when making judgments about the behavior of others?

fundamental attribution error

William Davies, a guest relations executive at a five-star deluxe hotel, regularly interacts with bureaucrats, politicians, celebrities, and other prosperous individuals. He feels that all rich people are kind, hardworking, and friendly. Which of the following best characterizes Davies' perception?

halo effect

________ refers to the tendency of people to draw a general impression about an individual on the basis of a single characteristic.

halo effect

Janice Yoder works in an environmental campaigning organization and often needs to interact with a large team for project implementation activities. However, she always finds it difficult to work as a part of a team. She always seems to have major disagreements with team members which lead to antagonistic relations between them. Though she has moved from one team to another, her relations with colleagues always seem to be hostile and cold. How would the attribution theory describe this behavior?

high on consistency

The tendency to believe falsely, after an outcome of an event is actually known, that one would have accurately predicted that outcome is known as ________ bias.

hindsight

David Myers is of the opinion that people who drive SUVs are rash drivers. He feels that people driving SUVs do not respect road rules and always violate traffic regulations. What personal factor is most likely to be affecting Myers' perception of SUV drivers?

his expectations

Which of the following is a factor present in a perceiver which may affect perception?

interest

Phyllis Stintson needs to decide whether to start a campaign against deforestation in Indonesia. Though her research team has provided substantial information on the high feasibility of the project, Stintson does not go ahead with the project. If Stintson made her decision by drawing unconscious references from several different experiences in the past, her decision is most likely influenced by which of the following?

intuition

________ is an unconscious process created from distilled experience.

intuitive decision making

Megan Cardova, who works as a sales executive at Orbit Bank, has been failing to meet her sales targets for the last 10 months. Recently, she had a face-to-face discussion with her manager where she said that the unrealistic targets were the reason for her underperformance. The manager, however, noticed that all the other team members were achieving their targets and sometimes were even achieving more than the set numbers. Which of the following is Cardova's behavior most likely to be characterized as according to the attribution theory?

low consensus

According to the attribution theory, if a behavior scores ________, we tend to attribute it to external causes.

low on consistency

Samantha is never late for work, but last Monday she arrived an hour late because of heavy traffic. According to the attribution theory, Samantha's behavior on that day scores ________.

low on consistency

According to the attribution theory, if a behavior scores ________, we tend to attribute it to internal causes.

low on distinctiveness

Which of the following is a factor present in a target which may affect a person's perception?

novelty

Which of the following statements is true regarding perception?

our perception of reality can be different from the objective reality.

When two people witness something at the same time and in the same situation yet interpret it differently, factors that operate to shape their perceptions reside in the ________.

perceivers

________ is the process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment.

perception

A(n) ________ refers to a discrepancy between the current state of affairs and some desired state.

problem

Which of the following is a decision-making model that describes how individuals should behave in order to maximize some outcome?

rational decision-making model

Emily Boyce, a project manager at an insurance firm, regularly satisfices while making decisions. She often comes across complicated problems which would take a long time to resolve. Due to the pressing deadlines, she often meets project goals by satisficing a large number of her decisions. Which of the following is Boyce most likely to do?

search for solutions that are reasonable

With reference to decision making, which of the following does satisficing involve?

seeking solutions that are satisfactory and sufficient

Harriet Kirby, a fundraising manager at a women's rights organization, experienced a bad incident last year with the public relations manager of a banking company who had committed to sponsor a charity event. The bank backed out at the last minute. This year, when a renowned international bank executive showed interest in sponsoring the organization's upcoming annual event, Kirby rejected their participation. She felt that banks have a casual approach toward charity events and it is risky to involve them in the event. Which of the following best characterizes Kirby's decision?

selective perception

Individuals engage in ________ because it is impossible for them to assimilate everything they see and can take in only certain stimuli.

selective perception

You are more likely to notice a car like your own due to ________.

selective perception

Jane Allen, a campaign manager at a non-profit organization, often takes full credit for project successes even when her team members' contributions play a big role in achieving milestones. However, when projects receive setbacks, she blames her team members and sometimes states that the situation was beyond her control. Allen's behavior is an example of ________ bias.

self serving

________ bias indicates the tendency of an individual to attribute his or her own successes to internal factors while putting the blame for failures on external factors.

self serving

Sarah Covington, a sales manager at Synergy Corporation Bank, often keeps low expectations of her team. She feels that they are underqualified for their job and do not have substantial experience to sell a large number of accounts. Covington's team does not feel motivated enough and invariably underperforms and misses targets on a regular basis. Which of the following concepts best explains Covington's team's poor performance?

self-fulfilling prophecy

Which of the following terms refers to a situation in which a person inaccurately perceives another person and the resulting expectations cause the other person to behave in ways consistent with the original perception?

self-fulfilling prophecy

A manager believes that he should not hire older workers because they can't learn new skills. This belief is an example of ________.

stereotyping

Judging someone on the basis of one's perception of the group to which the person belongs is called ________.

stereotyping

Rose Buffay needs to give a presentation to the board of directors of her organization next week. She knows that her presentation will play an important role in her performance appraisal in the next quarter. However, she knows that two of her colleagues, John Roy and Keith Mathews, will also be giving a presentation on the same issue. She is nervous because she believes that men have a better flair for giving presentations. Buffay's perception of Roy and Mathews is most likely characterized by ________.

stereotyping

Which of the following is a shortcut used in judging others by making generalizations?

stereotyping

Which of the following is a factor present in a situation which may affect a person's perception?

time

13) People's behavior is based on their perception of what reality is, not on reality itself.

true

An individual's cultural background can influence the selection of problems, the depth of analysis, the importance placed on logic and rationality, and whether organizational decisions should be made autocratically by an individual manner or collectively in groups.

true

An organization's reward system influences decision makers by suggesting which choices have better personal payoffs.

true

Attribution theory tries to explain the ways in which we judge people differently, depending on the meaning we attribute to a given behavior.

true

Escalation of commitment refers to staying with a decision even when there is clear evidence it's wrong.

true

In an interview, information elicited early from an interviewee carries greater weight than information elicited later.

true

People are usually not aware of the factors that influence their view of reality.

true

Stereotyping helps individuals make quick decisions through generalizations.

true

Women are more likely than men to overanalyze problems before making a decision and to rehash a decision once made.

true

According to the concept of ________, decisions are made solely on the basis of their outcomes, ideally to provide the greatest good for the greatest number.

utilitarianism

Individuals who report unethical practices by their employer to outsiders are known as ________.

whistle blowers