Management Exam 2 Study Plan Questions
"I will not apply for the open position in Ms. Jones department. I hear she can be a hard taskmaster." This statement represents the ____________ component of attitude.
Behavioral
Smithy's, the local coffee shop, is switching to an online pay system. What kind of organizational change are they facing?
Changing technology
Mark's palms get sweaty and his stomach churns each time he is paged to the boss' office, which, thankfully, does not happen that often. This reaction is a good example of _______________.
Classical conditioning
Which of the following is considered a traditional organizational design?
Divisional
Paul has decided on Bob for the new management position. Lori feels like she was looked over again and that Bob received the promotion because he is a man. If this were truly the case, it may in fact be a(n) _________ issue.
EEO
The first phase of the HRM process involves which of the following?
Employment planning
Lori is very excited to have some "new blood" on the team. She is looking for the new college grads to bring energy and ideas to the team. She is quickly learning these new employees are pre-occupied with the technology and always trying to figure out how to leverage the apps in their work. More than likely Lori has hired new employees who represent which generation?
Gen Y
The best way that managers can manage negative behavior in the workplace is which of the following?
Recognize it's there
Which country has the highest stress level on average?
United Kingdom
Michael is very pumped up about the new direction his company is headed in. With everything new that is about to take place, Michael's boss enlists his help as a __________.
Change agent
According to the MBTI Type Indicator, a person high on the Thinking dimension would prefer to ______________.
Deal with facts and logic
B. Dillon is a company that is trying to grow from a culture focused on sales to a culture that is focused on customer relations. This represents which of the following OB focus areas?
Organizational
Innovation is unlikely to be present in an organization that _________.
Punishes failure
Which of the following is not part of the creative process?
Teamwork
For Safa, family always came first. Even during team meetings, Safa could not restrain herself from talking about her children and their activities. Safa forgot that ______________.
we adjust our roles to the group we belong to at the time
Year after year, Hal has rated Bob and Jim's performance at a higher level than Sue and Tina. But by all accounts, Bob, Jim, Sue, and Tina have all made about the same number of sales and brought in the same amount of revenue each year. Some people say the ratings reflect Hal's thoughts about men being in his sales department. This would reflect which perceptual shortcut?
"Like me" effect
In which one of the following situations would a team be most appropriate?
A customer has received a defective product. The manufacturer would like to find and correct the cause of the defect to prevent a recurrence.
"Consuela, the poster you made for the company picnic is very creative. I'm sure it will attract a lot of attention." When delivered by her supervisor, Consuela will likely interpret these statements as ____________.
A reward
Pedro's team has solved the problem of a deviation from print on a part in the steering column. When the "fix" was applied on the production line, no more incorrect parts were produced and the customer was happy with the results. Now it is time for Pedro's team to ___________.
Adjourn
Under the _________________, Houston requested that his computer have speech recognition software installed because his rheumatoid arthritis had made typing very slow and difficult.
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
Which one of the following is most likely to support a learning organization?
Benton College, where faculty are encouraged to work together in teams, to experiment with teaching methods, and to share experiences with colleagues.
Bismarck is an employee of Leoni whose additional responsibilities include bringing the interests of all the employees to the attention of the directors. In this capacity, he serves as a _____________.
Board representative
The registrar's office has a reputation for requiring lots of documentation, long lines, and rigid departmentalization. This would be an example of which of the following structures?
Bureaucratic
The country whose human resource management laws are most like those of the United States is ___________.
Canada
Which of the following major concepts of group behavior describes the degree to which members are attracted to one another?
Cohesion
Which one of the following organizations is most likely to engage in innovation?
Company C relies on cross-functional teams and open communication between departments.
At Smith and Jones, employees and dependents who certify that they have been tobacco-free for six months or longer pay $50 less per month for health insurance. Smith and Jones's ultimate goal in this healthy initiative is to ___________.
