OB 6301 Chapters 6,7,8,9 Study Guide

Which of the following is an observation from organizational behavior that contradicts the rational decision-making process assumptions?

Decision makers have limited information processing abilities.

Which of the following is a rule for design thinking?

Design thinking is human-centered.

Which of the following work environment factors would support self-leadership?

Employees have some degree of autonomy.

Which of the following should a sender do to make it easier to get the message across?

Focus on the problem, not the person

Nonverbal communication differs from verbal communication in which of the following ways?

Nonverbal communication is less rule-bound.

________ provides one explanation of why people belong to informal groups.

Social identity theory

________ is the phenomenon that occurs when people exert less effort when working in groups than when working alone.

Social loafing

electronic brainstorming

a form of brainstorming that relies on networked digital devices for submitting and sharing creative ideas

role

a set of behaviors that people are expected to repeatedly perform because they hold formal or informal positions in a team and organization

scenario planning

a systematic process of thinking about alternative futures and what the organization should do to anticipate and react to those environments

Gainsharing Plan

a team-based reward that calculates bonuses from the work unit's cost savings and productivity improvement

cognitive dissonance

an emotional experience caused by a perception that our beliefs, feelings, and behavior are incongruent with one another

social media

digital communication channels that enable people to collaborate in the creation and exchange of user-generated content

Research suggests that effective open-space design balances the trade-off between

increased distractions and social interaction.

information overload

information overload

Which of the following are two features that distinguish remote teams from conventional teams?

lack of co-location and dependence on information technology

Active listeners improve their evaluating activities by

organizing the information provided.

Brooks's law

the principle that adding more people to a late software project only makes it later

Studies have shown that performance-based rewards

will motivate most employees but only under the right conditions.

What is psychological safety?

The feeling that one can engage in interpersonal risk-taking without adverse consequences.

Which of the following happens immediately after the receiver receives the encoded message in the communication process model?

The receiver decodes the received message.

availability heuristic

a natural tendency to assign higher probabilities to objects or events that are easier to recall from memory, even though ease of recall is also affected by nonprobability factors (e.g., emotional response, recent events)

What is the relationship between team efficacy and team performance?

an inverted U-shaped curve

People in countries with ________ tend to have a high respect and priority for money.

high power distance

The rational decision-making model begins with

identifying an opportunity.

evaluation apprehension

occurs when individuals are reluctant to mention ideas that seem silly because they believe (often correctly) that others in the decision-making group are silently evaluating them

Which of the following would be favorable for team cohesion?

restricted entry to the team

If a manager wanted employees to collaborate in creating and exchanging information, which of the following would be best suited for that purpose?

social media

intuition

the ability to know when a problem or opportunity exists and to select the best course of action without conscious reasoning

In the communication process, filtering occurs when

a manager delays giving negative feedback to an employee.

Which of the following drives is fulfilled by communication?

drive to bond

Employees at CyberTech perform repetitive jobs that have resulted in boredom as well as repetitive strain injury. Technology makes it difficult to combine existing jobs, but the company wants to make employees more multiskilled. Which of the following would best help CyberTech to improve this situation?

Introduce job rotation.

Which of the following statements is correct regarding digital written communications?

They are poor for communicating emotions.

Which of the following is supported by research on gender differences in communication?

Women are more sensitive to nonverbal cues in face-face conversation.

media richness

a communication channel's data-carrying capacity—that is, the volume and variety of information that can be transmitted during a specific time

management by wandering around (MBWA)

a communication practice in which executives get out of their offices and learn from others in the organization through face-to-face dialogue

You have made an important presentation to several Japanese executives regarding a proposed partnership between your American company and their Japanese firm. The Japanese executives were very silent during the presentation. Most people in the United States would view this silence as

a disagreement with your proposal.

brainstorming

a freewheeling, face-to-face meeting where team members aren't allowed to criticize but are encouraged to speak freely, generate as many ideas as possible, and build on the ideas of others

job characteristics model

a job design model that relates the motivational properties of jobs to specific personal and organizational consequences of those properties

Dictionaries of symbols, language, gestures and other communication tools are called

codebooks

Decision structure, risk of conflict, and decision commitment are the

contingencies of employee involvement.

In the creative process, which of the following refers to the experience of suddenly becoming aware of a unique idea?

illumination

Team rewards are better than individual rewards when employees work in highly interdependent jobs because

it is difficult to measure individual performance in these situations.

