BUS 207 Exam 3

Mia works in the manufacturing unit of a textile company. Andrew, the supervisor of the unit, often humiliates and demeans Mia and her coworkers. He never acknowledges or appreciates the contributions of the employees. He puts undue pressure on them and unnecessarily criticizes them. Instead of confronting Andrew, most employees have started quitting their jobs. In this scenario, identify a strategy that Mia should consider to deal with this situation.

She should try to understand the reasons behind his behavior.

A facilitator is typically a neutral third party tasked with monitoring a team's process and helping improve its effectiveness.

True

__________ is best described as an approach to creative problem solving that requires starting with a problem and working to move toward a solution.

Convergent thinking

A facilitator usually focuses more on what a team is doing than on the team's process.

False

A task-oriented manager and a frequently socializing employee encounter negligible conflict in their boss-subordinate relationship.

False

Conflict is viewed as positive when it is characterized by heightened emotionality.

False

During a meeting, the facilitator should encourage the clash of personalities, not ideas.

False

During the wrap-up stage of a meeting, participants involve in a process check to determine whether the meeting objectives were met.

False

Group decision making is simpler than decisions made by one or two individuals.

False

Idea killers send the message that any idea that "breaks the rules" will be accepted.

False

Team members' varying beliefs, experiences, education, personalities, and work styles do not hinder a team's ability to get work done.

False

The P-P-C technique applied to respond to employees' ideas stands for "Presumptions," "Precautions," and "Contributions."

False

The avoidance conflict management strategy is best suited when issues are important, when emotions are low, or when others could resolve the conflict less effectively.

False

The innovation room in organizations should be a place where criticism of others' ideas is freely allowed.

False

The sheer fact that by definition, meetings involve more than one person, decreases the potential for inefficiency and ineffectiveness.

False

The simplest teleconference, available on most public and private phones, is webconferencing.

False

Which of the following statements is true of meetings?

They are important in shaping organizational norms and improving work processes.

Blocking, as a dysfunctional behavior, prevents consensus and could slow down a hasty decision process.

True

Conflict is constructive when it leads to better decisions, creativity, and innovative solutions to long-standing problems.

True

Differences in religious beliefs, attitudes toward diverse others, clashes in family values, or work ethic might result in interpersonal differences that surface in the work environment.

True

The more directive a facilitator is, the more the team members come to expect such behaviors from that facilitator as opposed to developing their own facilitative skills.

True

The nominal group technique equalizes hierarchical or status differences among members of a group.

True

When a "balanced dialogue" approach for a particular agenda item is used and someone's time ends, it is imperative that he or she stops speaking to give everyone a fair chance to participate.

True

Which dysfunctional behavior of a team member oppresses with personal needs and results in other members emulating this behavior and being biased against future inputs from him or her?

a self-seeking behavior

In the compromising strategy to resolve conflicts, a manager will

agree to give up part of his or her goal and part of the relationship involved to reach an agreement.

Rhea is the facilitator of a meeting. Leon, one of the attendees, is a silent member. In order to get Leon involved in the discussion, Rhea should

ask for his opinions, and give positive verbal and nonverbal reinforcement.

Bein Du Vin House, a wine making company, exhibits a declining sales trend. The management decides to relook at its strategies. The company identifies that its key belief has been that customers buy wine from different retail outlets just like they buy other items, like grocery. The company decides to drop this belief and make buying wine an experience for their customers. The management decides to offer free tours of the vineyard as well as the winery to customers to acquaint them with the proc

assumption smashing

Using an accommodation strategy to resolve a conflict can

be harmful in the long term as resentment builds up over unmet needs.

Which of the following is the best strategy for conflict resolution when all the parties involved seriously want a win-win solution and have enough time?

collaboration

The management at True Ink had a problem because the employee productivity was low. To solve this problem, the management first introduced productivity-based incentives and then it trained the employees to perform better. When the problem was not solved, the management realized that job rotation would drive the employees to perform better. In the context of strategies for increasing creativity in problem solving, this method of working toward a solution would be referred to as

convergent thinking.

Which of the following is a maintenance-related behavior of a facilitator?

diagnosing

The management department of Mova Autos Incorporated notices a decline in the company's sales due to increasing competition. The management has been working on several alternatives to tackle the problem of low sales. One such alternative involves lowering car prices by adopting certain cost-cutting techniques. According to Dr. Walter A. Shewhart's problem-solving process, after identifying the possible solutions, what should be the next step for Mova Autos Incorporated?

do

The nominal group technique, a variation on open brainstorming, primarily helps to

equalize hierarchical or status differences among members of a group

During a team meeting, Anne, the facilitator, requests Wilson, the speaker, to choose whether he wants to entertain questions during his presentation or afterward. Which of the following facilitative prevention strategies does Anne's action best illustrate?

getting agreement on process

Nora, a team leader, wants to share critical information about a high-risk project with her team. She wants to ensure that every team member has a clear understanding of the project. In this scenario, Nora should typically conduct a(n)

information-dissemination meeting.

Subtly or not so subtly interrupting a team's process to help the team when difficulties or potential problems arise is known as

intervention

In the context of general types of meetings, information-sharing meetings

involve members reporting on group or individual progress.

In a meeting, the __________ is primarily tasked with keeping the discussion task oriented and in line with the agenda.

meeting leader

Integral Incorporated coaches its employees to recognize that conflict is normal and not necessarily bad. This helps the employees deal effectively with differing viewpoints and approaches, which can lead to innovation. Which organizational technique for preventing conflicts is being used by Integral Incorporated?

offering conflict management and negotiation training

Problem-solving meetings

require full participation of all members present.