WGU Organizational Behavior C 715 Quiz questions

Fiedler's contingency leadership model assumes that ________. A) an individual's leadership style largely remains constant B) an individual is constantly striving to develop a more productive style C) an individual's leadership is primarily determined by the features of the followers D) an individual's leadership style can be altered much like his or her personality traits

A) an individual's leadership style largely remains constant

Treating co-workers with respect, making constructive suggestions, and saying positive things about the workplace are a part of the ________ behavior that constitutes performance at work. A) citizenship B) counterproductivity C) social loafing D) task performance

A) citizenship

E works as a sales manager at a telecom firm. The company has recently launched a new product in the market. E will work in the next few weeks to share knowledge about the product with team members. E will also need to inspire them to reach their sales targets and clarify any doubts about the new product. Which of the following roles is E playing? A) leader B) liaison C) disseminator D) spokesperson

A) leader

A transactional leader is likely to ________. A) reward employees for the work that they have done, thus recognizing accomplishments B) help followers trust the leader and develop a loyalty toward the common vision C) stimulate others in the organization to become thinkers of what the organization is all about D) pay attention to the emotional needs of others and consider individual differences

A) reward employees for the work that they have done, thus recognizing accomplishments

Which of the following is the least predictive set of criteria used to evaluate employees? A) traits B) task outcomes C) behaviors D) personality

A) traits

Which of the following best defines organizational behavior? A) It involves the study of groups of people coming together for collective bargaining. B) It involves the study of what people do in a company and how it affects the company's output. C) It involves analyzing different people in an industry with independent profit-centered motives. D) It involves developing exclusively the knowledge of managers and senior-level employees.

B) It involves the study of what people do in a company and how it affects the company's output.

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 B's leader.

C) If A has the capacity to influence the behavior of B, then A is said to have power over B.

Performance evaluations are used to ________. A) improve group cohesiveness B) define departmental structure C) help management make HR decisions D) identify how jobs are completed

C) help management make HR decisions

Studies demonstrate that ________ conflicts are almost always ________. A) relationship; functional B) task; informal C) relationship; dysfunctional D) process; formal

C) relationship; dysfunctional

Which of the following conflict management techniques involves designating a critic to purposely argue against the majority positions held by the group? A) altering the structural variables B) altering the human variable C) exercising authoritative command D) appointing a devil's advocate

D) appointing a devil's advocate

1) Power is a function of ________. A) goal congruency B) realization C) inheritance D) dependence

D) dependence

________ bias refers to the tendency for people to base their judgments on information that is easily accessible. a) Availability b) Overconfidence c) Confirmation d) Hindsight

a) Availability

Which of the following statements is true regarding size of teams? a) When teams have excess members, cohesiveness declines. b) As team size increases, social loafing decreases. c) When teams have excess members, mutual accountability increases. d) Members of large teams coordinate work better when pressed for time.

a) When teams have excess members, cohesiveness declines.

Reactive and protective behaviors designed to avoid action, blame, or change are termed ________. a) defensive behaviors b) submissive behaviors c) impression management behaviors d) proactive behaviors

a) defensive behaviors

Top management has a major impact on the organization's culture by ________. a) establishing norms that filter down through the organization b) ensuring a proper match of personal and organizational values c) socializing new applicants in the pre-hiring phase d) properly rewarding employees' initiatives

a) establishing norms that filter down through the organization

The ability to understand, communicate with, motivate, and support other people, both individually and in groups, may be defined as ________. a) human skills b) groupthink c) authoritarianism d) technical skills

a) human skills

According to Fred Luthans and his associates' study of 450 managers, ________ made the largest contribution to the success of managers in terms of speed of promotion within their organization. a) networking b) decision making c) controlling d) staffing

a) networking

Stage II of the conflict process deals with the conflict being ________. a) perceived and felt b) apparent and experienced c) expressed and resolved d) analyzed

a) perceived and felt

Which of the following is an instrumental value? a) personal discipline b) social recognition c) economic success d) world peace

a) personal discipline

Which level of Maslow's hierarchy of needs deals with satisfying one's hunger, thirst, and other bodily needs? a) physiological b) social c) esteem d) psychological

a) physiological

"A" is devout and very active in a church. "A" is also a very dedicated employee. "A's" manager offers "A" a promotion, but the new role will require work on Sundays. "A" would like the promotion but realizes that it would require missing some church activities. In this situation, A is most likely to experience ________. a) role conflict b) social loafing c) groupthink d) role fuzziness

