Organizational Behavior - Exam 1

A group is: a. a collection of individuals who interact with each other such that one person's actions have an impact on the others. b. made up of managers, subordinates, or both with close associations among group members that influence the behavior of individuals in the group. c. made up of two or more individuals who are associated with one another in ways not prescribed by the formal organization. d. a cohesive coalition of people working together to achieve happiness.

A collection of individuals who interact with each other such that one persons actions have an impact on the others

A culture that values maintaining good relationships, caring for the weak and quality of life is: a.a low power distance culture. b.a masculine culture. c.a high power distance culture. d. a feminine culture.

A feminine culture

Research conducted in an actual organization is: a. a field study. b. a survey. c. a lab study. d. a meta-analytic study.

A field study

Which of the following is likely to produce an effective organization? a. A firm that controls its labor costs by limiting training opportunities to only a few employees. b. A firm that maintains two separate cafeterias for employees; one for executives and managers and one for everyone else. c. A firm where information is shared on a "need-only" basis. d. A firm that employs selective hiring practices.

A firm that employs selective hiring practices

Emotions

A short, intense feeling resulting from some event

Datum is: a. multiple observations. b. the consistency of a measure. c. the truth of a measure. d. a single observation.

A single observation

Deep acting

Actively try to experience the emotion they are displaying

Which of the following statements about the personality trait agreeableness is FALSE? a. People high in agreeableness tend to exhibit strong helping behavior. b. All occupations look to hire people who are high in agreeableness. c. People high in agreeableness tend to be less effective at providing constructive criticism. d. People high in agreeableness are very likeable and get along well with others.

All occupations look to hire people who are high in agreeableness.

Which of the following is accurate for the relationship between attitudes and performance? a. though you want to perform better, your skill set may prevent that from occurring. b. though you want to perform better, the equipment used at work may not be functioning properly. c. though you want to perform better, too much may be outside your control. d. All of the above.

All of the above.

People who exhibit the Big 5 personality characteristic of openness would be most likely to work in which of the following firms? a. an entrepreneurial start-up in the high tech industry b. a large discount retailer like Wal-Mart c. a large fast food franchise d. a small business that makes cardboard boxes

An entrepreneurial start-up in the high tech industry

Reasonable accommodations for employees with disabilities may include all of the following EXCEPT: a. modifications in employee schedules. b. providing auxiliary equipment like telephone amplifiers. c. physical changes to the company facilities (e.g. wheelchair ramp). d. assignment of their essential job functions to other employees.

Assignment of their essential job functions to other employees

Which of the following is a surface-level diversity trait? a. aggressiveness b. Type A personality c. being smart d. being Asian

Being Asian

Among the limitations associated with using personality tests in employee selection is: a. candidate inability to understand the purpose of the personality test. b. candidates faking their answers. c. candidates refusing to take personality tests. d. finding that performance cannot be predicted by personality testing.

Candidates faking their answers

Which of the following statements about surveys is INCORRECT? a. Either open-ended or close-ended questions can be used in surveys. b. Close-ended question responses are difficult to summarize. c. Surveys involve asking individuals to respond to questions. d. Many effective online survey tools are available free of charge.

Close-ended question responses are difficult to summarize

Task roles include contractor, creator, and: a. cooperator b. consul. c. coordinator. d. completer.

Completer

Across a variety of occupations and jobs, what is the one personality trait that most uniformly predicts how high a person's performance will be? a. conscientiousness b. extraversion c. agreeableness d. openness

Conscientiousness

The _____________ role in a team creates deadlines for the team, schedules production, and sequences tasks. a. contractor b. contributor c. completer d. creator

Contractor

Which of the following statements is a good suggestion for managing cultural diversity? a. For the most effective international experiences, train individual employees thoroughly in one culture before moving on to another. b. Keep in mind that local employees in the foreign country are too immersed in the culture to help you understand their culture. For a more objective viewpoint, other expatriates are more useful. c. There is a very high probability that problems experienced on an expatriate assignment are due to cultural differences and misunderstandings. d. Culture changes, sometimes quickly; do not assume that what was true a year ago is true today.

Culture changes, sometimes quickly; do not assume that what was true a year ago is true today.

