BUAD Exam 1 Practice Questions

________________ commitment is defined as the degree to which an employee feels positive emotional attachment to the organization and strong identification with its values and goals.

Affective

Which of the following distinguishes an informal group from a formal group?

An informal group is formed by its members

Which of the following is the core strength of problem-solving teams?

As employees, team members usually know the job best.

What psychologist's work laid the foundation for the study of behavior modification?

B.F. Skinner

___________ refers to exhaustion of physical or emotional strength or motivation usually as a result of prolonged stress or frustration.

Burnout

__________ is NOT one of the seven universal emotions.

Confusion (The seven universal emotions are joy, sadness, fear, surprise, anger, contempt, and disgust.)

Which of the following is not one of the five basic group performance factors?

Cooperation

Which of the following enumerates one reason why service organizations have different hiring standards from manufacturing organizations?

Employees who manufacture goods don't usually interact with customers.

__________ is the act of persisting with a failing course of action.

Escalation of commitment

A functional team is a team with members from different departments or function areas.

False

A solution to a problem that borrows components from a solution to a different problem is not creative.

False

According to the expectancy theory of motivation, a negative sum of valences will encourage motivated behavior regardless of other factors.

False

Attitudes are more stable than personality attributes.

False

Diversity is considered an important element of the modern workplace; however, there is little practical benefit to be gained by actively promoting it.

False

Employees who are expected to work unusual and demanding schedules are usually satisfied receiving additional time off and do not require higher pay.

False

Employment in the service sector is expected to decline in the near future.

False

Ethical behavior is not as profitable as unethical behavior, but it has other advantages.

False

Globalization is a new phenomenon.

False

Herzberg's dual-structure theory suggests that the feelings of satisfaction and dissatisfaction that workers experience are derived from the same set of factors.

False

How an organization treats its employees is not an ethical issue.

False

In the early stages of the learning process, fixed-ratio reinforcement is particularly effective for promoting desirable behaviors.

False

Informal leadership is always an asset to teams in organizations.

False

Managers should have sole responsibility for evaluating employees since studies have shown that employees are not capable of evaluating their own performance.

False

Managers who want to raise the level of job performance from their employees find that motivation is easier to manage than ability or environment.

False

Most firms have found that tying direct compensation to the amount of time an employee has spent with an organization is the most effective way to maintain a high level of motivation.

False

Organization-level outcomes, including productivity, absenteeism and turnover, and profitability, are assessed at the individual level as well as at the organizational level.

False

Psychological contracts are like traditional business contracts in that they are negotiated or written in legally binding form.

False

Race and gender are the only determinants of diversity in the United States.

False

Technology is not a factor in the shift toward a service-based economy.

False

Which of the following would be most likely to support an organization's empowerment efforts?

Increasing commitment to training

___________ diversity is diversity in knowledge and experience.

Informational

An employee in which one of the following countries would be most likely to go behind her boss's back in order to finish a project successfully?

Israel

Which of the following countries is highly assertive and materialistic?

Japan

____________ refers to an individual's general strategy for dealing with other people and the degree to which they feel they can manipulate others in interpersonal situations.

Machiavellianism

Whose theory is the Hierarchy of Needs?

Maslow

By some estimates, the "half-life" for a technical education in engineering is about three years. Which of the following scenarios illustrates this principle?

Oksana graduates with a degree in mechanical engineering in 2017. By 2020, half of what she learned in her university classes is obsolete.

Which managerial function involves designing jobs, grouping jobs into units, and establishing patterns of authority between jobs and units?

Organizing

__________ fit refers to the fit between a person's interests, abilities, values, and personality and a profession.

Person-vocation

At what phase of team implementation is performance usually above prior levels?

Phase 4

_________ refers to attributing our own characteristics to other people. Self-handicapping

Projection

Some experts believe that groupthink contributed to the failure of NASA's Challenger mission. If this is correct, then which of the following was NOT likely true about the Challenger team members?

they fought constantly and couldn't agree on anything

David is self-aware, manages his emotions, expresses empathy for others, and possesses social skills. He has high

emotional intelligence

What term refers to a heightened emotional and intellectual connection that an employee has for his/her job, organization, manager, or coworkers that, in turn, influences him/her to apply additional discretionary effort to his/her work?

employee engagement

What term refers to the degree to which an employee has the authority to make and implement decisions?

empowerment

Listening to employees, recognizing their work, building trust, and behaving ethically has been shown to boost each of the following measures of performance EXCEPT

environmental preservation

What term refers to standards of behavior about how people ought to act in different situations?