________ is the process of assigning tasks to a job.

job design

mental models

knowledge structures that we develop to describe, explain, and predict the world around us

Which of the following psychological empowerment dimensions is possessed by employees when they care about their work and believe that what they do is important?

meaning

One consideration in channel selection is ________, the capacity of the channel to carry a volume and variety of data.

media richness

Which of the following would hinder the success of remote teams?

members who use one preferred communication channel

Establishing a preset level at which the decision is abandoned or reevaluated is recommended mainly to

minimize escalation of commitment.

Which of the following involves systematically examining combinations of characteristics of a product, service, or event, and then looking at the feasibility of each combination?

morphological analysis

Which type of decision typically requires the decision maker to go through all six steps in the rational decision-making model?

nonprogrammed

During the ________ stage, the team develops its first real sense of cohesion as roles are established and a consensus forms around group objectives and a common or complementary team-based mental model.

norming

Item 5 For rewards to be relevant, they should be tied to

performance within the employee's control.

trust

positive expectations one person has toward another person in situations involving risk

divergent thinking

reframing a problem in a unique way and generating different approaches to the issue

When a person makes a decision without conscious reasoning, they are

relying on intuition.

Which of the following are included under constructive thought strategies in self-leadership?

self-talk and mental imagery

social networks

social structures of individuals or social units that are connected to one another through one or more forms of interdependence

self-leadership

specific cognitive and behavioral strategies to achieve personal goals and standards through self-direction and self-motivation

One strategy to support psychological empowerment is to enhance ________, which refers to changing the workplace conditions or environment.

structural empowerment

Synchronous communication channels convey a greater sense of urgency than do text messages and other asynchronous channels due to their

symbolic meaning

job evaluation

systematically rating the worth of jobs within an organization by measuring the required skill, effort, responsibility, and working conditions

In the team effectiveness model, which of the following are the two overall team components that directly impact team effectiveness?

team design and team processes

social presence

the extent to which a communication channel creates psychological closeness to others, awareness of their humanness, and appreciation of the interpersonal relationship

skill variety

the extent to which employees must use different skills and talents to perform tasks within their jobs

task interdependence

the extent to which team members must share materials, information, or expertise in order to perform their jobs

synchronicity

the extent to which the channel requires or allows both sender and receiver to be actively involved in the conversation at the same time (synchronous) or at different times (asynchronous)

norms

the informal rules and shared expectations that groups establish to regulate the behavior of their members

job specialization

the result of a division of labor, in which work is subdivided into separate jobs assigned to different people

escalation of commitment

the tendency to repeat an apparently bad decision or allocate more resources to a failing course of action

persuasion

the use of facts, logical arguments, and emotional appeals to change another person's beliefs and attitudes, usually for the purpose of changing the person's behavior

Active listeners constantly cycle through

sensing, evaluating, and responding.

Which of the following types of task interdependence exists among production employees working on assembly lines?

sequential interdependence

job enrichment

the practice of giving employees more responsibility for scheduling, coordinating, and planning their own work

job enlargement

the practice of increasing the number and variety of related tasks assigned to a job

scientific management

the practice of systematically partitioning work into its smallest elements and standardizing tasks to achieve maximum efficiency

A higher level of employee involvement is preferable when

the problem relates to a nonprogrammed decision.

social loafing

the problem that occurs when people exert less effort (and usually perform at a lower level) when working in teams than when working alone

communication

the process by which information is transmitted and understood between two or more people

mental imagery

the process of mentally practicing a task and visualizing its successful completion

self-talk

the process of talking to ourselves about our own thoughts or actions

confirmation bias

the processing of screening out information that is contrary to our values and assumptions, and to more readily accept confirming information

bounded rationality

the view that people are bounded in their decision-making capabilities, including access to limited information, limited information processing, and tendency toward satisficing rather than maximizing when making choices

anchoring and adjustment heuristic

a natural tendency for people to be influenced by an initial anchor point such that they do not sufficiently move away from that point as new information is provided

representativeness heuristic

a natural tendency to evaluate probabilities of events or objects by the degree to which they resemble (are representative of) other events or objects rather than on objective probability information

Which of the following statements regarding the grapevine is correct?

It is an important conduit for organizational stories and cultural symbols.

Which of the following is true of employee involvement in decision making?

It is a critical practice in organizational change.

What is process loss?

Resources (including time and energy) expended on team development and maintenance rather than on performing the task.

Which of the following statements regarding social presence is correct?

Social presence is more important when the purpose of the communication is to understand and empathize.

During a meeting, senior executives of a consumer products company were addressing the problem of being late in detecting several consumer trends, such as the trend toward using see-through plastics in kitchenware. While trying to determine the source of this problem, one executive said: "The main problem here is that we need to find a better industrial design firm to design our products." Which of the following best describes the decision-making problem that this executive is exhibiting?