Control costs
To plan next year's strategy, Jill has brought the best and brightest from around the organization together. Representatives from each area were asked to bring their ideas for the new year. This represents which kind of team?
Cross-functional team
Linda has come into work late again. Her supervisor Dawn is getting tired of this behavior and needs to address this. Because Linda has made being late to everything a habit, Dawn is sure this is caused by nothing but Linda's poor attitude. Which factor of attribution theory is Dawn relying on to make this assessment?
Distinctiveness
What can an organization do to protect itself from a sexual harassment lawsuit?
Educate all employees on sexual harassment matters and have mechanisms available to monitor employees.
With the introduction of the new compensation system, HR knows that people are getting a little anxious. So along with the announcement of the new system, HR is sending out an email that will explain why the new system is necessary and how the system is going to benefit the employees and the organization. HR is trying to reduce the resistance to change by doing which of the following?
Education and communication
Brian feels very passionate about the new plan for the operations department. This is the first exciting thing that Brian has seen happen in his department. This represents which component of Brian's attitude?
Effective
Because of recent increases in the popularity of its products, employees at ABC Corp. have been working longer hours and many Saturdays. Despite the larger paychecks, employees are becoming testy and less cooperative. This is typical of a change in __________ that might prompt organizational change.
Employee attitudes
Downsizing has affected performance evaluations by ________________.
Expanding the span of control
In meetings, John has been known to raise his voice and use a tone that many on his team find offensive. In the past, this has gotten John attention and people stop to listen to his rant. Ross has now decided that this will not continue, and that the team will just ignore John when he speaks with such disrespect. This is an example of which of the following?
Extinction
Chris loves meeting people at work. Some say he has never met a stranger. This behavior has served him very well in his position as he has built a large network of support. This part of his personality may be best characterized by which of the following?
Extraversion
Herman, a full time employee, is allowed to begin his day as early as 6 a.m. or as late as 10 a.m. He can leave as early as 2:30 p.m. or work as late as 6:30 p.m., so long as he works a full 40 hours each week. Herman's employer is using a work arrangement known as __________.
Flextime
In her therapies practice, Carla has 10 speech pathologists, 12 occupational therapists, and 15 physical therapists in addition to accounting and maintenance personnel. What kind of structure would be suitable for this practice?
Functional
Social loafing is a very individualist perspective. Countries that value the individual over the team should be more cautious and not surprised to see social loafing. This represents which of the current issues in teams?
Global perspectives
The performance appraisal form Gary is using lists several essential duties of the position and instructs him to assign a number between 1 and 5 for each duty, according to the level of the employee's performance. Gary is using a ____________.
Graphic rating scale
Travis will do whatever it takes to succeed, even using deception and manipulation when it suits him. Travis is ______________.
High is machiavellianism
PowerPlay is a worldwide game creator with branches in Europe, Asia, North America, and South America. It also operates retail outlets for its games. Although store employees can make small decisions regarding customer satisfaction, all major decisions are made by the senior management team. We could say with confidence that PowerPlay is ____________.
Highly centralized
As a successful and popular politician, Howard is high in self-monitoring. Which one of the following would we expect from Howard?
Howard adjusts his message to his audience, telling them what he thinks they want to hear.
Getting the right number of people in the right place at the right time is the mission of which of the following?
Human resource management
Marietta believed strongly in her idea. She enthusiastically spoke of it often to others who could help her develop it. She drew word pictures of a future that included her new product, inspiring others to join her team. Marietta is a(n) ______________.
Idea champion
John has studied Maslow, Herzberg, Gilbreth, and House to see if he can identify factors that will cause his employees to work more effectively and efficiently. John is looking for ways to __________.
Improve productivity
After hearing a friend say "Why doesn't someone come with a better way to ...?" William began thinking of ways to meet his friend's need. William is in the ___________ stage of innovation.