Collectivistic cultures are: a. cultures where people define themselves as individuals and form looser ties with their groups. b. cultures that value achievement and competitiveness as well as acquisition of money and other material objects. c. cultures where people have strong bonds to their groups and group membership forms a person's self-identity. d. cultures that value maintaining good relationships, caring for the weak and quality of life.

Cultures where people have strong bonds to their groups and group membership forms a person's self-identity

Idea generation tasks: a. include actually making something such as a building, product or marketing plan. b. deal with creative tasks such as brainstorming a new direction or creating a new process. c. refer to coming up with plans for actions and making decisions. d. involve team members working on each task simultaneously.

Deal with creative tasks such as brainstorming a new direction or creating a new process

A recent National Association of Colleges and Employers survey indicated all of the following are important skills for evaluating job candidates EXCEPT: a. communication skills. b. demographics. c. honesty/integrity. d. strong work ethic.

Demographics

Teams differ by all of the following task classes EXCEPT: a. production tasks. b. idea generation tasks. c. development tasks. d. problem-solving tasks.

Development tasks

Which of the following statements on the benefits of effective management of diversity is INCORRECT? a. Diverse workforces lead to higher-quality decisions. b. Diverse workforces create cheaper products c. Diverse workforces lead to lower litigation costs. d. Diverse workforces have led to higher stock prices for firms.

Diverse workforces create cheaper products

The ways in which people are similar or different from one another is: a. culture b. diversity. c. stereotypes. d. faultlines.

Diversity

Operational decisions are made by: a. managers b. top management teams c. employees throughout the organization. d. CEOs.

Employees throughout the organization

Negative affective people: a. see "the glass as half full." b. experience anxiety. c. are tolerant of others' opinions. d. help their teams have lower rates of absenteeism.

Experience anxiety

Symptoms of too much cohesion include: a. Failures blamed on external factors b. Internal pressures to question the status quo c. Greater questioning of external constraints d. Tolerance for deviants

Failures are blamed on external factors.

True or False? There is a near perfect strong relationship between good person/organization fit and high job performance.

False

True or False? When people fit their jobs, they experience higher levels of stress.

False

Group members in the norming stage: a. not only get the work done, but they also pay greater attention to how they are doing it. b. begin to explore their power and influence. c. find it easy to establish their own ground rules. d. try to figure out who likes whom.

Find it easy to establish their own ground rules

All of the following factors contribute to job satisfaction and organizational commitment EXCEPT: a. personality. b. job characteristics. c. work/life balance. d. firm competitiveness in the market.

Firm competitiveness in the market.

Surface diversity traits include: a. values. b. gender. c. attitudes. d. beliefs.

Gender

A culture categorized by high uncertainty avoidance is: a. Denmark. b. Jamaica. c. Greece. d. China.

Greece

Which of the following is true for group decision making? a. Group decision making is faster than individual decision making. b. Groups often perform lower than the best individual in the group. c. Group decision making is more efficient than individual decision making. d. Groups generate fewer ideas than individuals.

Groups often perform lower than the best individual in the group.

The norming stage in Tuckman's model of group evolution features: a. uncertainty, with observant, conflict avoidant group members who are trying to achieve several goals at once. b. competent group members who work interdependently as part of a greater entity. c. chaos with group members exploring power and influence roles. d. high energy with group members committed to each other and the overall goal.

High energy with group members committed to each other and the overall goal.

All of the following stressors lead to lower job satisfaction and organizational commitment EXCEPT: a. role conflict. b. high responsibility at work. c. organizational politics. d. job insecurity.

High responsibility at work

Which of the following questions is an example of a tactical decision? a. Should we takeover our competitor? b. How should we market the new product line? c. What should I say to the customers about our return policy? d. How will I balance my master's degree workload with my work assignments?

How should we market the new product line?

If a collectivist was told, "Tell me about yourself.", he might say: a. I want to be a doctor when I graduate. b. I like playing video games. c. I am a black belt in karate. d. I am the third child of a doctor and a lawyer.

I am the third child of a doctor and a lawyer.