ethics

Which of the following refers to a positive type of stress?

eustress

When all other options have failed, what strategy may be used for dealing with challenges faced by multicultural teams?

exit

A person who has a(n) __________ locus of control believes that most of the things that happen to her are out of her hands.

external

Luck, lack of resources, and other people are examples of __________ factors.

external

Which type of reinforcer is most appropriate when a manager realizes he or she has been rewarding the wrong thing and wants to stop the behavior?

extinction

Deming believed that removing _______ from the workplace gives employees pride in their workmanship, which increases production.

fear

Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence is most important for which of the following groups?

firefighters

Allowing employees to decide what hours they work on the days they are required to work would be an example of __________

flextime

Which of the following was a primary cause of the decline of the manufacturing sector in the United States?

foreign competition

When a firm shares the value of productivity gains with the workforce, it is called __________.

gain sharing

When all team members from all teams are rewarded based on the performance of the organization, division, or plant, this system is called:

gain-sharing

Which term refers to the capacity to rapidly and fluidly acquire, process, and apply information?

general mental ability

The fourth step in the rational decision making process is to ________________

generate alternatives

The extent to which goals are challenging, attainable, and require effort is known as ___________

goal difficulty

In collectivistic cultures such as Japan, performance appraisals tend to be ________

group-based

Social loafing often results from the assumption by some group members that if they do not work hard:

others will pick up the slack

A company has a(n) _____________ workforce when one group of employees has a contractual arrangement with the firm that is different from that of another group.

tiered

The third stage of GAS, exhaustion, does not always happen.

true

When groupthink occurs, group members are more interested in __________ than in __________.

unanimity, considering alternatives

A group works effectively toward accomplishing its goals during which stage?

performing

What term refers to the match between an individual and his or her supervisor and workgroup?

person-group fit

What term refers to the fit between a person's abilities and the demands of the job?

person-job fit

Boris works as a receptionist. He's happy with his salary, he gets along well with his coworkers and his boss, there's no stress, and he can get all of his tasks done proficiently. However, he feels unfulfilled and hopes to get a different job soon. Which of the following does Boris lack?

person-vocation fit

A performance bonus is an example of which of the following?

positive reinforcement

Informational diversity has a _______ impact on team performance; demographic diversity often has a ________ impact.

positive, negative

According to prospect theory, people are more strongly motivated by ________ than by ________.

potential losses, potential gains

What term refers to valuing control of situations and other people?

power

A company's ________ policy states what data the company will collect about its customers, how that data will be used, and how its customers can opt out of having their information collected and/or shared.

privacy

What term refers to the performance improvements that occur because people work together rather than independently?

process gain

What type of decisions are routine, address specific problems, and result in relatively structured solutions?

programmed

What is the primary motivation behind off-shoring?

reduced labor costs

In collectivist cultures, _______________ typically take precedence over specific tasks or responsibilities.

relationships

Deepak is the founder of a small game development studio. He devised a method for meeting deadlines that has proven very effective for his organization. Deepak believes that his method will also work for any other organization. What type of perspective does this belief reflect?

universal

What level of the corporate ladder is least diverse?

uppermost leadership

Which of the following is NOT a dimension of self-efficacy?

value

What are extrinsic work values?

values related to the outcomes of the work, such as financial gain

What are intrinsic work values?

values that are related to the work itself

Michael Porter says that, 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

Deming believed that when things go wrong, it is almost certain that the ________ rather than the __________ is the cause.

system, worker

An extrovert is most likely to be which of the following?

talkative

In most appraisal systems, who is an employee's primary evaluator?

the supervisor

Management by objectives efforts are typically designed to accomplish all of the following EXCEPT __________

allow individual goals to determine organizational policy

A supervisor can enrich a job by doing which of the following? introducing new or harder tasks granting additional authority to employees organizing work in teams any of these

any of these

What term refers to how people explain the causes of their own as well as other people's behaviors and achievements?

attribution

There is emerging evidence that emotional intelligence of group members can promote:

cohesiveness

In business organizations, most employees work in __________ groups.

command

When there is no known information regarding the outcome of a decision, but enough information exists to estimate the probabilities of several outcomes, a ___________________ exists.

condition of risk

Derek serves on the board of directors for a furniture company. He is also the CEO of a timber company attempting to secure a contract with the furniture company. What is this situation an example of?

conflict of interest

What term refers to the fundamental premises people hold about themselves and their functioning in the world?

core self-evaluations

What term refers to businesses living and working together for the common good and valuing human dignity?

corporate social responsibility

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

cost leadership

Nonprogrammed decisions require managers to use ____________ rather than ___________.

creativity, decision rules

Organizations pursuing a specialization strategy often try to develop a competitive advantage based on which of the following?

customer intimacy

Harriet's company makes tax software. It used to take the company two years to roll out a new version of the software, but now it only takes one year. The company has reduced its _______

cycle times.