Incubation
Zoe must make a comparison between the members of her team. This is not a task she enjoys, but she understands why it has to be done. She has listed all of her employees in order from highest to lowest performance levels. This took a great deal of time, but Zoe made sure that there were no ties between employees and that everyone was in the correct order. This is which approach for comparing employees?
Individual ranking
Gale and three coworkers work out at the same gym four days each week. Sometimes they talk about work because they operate similar machines. We would consider Gale and her coworkers to be a(n) _____________.
Informal group
The members of the production department at JKL Company think the engineers are a bunch of clowns; the engineers are convinced none of the production workers can read a blueprint. JKL could benefit from the organizational development technique called ___________.
Intergroup development
John is trying to decide whether or not a team is the best approach to reach the division's goals. When he assesses what is needed to reach the goals, he can see that many of the people in the division will be dependent on others on the team for their own success. This is an example of which of the "team tests" we use to determine if a team will do better than an individual?
Is there interdependence between the tasks?
Which one of the following would be considered a constructive conflict in a team?
Jack and Jill disagree on the best approach to generating ideas for a solution.
Chris met Ross for an informational interview about a job that Ross has now listed as open. At the meeting, Ross gave Chris a document that describes exactly what the new employee would do, how they should do it, and why it's done that way. This document is typically called a __________.
Job description
Enid's regular job is packer. But she has also learned to prepare shipping documents, accept deliveries from vendors, pull items from the shelves for packing, and relieve inventory when items are shippedlong dash—all by spending time working in each of those positions. Enid was trained through ___________.
Job rotation
An effective compensation system will _____________.
Keep employees motivated
In a learning organization, we would expect to find __________.
Knowledge management
After a turbulent year at Virginia Technology when customer demand came to a critical standstill and one whole division was let go, Brandon is not feeling very secure in his job. On a daily basis he is experiencing high anxiety guilt. This is best described as which of the following?
Layoff-survivor sickness
As a way to communicate innovations and new ideas with all employees inside McDoogles Game and Play, Jim McDoogle uses a tool called the McDoogle Black Box to facilitate sharing this information. McDoogles is what kind of organization?
Learning
Jayco builds travel trailers. It buys the chassis from one vendor, the furnaces from another, the windows and doors from a third, flooring from a fourth, and many other components from a variety of vendors. Jayco is using a(n) ____________ structure.
Network
The new HR team is finally building some camaraderie amongst its members. This represents which of the following stages of group development?
Norming
Without even saying it, everyone in the sales group knows that meetings start 5 minutes behind schedule. This exemplifies which of the following group concepts?
Norms
Michael is constantly pitching in and helping out when someone on the team needs help, even if it means staying late. Michael's behavior can best be described as which of the following?
OCB
Joanne loves trying new things. She is wonderful at experimenting with new technology, coming up with creative ideas, and working on the design table. This part of her personality may best be described by which of the following?
Openness to experience
In much the same way we can train dogs and children with treats for good behavior, managers can use __________ to help shape the behavior of employees.
Operant conditioning
Robert discovered that when he objected to new tasks, those tasks were assigned to other workers. So now whenever he doesn't want to do something, he objects in the same manner. This is an example of _____________.
Operant conditioning
Sam's Pizza is a local restaurant that everyone wants to work at. Sam gives all shift managers the power to make their own rules, meet the customer requests in their own way, and adapt the menu to the changing of seasons. This would be an example of which of the following structures?
Organic
Skidmore Brakes, a manufacturer of brake pads for cars, faces an environment with many competitors, frequent changes in the consumer protection requirements, and a great deal of uncertainty about the future. In this situation, we would expect Skidmore to prefer a(n) __________ structure.
Organic
Danielle believes her boss is an ogre. He threatens her with termination if she does not perform well and places unrealistic demands on her, often giving her too little time to complete tasks. She lives in fear of his angry outbursts. The tension in the office is thick enough to cut with a knife. Danielle's stress stems from _________.
Organizational leadership
Getting work done efficiently and effectively is considered the goal of?