Which of the following statements regarding the management of demographic diversity is INCORRECT? a. Diversity training programs are most successful in those firms where there are explicit rewards for increasing company diversity. b. Companies can support diversity by reviewing their employment advertising to ensure that diversity is being advocated at all job levels. c. In the most successful companies, diversity is viewed as human resource management department's responsibility. d. Many people see affirmative action programming as a controversial way to manage diversity because it provides an unfair advantage to minority members.

In the most successful companies, diversity is viewed as human resource management department's responsibility.

Self-managed teams typically have all the following goals EXCEPT: a. increased conflict. b. improved quality. c. cost reduction. d. meeting deadlines.

Increased conflict

Which decision-making model would you use when your goals are unclear, there is time pressure, and you have experience with the problem? a. the rational decision making model b. bounded rational model c. intuitive decision making model d. creative decision making model

Intuitive decision making model

Internal attribution: a. is the belief that a behavior is caused by the internal characteristics of a person. b. is the causal explanation given for an observed behavior. c. explains someone's behavior by referring to the situation. d. is the tendency to attribute failures to the situation while attributing successes to internal causes.

Is the belief that a behavior is caused by the internal characteristics of a person

According to the authors of Organizational Behavior, a company's greatest asset is: a. its product. b. its financial resources. c. its people. d. its location.

Its people

Research on team size suggests: a. groups larger than 20 members are highly effective. b. teams with fewer members are less effective at working through differences. c. larger groups are generally required for very complex tasks. d. there is little relationship between team size and performance.

Larger groups are generally required for very complex tasks.

Research indicates that all of the following characteristics produce healthy organizations EXCEPT: a. role clarity. b. participative decision making. c. information sharing. d. limited feedback.

Limited feedback

Internal attribution occurs with: a. low consensus, high distinctiveness, and high consistency. b. high consensus, high distinctiveness, and high consistency. c. low consensus, low distinctiveness, and high consistency. d. high consensus, low distinctiveness, and high consistency.

Low consensus, low distinctiveness, and high consistency

Cultures that are comfortable in unpredictable situations and have high tolerance for ambiguity are: a. low uncertainty avoidance cultures. b. collectivistic cultures. c. high uncertainty avoidance cultures. d. individualistic cultures.

Low uncertainty avoidance cultures

When analyzing the information on work attitudes and aspects of the work environment, which of the following statements is true? a. Attitudes always predict behavior in the work environment. b. People with negative work attitudes never perform well. c. Personality and organizational citizenship behaviors are the two key attitudes that are the most relevant to important outcomes in the work environment. d. Maintenance of the psychological contract helps develop organizational commitment.

Maintenance of the psychological contract helps develop organizational commitment.

Which of the following is NOT a recommended step to take to avoid getting stuck in the storming phase of Tuckman's group development? a. Make sure to limit discussions and discussants. It is not productive to re-hash all the same points over and over. b. Do not rush the group's development. It takes time to get things right. c. Normalize conflict. Conflict is normal and can be cathartic. d. Support all group members. Do not allow anyone to feel insecure as he or she operates in the group.

Make sure to limit discussions and discussants. It is not productive to re-hash all the same points over and over.

Tactical decisions are generally made by: a. CEOs. b. engineers. c. managers. d. Boards of Directors.

Managers

Which of the following is related to lower levels of organizational commitment? a. negative affective disposition b. maintenance of the psychological contract between worker and firm c. perceived fairness of company policies d. manager consideration of our opinions and suggestions

Negative affective disposition

Overconfidence bias: a. is the tendency of decision makers to be influenced by the way that problems are framed. b. occurs when looking backward in time where mistakes seem obvious after they have already occurred. c. refers to the tendency for individuals to rely too heavily on a single piece of information. d. occurs when individuals overestimate their ability to predict future events.

Occurs when individuals overestimate their ability to predict future events

Programmed decisions are: a. unique, nonroutine, and important, requiring conscious thinking, information gathering and careful consideration of alternatives. b. decisions that are made to set the course of an organization. c. a set of parameters against which all of the potential options in decision making will be evaluated. d. ones which occur frequently enough that an automated response is developed for them.

Ones which occur frequently enough that an automated response is developed for them

An attitude is: a. our opinions, beliefs and feelings about our environment. b. an outcome of our efforts. c. the drive that energizes an individual. d. the degree to which people have freedom to decide how to act.

