COMM 3920 Midterm

"Green" companies

Businesses that want to raise their level of environmental responsibility and make decsions with environmental considerations in mind.

A personnel director asking applicants to submit resumes in a particular format would be an example of an assembly rule that assists in sensemaking.

True

Equivocality is likely to be high in highly competitive business environments.

True

In Weick's view of organizing, responding to highly equivocal information requires the use of assembly rules.

True

It is impossible to fulfill one's higher order needs without taking care of other's lower order needs.

True

Role-related information encompasses the information, skills, procedures, and rules that an individual must grasp to perform on the job.

True

The Hawthorne Studies were motivated by the classical approach to organizing and led to the human relations approach to organizing.

True

The number of people supervised by a manager is known as his/her span of control.

True

According to Smith and Dougherty (2012), found that American workers held a _____________ of retirement as the ultimate maker of freedom from routine and the financial need to work.

"master narrative"

Terrorism

A set of strategies (rather than a particular ideology) that involves the use of unpredictable violence against individuals and thus creates ongoing fear and suspicion amoung large groups of people.

Michael is a sales representative who spends a great deal of time out on the road and infrequently communicates with the rest of his sales team. He is

An isolate

At the turn of the 20th century, piecework pay was the typical organizational reward system. If an organization with a bunch of bricklayers typically laid bricks at the rate of 100 bricks an hour, but someone new begins work and lays bricks at the rate of 200 bricks and hour, the manager might conclude everyone should be laying bricks at this rate and ___________, or lower the pay per brick laid.

Bust the rate

Homeland security

Communication systems that enhance border security, improve tracking of possible terrorist activities, and develop the ability of first-response organizations to act quickly and appropriately in case of terrorist threats or attacks.

Generational cohorts

Divisions of populations by similarities in birth year and associated similarities in experience.

Tempest, a new employee at Litter and Kibbles Pet Supplies, arrived at work this morning at 9 a.m. only to find that all the other employees had been working since 6 a.m. She was not aware that they workday at this company began at such an early hour. Tempest has just experienced which phase of socialization?

Encounter

Three people were fired at ABC Corporation. Eugene was fired because he was incompetent. Rita was fired because she was unethical. Kayla was fired because of economic conditions. This illustrates the systems property of

Equifinality

The organizational world is less complicated than it was 100 years ago.

False

Theory X and Theory Y invlove the assumptions that managers hold about workers.

False

The collapse of the U.S. sub-prime mortgage and the reversal of the housing boom which then had a ripple effect around the world shows how much the interconnectedness of a ___________ economy matter.

Global

Jacob has been hinting that he loves to bowl and would like to join the company bowling team in order to get to know his new coworkers. He is probably using which one of the following information seeking tactics?

Indirect questions

Although she couldn't tell a woofer from a tweeter, Jacqueline had a great deal of power at Hear It Here Stereo Shop because her family had owned the business for many years. What type of authority does Jacqueline hold?

Legitimate power

Centeralization

Managerial control over decision-making and employee activities.

Josh is a nurse at a hospital in Ames, Iowa. He is working on a patient who appears to be suffering from flu-like symptoms from a bacterial infection. Yolanda is a scientist for the Center for Disease Control. She has been studying bacteria samples that were found in Ames which appear to be traces of biological terrorist weapon that creates the flu-like symptoms Josh has been observing in his patient. The difficulty of getting Yolanda and Josh to exchange helpful information through the work of the Department of Homeland Security is really a problem of ___________, according to the text.

Organizational communication

A business practice associated with globalization involves businesses moving manufacturing and service centers to countries where labor is cheap. This practice is commonly known as

Outsourcing

Esmeralda started a new job putting peanuts into small bags to sell outside of the baseball park (at a nickel per bag). Esmeralda found that she has a knack for the job and started working fast so she could earn a lot of money. Her coworkers Glenn and Helen quickly tried to convince her to slow down, as they knew management might start paying them only a penny a bag if they realized how easy the job was. Esmeralda is an example of a(n)______________, and Glenn and Helen's communication is an example of ________________.

Rate-buster/Systematic soldiering

Horace manages a fast food restaurant and never worries too much about treating his employees well, because he knows the local high school is full of students willing to work for minimum wage. What principle of the "machine metaphor" does Horace's attitude exemplify?

Replaceability

Jasprit is the new manager of Burger Barn. During his first meeting with his employees, he emphasizes his many years of experience as a manager of fast food restaurants to assure the employees he knows what he is doing in a time of change. His message could most easily be studied through a ___________ approach to communication.

Rhetorical

Dora is very appreciative that her employer provides gloves to protect her hands from dangerous chemicals she uses in her work. According to Maslow, what need level is Dora concerned with?

Safety needs

Human relations principles argue that

Satisfaction of higher-order needs leads directly to job satisfaction.

Domains of communication theory

Seven different ways of thinking about how communication works in the world which include rhetorical, semiotic, phenomenological, cybernetic, sociopsychological, sociocultural, and critical.

Demographics

Statistical descriptions of characteristics of a population, such as age, race, income, educational attainment, etc.

If a newcomer tries to see how far he or she can deviate from an organiztional rule and observe the subsequent reaction, the ____________ information seeking tactic is being used.

Testing limits

Requisite variety

The need for organizations and groups to be as complicated as the problems that confront them.

Globalization

The process of our world becoming ever more connected in economic, political, organizational, and personal terms as transporation and telecommunication systems improve.

Climate change

The upward shift in overal global temperature, rising sea levels, and extreme weather events.

Transmission model of communication

View of communication as a process of moving information from souces to receivers.

Constitutive model of communication

View of communication as a process that produces and reproduces shared meaning.

War on terror

military actions and bureaucratic processes that seek to prevent and fight terrorism.