Who developed scientific management?

Frederick Taylor

_____________ stress refers to manageable levels of stress for reasonable periods of time that generate positive emotions including satisfaction, excitement, and enjoyment.

Functional

Who theorized that there are a number of distinct forms of intelligence that each individual possesses in varying degrees?

Gardner

In the study of stress, what does GAS stand for?

General Adaptation Syndrome

The __________ effect occurs when people improve some aspect of their behavior or performance simply because they are being assessed.

Hawthorne

___________ are written predictions specifying expected relationships between certain variables.

Hypotheses

Which of the following statements is most associated with emotion-based decision making?

I plan my life based on how I feel

The ability to think in the abstract and visualize the "big picture" is classified as a technical skill.

False

The concept of bounded rationality asserts that managers are typically able to process all available information and arrive at the single best solution.

False

The most dangerous cost of teams is the possibility that new team may take a long time to perform at prior levels.

False

The study of organizational behavior is useful in that it enables managers to predict behavior patterns before they develop.

False

True of False: The study of organizational behavior involves both human behavior and characteristics of organizations, but its principal focus is the exterior environment that surrounds the organization.

False

When changing to a team-based organizational structure, great progress is often seen almost immediately.

False

According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, physiological needs include things that offer safety and security, such as adequate housing and clothing and freedom from worry and anxiety.

False, (Physiological needs include food, sex, and air. The question lists security needs)

Diversity can be the product of combinations of characteristics; it is not limited to singular properties.

True

Employees may improve their own productivity if they are able to participate in making decisions about how their jobs are done.

True

What term refers to an incompatibility between behavior and an attitude or between two different attitudes?

cognitive dissonance

Maslow helped to increase managers' awareness of the motivating potential of giving employees which of the following?

greater responsibility, challenge, and continuous development

Which sensory modality is LEAST important to learning?

gustatory

What term refers to the manner in which individuals process and organize information during learning?

information processing capacity

According to Victor Vroom, _______________ is the belief that performance will result in obtaining a particular reward.

instrumentality

According to __________, an individual's behavior results from a continuous, multidirectional interaction between the characteristics of the person and of the situation.

interactionalism

Ichabod's company refashions discarded dolls and other toys into furniture, utensils, and decorative items. Which of the following is the most apt label for Ichabod's organization?

manufacturer

Which dimension of self-efficacy refers to beliefs about how confident the person is that the task can be accomplished?

strength

Changing the shape of a team is known as:

structural intervention

What type of learners are most likely to enjoy making outlines of text and lecture material?

structured learners

A contingency plan specifies what will be done if ___________

the primary plan is disrupted

The steps of the scientific method go in which order?

theory, hypothesis, data, verification

Formal rewards play a bigger role in a person's perceptions of equity than do informal rewards.

True

Group cohesiveness can be increased by competition or the presence of an external threat.

True

MBO has value as a way to motivate employees.

True

Most creative people are also intelligent.

True

Most managerial work involves simultaneous use of the planning, organizing, leading, and controlling functions.

True

Performance appraisal systems that evaluate individual performance tend to rank employees' performance at the same general level.

True

The successful application of organizational behavior principles can reduce a company's rates of turnover and absenteeism.

True

There are elements of diversity aside from gender, age, and race.

True

When implementing teams, sometimes small performance improvements are seen in the initial stage due to excitement or anticipation for teams.

True

Workers are likely to improve their performance when they believe that needs that are important to their well-being will be satisfied if they do so.

True

People who are impatient, competitive, ambitious, and uptight are said to have what personality type?

Type A

Which of the following affects creativity?

cognitive ability

Which of the following scenarios most clearly exemplifies the successful use of a manager's diagnostic skills?

Sally suspects that Gary is underperforming because he is not getting enough sleep, not because he is incapable. She lets him work from 10 to 6 instead of 9 to 5, and his performance improves.

The _________ method relies on systematic studies that identify and replicate a result using a variety of methods, samples, and settings.