Organizing
Ron was super excited about starting his new job. On his first day, Ron participated in a meeting where he learned about the organization and his new team. This meeting is called a(n) __________.
Orientation
When Rick objected to changes announced during the employee meetings, the rest of the employees supported him. So the plant manager began speaking with Rick before the meetings to forewarn him of the changes and solicit his opinion about them then presented the changes as a joint decision. From that point on, Rick spoke in support of the changes. Which method of reducing resistance did the plant manager use?
Participation
Jill and her teammates have become acquainted, established codes of conduct, and decided which person will fill which role on the team. Now they are ready to enter the __________________ stage.
Performing
Expecting to be working in the law library out of sight, Alicia wore orange and green striped leggings and a long T-shirt tied into a knot at the side on her first day as a paralegal at a prestigious law firm. Noticing how the other paralegals were dressed, and the disapproving looks from her supervisor, Alicia wore heels and a suit the next day. This example demonstrates _________________.
Pressure to conform
Human resource professionals wear many hats. They are legal advisors, safety experts, negotiators, disciplinarians, trainers, and many more. This situation can lead to stress caused by __________.
Role overload
Ross is having difficulty trying to find balance in life. He is feeling pressure as dad, husband, director, colleague, and friend. Ross's stress is being caused by which of the following?
Role overload
Employee job satisfaction is important to managers because _____________.
Satisfied employees are more productive
Stan is vice president of global operations with direct reports in China, Morocco, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, Thailand, the United States, and India. Stan uses his smartphone and Wi-Fi to log in to the corporate intranet to retrieve information and interact with his subordinates. His employer's biggest concern is _____________.
Security
Several people saw a hit-and-run accident. When police questioned the witnesses, they heard different descriptions of the vehicle that left the scene. These differences can be caused by __________
Selective perception
Ted started his auto repair service business in a rented garage with one service bay. As his business grew, he moved into larger facilities and hired additional service techs. Ted still makes all the decisions about the business and supervises all the techs. We would expect Ted to use a ____________ structure.
Simple
"What would you do if you were required to discipline a worker with whom you are close friends?" asked Denver of the candidate. Denver is using a(n) ______________ interview.
Situational
The best _________ for a particular situation can be determined by the experience of the employees, the strength of corporate values, and the complexity of tasks, among other factors.
Span of control
Jim had been in his position about three years, placing him in the middle on the seniority list. He had never been promoted and probably never would. He was rated as average on all of his performance evaluations. There was nothing about him that made him particularly noticeable. But it appeared to his coworkers that Jim received special treatment. He had the largest desk in the department and a reserved parking spot, for example. In this situation, there is a problem with the _______________.
Status system
The new research group is filled with conflict. Ross and Dawn are still competing to gain leadership and have the team follow their personal lead. The team is confused not only about leadership, but also about the reason they were called together. There is a great deal of aggravation and disenchantment with the research group. At this point, the research group is experiencing which of the following group stages?
Storming
Which of the following is considered a contemporary organizational design?
Team
Amazon is one of the first large online retailers who was able to capitalize in a change in ___________.
Technology
Desmond works for a technology firm in Virginia from his home in South Carolina. He is able to stay connected through Skype, Messenger, and the organization's intranet. Desmond's work arrangement is most like which of the following?
Telecommuting
Star Coffee is looking for a coffee drink that will be their next big seller. They have asked all the baristas to participate in creating new recipes for this drink. They have also told all baristas to go ahead and try any flavor combination they want; there will be no ramifications for "bad taste." Star Coffee is doing which of the following to increase creativity and innovation?
Tolerate risk
__________ is learning experiences that seek a relatively permanent change in employees by improving their ability to do their jobs.
Training
The customer care team has leveraged ________ to be the very best. They have a great deal of cooperation and have little in fighting.