a) role conflict

B is new at W Corp., but after a week B already knows that the founder of the corporation started the business in a garage with only $4,000 and one client. This information was most likely transmitted to B by way of ________. a) stories b) material symbols c) rituals d) organizational charts

a) stories

Culture is most likely to be a liability when ________. a) the organization's environment is dynamic b) the organization's management is highly efficient c) the organization is highly centralized d) the organization scores low on the degree of formalization

a) the organization's environment is dynamic

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. a) utilitarianism b) selective perception c) self-fulfilling prophecy d) contrast effect

a) utilitarianism

The approach to evaluation that uses feedback from those who have daily contact with an employee (everyone from mailroom personnel to customers to bosses to peers) is termed ________. a) critical incidents b) 360-degree evaluation c) multi-person comparisons d) downward evaluation

b) 360-degree evaluation

Which of the following does the heredity approach state? a) An individual's personality is determined by the social background one is brought up in. b) An individual's personality is determined by molecular structure of the genes. c) An individual's personality is influenced by the economic settings one is surrounded by. d) A person's personality traits are created by the company one keeps i.e., friends and family.

b) An individual's personality is determined by molecular structure of the genes.

"A's" cubicle neighbor "B", though an understanding and great co-worker, talks loudly on the phone. "A" gets annoyed every time "B's" phone rings but has decided it's simply not worth the trouble to talk about it. "A's" conflict-handling intention is called ________. a) competing b) avoiding c) accommodating d) compromising

b) avoiding

A process of making decisions by constructing simplified models that extract the essential features from problems without capturing all their complexity is known as ________. a) rational decision making b) bounded rationality c) active selection d) incremental decision making

b) bounded rationality

A strong culture should reduce employee turnover, because it results in ________. a) a highly centralized organization b) cohesiveness and organizational commitment c) a highly formalized organization d) an outcome-oriented organization

b) cohesiveness and organizational commitment

The concept of ________ can be applied to appraisals to increase the perception that employees are treated fairly. a) selective evaluation b) due process c) multiple raters d) selective retention

b) due process

Which of the following sources of increasing self-efficacy involves gaining relevant experience with a particular task or job? a) verbal persuasion b) enactive mastery c) vicarious modeling d) arousal

b) enactive mastery

Which of the following is most likely to increase team efficacy? a) providing vast and generic goals b) helping the team achieve small successes c) ensuring that team goals are substantially difficult d) reducing the number of members on a team drastically

b) helping the team achieve small successes

M is a friendly and warm manager who starts the day at work by personally greeting colleagues and subordinates. M is often seen listening sincerely to employees' concerns and problems. M takes the initiative to hold programs to renew and improve the skills of current employees. M is accessible for help and information at all times. M is___ a) achievement-oriented b) high in consideration c) high in structure d) task-oriented

b) high in consideration

Conflict is dysfunctional when it ________. a) provides a medium to release tension b) reduces group cohesiveness c) fosters an environment of self-evaluation d) provides a means for expressing frustration

b) reduces group cohesiveness

Which of the following is an example of internally caused behavior? a)An employee was late for a team meeting because of a heavy downpour. b)An employee was laid off because the company was attempting to cut costs by laying off employees. c) An employee was fired from work because they violated a company policy. d) An employee could not attend an interview because of a delayed flight.

c) An employee was fired from work because they violated a company policy.

________ is as important for managers as for front-line employees and, among all Big Five Model traits, is most consistently related to job performance. a) Extroversion b) Agreeableness c) Conscientiousness d) Emotional stability

c) Conscientiousness

Which of the following statements is true regarding perception? a) Perception of reality is independent of one's personality. b) Our perception of a target is not affected by the context of the situation in which the perception is made. c) Our perception of reality can be different from the objective reality. d) Our perception of reality is independent of our past experiences.

c) Our perception of reality can be different from the objective reality.

Which of the following is true of values? a) They are void of a judgmental element. b) They are invariably fluid and flexible in nature. c) They have content and intensity attributes. d) They never change irrespective of external factors.

c) They have content and intensity attributes.

Which of the following accurately differentiates between work groups and work teams? a) Work groups are used by top-management employees, while work teams are used by lower-level workers. b) Work groups involve members who have complementary skills, while work teams use employees who have random and varied skills. c) Work teams generate a potential for an organization to generate greater outputs with no increase in inputs, while work groups cannot perform this function. d) Work teams represent the mere accumulation of individual efforts, while work groups generate a positive synergy within the organization.

c) Work teams generate a potential for an organization to generate greater outputs with no increase in inputs, while work groups cannot perform this function.

