MGMT Test 5

The employees of a company are self-centered and their individual goals do not align with the organization's goals. The manager is concerned with decision making and has all the information required to make a decision. He believes that the decision need not require the employees' acceptance. In the context of the normative decision theory, which of the following decision-making styles should the manager use?

AI

Aida has implemented two reinforcement plans to see which is most effective. In one, employees are given a gift card after every month of perfect attendance. The other plan involves a system where gift cards are again given to employees, but after a month of perfect attendance during which the employee spends $25.00 at the company cafeteria. If both plans prove to be effective, which strategy would you suggest Aida implement to effectively change employee behavior?

Continue with the first plan since it is the least complicated of the two.

Noah, the chief executive officer of Rhombus Corp., believes in maintaining a friendly work environment involving employee benefits like flexible timing and insurance policies. Top managers in the company are approachable to the lower level employees, thus maintaining a horizontal hierarchy. Moreover, Noah does not give much attention to performance. According to the Blake/Mouton leadership grid, which of the following leadership styles is Noah using?

Country club style

In the context of subordinate contingencies, which of the following is true of externals?

Externals believe that what happens to them is caused by forces beyond their control.

Gives full attention; fights distractions; maintains concentration

Good Listener

Which of the following is true of supportive leadership?

It involves being approachable and friendly to employees and treating them as equals.

Which of the following statements is true of directive leadership?

It involves letting employees know precisely what is expected of them.

Which of the following best describes path-goal theory?

Leader behavior must be a source of immediate or future satisfaction for followers.

Which of the following statements about perception is true?

People experience stimuli through their own perceptual filters.

Which of the following exemplifies an intrinsic reward?

Richard thoroughly enjoys his job.

After preparing a project-development agenda, the office manager prepares a conference room for the meeting. She places a circular table in the center of the room and surrounds it with comfortable chairs. What message is the office manager expressing nonverbally?

She wishes to promote open communication.

Which of the following is true of managers?

They are concerned with control and limiting the choices of others.

Which of the following is true of employees' reaction to underreward?

They are frustrated or angered.

Which of the following is one of the mistakes that managers tend to make when they are coaching employees?

They wait too long before talking to employees about the problem.

You have an employee, Stan, who is coming in late to work on a regular basis, and you want to find out why. What form of communication should you use in this situation?

You should meet with Stan in person to determine why he has been late.

When Ruby was told that her favorite store would no longer stock her favorite brand of clip-on earrings, she assumed this meant that the company was no longer producing clip-on earrings, even though that was not the case. Ruby's incorrect assumption was due to _____.

closure

While coaching involves dealing with job performance,_______ requires a willingness to talk with employees about non-job-related matters.

counseling

According to Fiedler's contingency theory of leadership, leader behaviors are_________to change, and_____________leaders perform best in intermediately favorable situations.

difficult,, people-oriented

One of Canada's largest financial service providers wanted to develop a customer-focused sales and service culture. The top management developed the main messages, which were consistently communicated to all levels of employees throughout the organization. This is an example of _____ communication.

downward

When the CEO of a large corporation explained to his unionized employees why the company had to reduce healthcare coverage for its employees, he was engaged in _____ communication.

downward

When an industrial plant was closed because of a merger, employees were forced to move to another plant and take substantial pay cuts. In this scenario, managers should demonstrate _____ when the affected employees describe the forced changes in their lifestyles.

empathetic listening

Organizational silence occurs when _____.

employees of an organization believe that telling management about problems will not make a difference

When Liam, a marketing manager, drafts an email to communicate the targets for the upcoming months to his sales team, he is engaged in _____.

encoding

Richa, an instrumentation engineer, has been assigned a challenging task of designing a specialized device to sterilize medical equipment. Richa believes that hard work and perseverance will help her perform well and complete the design on time. Her belief turns out to be a factor of motivation for her. As a result, she completes the project by meeting all the requirements on time. According to the expectancy theory, Richa is motivated by _____.

expectancy

Emily is motivated to get straight A's since her dad told her she would get $50 for each one; this is an example of a(n)

extrinsic reward

Victor, a software engineer, accepted a project for developing an easy-buy application for cell phones. The project had a stringent deadline that other engineers deemed impossible to complete. With proper planning and motivation, Victor was able to develop the application on time. Victor's accomplishment was rewarded with a pay increment. In this case, Victor was motivated with a(n) _____.

extrinsic reward

With continuous reinforcement schedules, a consequence:

follows every instance of a behavior.

Shen is reading through his performance goals and, while some are definitely challenging, he is motivated to attain them. Shen's perception of the challenging goals is an example of

goal difficulty

Under the principles of________, employees will be motivated when they receive constructive feedback on their progress toward an accepted, but challenging goal.

goal-setting theory

When an employee says, "I really want to learn more about this new project" but has his arms crossed, his manager is likely to believe that:

he doesn't want to learn about the new project at all.