Trust
Alexandria never turns off her work cell phone, believing she must be available 24/7/365. She answers emails and texts while on vacationlong dash—on those rare occasions when she actually takes a vacation. She is driven to succeed, always with her eye on the next promotion. Alexandria is the typical _________ personality.
Type A
Danylle has heard the new vision for her team, and has a basic understanding that things can't stay the way they are, but she is still not excited about the change. The best way to describe Danylle's resistance to change is which of the following?
Uncertainty
Ross understands that things can't stay the way they are, but he is not at all sure what the future looks like for the gluten-free market. The best way to describe Ross' resistance to change is which of the following?
Uncertainty
To prepare for the launch of its new product, Kontek drew employees from many functions for its launch team. For most of the day, these employees performed their regular functions and reported to their assigned supervisor. But during the part of the day when they worked on the product launch team, they reported to the team leader. This practice violates the concept of __________.
Unity of command
Aaron operates an event planning company whose services include weddings, parties, conventions, and class reunions. He has only one other full-time employee. Depending on the event, Aaron will engage the services of caterers, florists, game equipment renters, and suppliers of tables, tents, and table service. Aaron is using a(n) ____________ structure.
Virtual
William is assigned to Tony, a high-seniority employee considered an expert at his job, to learn how to operate the equipment. But today William is distracted by the argument he had with his wife before work. When it was William's turn to operate the machine, he didn't know what to do. What might account for William's lack of learning?
William did not pay attention to his trainer
At the local ice cream parlor, every employee had his or her own specialty. Ron made all the banana splits, Ross made the ice cream cakes, Maddi made the ice cream cookies, and Reese took care of all the chocolate dips. This is an example of which of the following?
Work specialization
Which of the following benefits is legally required to be paid by the organization?
Workers' comp
Joan was passed over for a promotion, which left her bitter and angry. Lately she has been making promises she does not keep, missing deadlines, and agreeing to serve on a team then failing to do the work assigned to her. Organizational behaviorists would call her actions _____________.
Workplace misbehavior
The members of the safety team at Lamps R Us Company enjoy each other's company and are dedicated to improving the safety record of their employer. We would expect to see ___________________ from this team.
a strong increase in productivity
Organizations desire to limit absenteeism because _________________.
absenteeism is expensive in both dollar outlay and lost productivity
Power can be described as ________________.
an individual's capacity to influence decisions
Gen Y workers look for an environment that _______________.
appreciates what they have to offer and provides opportunities for growth and advancement
To improve the reliability and validity of the interview, the interviewer should _________.
ask each candidate the same questions in the same order
"Personality is a subject for psychologists, not for managers. I don't need to know that stuff," said Alvin. Unfortunately for him, he is wrong because ______________
a person's personality affects the way she/he thinks, feels, and acts
In a global team, cohesiveness _______________.
can be difficult to achieve
Because employee referrals are pre-screened, the HR professional ___________.
can expect the candidates to be well-qualified
A performance management system requires __________________.
comparing desired employee performance with actual performance
Ida had been the go-to person when coworkers needed help with the product database. Then the company bought a new database application, quite unlike the old one. Despite training on the new software, Ida complained it was an unnecessary expense, that the company didn't need it, etc. The real reason for Ida's resistance was ____________.
concern over personal loss
At Research and Testing, Inc., the management believes it is treating employees respectfully, paying a fair wage, and offering benefits that are important to them. But productivity is not as high as management would like and both turnover and absenteeism are running higher than expected. To help solve the problem, Research and Testing, Inc. should ____________.
conduct an employee attitude survey
Rumors were flying fast and furious at MNO Corp. Some said the plant was closing; others said half the employees were being laid off. So when management finally announced the new strategy, employees were hesitant, many of them still thinking they would lose their jobs. To reduce this resistant, management should ____________.
educate the employees about the change and kill the rumors with accurate information
To save money on retirement benefits, companies have ____________.