Our opinions, our beliefs and feelings about our environment

Which of the following statements regarding race diversity in the American workplace is correct? a. Highly-paid minority managers indicate that they have experienced very few situations in the workplace where race was an issue. b. A majority of American employees surveyed indicate that their firms are quite effective at hiring and promoting minorities. c. Ethnic minorities experience a slight wage gap but no glass ceiling. d. Overt discrimination against ethnic minorities still occurs in many workplaces.

Overt discrimination against ethnic minorities still occurs in many workplaces.

Which of the following statements regarding employee satisfaction at work is FALSE? a. Personality is related to one's happiness at work. b. Developing good relationships at work improves employee satisfaction. c. A fit between you and the company is important. d. Pay is the most important aspect of job satisfaction.

Pay is the most important aspect of job satisfaction.

Which of the following statements about self-efficacy is INCORRECT? a. Self-efficacy is job specific. b. People with high self-efficacy tend to procrastinate. c. Self-efficacy is related to job performance. d. Training people to increase their self-efficacy can be effective.

People with high self-efficacy tend to procrastinate.

Which of the following statements about work attitude causes is accurate? a. Job satisfaction is purely environmental. b. Person/job fit is positively related to job satisfaction. c. Psychological contract breach leads to high job satisfaction. d. Organizational justice results in psychological contract breach.

Person/job fit is positively related to job satisfaction

Research suggests which of the following relationships between performance and turnover? a. Pay for performance systems have no impact on an employee's likelihood to turnover. b. The establishment of a pay for performance system in a company guarantees that high performers will stay in the firm. c. In general, good performers are more likely to leave a firm because other firms readily recognize their skills and actively seek their employment. d. Poor performers are more likely to quit their jobs compared to high performers.

Poor performers are more likely to quit their jobs compared to high performers.

Which of the following factors is not a cause of high levels of absenteeism in a firm? a. positive work attitudes b. health problems c. age of the worker d. work/life balance issues

Positive work attitudes

Research on absenteeism indicates which of the following statements to be accurate? a. Problems in job design can result in absenteeism. b. Older individuals, because they are more likely to have health problems, are more likely to be absent from work. c. Employees who are permitted to manage their work schedules with regard to time at the company are more likely to be absent. d. Absenteeism saves organizations money because the company does not have to pay employees who are absent from their jobs.

Problems in job design can result in absenteeism.

The Americans with Disabilities Act a. requires a firm to hire individuals with disabilities. b. requires a firm to interview individuals with disabilities. c. prohibits discrimination in employment against individuals with physical disabilities. d. prohibits discrimination in employment against individuals with physical or mental disabilities if these employees are otherwise qualified to do their jobs with or without reasonable accommodation.

Prohibits discrimination in employment against individuals with physical or mental disabilities if these employees are otherwise qualified to do their jobs with or without reasonable accommodation

Positive emotions

Reactions to desired events

Negative emotions

Reactions to undesired events

Problem solving tasks: a. include actually making something such as a building, product or marketing plan. b. deal with creative tasks such as brainstorming a new direction or creating a new process. c. refer to coming up with plans for actions and making decisions. d. involve team members working on each task simultaneously.

Refer to coming up with plans for actions and making decisions

Values: a. encompass the relatively stable feelings, thoughts, and behavioral patterns a person has. b. are initial thoughts and perceptions we form about people, which tend to be stable and resilient to contrary information. c. are generalizations based upon a perceived group characteristic. d. refer to stable life goals people have, reflecting what is most important to them

Refer to stable life goals people have, reflecting what is most important to them

The creative decision-making process: a. describes a series of steps that decision makers should consider if their goal is to maximize their outcome and make the best choice. b. recognizes the limitations of decision making processes by having individuals knowingly limit their options to a manageable set and choose the best alternative without conducting an exhaustive search of alternatives. c. refers to arriving at decisions without conscious reasoning, arguing that experts make decisions by scanning the environment for cues to recognize patterns. d. refers to arriving at decisions after first gathering information about the problem and then setting the problem consciously aside until an insightful solution to the problem arises.

Refers to arriving at decisions after first gathering information about the problem and then setting the problem consciously aside until an insightful solution to the problem arises.

