MGT2000 final exam

A company's recycling task force is composed of 15 members. If the task force makes decisions based on a consensus, how many members must be in favor of the group decision?

15

Research suggests that nonverbal communication accounts for between _________ percent of all the meaning we communicate.

60-70

When a member gives in to others at the expense of his or her own goals, what conflict style is the member using?

Accommodation

What does your textbook suggest a group can do to deal with a loudmouth?

All of the above.

_______________ is the outline of items to be discussed and the tasks to be accomplished at a meeting.

An agenda

When considering a decision, the mind gives disproportionate weight to the first information it receives.

Anchoring trap

Some group members have suggested that the company sponsor an annual picnic rather than a more formal annual dinner. John disagrees with the others because the company has held a formal dinner every year for more than ten years. Which fallacy of argument could be attributed to John's comment?

Appeal to tradition

All of the following are considered guidelines for effective brainstorming EXCEPT

Avoid combining ideas

Tran tries to change the subject when group members argue. She also refuses to comment on controversial issues. What conflict style does Tran use?

Avoidance

Which generation is described as follows: they are workaholics who are willing to challenge the status quo and are politically adept on the job. They believe that they are always right, but are willing to work hard to get what they want.

Boomers

After presenting a proposed solution to a group problem, Carlos says "I can't see any other way of solving this that makes sense." Which defensive behavior is exemplified in Carlos's statement?

Certainty

When a member is more concerned with achieving his or her own goals rather than meeting the needs of the group, which conflict style is the member using?

Competition

Some club members want to increase membership dues by $7.00. Other club members want to increase them by $3.00. They have reached an impasse on the issue, so they decide to split the difference and raise the dues by $5.00. What type of conflict style did the group use?

Compromise

This bias leads us to seek out information that supports our instinct or point of view and avoid information that contradicts it.

Confirming evidence trap

If a member's destructive nonconformity threatens the success of a group, which of the following strategies should you follow as a first step toward changing the member's behavior?

Confront the disruptive member and try to modify his or her behavior.

The overconfidence trap, prudence trap, and recallability traps all fall into this category.

Estimating and forecasting traps

The statement "That's a stupid way to approach the problem." is an example of which type of response?

Evaluative

Conflict in groups is destructive and should be avoided if at all possible.

False

What fallacy is evident in the following argument: "Don't go to that restaurant. I went once and the service was awful."

Hasty generalization

_________ occur when members' private goals conflict with the group's common goals and represent what people really want rather than what they say they want.

Hidden agendas

___________________ , with firm guidance, can do reasonably good work.

Hitchhikers

Jason appears to be a very private person. He carefully thinks about what he is going to say before speaking. He enjoys the group but would prefer to work alone. Which Myers-Briggs personality trait best describes Jason?

Introvert

Which of the following examples depicts an implicit norm?

Members have learned that because meetings usually begin fifteen minutes later than scheduled, they can arrive a little late.

Which generation is described as follows: they are confident and have high self esteem, are collaborators who favor teamwork, and generally like keeping their career options open.

Millennials

Which symptom of groupthink is expressed when a group member confronts another by saying, "Why aren't you in favor of this? You're the only one who's against it. Give it up!"?

Pressure on dissent

This trap explains why the first automobiles looked much like the horse-drawn buggies they replaced.

Status-quo trap

Our tendency to make choices in a way that justifies past choices.

Sunk cost trap

All of the following labels represent how member behavior can disrupt a meeting EXCEPT:

Tension releaser

Group members with lower levels of argumentativeness have a tendency to avoid conflict.

True

Helpful feedback is "owned" by the sender.

True

In groups that engage in constructive conflict, disagreement is not punished and low status members are free to challenge higher status group members.

True

True or false? A near-unanimous outcome from the consensus-building process is achievable only if everyone involved commits to making proposals and counter-proposals meet the needs of all stakeholders.

True

True or false? According to the authors of the article, one of the reasons consensus building produces better results is that it puts a neutral facilitator in charge of managing the process, someone who has no interest in pushing his or her own agenda.

True

When ethical arguers look beyond their own needs and consider the circumstances of others, they are demonstrating the common good responsibility for ethical argumentation.

True

All of the following guidelines help a group achieve consensus EXCEPT

Use techniques such as trading one decision for another.

