Organizational Behavior Exam 3

The key properties of a true team are collaborative action, sacrifice for the common good, and compensation based upon individual outcomes. Select one: True False

False

The rational decision-making model limits the number of alternatives considered. Select one: True False

False

Though employees seem more satisfied when their company communicates with them about issues that impact them, effective communication does little to improve the firm's market value. Select one: True False

False

Verbal communication is largely asynchronous. Select one: True False

False

Written communication is best utilized when the ideas are simple. Select one: True False

False

Social roles in a group or team include cooperator, communicator, and calibrator. Select one: True False

True

The performing stage of group development involves attention to work content and process. Select one: True False

True

Research indicates that communication ability is related to a manager's performance. Select one: True False

True

A group is a cohesive coalition of people working together to achieve mutual goals while a team is a collection of individuals who interact with each other such that one person's actions have an impact on another's. Select one: True False

False

Experts agree that organizations should regularly monitor employees' online activity. Select one: True False

False

Listening is an art, not a skill, and thus individuals cannot be trained to be better listeners. Select one: True False

False

Americans tend to have a higher tolerance for conflict as a way of working through issues than their Japanese counterparts. Select one: True False

True

Conflict can be dysfunctional if it involves personal attacks. Select one: True False

True

Groups with high group cohesion and high task commitment generally have high performance. Select one: True False

True

Having a devil's advocate in meetings is a technique that can help avoid groupthink. Select one: True False

True

Which of the following statements regarding conflict in the workplace is accurate? Select one: a. A bureaucratic organizational structure can lead to conflict between high and low power people. b. To avoid conflict in communication, focus on the person, not behavior or its effects. c. Conflict can be dysfunctional in an organization even if it is moderate. d. Consideration of a broader range of ideas is a negative outcome of conflict in the organization.

a. A bureaucratic organizational structure can lead to conflict between high and low power people.

Which of the following statements about communication is correct? Select one: a. Communication is the process by which information is exchanged between individuals, through a common system of symbols, signs or behavior. b. Miscommunication is an annoyance, but seldom has serious consequences. c. Between 10 and 20 percent of a manager's time is spent communicating. d. Communication ability is particularly important in lower levels of organizations.

a. Communication is the process by which information is exchanged between individuals, through a common system of symbols, signs or behavior.

Which of the following statements about conflict is accurate? Select one: a. Conflict can paralyze an organization. b. Conflict can lead to higher organizational commitment. c. Conflict is not a major issue in the workplace. d. Conflict is always problematic in an organization.

a. Conflict can paralyze an organization.

Which conflict handling style is indicated by an individual who says, "Maybe we can both agree to give in a little."? Select one: a. compromise b. collaboration c. accommodation d. avoidance

a. compromise

*Serena listened to her manager discuss with her group the idea of painting the office walls yellow. Serena thought it was a bad idea but didn't say anything. Serena is Select one: a. conflict avoidant b. group avoidant c. team avoidant d. group conforming

a. conflict avoidant

Which of the following is considered a barrier to communication? Select one: a. filtering b. intention of communication c. selective judgment d. noise

a. filtering

All of the following are rules for active listening EXCEPT: Select one: a. find areas of agreement with the speaker. b. listen for feelings. c. note all cues. d. listen for message content. Feedback

a. find areas of agreement with the speaker.

Which of the following is an example of intrapersonal conflict? Select one: a. role conflict b. an argument between coworkers c. a conflict with a customer d. role reversal

a. role conflict

One advantage of group decision making over individual decision is Select one: a. the decision is more creative. b. accountability is easier to determine. c. the decision-making process is more efficient. d. the implementation of the decision is more difficult.

a. the decision is more creative.

Which of the following statements regarding external communications is accurate? Select one: a. Press releases are intended to inform employees of happenings within the organization. b. Ad fees are based on the perceived value of the audience who watches, reads or listens to the channel where the ad appears. c. The key to a successful external communication to customers is to keep the business message formal and professional. d. Blogs are shrinking in popularity, because people wan

b. Ad fees are based on the perceived value of the audience who watches, reads or listens to the channel where the ad appears.

