OB Exam 2

Which of the following is an observation from organizational behavior that contradicts the rational decision-making process assumptions?

Decision makers have limited information processing abilities.

Which of the following is a rule for design thinking?

Design thinking is human-centered.

Which of the following work environment factors would support self-leadership?

Employees have some degree of autonomy.

Nonverbal communication differs from verbal communication in which of the following ways?

Nonverbal communication is less rule-bound.

________ provides one explanation of why people belong to informal groups.

Social identity theory

________ is the phenomenon that occurs when people exert less effort when working in groups than when working alone.

Social loafing

During a meeting, senior executives of a consumer products company were addressing the problem of being late in detecting several consumer trends, such as the trend toward using see-through plastics in kitchenware. While trying to determine the source of this problem, one executive said: "The main problem here is that we need to find a better industrial design firm to design our products." Which of the following best describes the decision-making problem that this executive is exhibiting?

The executive is defining the problem in terms of a solution.

Which core job characteristic(s) affect(s) experienced responsibility for work outcomes?

autonomy

Which of the five Cs concerns aligning the work with others and keeping the team on track?

coordinating

Self-directed teams

have substantial autonomy over the execution of a complete task.

Research suggests that effective open-space design balances the trade-off between

increased distractions and social interaction.

Which of the following are two features that distinguish remote teams from conventional teams?

lack of co-location and dependence on information technology

Which of the following involves systematically examining combinations of characteristics of a product, service, or event, and then looking at the feasibility of each combination?

morphological analysis

Decision structure, risk of conflict, and decision commitment are the

contingencies of employee involvement.

One issue with membership and seniority-based rewards is that they

do not directly motivate job performance.

The rational decision-making model ends with

evaluating the selected choice.

People in countries with ________ tend to have a high respect and priority for money.

high power distance

The rational decision-making model begins with

identifying an opportunity.

________ is the process of assigning tasks to a job.

Job design

Employees at CyberTech perform repetitive jobs that have resulted in boredom as well as repetitive strain injury. Technology makes it difficult to combine existing jobs, but the company wants to make employees more multiskilled. Which of the following would best help CyberTech to improve this situation?

Introduce job rotation.

What is psychological safety?

The feeling that one can engage in interpersonal risk-taking without adverse consequences.

Which of the following is supported by research on gender differences in communication?

Women are more sensitive to nonverbal cues in face-face conversation.

In the communication process, filtering occurs when

a manager delays giving negative feedback to an employee.

Management by walking around refers to

a practice in which executives get out of their offices and learn from others in the organization through face-to-face dialogue.

Dictionaries of symbols, language, gestures and other communication tools are called

codebooks

In the creative process, which of the following refers to the experience of suddenly becoming aware of a unique idea?

illumination

Team rewards are better than individual rewards when employees work in highly interdependent jobs because

it is difficult to measure individual performance in these situations.

Which of the following psychological empowerment dimensions is possessed by employees when they care about their work and believe that what they do is important?

meaning

One consideration in channel selection is ________, the capacity of the channel to carry a volume and variety of data.

media richness

Establishing a preset level at which the decision is abandoned or reevaluated is recommended mainly to

minimize escalation of commitment.

Which type of decision typically requires the decision maker to go through all six steps in the rational decision-making model?

nonprogrammed

For rewards to be relevant, they should be tied to

performance within the employee's control.

If a manager wanted employees to collaborate in creating and exchanging information, which of the following would be best suited for that purpose?

social media

One strategy to support psychological empowerment is to enhance ________, which refers to changing the workplace conditions or environment.

structural empowerment

In the team effectiveness model, which of the following are the two overall team components that directly impact team effectiveness?

team design and team processes

Studies have shown that performance-based rewards

will motivate most employees but only under the right conditions.

Which of the following are included under constructive thought strategies in self-leadership?

self-talk and mental imagery

Active listeners constantly cycle through

sensing, evaluating, and responding.

Which of the following types of task interdependence exists among production employees working on assembly lines?

sequential interdependence

A higher level of employee involvement is preferable when

the problem relates to a nonprogrammed decision.

Which of the following statements regarding the grapevine is correct?

It is an important conduit for organizational stories and cultural symbols.

Which of the following should a sender do to make it easier to get the message across?

Focus on the problem, not the person.

Which of the following is true of employee involvement in decision making?

It is a critical practice in organizational change.

What is process loss?

Resources (including time and energy) expended on team development and maintenance rather than on performing the task.

Which of the following statements regarding social presence is correct?

Social presence is more important when the purpose of the communication is to understand and empathize.

Which of the following does scientific management include?

Systematically dividing a job into its smallest possible elements and assigning these divided tasks to employees who are best qualified to perform them.

________ is the degree to which a job requires completion of a whole or identifiable piece of work, such as assembling an entire broadband modem rather than just soldering in the circuitry.

Task identity

Which of the following happens immediately after the receiver receives the encoded message in the communication process model?

The receiver decodes the received message.

Which of the following statements is correct regarding digital written communications?

They are poor for communicating emotions.

You have made an important presentation to several Japanese executives regarding a proposed partnership between your American company and their Japanese firm. The Japanese executives were very silent during the presentation. Most people in the United States would view this silence as

a disagreement with your proposal.

What is the relationship between team efficacy and team performance?

an inverted U-shaped curve

Which of the following motivates employees to continuously learn skills that will keep them employed?

competency-based rewards

If a dysfunctional norm is very deeply ingrained in a team and solutions have not worked, the best strategy is probably to

disband the group and replace it with people having more favorable norms.

Which of the following drives is fulfilled by communication?

drive to bond

Empowerment includes all of the following characteristics except

effort

Evidence shows that people listen to their emotions for guidance when evaluating alternatives. This process is called the ________ effect.

emotions as information

One disadvantage of job specialization is that

employees often do not see where their job fits in the overall production output.

Which of the following would hinder the success of remote teams?

members who use one preferred communication channel

During the ________ stage, the team develops its first real sense of cohesion as roles are established and a consensus forms around group objectives and a common or complementary team-based mental model.

norming

Active listeners improve their evaluating activities by

organizing the information provided.

Brainstorming requires team members to

provide as many ideas as possible.

When a person makes a decision without conscious reasoning, they are

relying on intuition.

Which of the following would be favorable for team cohesion?

restricted entry to the team

Rather than maximizing their decision choice, most people ________, meaning they choose a solution that is "good enough."

satisfice

Catrina decided to do a more enjoyable task after completing a task that she disliked. This instance is an example of

self-reinforcement.

Synchronous communication channels convey a greater sense of urgency than do text messages and other asynchronous channels due to their

symbolic meaning.