Chapter 7 groups and teams

_____ diversity, or diversity in location and culture, has a _____ impact on team performance.

Demographic; negative

_____ groups are typically composed of employees from the same level within an organization who meet periodically to share information, take advantage of opportunities, and solve problems.

afinnity

friendship groups

arise our of cordial relationships among members and the enjoyment they get from being together

Email, wikis, and discussion boards are examples of _____ communication.

asychronous

social loafing is most common in a ___________ group

large

Demographically diverse groups tend to have _____ cohesiveness and _____ conflict than homogenous ones.

less, more

What type of technologies allow real time communication and interaction?

synchronous

What is the most dangerous cost of shifting to a team-based structure?

the slowness of team development

The move towards a team-based format is often initiated and communicated to the entire organization by:

top management

functional team

A group of people form one department or area working together.

________ can be described in terms of the homogeneity or heterogeneity of the members

group composition

Lena forms a board game club at the consulting company she works for. The club meets every other week to play strategy board games. Lena's club is an example of a(n) _____ group.

informal

Sam, an American, travels on a business trip to Kabul, where he meets with Ahmed to determine what the specifications for a new software development project should be. Assuming that Sam and Ahmed communicate in the manner typical of their respective cultures, which of the following is most likely to happen?

Ahmed will have an easy time discerning Sam's preferences, but Sam will have a hard time discerning Ahmed's.

_________ is/are the standard against which the appropriateness of a behavior is judged

Group Norms

Which of the following is NOT one of the five categories of important leadership skills in a virtual project team or distance management situation? Promoting self-reliance by setting more vague goals and not holding team members as accountable Building community among team members based on mutual trust, respect, affiliation, and fairness Communicating effectively and matching technology to the situation Establishing a clear and motivating shared vision, team purpose, goals, and expectations

Promoting self-reliance by setting more vague goals and not holding team members as accountable

_____ teams are teams that operate semi-autonomously to create and develop new products, processes, or businesses.

Venture

Communication in _____ cultures is typically direct, and a listener _____

Western; does not need to know much about the context or the speaker to interpret it

Which of the following groups is likely to have the lowest cohesiveness? A medium-sized group with well-established group norms A group whose members have a wide range of ages and cultural backgrounds A small group with a large presence of informal leadership A group whose members are mostly the same age and have the same cultural background

a group whose members have a wide range of ages and cultural backgrounds

Which of the following distinguishes teams from groups?

a team must have clearly stated, common goal

Increasing the diversity of a group is likely to decrease its:

cohesiveness

A(n) _____ group is a relatively permanent, formal group with functional reporting relationships that is usually included in the organization chart.

command

Vladimir is skilled at executing an integrative negotiation strategy, wherein everyone comes out a winner. Vladimir most clearly exhibits strong _____ abilities.

conflict resolution

A team _____ is a written agreement among team members establishing ground rules about the team's processes, roles, and responsibilities.

contract

Roberta is tasked with putting together a team to create a new app from scratch. If her team will have a long time to complete the project, which of the following should Roberta try to do?

create a highly heterogeneous team

Jacques must pull together a team that has to work quickly, complete specific tasks in a sequential order, and cooperate frequently. Which of the following should Jacques try to do? Bring together his favorite people without regard for group composition. Create a highly homogeneous team. Create a somewhat heterogeneous team. Create a highly heterogeneous team.

create a highly homogeneous team

Leo, a software developer, spends about 15 hours a week working on various projects with a team consisting of himself, a quality assurance tester, a technical writer, a web designer, and a marketer. This is an example of a(n) _____ team.

cross-functional

Each of the following is a challenge faced by virtual teams EXCEPT: increased cultural diversity. increased geographic diversity. difficulty finding qualified employees. feelings of isolation among team members.

difficulty finding qualified employees

asynchronous communication

does not enable a back-and-forth in real time

what term refers to an interpersonal capability that includes the ability to perceive and express emotions, to understand and use them, and to manage emotions in oneself and in other people?

emotional intelligence

Since switching to a team-based structure, Celine's work has been more rewarding and far less stressful. Celine's situation illustrates:

employee benefits

Which of the following is NOT a common reward system in a team environment? Gain-sharing systems Employee-of-the-month programs Skill-based pay Team bonus plans

employee of the month programs

Improved productivity, quality, and customer service are examples of:

enhanced performance

By design, teams have a _____ structure. This can make it difficult to obtain input from team members raised in a(n) _____ culture.

flat; hierarchical

Benny spends approximately two hours every work day hanging out by the water cooler chatting with three of his friends. Benny's water cooler gang is an example of a(n) _____ group.

friendship

Leo, a software developer, spends about 25 hours a week working on various projects with a team consisting entirely of software developers. This is an example of a(n) _____ team.