Which of the following statements is correct with regard to the forming stage of group development? Select one: a. Leadership does not matter at this stage. b. Group members are trying to learn about one another. c. Group members are cohesive and cooperative. d. Group members are trying to clarify what needs to be done and who needs to do it.

b. Group members are trying to learn about one another.

*A meeting that helps analyze how a project went, what went well and what could have been done better is Select one: a. a norming meeting b. an after-action review c. an informal review d. a cohesion meeting

b. an after-action review

The availability of too much information leading to more and more time being spent on gathering information and thinking about it, resulting in no decisions being made is Select one: a. satisficing. b. analysis paralysis. c. wildstorming. d. anchoring.

b. analysis paralysis.

Idea generation tasks Select one: 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.

b. deal with creative tasks such as brainstorming a new direction or creating a new process.

Social loafing Select one: a. declines as group size increases. b. develops when a perception of inequity in regard to rewards and/or blame arises in a group. c. is relatively rare within groups. d. is more frequent in the United States.

b. develops when a perception of inequity in regard to rewards and/or blame arises in a group.

When people consider themselves like other people, and overestimate their similarities to other people, they are making a Select one: a. self-enhancement bias b. false consensus error c. stereotyping d. self-effacement bias

b. false consensus error

Students come to class and ask why they are not receiving syllabi. This question represents what aspect of the communication model? Select one: a. noise b. feedback c. medium d. message

b. feedback

The tendency to avoid a critical evaluation of ideas that the group favors is called Select one: a. anchoring. b. groupthink. c. analysis paralysis. d. wildstorming.

b. groupthink.

The fact that Bill seldom complains about the referees suggests he has Select one: a. low distinctiveness. b. high distinctiveness. c. high consistency. d. low consensus.

b. high distinctiveness.

*Sal is an Account Executive and when he sells a new client, he promises delivery in two weeks even though the company standard is four weeks. Dina is the delivery manager and she is angry with Sal because he made the promise that she has to deliver. Sal and Dina have conflict over Select one: a. personality differences b. incompatible goals c. communication problems. d. limited resources

b. incompatible goals

Conflict between two individuals such as coworkers is also known as Select one: a. intrapersonal conflict b. interpersonal conflict. c. intergroup conflict. d. interdepartmental conflict.

b. interpersonal conflict.

Norms refer to Select one: 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.

b. shared expectations about how things operate within a group or team.

A series of steps that decision makers should consider if their goal is to maximize their outcome and make the best choice describes Select one: a. the bounded rationality model. b. the rational decision-making model. c. the intuitive decision-making model. d. the creative decision-making model.

b. the rational decision-making model.

Which of the following statements regarding the bargaining phase of negotiation is correct? Select one: a. The bargaining phase gets the least amount of attention during the negotiation process. b. Making concessions during the negotiation process is a sign of weakness. c. A key to the bargaining phase is asking questions. d. This is the phase of negotiation where you determine your BATNA.

c. A key to the bargaining phase is asking questions.

Which of the following statements regarding Gersick's study of punctuated equilibrium is correct? Select one: a. Most change in groups is characterized by periods of revolutionary chaos. b. All groups are able to readily adapt to new environments that arise due to change. c. The punctuated equilibrium model is cyclical in nature. d. Groups generally cycle through the Storming and Norming stages of group development.

c. The punctuated equilibrium model is cyclical in nature.

A group is defined as Select one: a. a temporary team addressing a specific problem or issue until it is resolved. b. a cohesive coalition of people working together to achieve mutual goals. c. a collection of individuals interacting with each other in such a way that one person's actions have an impact on the others. d. teams with members who are not located in the same physical space.

c. a collection of individuals interacting with each other in such a way that one person's actions have an impact on the others.

Which conflict handling style is indicated by an individual who says, "I don't really care if we work this out."? Select one: a. accommodation b. collaboration c. avoidance d. compromise

c. avoidance

Which of the following is an effective way to manage organizational conflict? Select one: a. consensus decision making b. change the team composition to have more diversity c. create a common opposing force d. eliminate hierarchy

c. create a common opposing force

Eduardo always challenges team members' positions on various issues discussed in the weekly meeting. Nannette told Eduardo yesterday, "I always have to be prepared when I present ideas to our team because I know you will question everything and make us see the other side of every issue." Eduardo performs the task role of ____________________ on the team. Select one: a. creator b. contributor c. critic d. completer

c. critic

*Tomas was excited because Sandi's Bakery was offering buy one-get one free on their tasty eclairs so he bought a dozen. Last week, the eclairs were 50% off and he didn't buy any. Tomas experienced Select one: a. correlation and causality bias. b. availability bias. c. framing bias. d. overconfidence bias.

c. framing bias.