Scientific

___________management is based on the belief that productivity is maximized when organizations are rationalized with precise sets of instructions based on time-and-motion

Scientific

___________________ would be LEAST likely to result in improved performance.

Setting unattainable goals to maximize worker productivity

__________ diversity refers to observable differences in people, including race, age, ethnicity, physical abilities, physical characteristics, and gender.

Surface-level

Which of the following allows monetary damages in cases of intentional employment discrimination?

The Civil Rights Act of 1991

___________ is a highly individualistic country.

The United States

Who developed a learning style orientation measure to address some of the limitations of the Kolb inventory?

Towler and Dipboye

Allowing work teams to plan, organize, direct, and control their own work is known as empowerment.

True

Decision-making skills are what enable employees to effectively resolve situations that require them to choose one alternative from among several.

True

What is an expatriate?

a person temporarily or permanently living in a country other than that of legal residence

A nonprogrammed decision is appropriate when __________

a situation requires exceptional problem solving skills

A 360-degree feedback system includes __________

a wide range of feedback, as well as intangible and subjective measures of performance.

Seeing a problem as a cultural difference, and not a personality issue is known as:

adaptation

What term refers to a general tendency of an individual to experience a particular mood or to react to things in a particular way or with certain emotions?

affectivity

Sheryl is cooperative, forgiving, and understanding. She has high __________

agreeableness

Which stress stage is triggered we first encounter a stressor?

alarm

Type A personality types tend to have which of the following characteristics? they are likely to be highly work oriented. they have a strong sense of time urgency. they have a lot of drive and motivation. all of the above

all of the above

Diversity can involve which of the following? gender race age all of these

all of these

High Machiavellians exhibit ______________. resistance to social influence orientation to cognitions rather than emotions bossiness all of these

all of these

Increased employee-centered decision making is related to increases in which of the following? motivation decision quality morale all of these

all of these

Meeting management software can create a record of _______________. ideas presented comments made votes taken all of these.

all of these

Which of the following is/are impacted by decision making? business strategy product design customer interaction all of these

all of these

Which of the following traits is/are related to job satisfaction? extraversion agreeableness emotional stability all of these

all of these

Which strategy/strategies gives job candidates realistic information about what it would be like to work for a given firm? hiring customers realistic job previews using employee referrals all of these

all of these

Workplace bullying can include which of the following? threats verbal abuse intimidation all of these

all of these

Which approach to performance management identifies financial and nonfinancial performance measures and organizes them into a single model?

balanced scorecard

Albert works as a salesperson making $8 an hour plus 5% of every sale he makes. He receives two weeks of paid vacation a year as well as 50% matching in a 401K retirement fund. In this scenario, "$8 an hour" represents Albert's _______

base-pay

In the Equity Theory of Motivation, what is the meaning of "equity?"

belief of fair treatment relative to others

Personality is a product of which of the following? environment heredity both of these

both

Why might some people pursue multiple vocations during the course of their careers? because they get bored with one vocation because they have diverse interests both

both

A goal is most likely to be attained when ________________ people are strongly committed to it. people are given feedback showing their progress toward the goal. both of these

both of these

What term refers to the "invisible" characteristics in others that take more time to learn about, but can have a strong effect on group and organizational performance?

deep-level diversity

The second step in the rational decision making process is to ________________

define the problem

___________________ is the first step in the organizational behavior modification process.

defining what can be improved

Which of the following is NOT an important role played by top-management when implementing teams?

delegating new responsibility to individuals

The third step in the rational decision making process is to ________________ generate alternatives. define the problem. state the situational goal.

determine the decision type

Which of the following is not a facet of human resource management?

developing incentives to use fewer employees

Divergent thinking is a skill that allows people to see __________ situations, phenomena, or events.

differences among

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

Which of the following is a way that an individual in a group can fight against the onset of groupthink?

discuss the issue with someone outside the group

Which term refers to the variety of observable and unobservable similarities and differences among people?

diversity

What is the second step in the performance appraisal process?

documentation

Post-decision dissonance is _________ a choice that was already made.

doubt about

One of your remote employees makes a mistake on an important project, so you must write her an email that explains the nature of the mistake and stresses how vital it is that the mistake is both fixed and never repeated. At the same time, because it was an honest mistake, you do not want your email to demoralize, demotivate, or otherwise unduly upset your employee. Your ability to write an email that corrects your employee's behavior without damaging her productivity or your relationship with her falls under which category of skills?

interpersonal skills

Personality clashes are an example of ______________.

interpersonal value conflict

Which of the following is/are true about intuition?

