Chapter 11: Effective Work Groups and Teams
process gains
increases in potential performance that result from new ways of motivating and coordinating group members
A possible solution to social loafing is ______.
letting group members evaluate one another
Self-managed teams will be most effective when ________.
members want to be part of the group
process losses
performance difficulties a group experiences because of coordination and motivation problems
The highest level of performance a group is capable of achieving at a given point in time is called its ________.
potential performance
A research team is studying how hospitals can coordinate information about the resources and space available in order to accommodate urgent care patients as efficiently as possible. This information may help hospitals make _______.
process gains
On the day of a big event, a local coffee shop was packed. To ensure all customers were served, the restaurant simplified its menu and hired one extra worker. Within ten minutes, the cashier noticed the manager did not stock the drawer with enough singles and fives. There were not enough workers to have someone leave to get change. The cashier started turning customers away if they didn't have correct change. Many people left the shop to go elsewhere. This is an example of ________.
process losses
If a group's goals align with organizational goals, then members of a cohesive group ________.
will work to accomplish organizational goals
Which group would most likely have the highest level of cohesiveness?
A group that competes with other groups
Which of the following indicates low group cohesiveness?
The group does not often achieve its goals.
A self-managed team was tasked with approving or denying customers' credit requests. Group members were overwhelmed by this task because of their inexperience in assessing credit. They approved many bad credit requests. What is the most likely reason that this group was not effective?
They did not have the necessary skills and capabilities.
sucker effect
a condition in which some group members, not wishing to be considered suckers, reduce their own efforts when they see social loafing by other group members
synergy
a process gain that occurs when members of a group acting together are able to produce more or better output than would have been produced by the combined efforts of each person acting alone
Research and development (R&D) teams
a team formed to develop new products, may be cross-functional, and is often used in high-tech industries
virtual teams
a team in which a significant amount of communication and interaction occurs electronically rather than face to face
skunk works
an R&D team created to expedite new product design and promote innovation in an organization
A top management team is a very important part of an organization because members ________.
determine what an organization is trying to accomplish
Research and development groups are a very important part of many organizations because their members ________.
develop new products
Appleson needs to select a vendor to develop a Web site for one of its projects. Which of the following would support the claim that the Production department should choose the vendor?
A. Employees skilled in project execution are more likely to be able to identify opportunities to run technical projects more efficiently.
Which of the following, if true, would weaken Gordon's argument?
A. The team members for the Zen Park Frantic project were chosen based on their interest in a more collaborative working environment.
Suppose that the organization started the Diva Siren project at the same time as the Zen Park Frantic project. Which of the following, if true about the Diva Siren project, would strengthen Linda's argument?
B. It used rigid top-down leadership, and was as successful as Zen Park Frantic.
Which of the following, if true, would weaken the claim that this division of labor keeps employees focused on the tasks that fit their skills and leads to a better product?
B. Projects often fail to meet their revenue goals because the Design department develops products for market segments that the Marketing department cannot reach.
At Appleson Publishing, products are produced by a team representing different functional groups, none of which have supervisory authority over any of the others. Represented departments include Design, Production, and Marketing. Design department members are skilled at identifying customer requirements and creating product specifications. Their success is measured by return on product investment, which takes into account both the money earned by a product and the money spent on that product. Production department members are skilled at project execution. They are responsible for creating products according to the Design department member's specification. The Production department is considered successful when it completes projects according to schedule and project spending does not exceed the project?s budget. Marketing department members are responsible for building profitable relationships with target market segments. They are skilled at communicating a product?s value and persuading customers to make purchases. Marketing department members? success is measured by the revenue that the products take in. Which of the following questions would most likely lead to a conflict between Design department members and Production department members?
B. Should a project be launched later than planned in order to make changes that will make it more attractive to customers?
Which of the following would support the claim that the Design department should choose the Web development vendor?
B. Web development requires a thorough understanding of the customer's needs and expectations.
Gordon: Our experimentation with a teams-focused product development process is complete, and the evidence clearly supports adopting this process across our organization. We picked a test project to see if productivity would be better under shared leadership, team accountability, and collaborative work. That project, Zen Park Frantic, was a market success. What more do we need to know? Linda: You are jumping to conclusions. If Zen Park Frantic went especially well, then that improvement was probably caused by the "Hawthorne effect": Almost any change from the normal procedures would have produced a benefit. Which of the following is a point at issue between Gordon and Linda?
B. Would Zen Park Frantic have been as successful if it had followed the organization's normal procedures?
Executives claim that this division of labor keeps employees focused on the tasks that fit their skills and leads to a better product. Which of the following, if true, would strengthen that claim?
C. After a product specification is completed, knowledge of the thinking that went into the product specification is not necessary to complete the project effectively. their initial orientation.
Which of the following would strengthen Gordon's argument?
C. The organization uses the same procedure to determine the market success of all projects.
Which of the following is true of the relationship between cohesiveness and organizations?
Cohesiveness can have positive and negative effects on organizational goals; the effects are positive if group goals align with organizational goals.
Suppose that Appleson is choosing between the Grendel project and the Kronos project. The Grendel project is expected to earn slightly more revenue than the Kronos project, but the Grendel project will cost more to complete. Which of the following is most likely to be true?
D. The Marketing department will prefer the Grendel Project, and the Design department will prefer the Kronos project
________ are performance difficulties that a group experiences because of coordination and motivation problems.
Process losses
A manager sat in on a few task force meetings. He has always been impressed with Gary and Sue's individual performance. While watching them in a group, he notices they are not adding as much as they usually do. What should the manager do to reduce social loafing?
Remind group members that the group as a whole fails or succeeds
In an intensive care unit, how well the patients do is based on how well the nurses, doctors, and orderlies communicate with each other and how well they perform their various tasks. If a nurse makes an error while writing down symptoms, the other nurses and doctors will use this faulty information and potentially cause more issues. If a technician correctly administers a test, all others will be able to use this information. This is an example of ________.
reciprocal task interdependence
In situations that require ________ the potential for process losses is highest because the probability of problems with coordination and motivation is highest.
reciprocal task interdependence
A group is trying to cut office expenses. Before Jim may start his portion, he must wait until Sherrie and Steve have completed their task. Only after Jim completes his task can Danny begin his task. This is an example of:
sequential task interdependence
A researcher studied how much effort a person exerted in a tug of war. He studied how much effort was exerted when individuals were performing the task by themselves, and when individuals were part of a team performing the task. When the individuals were part of a team, each individual exerted less effort than they did by themselves. This shows an example of ________.
social loafing
The tendency of individuals to exert less effort when they work in a group than when they work alone is called ________.
social loafing
The extent to which the work performed by one member of a group affects what other members do is called ________.
task interdependence
group cohesiveness
the attractiveness of a group to its members
task interdependence
the extent to which the work performed by one member of a group affects what other members do
potential performance
the highest level of performance a group is capable of achieving at a given point in time
pooled task interdependence
the task interdependence that results when each member of a group makes a separate and independent contribution to group performance
sequential task interdependence
the task interdependence that results when group members must perform specific behaviors in a predetermined order
reciprocal task interdependence
the task interdependence that results when the activities of all work-group members are fully dependent on one another
top management team
the team of managers who report to the chief executive officer (CEO) and determine what an organization is trying to accomplish and develop plans for goal attainment
social loafing
the tendency of individuals to exert less effort when they work in a group than when they work alone