In Peill LLC, employees are known as associates and do not have titles or bosses in the traditional sense. Instead, associates make commitments to work on projects that they believe are most worthy of their time. As a result of doing away with traditional titles, the company is likely to encourage more _____ communication.

horizontal

Karen is reading about her company's plans to better tie employee performance with compensation, a process that will likely increase her perceptions of

instrumentality

When an individual is contesting for a local political office, he or she makes lots of promises to people. When the individual wins the election and assumes office, he or she is often unable to carry out the political promises. In the context of leadership traits, the individual lacks _____.

integrity

Leaders differ from managers in that:

leaders are concerned with expanding people's choices and options, whereas managers are concerned with control and limiting the choices of others.

The servers at Rashad's restaurant became much friendlier to customers after he told them that the server who has the best customer service rating every month will be excused from cleaning the bathrooms the following month, which is an example of

negative reinforcement

Alex works as an accountant in a pharmaceutical company. His job frequently demands that he work overtime. Lately, his health has been affected because of his workload. Alex is eligible for a promotion. But, the new position would demand longer working hours with double the current salary. Alex values his health over his pay check at the end of the month. In the context of expectancy theory, the promotion has a _____ for Alex.

negative valence

In the communication process,_______ occurs whenever something gets in the way of a message being sent or received.

noise

Darryl just got a new job and is discussing the additional vacation days he will get for every year of service he gives to the company, an indication of the_______ he will receive as an employee.

outcomes

Zach gets paid more than his coworker who produces the exact same amount of work as he does. Zach's ratio of work to compensation, compared with his coworker's, is an example of

overreward

According to some researches, deceptive answers have a slower onset than honest ones. In a job interview, these characteristics would be examples of _____ that may help the interviewer evaluate the job applicants.

paralanguage

Relish Inc. is a famous fast food chain in the United States. However, increasing competition affected the company's market. Nicholas Cain, the CEO of Relish, created an online forum for employees to share ideas about innovative methods to attract customers. The forum overflowed with new ideas. Subsequently, Nicholas conducted a meeting to discuss the ideas and also introduced a recipe customization counter that was a grand success. The company has now earned back its customer base. According to path-goal theory, this leadership style is called _____.

participative leadership

In the context of motivation, _____ is concerned with the choices that people make about how long they will put forth effort in their jobs before reducing or eliminating those efforts.

persistence of effort

Farah, a manager at Funmania Toys Inc., has complete control over the hiring and firing of employees in the company. She also has the authority to reward and punish employees for their work. This scenario illustrates that Farah has high levels of _____.

position power

Janet, a manager at a gym, finds it difficult to get any job done with Sam, who is her least preferred coworker. However, when her boss asks for a feedback about all her employees, she describes Sam as cheerful, supportive, sincere, and friendly. This scenario illustrates that Janet follows a _________leadership style.​

relationship-oriented

The _________ predicts that if you get an A on an exam, you are likely to say that you are smart, but if you get an F on an exam, you are likely to say that your professor is too hard.

self-serving bias

According to the normative decision theory, a group decision style should be used when:

subordinates are likely to disagree or end up in conflict over a decision.

You have just accepted a management position at a small handbag factory in Thailand. Workers spend their days doing the same task over and over: riveting a strap, sewing a seam, or polishing a completed bag. Conditions are difficult, to say the least, and the previous manager convinced the employees that they don't have the skills they need to keep their jobs. Prior to leaving for Thailand, your boss told you to be prepared for workers to treat you with the utmost respect. Thai businesses tend to be very formal. Everyone has a specific role to play, and management hierarchies are strictly observed. According to path-goal theory, you should use the________style of management in this example.

supportive

Burton is the founder of Netball.com, an online gaming site. He hired a few game developers and a few experts in marketing. He set the goal of making Netball one of the top ten Internet gaming sites in the next five years. He clearly defined the job responsibilities of each of his employees and the procedures that were to be followed in order to achieve that goal. The situational factor of _________ is illustrated in this scenario.

task structure

Mathew is a manager at Wonderworld Hypermarket. He finds it difficult to cooperate and work with Anthony when it comes to getting the work done to meet the sales targets. Anthony is Mathew's least preferred subordinate. Mathew describes Anthony as gloomy, insincere, lazy, unfriendly, and boring when his boss asks for a feedback about his subordinates. In this scenario, Mathew is following a _____ leadership style.​

task-oriented

Siddiqi has been a team leader for five years. He has now been promoted to the managerial role considering his leadership qualities and his ability to inspire people. According to McClelland's Learned Needs Theory, Siddiqi has been motivated by _____.

the need for power

Fusion is a fast-growing clothing chain that focuses on teenagers. Julie, the owner and founder of Fusion, consults with her employees on a daily basis for suggestions on what the stores should carry. An employee suggested that the stores should carry accessories like handbags. The employee's suggestion was an example of _____ communication.

upward

When an employee gives a manager an update on a project, she is engaging in

upward communication

Leah's boss recently asked her if she would rather have a monetary bonus or extra days of paid vacation as a reward for her hard work. The one she identifies as more attractive has the higher _____ for Leah.

valence

Maria's boss likes to surprise her with gift certificates for a job well done. Some months she will get a gift certificate for every project completed, but some months she has noticed that it takes the completion of a couple projects to get a gift certificate. This is an example of a

variable ratio reinforcement schedule

When you need to convey simple or straightforward information to your manager, it is best to use ________ communication, because it is _________ efficient than other forms of communication.

written,, more