Chapter 13

What is meant by competing style?

A management style involving a stance of high assertiveness with low cooperation

All groups are teams, but not all teams are groups.

False

Which of the following is the best way to manage virtual teams?

Focus on what is accomplished, not hours or locations.

You put together a foreign policy team made up of twelve Ivy-League Ph.D.s, who all went through the same Ph.D. program. They are the best and brightest. The foreign policy they develop is likely to show the effects of

Group think

Which of the following characteristics relates to cross-functional groups?

Groups that cut across the firm's hierarchy and are composed of people from different functional areas and possibly different levels

What name is given to the behaviors expected of a specific group member?

Roles

What term describes the process by which an individual learns the norms, values, goals, and expectations of the organization?

Socialization

What are pivotal norms?

Standards that are critical for group success

Which of the following characteristics relates to the norming stage?

The stage when conflicts are largely resolved and harmony ensues

The behaviors expected of a specific person in the group are referred to as

a role

When a group member engages in behaviors oriented toward generating information and resolving problems, he or she is playing

a task specialist role

What term describes groups created by the organization that generally have their own formal structure?

formal groupds

A problem that emerges in larger groups is a tendency for some members to do less than their share and rely instead on other members. This problem is known as

free-riding

A useful way to look at the performance of any work group is the extent to which it

functions like a team

Pam sat through the meeting feeling convinced her team was misinterpreting recent marketing research, but she didn't say anything. The team leader was a close friend. Plus, she didn't want to disrupt the team since she thought she was the only one with reservations. Pam's team appears to be experiencing

groupthink.

All of the following are normally consistent with the role of group facilitator EXCEPT

leading the group to higher levels of role acceptance.

In general, research has shown that the relationship between overall productivity and group cohesiveness is

positive

In understanding how roles in groups are derived, the people, such as bosses and customers, who send messages to others about what they expect are called

role senders

Vanita points out during the meeting that the group has fallen a half hour behind schedule according to the agenda, and should get back to the important work at hand. Vanita is performing a ______ role.

task

Which of the following refers to a temporary group of employees responsible for bringing about a particular change?

task force

Which of the following refers to a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, set of performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable?

team

In general, the more heterogeneous the members of a group are,

the better the group will be able to solve problems.

The defining characteristic of a self-directed work team is

the extent to which it is empowered by management.

A team that consists of members who interact by computer network to collaborate on projects is called a(n)

virtual team

What term describes group behaviors involving interaction with members in other units of the organization or outside the organization?

Boundary-spanning roles

What name is given to the tendency of group members to unite in their pursuit of group goals and to be attracted to the group and each other?

Cohesiveness

A dean's comment to a faculty member that he stopped by during office hours and did not find the faculty member there might be enough to enforce a norm that professors are expected to honor office hours and is an example of how a critical event in a group's history can develop norms.

False

Free-riding tends to increase as group size decreases.

False

The widespread practice of using email to communicate has decreased the potential for conflicts arising from poor communication or misunderstandings.

False

What term describes the tendency of some individuals to perform at less than their optimum in groups, relying instead on others to carry their share of the workload?

Free riding

Andrea led a team that has just finished up a very challenging research project that will assist management in developing long range plans. Despite the stress of the past few months, a few people now seem sad it's over. Now Andrea should

Have an awards ceremony

Which of the following characteristics distinguishes a team from the traditional definition of a group?

It has a common purpose and goals and holds itself mutually accountable.

Which of the following characteristics relates to facilitators?

Leaders who help the group overcome internal obstacles or difficulties so that it may achieve desired outcomes

What are prescriptions for appropriate behavior of group members that help reduce the disruption and chaos that would ensue if group members didn't know how to act?

Norms

What is meant by negotiation?

Occurs when two or more parties discuss a problem with the intent to resolve differences and come up with a solution

Which of the following refers to the stage in which members have reached a level of maturity that facilitates total task involvement?