Task interdependence: a. exists when team members work independently and simply combine their efforts to create a team's outputs. b. refers to one individual's output becoming another's input. c. involves team members working on each task simultaneously. d. refers to the degree that team members are dependent upon one another to get information, support or materials from other team members to be effective.

Refers to the degree that team members are dependent upon one another to get information, support or materials from other team members to be effective.

The likelihood that findings in a given study would be found in another setting or study is: a. reliability. b. validity. c. meta-analysis. d. generalizability.

Reliability

Experts propose that creativity occurs as a result of the interaction between all of the following factors EXCEPT: a. situational context (like physical structure). b. personality traits (like risk-taking). c. serendipity or luck. d. attributes (like expertise).

Serendipity or luck

Norms are: a. agreements on established ground rules, goals and roles. b. shared expectations about how things operate within a group or team. c. formal approaches to decision making in the group or team. d. measures of camaraderie in the group or team.

Shared expectations about how things operate within a group or team

An example of a strategic decision is: a. How often should I communicate with my new coworkers? b. How should we market the new product line? c. Should we downsize our organization? d. What should I say to customers about our new product?

Should we downsize our organization?

Work on team processes has been carried out in what area? a. sociology b. finance c. economics d. physics

Sociology

What is the second stage in Tuckman's four-stage map of group evolution? a. norming b. storming c. forming d. performing

Storming

Demographic traits make up: a. deep-level diversity. b. cultural diversity. c. collective diversity. d. surface diversity.

Surface diversity

Which of the following statements regarding team size and diversity is correct? a. The more diverse the team, the more likely the team is to engage in groupthink. b. The rule of thumb for team size is between 10 and 20 members. c. Teams that believe in the value of diversity perform better than those which do not. d. Teams whose members have complementary skills are less successful than those with specialized skills.

Teams that believe in the value of diversity perform better than those which do not.

Companies in cultures high in uncertainty avoidance: a. have a very short, simple recruiting and selection process for new employees. b. tend to have written employment contracts for employees. c. have limited numbers of policies and procedures in employee handbooks and other manuals. d. tend to enter a large number of foreign markets.

Tend to have written employment contracts for employees.

When the goal of the decision making exercise is to make a satisfactory decision because you are limited in some way such as effort, you should utilize: a. the rational decision-making model. b. the intuitive decision-making model. c. the bounded rationality decision-making model. d. the creative decision-making model.

The bounded rationality decision-making model

Emotional intelligence

The degree of awareness of one's own and others' emotions

Which of the following statements about emotions at work is FALSE: a. Emotions shape an individual's belief about the value of a job, a company, or a team. b. Emotions affect behaviors at work. c. Emotions inspire actions that can benefit or impede others at work. d. Jobs that are high in negative emotion can lead to frustration and burnout—an ongoing negative emotional state resulting from dissatisfaction. e. The effects of negative emotions at work typically do not have significant impacts on customers.

The effects of negative emotions at work typically do not have significant impacts on customers.

Self-monitoring is: a. the degree to which a person has overall positive feelings about himself. b. the extent to which a person is capable of monitoring his/her actions and appearance in social situations. c. the belief that one can perform a specific task successfully. d. a person's inclination to fix what is perceived as wrong, change the status quo, and use initiative to solve problems.

The extent to which a person is capable of monitoring his/her actions and appearance in social situations

Research shows that all of the following impact the employee's satisfaction with the job and commitment to the organization EXCEPT: a. how he or she is treated in the firm. b. the actual work the employee performs. c. the firm's competitiveness. d. the relationships formed with colleagues and managers.

The firm's competitiveness

Which of the following statements regarding the explanations for the glass ceiling is INCORRECT? a. The glass ceiling may exist for women because they lack the education levels necessary to assume high-level managerial positions. b. The glass ceiling may be based on the stereotype that the male characteristic of assertiveness is necessary to manage, but women tend to be passive. c. The glass ceiling may exist for women because their accomplishments are often not valued as highly as are those of their male counterparts. d. The glass ceiling may exist for women because they are viewed as displaying submissive characteristics in contrast to their male counterparts who are viewed as possessing more confidence.

The glass ceiling may exist for women because they lack the education levels necessary to assume high-level managerial positions.