Reasons why meetings are successful include:

all of the above

According to Rybacki and Rybacki, the reasoning responsibility requires that ethical group members:

avoid making arguments containing fallacies.

All of the following steps are part of the Standard Agenda format for group problem solving EXCEPT

establishment of procedure

People who believe that their culture is better than other cultures or that their culture should be the role model for other cultures would be classified as

ethnocentric

Your group has discussed and decided that members will take turns recording and typing the minutes from each meeting. A(n) _______________ has been established.

explicit norm

Team members seeking consensus are advised to agree to a set of ground rules governing their interactions. Which concept previously discussed in the course does this advice relate to?

explicit norms

"It just feels like the right thing to do" describes the thought process of a dependent decision maker.

false

One successful way to deal with hitchhikers is to ignore their behaviors.

false

People in polychronic cultures naturally adhere to plans, schedules, and deadlines because time is valuable.

false

The chairperson of a meeting is always the group's leader.

false

The frustration and personality conflicts that occur in groups as members compete for acceptance and status are the source of primary tension.

false

True or false? It would be accurate to infer from the Michaelsen and Schultheiss article that after feedback is given, the receiver should remain silent. Even if they found the feedback they received confusing, they should not seek clarification at that time.

false

Kim is people-oriented. She wants everyone in the group to get along. She often spends extra time helping other group members. Which Myers-Briggs personality trait best describes Kim?

feeler

Ernest Bormann's description of primary tension resembles Tuckman's _________ stage of group development.

forming

In which of Tuckman's Group Development Stages are members socially cautious and overly polite?

forming

Which is the correct order of the four steps in the Decreasing Options Technique?

generate ideas, post ideas, sort ideas, dot ideas

According to the article, what is the weakness of majority rule decision making?

it almost guarantees an unhappy minority, putting group stability at risk

Dennis is always the most organized member of his group. He frequently encourages the group to plan ahead. He develops lengthy "To Do" lists of tasks for the group to follow. Which Myers-Briggs personality trait best describes Dennis?

judger

When members are late to a meeting, the chairperson should

let latecomers sit without participating until they have observed enough to be able to contribute.

A culture can be described as having ______ if supervisors work closely with subordinates, professors work closely with students, and elected officials work closely with constituents.

low power distance

Which cultural dimension would be characterized by the following components: (1) subordinates should be consulted; (2) privileges and status symbols are frowned upon; (3) parents treat their children as equals; and (4) teachers expect students to express their opinions in class?

low power distance

In which of Tuckman's Group Development Stages do members resolve status conflicts and learn to work as a cohesive team?

norming

Effective argumentation in groups

promotes critical thinking.

According to the article "Making Feedback Helpful", the characteristics of helpful feedback include:

specific, timely, and concerned with behavior over which the receiver has control

As described in the needs assessment article, a "gap analysis" compares what?

the current situation with the desired situation

According to Locke and Latham's Goal Theory, all of the following criteria are critical for developing effective group goals EXCEPT

the goals are simple and easy to achieve

The written record of a group's discussion and activities is referred to as

the minutes

When a member insults or attacks the character of another group member, which ethical responsibility has been violated?

the social code responsibility

Argumentation is:

the way we advocate proposals, examine competing ideas, and influence one another.

Which statement best describes the goal of consensus building?

to seek overwhelming agreement among stakeholders and maximize gains

Brainstorming is based on the assumption that quantity of ideas and output breeds quality.

true

By looking through a group's minutes over a period of time, you can determine how productive the group has been.

true

Destructive nonconformity occurs when a member resists conforming to norms without regard for the best interests of the group and its goals.

true

Effective groups learn how to adapt to member differences.

true

False consensus occurs when members give in to group pressure and accept a decision they do not like or support.

true

If feedback is given at the wrong time or in an inappropriate way, it can be destructive.

true

If there is nothing important to talk about, a meeting can do more harm than good.

true

In a Nominal Group Technique (NGT) session, each group member writes down his or her ideas before sharing them with others.

true

Setting firm expectation and sticking to them is one way to deal with a couch potato.

true

The Decreasing Options Technique (DOT) is a decision-making tool that helps groups reduce and refine a large number of suggestions into a manageable number of ideas.

true

To get an accurate picture of what is needed, it is important to use several basic needs assessment techniques.

true

In high context cultures

very little meaning is expressed explicitly through language