MOB 8
10. The email sent by the professor represents what aspect of the communication model? a. feedback b. noise c. medium d. decoding
c) Easy/Application
56. Which of the following statements regarding communication and ethics is INCORRECT? a. Ethical, forthright communication by an organization should occur internally as well as externally. b. A high profile employee, such as an executive, should be the chief external communicator during a crisis situation for a firm. c. People are unhappy with the occurrence of the unexpected, but are even more unhappy when they find out someone tried to hide it. d. Exxon Oil is widely recognized as having been successful communicators during the Valdez incident.
d) Difficult/Evaluation
49. Communication usually travels diagonally to a. supervisors. b. coworkers. c. subordinates. d. other departments.
d) Easy/Knowledge
43. Marcus wants a record of his communication and is not physically near the person to whom he is communicating. He knows it will take the recipient of his communication some time to understand the message conveyed. What communication channel should Marcus utilize? a. written report b. meeting c. telephone conversation d. blog
a) Difficult/Synthesis
28. An example of a crucial conversation is a. asking for a raise b. taking part in a weekly meeting c. assigning weekly work to an employee d. chatting about the company's latest email on the firm's holiday party plans
a) Easy/Comprehension
1. Which of the following statements about communication is correct? 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) Medium/Analysis
15. All of the following are rules for active listening EXCEPT a. find areas of agreement with the speaker. b. listen for feelings. c. note all cues. d. listen for message content.
a) Medium/Analysis
48. Which of the following is not a piece of good advice regarding business e-mails? a. Do not sign off your e-mails with a closing like "Thank you"; it just wastes space. Simply send your contact information. b. Do not place anything in an e-mail you would not want the world to see. c. Do not use capital letters for your message. d. Do not hit the send button until you check your e-mail.
a) Medium/Analysis
37. Which of the following statements about nonverbal cues is INCORRECT? a. If your posture mirrors that of the person to whom you are speaking, it shows you are not listening and generally, not paying attention to that speaker. b. Happiness is conveyed through facial expressions of an upturned mouth and slightly closed eyes. c. In some countries, like the United States, direct eye contact conveys trustworthiness. d. In many parts of the world, simple touch is a necessary, positive part of doing business.
a) Medium/Evaluation
57. Which of the following statements regarding cross cultural communication is INCORRECT? a. Nonverbal communication is consistent across cultures. b. The question "Isn't it?" should be avoided by English speakers with non-English speaking colleagues. c. Low situational context cultures, like the United States, "get down to business" in negotiating deals. d. Within the same culture, words can be misunderstood because of a lack of common experiences.
a) Medium/Evaluation
7. Ariel was writing a paper at her laptop when the phone rang. She answered it but kept writing as she talked. It was a friend who needed an assignment that had been given last week. Ariel e-mailed her the assignment. A second e-mail just arrived from the friend, which said: "I said the assignment for Monday, this is Wednesday's." Ariel likely made the mistake because of the _________ in her communication situation. a. message. b. noise. c. sender. d. feedback.
b) Easy/Analysis
11. Students come to class and ask why they are not receiving syllabi. This question represents what aspect of the communication model? a. noise b. feedback c. medium d. message
b) Medium/Application
42. Which of the following communication channels has the lowest information richness? a. emails b. formal written documents c. blogs d. telephone conversation
b) Medium/Knowledge
26. Storytelling is an effective form of communication for which of the following situations? 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) Difficult/Synthesis
58. Which of the following statements regarding nonverbal body signals is true? a. Hand waving indicates greetings in Europe just as it does in the United States. b. A "thumbs up" means five in Germany and one in Japan. c. The American "ok" gesture would be inappropriate or offensive in Brazil or Russia. d. The "hook 'em horns" gesture from the University of Texas means you are warding off evil in Italy.