Which of the following statements is INCORRECT with regard to the concept of social loafing? a. The incidence of social loafing declines as group size increases. b. A tendency for social loafing develops when a perception of inequity in regard to rewards and/or blame arises in a group. c. Social loafing is a consistent effect across groups. d. Social loafing is a consistent effect across cultures.

The incidence of social loafing declines as group size increases.

Which of the following statements related to fundamental factors affecting a group's cohesion is correct? a. The larger a group, the more cohesive it is likely to be. b. The more similar group members are, the more cohesive the group is likely to be. c. The more coaching group members receive, the less cohesive the group is likely to be. d. The less time a group has stayed together, the more cohesive a group is likely to be.

The more similar group members are, the more cohesive the group is likely to be.

Which of the following statements regarding techniques for making better decisions is INCORRECT? a. The nominal group technique is a technique used routinely at most meetings. b. Consensus requires more time to carry out, but it works well when support is needed for a plan. c. The Delphi technique is a group process using written responses to a series of questionnaires so individuals are not physically brought together to make a decision. d. Majority rule is simple, speedy and easy to use.

The nominal group technique is a technique used routinely at most meetings.

Emotional labor

The regulation of feelings and expressions for organizational purposes

Which of the following statements about case studies is true? a. They involve a study conducted under controlled conditions. b. They offer the researcher a very simple and effective way to generalize what worked in a single situation to many other situations. c. They are a technique employed by researchers to summarize what other researchers found on a topic. d. They are a way to gather data and explain an event or situation in detail.

They are a way to gather data and explain an event or situation in detail

Which of the following employees is more likely to turnover? a. those who have been in the company for a long time. b. those who have negative work attitudes c. those who have a low deal of stress d. those who are high performers.

Those who have negative work attitudes

Employees with which of the following personality traits would experience high job satisfaction? a. those with positive affective dispositions b.those with neurotic personalities c. those with low self-esteem d. those who are introverted

Those with positive affective dispositions

Which of the following statements regarding work attitude and performance is FALSE? a. Those with the most positive work attitudes are always strong performers. b. In engineering, there tends to be a stronger link between work attitude and performance than one finds in an assembly line job. c. The correlation between commitment and performance is not strong. d. Your skill level in performing a job matters.

Those with the most positive work attitudes are always strong performers.

Gender discrimination is prohibited by which of the following laws? a. Age Discrimination Act b. Americans with Disabilities Act c. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act d. Occupational Safety and Health Act

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act

True or false? Winning the war for talent means attracting the right workers who will be enthusiastic about their work.

True

Tuckman's forming stage is characterized by: a. uncertainty, with observant, conflict avoidant group members who are trying to achieve several goals at once. b. competent group members who work interdependently as part of a greater entity. c. chaos with group members exploring power and influence roles. d. high energy with group members committed to each other and the overall goal.

Uncertainty, with observant, conflict avoidant group members who are trying to achieve several goals at once.

Study findings on personality indicate: a. we are more emotionally stable and more organized between the ages of 20 and 40. b. personality is the primary predictor of work behavior. c. although personality impacts us during our youth it has no lasting consequences for us. d. although it is interesting information, employee personality has relatively little impact on placing individuals in jobs.

We are more emotionally stable and more organized between the ages of 20 and 40.

Surface acting

When an individual exhibits physical signs, such as smiling, that reflect emotions others want to experience

Genuine acting

When individuals are asked to display emotions that are aligned with their own

Which of the following is not an explanation that has been offered to account for the earnings gap of 21% between the pay of females and males? a. Women lack the high-level skill sets that men possess. b. Women have résumé gaps due to time off for childcare. c. Women pursue lower-paying occupations than men pursue. d. Women tend to negotiate less than men and when they do negotiate, women attain lower levels of pay than men do.

Women lack the high-level skill sets that men possess.

Indicate which of the following statements is true: a. A happy worker is always a productive worker. b. Work attitude is related to organizational citizenship behaviors. c. Attitude is the most important factor in performance. d. Work attitude has no impact on customer satisfaction.

Work attitude is related to organizational citizenship behaviors.

Age is positively correlated with all of the following behaviors EXCEPT: a. citizenship behaviors. b. compliance with safety rules. c. performance. d. work injuries.

Work injuries