Which of the following is an effective means of countering social loafing? a) increasing the rewards the group is given if it succeeds b) increasing the amount by which the group's progress is monitored c) ensuring that individual contributions to the group's outcome are identified d) increasing the size of the group

c) ensuring that individual contributions to the group's outcome are identified

Work should be performed by an individual if ________. a) the work is complex and requires different perspectives b) the work creates a common purpose or set of goals for the people in the group that is more than the aggregate of individual goals c) the work is simple and does not require diverse input d) several tasks that are interdependent are to be performed for completing the work

c) the work is simple and does not require diverse input

Which of the following statements is true regarding self-managed work teams? a) Self-managed work teams typically consist of forty to fifty employees. b) Members of self-managed work teams typically report lower job satisfaction. c) Self-managed work teams are typically composed of employees from different departments who work independent of each other. d) In the case of self-managed work teams, supervisory positions take on decreased importance.

d) In the case of self-managed work teams, supervisory positions take on decreased importance.

Which of the following is true with regard to leadership? a) It maximizes the importance of lateral and upward influence patterns. b) It eliminates the requirement of goal compatibility. c) It stimulates research in the area of tactics of influence. d) It focuses on downward influence on followers.

d) It focuses on downward influence on followers.

Which of the following statements is true regarding goal-setting theory? a) Goal commitment is more likely when individuals have an external locus of control. b) Goals that are easier to accomplish result in higher performance. c) Generalized goals produce a higher level of output as compared to specific goals. d) People do better when they get feedback on how well they are progressing toward their goals.

d) People do better when they get feedback on how well they are progressing toward their goals.

A high school teacher wants students to actively participate more in class. The teacher decides to use reinforcement theory to get the required results. Which of the following methods is most likely to be used? a) The teacher is going to call on students at random. b) The teacher is going to provide a model for what participation should look like c) The teacher is going to ask the students that always participate to allow the others to have a chance. d) The teacher is going to give students extra credit each time that they contribute.

d) The teacher is going to give students extra credit each time that they contribute.

Which of the following is true regarding formal groups? a) They are natural formations that arise in response to the need for social contact. b) They lack clearly defined structures and roles for their members. c) They have negligible impact on employee performance and behavior. d) They are marked by stipulated behaviors in pursuit of organizational goals.

d) They are marked by stipulated behaviors in pursuit of organizational goals.

Which of the following statements is true regarding the effect of group cohesiveness and performance norms on group productivity? a) The productivity of the group is affected by the performance norms but not by the cohesiveness of the group. b) If cohesiveness is high and performance norms are low, productivity will be high. c) If cohesiveness is low and performance norms are high, productivity will be low. d) When both cohesiveness and performance norms are high, productivity will be high.

d) When both cohesiveness and performance norms are high, productivity will be high.

Which theory of leadership proposes that followers attribute heroic or extraordinary leadership abilities when they observe certain behaviors? a) situational leadership theory b) path-goal leadership theory c) behavioral leadership theory d) charismatic leadership theory

d) charismatic leadership theory

Individuals scoring ________ have a strong ability to adjust behavior to external, situational factors and can behave differently in different situations. a) High in internal locus of control b) high on narcissism c) low on agreeableness d) high on self-monitoring

d) high on self-monitoring

JR, a campaign manager at a child rights organization, recently started working on an illiteracy project. During the project, JR needs to motivate team members to attain their project milestones and direct them through different phases of the project. Which of the following kinds of functions will these tasks be covered under? a) organizing b) scrutinizing c) evaluating d) leading

d) leading

When you start to accept the differences between your expectations and the reality of the organization, you move into the ________ stage of socialization. a) Pre-arrival b) post-arrival c) acceptance d) metamorphosis

d) metamorphosis

In equity theory, individuals assess the ________. a) cost-benefit ratio b) efficiency-effectiveness trade-off c) quantity-quality trade-off d) outcome-input ratio

d) outcome-input ratio

Which of the following steps can be taken by a manager so as to minimize groupthink? a) increasing the group size b) encouraging group leaders to develop a stronger sense of group identity c) asking the group members to first focus on the positives of an alternative rather than the negatives d) seeking input from employees before the group leader presents opinions

d) seeking input from employees before the group leader presents opinions

Dependence would be low when ________. a) the goods have very few suppliers b) the goods have low accessibility c) the goods in question are scarce d) the goods have substitutes

d) the goods have substitutes

The primary quality produced by authentic leadership is ________. a) efficiency b) reinforcement c) supervision d) trust

d) trust