Organizational Behavior - Chapter 9

Kareem says something to Sue. Which of the following will have the greatest impact on Sue's interpretation of what Kareem says?

Kareem's body language

Kareem says something to Sue. Which of the following will have the LEAST impact on Sue's interpretation of what Kareem says?

Kareem's choice of words

What is the best way for an employee to deal with grapevines?

Listen to them but take care to confirm their assertions.

Gustav is teaching an online class when his cat knocks his microphone off the desk, breaking it and preventing anyone in the class from hearing what Gustav is saying. Gustav's cat created which type of noise in Gustav's communication?

Loss of transmission

What is the best way for professionals to use social media such as Facebook and Instagram?

Make posts that illustrate your professional accomplishments.

_____ is a face-to-face management technique in which managers get out of their offices and spend time talking informally to employees throughout the organization.

Management by wandering around

Which of the following is not a recommended suggestion for making an effective presentation?

Maximize the use of notecards.

_____ is the set of relationships among people connected through friendship, family, work, or other ties.

A social network

Regina and three of her friends begin collaboration on a fantasy novel. One of the friends lives in a different country. Regina would like something that lets her and her friends create documents and view, comment on, and edit each other's documents. If anyone messes something up or a formerly discarded idea turns out to be viable, Regina wants to be able to revert any document to a previous state at any time. Which of the following would best suit Regina's needs?

A wiki

Which of the following is NOT a good suggestion for conducting an effective presentation?

Avoid distracting the audience with gestures.

What is the best way for a manager to deal with grapevines?

Be aware of office gossip to stay informed, but neutralize rumors with honest communication.

Which of the following is a good suggestion for conducting an effective presentation?

Bluntly tell the audience when you're making an important point.

Which of the following situations illustrates a poor grasp of meeting skills?

Bob composes a meeting agenda an hour before the meeting and passes it out to everyone right as the meeting begins.

Which of the following situations illustrates a good grasp of meeting skills?

Bob realizes that the meeting he has scheduled doesn't have a good purpose, so an hour before the meeting he cancels it.

Penny asks Seymour how he's doing. Seymour says, "I'm fine" in a level tone of voice. Penny sees his shoulders stiffen and a wince pass across his face before he answers, so she concludes that Seymour is not in fact fine. This example illustrates the importance of which of the following concepts?

Body language

If we say, "Gary JUST entered the restaurant," the meaning is different than if we say, "Gary just entered the RESTAURANT," even though both statements have the same words in the same order. This illustrates the importance of which of the following concepts?

Vocal intonation

Which of the following is a true statement about active listening?

Feedback that you are listening can be either verbal or nonverbal.

Which of the following is NOT a recommended suggestion for running an effective meeting?

Hand out the agenda for the first time at the start of the meeting.

Which of the following is a true statement about good writing?

It's okay to sometimes use pictures or other graphical aids to illustrate your points.

Which of the following tips would NOT help someone to make a good first impression at a job interview?

Use only verbal communication to express yourself.

Other than face-to-face, which communication medium allows for the richest communication?

Videoconferencing

Which of the following is a component of active listening?

While the speaker is talking, attempt to make logical connections between the speaker's statements.

Can an intranet be connected to the Internet?

Yes, by setting up a firewall and giving outsiders company-issued passwords.

Alistair works in a cubicle farm that is also used by employees of several companies other than the one he works for. This is an example of:

a neighborhood work center

While tutoring his daughter Monica for the SAT, Greg explains that a certain problem can be solved by taking the factorial of 6. However, Monica doesn't know what a factorial is, so she doesn't understand Greg's explanation. Monica's confusion most directly illustrates which type of noise in communication?

jargon

Email and instant messaging offer similar media richness except that email offers:

less feedback availability.

Anna asks Patrick whether he enjoyed a movie they just watched. Patrick says, truthfully, "It was one of the greatest movies I have ever seen." Patrick is not prone to superlative statements, has a naturally sarcastic sounding voice, and speaks in a deadpan, so Anna thinks that Patrick hated the movie. Her interpretation of Patrick's response most clearly illustrates which barrier to communication?

misperception

What term refers to work completed by traveling employees who use technology to communicate with the office as necessary from places such as client offices, airports, cars, and hotels?

mobile work

Which type of interdependence creates the LEAST potential for conflict?

pooled interdependence

A(n) _____ is similar to an intranet but tends to be more project-focused.

portal

Dennis is a project manager for a publishing company. He needs something that will allow him to manage schedules, track progress, and quickly disseminate documents and status updates to his team members. For these needs, Dennis would most directly benefit from a(n):

portal

An information _____ occurs when someone receives information after requesting it.

pull

An information _____ occurs when someone receives information without requesting it.

push

Which type of interdependence creates the highest potential for conflict?

reciprocal interdependence

Employees checking their cell phones and whispering to each other during a meeting are causing which type of communication noise?

Competition

In much of the world, the thumb up sign means "O.K." But in Nigeria, Afghanistan, Iran, and parts of Italy and Greece, it is an obscene insult and carries the same meaning as the middle finger in the United States. This is an example of which type of communication barrier?

Cultural

Which of the following is a true statement about email communications?

Email etiquette falls somewhere in between that of a phone call and that of a letter.