Collectivist societies tend to Select one: a. value individual achievement over interpersonal relationships. b. have employees who adapt readily to working in different teams. c. have employees who evaluate their group members higher than their counterparts in individualistic societies do. d. value loyalty much less than individualistic societies do.

c. have employees who evaluate their group members higher than their counterparts in individualistic societies do.

Arielle is part of a team charged with developing a new name for a product. This is a(n) ________________ task. Select one: a. development b. production c. idea generation d. problem-solving

c. idea generation

An informal work group refers to Select one: 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 associated with one another but not by the organization. d. a cohesive coalition of people working together to achieve mutual goals.

c. made up of two or more individuals associated with one another but not by the organization.

Storytelling is an effective form of communication for which of the following situations? Select one: a. assigning tasks to an employee b. explaining the benefit package changes to employees c. orienting new employees to the company's culture d. correcting an employee's approach to a project

c. orienting new employees to the company's culture

Which of the following is an example of a temporary team? Select one: a. empowered team b. virtual team c. task force d. self-managed team

c. task force

Which of the following statements characterize a group at the storming stage? Select one: a. the group is competent, autonomous, and insightful. b. the group's members are comfortable with each other and know where they fit in c. the group members are argumentative. d. group discussions are reflective and centered on learning from the past.

c. the group members are argumentative.

Which of the following statements about attribution is correct? Select one: a. Attributions depend only on consensus, distinctiveness and consistency. b. When faced with poor performance, one punishes the person more if we make an external attribution. c. If someone's failure is due to internal causes, we feel empathy and offer help. d. If we make an external attribution to someone's goal achievement, we are less likely to reward the individual.

d. If we make an external attribution to someone's goal achievement, we are less likely to reward the individual.

Which of the following statements regarding negotiation strategies is correct? Select one: a. An adversarial stance is needed to begin integrative negotiation. b. Focusing on a "fixed pie" in negotiations is a good approach because it controls the number of options to be considered. c. Reviews of negotiation experiments indicate that in almost all those situations where an integrative approach to negotiations could be adopted, such an approach was utilized. d. Listening is a key element in the integrative approach to negotiation.

d. Listening is a key element in the integrative approach to negotiation.

Collective efficacy is influenced by which of the following factors? Select one: a. Use of technology. b. Ties to the organization c. Incentives and bonuses. d. Verbal persuasion.

d. Verbal persuasion.

Intrapersonal conflict refers to Select one: a. a type of conflict between two people. b. conflict that takes place between different groups such as between different departments. c. a process that involves people disagreeing. d. a type of conflict that arises when a person is uncertain about what is expected or wanted or has a sense of being inadequate to the task.

d. a type of conflict that arises when a person is uncertain about what is expected or wanted or has a sense of being inadequate to the task.

Jason sent an email to his mother, "Ur never going 2 believe this. That prof gave me no credit for my paper. I h8 him." (with emoticons included). When his mother got the e-mail, it took her quite some time to decipher the message. Jason should have considered his audience when he _________ the message. Select one: a. decoded b. validated c. received d. encoded

d. encoded

Sara's laptop started causing her problems. It was taking a long time to boot up, and froze unexpectedly a number of times. Now the laptop has shut down completely and she cannot get it started up again. One of the group members on her project said to Sara, "You should have gone for help when it started acting up, now you've affected all of us." This scenario is an example of what type of decision-making trap? Select one: a. framing bias b. anchoring c. overconfidence bias d. hindsight bias

d. hindsight bias

The competition conflict handling style Select one: a. is a middle ground style. b. is uncooperative and unassertive. c. is cooperative and unassertive. d. is highly assertive but low on cooperation.

d. is highly assertive but low on cooperation.

Overconfidence bias Select one: 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.

d. occurs when individuals overestimate their ability to predict future events.

Communication usually travels diagonally to Select one: a. supervisors. b. coworkers. c. subordinates. d. other departments.

d. other departments.