Performing stage

What name is given to groups similar to task forces, but usually responsible for running an operation and in control of a specific work project?

Project teams

Which of the following refers to an intact group of employees who are responsible for a whole work process or segment that delivers a good or service to an internal or external customer?

Self-directed work team (SDWT)

In which of the following conditions should constructive conflict be stimulated?

The group seems to be apathetic.

Which of the following is NOT an important reason that self-directed work teams are given special attention in Chapter 13?

They produce a more congenial and happy group of employees who like their employer.

Nordstrom's department store chain emphasizes the great lengths to which it goes in customer service, an example of which of these reasons to enforce norms?

To emphasize the group's important values

A special case of groupthink is known as the Amarillo Paradox, where the group agrees publicly on a course of action it really doesn't want.

True

When a group has high cohesiveness, synergy can sometimes develop, which means that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

True

Which of the following characteristics relates to group?

Two or more individuals who communicate with one another, share a collective identity, and have a common goal

Hannah is on a team with Carson, and they are often in conflict. Hannah likes to begin her work with careful planning and she gets started immediately. Carson, on the other hand, likes trying out several ideas, and tends to be working frantically at the last minute. Their team conflict most likely stems from

a personality clash.

Megan came to her boss with a proposal for a new Minolta copier. Daniel tells her that he has always used and liked Xerox copiers, but when he thinks about it later he realizes he does not feel really strongly about it. Daniel should adopt a(n) ______ conflict-handling style.

accommodating

Which of the following refers to a style exhibiting low assertiveness and high cooperation?

accommodating style

As a group disbands, with its task complete, it goes through the state of

adjourning

Self-managed teams are groups of workers who have been given ______ for their task domains.

administrative oversight

During the forming stage, the leader should

allow people to socialize

Teams can flounder in organizations for months or even years without realizing that change is required if there is lack of

appropriate feedback.

The factor(s) that influence the effectiveness of work groups most directly

are found within the group or team, including its structure and process.

All of the following are important reasons why groups enforce group norms EXCEPT

avoid having to express core or central values.

Which of the following refers to adherence to the group's norms, values, and goals?

conformity

The current or modern view is that conflict in groups is

d) inevitable and often desirable.

You tell your Wobbly Widget work team that you are giving them complete authority, including control over their budget, to develop a new high-tech Wobbly Widget. You have

empowered them fully.

A group that is created to do something productive for the organization and is headed by a leader is called a(n)

formal group

When a group has its members drawn from several vertical levels of the organization's hierarchy, it is called

functional

In a general sense, teams tend to have and use knowledge than individuals do, and when working together, they create a number of approaches to problems than individuals do.

greater; greater

Which of the following is a disadvantage of larger groups?

less commitment

The most challenging and difficult group for the manager and the organization is the group with

low performance norms and high cohesiveness.

You tell the members of the Wobbly Widget work team, whom you have given both the authority and responsibility to develop a new high- tech Wobbly Widget, that they are the best task force in this whole company. You have

misnamed them

Your work team has been meeting for six months, and 90 percent of your time is now spent working on your eggbeater project. There is almost no conflict or dissent. Your group is

performing

A norm that some people accept, like going out for a beer after work, but that is not important to organizational success is called

peripheral

Cultural differences are important in determining levels of norms. In Japan, for example, after-work schmoozing is often

pivotal

Another endemic problem in groups, which involves maneuvering by members to gain reward or resource advantages, is the process of

politics

You create a self-directed work team with 30 members at your player-piano plant on the theory that the more the merrier and communication is power. You expect the team to be highly productive. The most likely result is

poor communication and low productivity.

When a group of employees is put together and is made responsible for a whole work process, designed to give them a feeling of ownership of a whole job, it is called a

self directed work team

The most common form of quality assurance team in American industry is the quality circle (QC).

true

The psychological or emotional phenomenon that underlies the entire concept of empowerment and self-directed work teams is

trust