OB chapter 1

A manager's ability to develop solutions to problems is determined by her

diagnostic skills.

If a company creates and maintains a culture that encourages employees to bring new ideas into the company, it is most likely to be using what strategy?

differentiation

A manager who can see how the various tasks within the organization fit together and how each task contributes toward the "big picture" has strong

conceptual skills.

An engineer who can solve complex mathematical equations on the job has strong

conceptual skills.

Evaluating performance and verifying inventory levels are examples of

controlling

Firms pursuing a __________ strategy strive to be the lowest cost producer in an industry for a particular level of product quality.

cost leadership

Organizational behavior focuses on

he human side of management.

Organizational behavior (OB) typically includes the study of which of the following basic components?

human behavior in organizations.

Which of the following is NOT a resource category that organizations use in the pursuit of goals and objectives?

intangible

____ attempts to explain how people select, interpret, and change various situations.

interactionalism

A manager who schedules department meetings to effectively disseminate important information to employees has high

interpersonal skills.

When managers motivate employees with compensation and job opportunity, they are utilizing which managerial function?

leading

The first goal of a consultant hired to solve a problem in an organization should be to

learn as much as possible about the organization and the people within it.

In dealing with the work-related activities of people, managers must have an understanding of all of the following EXCEPT

long-term plans of marketplace competitors

Which is NOT an important reason for understanding organizational behavior?

ole proprietorships are increasing common for entrepreneurial organizations.

A manager who groups jobs into units and establishes patterns of authority is performing which function of management?

organizing

Under the systems view, the profits that Wal-Mart receives as a result of the services it provides is one type of

output

Which of the following is one of the specific perspectives of organizational behavior?

people as resources

A person's ____________________ is an indicator of his or her efficiency and is measured in terms of the products or services created per unit of output.

productivity

Which of the following is NOT a source of competitive advantage?

selling the most expensive version of an adequate product

Businesses pursuing a ______________ strategy focus on a narrow market segment or niche.

specialization

According to Michael Porter, to have a competitive advantage, a company must ultimately be able to give customers _______________.

superior value for their money

Successful business strategies are grounded in creating and maintaining a competitive advantage that is ______________.

sustainable

All organizational successes and failures result directly from

the behaviors of many people.

Which perspective of management would most likely refute the notion that one style of leadership would enhance employee satisfaction and job performance under any condition?

Situational perspective

Which of the following perspectives argues that there's "one best way" to solve a problem that will work for any organization?

The universal perspective

Some outcomes can be studied at the individual, group, and organization levels. Which of the following is generally assessed at both the individual and organizational levels?

absteenism

Which of the following is not studied as a group-level outcome in organizational behavior?

abstenteeism

Under the systems perspective, a system is defined as

an interrelated set of elements that functions as a whole.

planning is the process of

determining the organization's desired future position and deciding how best to get there.

A ________ is anything that gives a firm an edge over rivals in attracting customers and defending itself against competition.

competitive advantage

All of the following are inputs an organization receives from its environment EXCEPT

employee behaviors

A manager acting in the role of a leader will

encourage workers to increase productivity.

The systems view is important to managers because it

underscores the importance of the organization's environment.