The executive is defining the problem in terms of a solution.

Which of the following does scientific management include?

Systematically dividing a job into its smallest possible elements and assigning these divided tasks to employees who are best qualified to perform them.

________ is the degree to which a job requires completion of a whole or identifiable piece of work, such as assembling an entire broadband modem rather than just soldering in the circuitry.

Task identity

design thinking

a human-centered, solution-focused creative process that applies both intuition and analytical thinking to clarify problems and generate innovative solutions

psychological empowerment

a perceptual and emotional state in which people experience more self-determination, meaning, competence, and impact regarding their role in the organization

self-enhancement

a person's inherent motivation to have a positive self-concept (and to have others perceive him or her favorably), such as being competent, attractive, lucky, ethical, and important

Management by walking around refers to

a practice in which executives get out of their offices and learn from others in the organization through face-to-face dialogue.

implicit favorite

a preferred alternative that the decision maker uses repeatedly as a comparison with other choices

Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP)

a reward system that encourages employees to buy company stock

stock options

a reward system that gives employees the right to purchase company stock at a future date at a predetermined price

profit-sharing plan

a reward system that pays bonuses to employees on the basis of the previous year's level of corporate profits

learning orientation

a set of beliefs and norms in which people are encouraged to question past practices, learn new ideas, experiment putting ideas into practice, and view mistakes as part of the learning process

psychological safety

a shared belief that it is safe to engage in interpersonal risk-taking; specifically, that presenting unusual ideas, constructively disagreeing with the majority, and experimenting with new work behaviors will not result in coworkers posing a threat to their self-concept, status, or career

production blocking

a time constraint in team decision making due to the procedural requirement that only one person may speak at a time

brainwriting

a variation of brainstorming whereby participants write (rather than speak about) and share their ideas

nominal group technique

a variation of brainwriting consisting of three stages in which participants (1) silently and independently document their ideas, (2) collectively describe these ideas to the other team members without critique, and then (3) silently and independently evaluate the ideas presented

prospect theory

an innate tendency to feel stronger negative emotion from losing a particular amount than positive emotion from gaining an equal amount

grapevine

an unstructured and informal communication network founded on social relationships rather than organizational charts or job descriptions

Which core job characteristic(s) affect(s) experienced responsibility for work outcomes?

autonomy

Which of the following motivates employees to continuously learn skills that will keep them employed?

competency-based rewards

Which of the five Cs concerns aligning the work with others and keeping the team on track?

coordinating

Glossary self-directed teams (SDTs)

cross-functional work groups that are organized around work processes, complete an entire piece of work requiring several interdependent tasks, and have substantial autonomy over the execution of those tasks

If a dysfunctional norm is very deeply ingrained in a team and solutions have not worked, the best strategy is probably to

disband the group and replace it with people having more favorable norms.

One issue with membership and seniority-based rewards is that they

do not directly motivate job performance.

Empowerment includes all of the following characteristics except

effort

Evidence shows that people listen to their emotions for guidance when evaluating alternatives. This process is called the ________ effect.

emotions as information

One disadvantage of job specialization is that

employees often do not see where their job fits in the overall production output.

The rational decision-making model ends with

evaluating the selected choice.

teams

groups of two or more people who interact with and influence each other, are mutually accountable for achieving common goals associated with organizational objectives, and perceive themselves as a social entity within an organization

Self-directed teams

have substantial autonomy over the execution of a complete task.

Brainstorming requires team members to

provide as many ideas as possible.

process losses

resources (including time and energy) expended toward team development and maintenance rather than the task

Rather than maximizing their decision choice, most people ________, meaning they choose a solution that is "good enough."

satisfice

satisficing

selecting an alternative that is satisfactory or "good enough," rather than the alternative with the highest value (maximization)

Catrina decided to do a more enjoyable task after completing a task that she disliked. This instance is an example of

self-reinforcement.

team efficacy

the collective belief among team members in the team's capability to successfully complete a task

decision making

the conscious process of making choices among alternatives with the intention of moving toward some desired state of affairs

team cohesion

the degree of attraction people feel toward the team and their motivation to remain members

task significance

the degree to which a job has a substantial impact on the organization and/or larger society

task identity

the degree to which a job requires completion of a whole or an identifiable piece of work

creativity

the development of original ideas that make a socially recognized contribution

human capital

the knowledge, skills, abilities, creative thinking, and other valued resources that employees bring to the organization

emotional contagion

the nonconscious process of "catching" or sharing another person's emotions by mimicking that person's facial expressions and other nonverbal behavior