it evolves over time

Worker productivity and motivation can be improved through positive work-related experiences, according to the theory of ___________________

job enrichment

A work group of three secretaries who take turns answering the phones, sorting mail, and typing and filing correspondence are demonstrating which of the following?

job rotation

Which of the following is NOT a motivation factor in Herzberg's model?

job security

A person who feels equitably treated is motivated to ________

keep things as they are

The final step in the rational decision making process is to ________________

measure and adjust

Satisficing refers to making a _________ rather than _________ decision.

satisfactory, optimal

According to the human relations approach, offering employees _____________ is the best way to enhance motivation in the workplace.

self-direction

What term refers to a person's confidence in his or her ability to organize and execute the courses of action necessary to accomplish a specific task?

self-efficacy

What term refers to any system that interacts with the environment through one of the basic senses?

sensory modality

Title VII prohibits employee discrimination based on a variety of characteristics. Which of the following is NOT one of them?

sexual orientation

Convergent thinking is a skill that allows people to see __________ situations, phenomena, or events.

similarities among

Group composition is the degree of _______ or _______ among group members on factors important to the group's work.

similarity, difference

A key component of equity theory is that employees compare their own input/output ratios with the input/outcome ratios of other employees. What is the term for this phenomenon?

social comparison

___________ happen(s) when people are motivated to look good to others and want to maintain a positive self-image.

social facilitation

Which of the following is NOT a strength of cross-functional teams?

specializing in a specific area

Which of the following is NOT a way that a group leader can fight against the onset of groupthink?

state her view to get the discussion started

Group members tend to ask the leader about a group's purpose and goals during which stage?

storming

A biologist wants to know whether a plant's growth is affected by the material it's planted in. She plants lima bean seeds in a jar of dirt, a jar of cotton, and a jar of rocks, then provides each jar with equal amounts of water, plant food, and sunlight. In this experiment, what is the independent variable?

what the seeds are planted in

When does intrapersonal value conflict occur?

when being happy pulls us to spend quality time with our family, but personal ambition pulls us to work longer hours and pursue promotions

When does intrapersonal value conflict occur?

when highly ranked instrumental and terminal values conflict

The study of organizational behavior is beneficial to managers because _________

working with people is an improvable skill.

___________ are superior in generating alternative hypotheses and ideas and tend to be imaginative and people- or feeling-oriented.

Divergers

Which of the following is NOT considered a form of incentive program?

Base pay

____________ depend primarily on active experimentation and abstract conceptualization to learn.

Convergence

_________ is the ability of an individual to generate new ideas.

Creativity

"Knowledge workers" are valuable to organizations because of what they have gained in terms of practical work experience over the course of their careers rather than what they know.

False

Which of the following is NOT typically true of an affinity group?

Members have widely varying titles or duties within the organization.

Which of the following has NOT contributed to the rise in the volume of international business?

The ease with which companies can obtain financing

Organizational behavior is defined as the study of three interrelated areas, one of which is...

The individual-organization interface.

Social loafing is less common when tasks are very ______________

important

Paid time off is an example of ________

indirect compensation

The _________________ makes job specialization difficult to implement, even though it seems as if it would be highly effective.

monotony associated with each task

Group polarization is the phenomenon that members' opinions tend to be _______ extreme before a discussion _______ they are after a discussion.

more, than

Arthur appears to be poised, calm, resilient, and secure. He displays low

neuroticism

What term refers to feeling obliged to stay with an organization for moral or ethical reasons?

normative commitment

Which of the following is NOT an example of organizational citizenship?

not asking for raises

Which of the "Big Five" personality dimensions is associated with being imaginative, cultured, curious, broad-minded, and artistically sensitive?

openness to experience

Humphrey and Lina, who work at different firms, each receive a 3% raise. Most of Humphrey's coworkers receive a 5% raise, and he is unhappy with his raise. Most of Lina's coworkers receive a 1% raise, and she is happy with her raise. Humphrey and Lina most likely have different reactions to their raises because their raises have different _________

symbolic value

The job characteristics theory says that __________ is critical to motivating workers because it helps them identify with their work and its tangible outcome.

task identity

A team's shared belief that it can organize and execute the behaviors necessary to reach its goals is known as:

team efficacy

What term refers to drawing a general impression about something or someone based on a single (typically good) characteristic?

the halo effect

Attribution theory says that we evaluate behavior in terms of all of the following EXCEPT __________

the nature of the job.

Behavior that is reinforced after periods of time, with the time span varying from one time to the next is called

variable-interval.

What term refers to differences in a certain type or category, including group members' expertise, knowledge, or functional background?

variety