Anna asks Patrick if he's had a chance to do the dishes yet. Patrick says, "I didn't get to that," but he swallows some of his words, so Anna thinks he said, "I didn't get a hat." Anna is confused because she doesn't know why Patrick didn't get a hat or what that has to do with the dishes. Her interpretation of Patrick's response most clearly illustrates which barrier to communication?

Noise

Email is appropriate for sending which of the following?

Questions that warrant a reply by the end of the same day

Jory is convinced that Dara is a bad writer. When he reads an essay of Dara's that is actually quite good, Jory actively looks for minor flaws to nitpick and comes away with the impression that the essay is bad. Jory's interpretation of Dara's essay most clearly illustrates which barrier to communication?

Selective perception

Which of the following is a recommended suggestion for running an effective job interview meeting?

Taking the first two minutes to establish rapport and take control of the interview

Priya used to have to drive one hour to work and back every day. Because many employees lived in Priya's city, the company opened a new cubicle farm there to help cut back everyone's commute. This is an example of:

a satellite office

Becoming actively involved in the process of listening to what others are saying and clarifying the meaning of messages if they are unclear is known as:

active listening

Peter asks his boss how often to submit a TPR report. His boss replies that she would like to see the report bi-weekly. Later, Peter realizes that "bi-weekly" can mean either "twice a week" or "once every two weeks," which means he still doesn't know how often to submit the TPR report. Peter's confusion most directly illustrates which type of noise in communication?

ambiguity

Each of the following is a component of active listening EXCEPT:

asking rhetorical questions.

Ciara, a customer service representative, feels that she is being mistreated by her manager. She's afraid to talk to her manager's manager because she thinks that he will take her manager's side, so she reaches out directly to the head of the human resources department to express her concerns. This engages Ciara in _____ communication.

diagonal

_____ communication occurs when higher-level employees communicate with those at lower levels from a different department.

diagonal

_____ communication occurs when lower-level employees communicate with those at higher levels from a different department.

diagonal

Duncan, a regional director, suspects that his subordinate Beth, an area manager, is mistreating her subordinates. He directly contacts one of her subordinates, Anh-Chi, to find out what is going on. This engages Duncan in _____ communication.

downward

_____ communication occurs when higher-level employees communicate with those at lower levels in the same department.

downward

The _____ medium is the "richest" medium because it has the capacity for immediate feedback, carries multiple cues, and uses natural language.

face-to-face

With _____ less than the full amount of information is received due to withholding, ignoring, or distorting information.

filtering

_____ communications are official and organization-sanctioned.

formal

Relationships with bosses and coworkers comprise the _____ that contribute to a social network.

formal ties

Videoconferencing is _____ in feedback availability and _____ in language variety.

high, high

People in _____ cultures rely less on words to convey meaning than people in _____ cultures do.

high-context; low-context

Ever since he found out he has cancer, Alex, a computer programmer, has been allowed to work from home three days out of five each week. This is an example of:

home-based telecommuting.

Vinesh, a technical writer, has to document the features of an upgrade to a piece of software. One of the features confuses him, so he sends an instant message to Sarah, one of the programmers who worked on the upgrade, to ask her several questions about the feature. This engages Vinesh in _____ communication.

horizontal

_____ communication occurs when employees at the same level of the organizational hierarchy communicate with each other.

horizontal

Research shows that with respect to meetings, the factor that employees care about the most is:

how the meeting time is spent.

A grapevine is a form of:

informal communication.

Relationships based on friendship and choice comprise the _____ that contribute to a social network.

informal ties

When the amount of information available exceeds our ability to process it, we experience:

information overload.

Which of the following communication media provides the fastest feedback?

instant messaging

A(n) _____ is a website stored on a computer that is connected to other company computers by an internal network.

intranet

Shelby asks Sebastian to take out the trash. Sebastian says, "I'll do it right away," then goes back to watching a YouTube video. To Shelby, "right away" means "at this very instant," so she gets angry and accuses Sebastian of lying. Sebastian does not think he lied, because to him, "right away" meant "right after this video that I'm watching is over." The argument between Shelby and Sebastian most directly illustrates which type of noise in communication?

semantics

Each of the following is a good email practice EXCEPT:

sending one message per distinct thought.

A team of teachers work together to create a video lesson for a math class. Hubert will make a video of himself teaching the lesson, but before he can do that, Nora needs to write the script and Celia needs to review the script and sign off on it. Mukesh is the team's video editor, but he has nothing to do until Hubert sends him a completed video. This scenario illustrates:

sequential interdependence.

Which of the following communication media allows the expression of emotions and other social cues to the greatest degree?

telephone

William thinks he's being treated unfairly by his manager, so he goes over his manager's head and talks to his manager's manager. This engages William in _____ communication.

upward

_____ communication occurs when lower-level employees communicate with those at higher levels in the same department.

upward

A(n) _____ is a live or prerecorded video segment played over a company's intranet and archived for employees to view later.

webcast

A _____ is a searchable, archivable website that allows people to comment on and edit one another's work in real time.

wiki

Which of the following is NOT a good suggestion for improving one's writing skills?

write in the passive voice

Which of the following is NOT a good suggestion for improving one's writing skills?

write to impress