functional

Which two types of team-based reward systems are most similar to each other? Skill-based pay and gain-sharing programs Gain-sharing programs and team bonus plans Team bonus plans and skill-based pay None of the team-based reward systems bear any similarity to each other.

gain sharing programs and team bonus plans

__________ refer(s) to the degree to which members are attracted to the team and to its members and how loyal team members are to the team and to each other

group cohesiveness

informal groups

groups created by employees around friendship or a common interest

A well-known problem some groups face is groupthink, which can occur when a group:

has high cohesiveness

cross-functional teams

have members from different departments or functional areas

Jacob works for a company that faces serious competition in its market. The company is small yet successful, and its employees meet frequently. Jacob's company likely has:

high cohesiveness

Each of the following is an advantage of virtual teams EXCEPT: increased interaction among team members. greater flexibility for team members. quicker responses to increased competition. access to the most qualified individuals.

increased interaction among team members.

_____ occur(s) when a group member without formal authority influences the direction of the group.

informal leadership

_____ diversity, or diversity in knowledge and experience, has a _____ impact on team performance.

informational; positive

homogeneous group

is likely to be more productive when the group task is simple, cooperation is necessary, the group tasks are sequential, or quick action is required

heterogeneous group

is more likely to be productive when the task is complex, requires a collective effort, demands creativity, and when speed is less important than thorough deliberations

composition

is the degree of similarity or difference among group members on factors important to the groups work

A team's performance reaches that of its start-up phase during the _____ phase.

leader-centered

each of the following is an advantage of cross-functional teams over functional teams EXCEPT: less conflict. more creativity. increased ability to solve complex problems. faster product development.

less conflict

Suzette is a member of a large virtual team that formed recently and has ambiguous goals. Suzette's team most likely has:

low cohesiveness

Each of the following is a feature of teams that is not necessarily a feature of groups EXCEPT: members share accountability for individual and collective outcomes. members are interdependent with respect to information, resources, and skills. members share a common goal. members influence and are influenced by each other.

members influence and are influenced by each other

Managing a virtual team is generally _____ managing a traditional team.

more difficult than

Communication in _____ cultures is typically indirect, and a listener _____.

non-Western; has to infer preferences and priorities from changes, or the lack of them, in the other person's counterproposal.

Increased innovation, creativity, and flexibility are examples of:

organizational enhancements

__________ teams are established to tackle challenges and make improvements at work

problem-solving

Compared with managers from other countries, U.S. managers like to make decisions _____ and with _____ analysis.

quickly; relatively little

A team's performance reaches its lowest point at the _____ phase.

reality and unsrest

After convincing her superiors to allow her to reform her department using a team-based structure, Minerva was able to reduce turnover by 75 percent. Minerva's success most clearly illustrates

reduced costs

Making fewer errors, filing fewer worker compensation claims, and reducing absenteeism and turnover are examples of:

reduced costs

Which of the following is NOT a purpose served by norms within organizations? Simplifying the behaviors expected of group members Expressing the central values of the group Saving money within the organization Avoiding embarrassing situations

saving money within the organization

_____ teams set their own goals and pursue them in ways decided by the team.

self-directed

Jessica, a project manager for a medical software company, receives a $1,000 raise for each new application in the medical software that she becomes certified in. However, the raise only comes into effect once every project manager on Jessica's team completes the same certification. This illustrates which type of reward system?

skill-based pay

Evaluate the following statement: The terms "team" and "group" refer to similar concepts, but they differ in that groups are more likely to have a common performance goal.

the statement is inaccurate because teams are more likely to have a common performance goal

Evaluate the following statement: Because managers expect there to be a long lead time for improving performance, they are seldom discouraged.

the statement is inaccurate because the long lead time for improving performance is often discouraging for managers

Which of the following is NOT true about many team meetings? They boost morale. They are poorly run. They accomplish too little. They take too long.

they boost morale

Evaluate the following statement: Command groups are typically formed to handle a specific task and then disband.

this statement is completely inaccurate because while command groups do focus on a specific task, they typically do not disband after the task

Which of the following is NOT a concern faced by large groups? Too much time may be spent on administrative duties. The group may have difficulties reaching agreement. Too few resources may be available. There may be increased absenteeism.

too few resources may be available

_____ teams are teams of geographically and/or organizationally dispersed coworkers who communicate using the Internet and other information technologies.

virtual

low cohesiveness

when a group is large, physically dispersed, recently formed, and driven ambiguous goals

high cohesiveness

when a group is small, mature, successful, meets frequently, and faces a clear threat

groupthink

when a group's overriding concern is a unanimous decision rather than critical analysis of alternatives