eliminated the guaranteed-income pension plan
Berle has decided he will retire in six months. Lately he has been doing only what is necessary to keep his job. He spends more time socializing at work and less time actively working. He displays an "oh, well, whatever" smile when his mistakes are brought to his attention. Berle is lacking _____________.
employee engagement
In many collectivist societies, _________________.
employees performed better in a group than when working alone
Managers should be interested in perception because _____________.
employees, using their own personal filters, form their idea of reality by the way they interpret events then decide how to respond based on those perceptions
On her first day of employment, Helena's manager introduced her to all the other employees in her area, reviewed the company's products, customers and history, showed her around the building, and took her to her workplace. He gave a copy of the company mission and vision statements and explained how her duties helped the firm meet its objectives. All this was done to fulfill the important goal of orientation, to _____________.
familiarize her with the job, the company, and her work unit
In Asian cultures, status comes from _______________.
family position and formal roles held in organizations
A major function of the human resource department is to ___________.
have the right people in the right place in the organization at the right time
Sexual harassment is a management issue because _____________.
it can poison the workplace and reduce productivity
With respect to appearance, Gen Yers prefer _______________.
jeans, T-shirts, and flip-flops
Once upon a time BMI was a very large company with many departments, supervisors who managed only a handful of employees, and a senior management team that made most of the decisions. Lower level employees had zero latitude when dealing with customers. In this situation we could also expect to find ______________.
lots of rules and regulations governing the actions of employees
"Hey, we got trouble right here in River City and that starts with T and that rhymes with P and that stands for Pool." In the movie The Music Man, Harold Hill used this argument to persuade the townspeople to buy musical instruments and uniforms for the town's youth. His method was ___________.
manipulation and co-optation
Gen Yers prefer to _________ so they can __________.
meet virtually; multitask
Trenton would like to make sure his firm's training dollars are well spent. One of the training courses dealt with conflict management. To determine whether the training was effective, Trenton should _________.
monitor whether the employees' behavior has changed
One way employers are striving to reduce health care costs is _____________.
offering incentives such as reduced health insurance premiums and opportunities for healthy lifestyles.
Della has been promoted to first-line supervisor, a position she has never held before. She is excited but apprehensive. Della's stress is associated with _____________.
opportunities
The intent of the selection process is to ____________.
reduce the probability of making accept and reject errors while increasing the probability of making correct decisions
Work teams are best suited to situations that _____________.
require multiple skills, judgment, and experience
Each morning Angela and her coworkers decide how the work will be divided among themselves. They decide what tools and materials they will need and, if a member should decide to leave, who will replace the worker. These employees are part of a(n) ____________.
self-managed work team
When deciding on an organization structure, managers should consider _____________.
strategy, size, technology, and environment
When deciding on an organization structure, managers should remember that __________.
structure should facilitate goal achievement.
The main difference between a group and a team is ___________.
team members work interdependently; group members work independently
Belinda, a supervisor of machine operators, reviewed production records at the end of the week, noting that Harvey's numbers were lower than the other operators. Her conclusion is that Harvey is choosing not to work as fast as the others. Belinda may have fallen victim to ___________.
the fundamental attribution error
Employees are more likely to be engaged with their work when _________________.
they are shown respect and have balance between work and life obligations
Gen Y workers are unlike earlier generational cohorts because __________.
they have grown up with a broad range of opportunities and experiences
After the installation of a new piece of equipment, Porter noticed more employees were complaining of back injuries and blamed it on the equipment. Porter decided perhaps his employees could benefit from __________.
training in the proper use of the equipment
Despite repeated periods of intense conflict, Megan's team has accomplished much in a short time, generating a wealth of ideas and suggestions related to their team mandate. This situation demonstrates that ___________.
under some conditions, high levels of conflict are conducive to high levels of group performance
Kurt Lewin's model in dealing with change involves __________.
unfreezing, moving, and refreezing
Managers are well advised to think carefully about the behaviors they reward because __________________.
what gets rewarded gets repeated