c) Medium/Analysis
8. Bill is speaking to a group of fellow marketing specialists at a national convention. He opens his presentation with a dumb blonde joke. Unfortunately, there is dead silence in the room. Bill did not fully address which barrier to communication in preparing his speech? a. filtering b. selective perception c. lack of source familiarity or credibility d. semantics
c) Medium/Application
29. All of the following are aspects of crucial conversations EXCEPT a. crucial conversations are ones where opinions vary and emotions run strong. b. high stakes conversations require more planning, reflection and skill than many other types of verbal communication. c. communications experts suggest using "but" not "and" in crucial conversations. d. crucial conversations require flexible communication styles to be most effective.
c) Medium/Evaluation
55. Which of the following statements regarding external communications is INCORRECT? a. Press releases are sometimes constructed without acknowledging the sender's identity. 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 growing in popularity, so much so that some firms have created official positions for those bloggers.
c) Medium/Evaluation
22. Which of the following statements about communication barriers is correct? a. Employees are often eager to share bad news with those above them in an organization to get credit for discovering potential problems. b. Jargon spoken between people from different areas and backgrounds helps them forge a professional bond. c. Managers can use grapevine to send and receive messages. d. Men often jump right into a project while women ask a lot of questions before beginning.
d) Difficult/Synthesis
23. Which of the following statements about communication barriers is correct? a. men focus on intuition to make decisions, women on data. b. a receiver who is emotionally upset still clearly receives communication from the sender. c. there are very few words that inflame or insult people. d. selective perception is a time saver, but it can lead to mistakes.
d) Difficult/Synthesis
14. A communication receiver who is preparing his comment or answer and not really listening to the sender is a. using jargon. b. using semantics. c. biased. d. rehearsing.
d) Easy/Comprehension
16. Active listening involves a. interrupting the message sender to clarify what she is saying. b. giving partial attention to the sender so you can be thinking about your response. c. refraining from asking senders any questions about their messages. d. taking time to understand the points being made.
d) Medium/Analysis
34. Which of the following statements regarding verbal and written communication is true? a. Written communication is an inherently flawed medium for conveying specific facts. b. Individuals hear about 150 words per minute, but speak around 400-500 per minute. c. It is very difficult to teach individuals to write clearly. d. Over ninety percent of employers consider writing a key skill for hiring new employees.
d) Medium/Analysis
10. The acronym SOX refers to what? If you are not clear, then you have been impacted by a communication barrier. Which one? a. selective perception b. lack of source familiarity or credibility c. filtering d. semantics
d) Medium/Application
46. Written communication should be used when a. there is time urgency. b. ideas are simple. c. emotions or feelings need to be conveyed. d. facts need to be conveyed.
d) Medium/Comprehension
20. Which of the following would freeze a conversation? a. giving praise b. asking questions c. empathizing with the other person d. telling the other person what to do
d) Medium/Evaluation
11. Men and women tend to differ in their communication styles. Which of the following statements regarding those differences is correct? a. Women focus more on competition in their communication; men on cooperation. b. Women use metaphors from the home; men from work. c. Women focus on intuition in communicating; men on data. d. Men focus on requests in their communication; women on orders.
c) Medium/Analysis
33. Which of the following statements about written and verbal communication is correct? a. Verbal communication is constructed over a longer period of time than written. b. Written communication is better at conveying feelings than verbal communication. c. Humans listen faster than they speak. d. Written communication is used more often than oral communication.
c) Medium/Analysis
39. Information-rich channels convey more a. verbal information. b. nonverbal information. c. effective information. d. ineffective information.
b) Difficult/Comprehension
17. Listening a. is an art, not a skill, and cannot be learned. b. does not require close attention to the sender so multitasking is possible. c. can be demonstrated to the sender by nonverbal signals like the nod of a head. d. creates a bond between communicators, but does not increase communication flow or accuracy.
c) Difficult/Analysis
44. Nancy is the human resource manager at Alba Company. She needs to lay off twenty employees who are all located at her facility. Which communication channel should she use to deliver the layoff information? a. telephone conversation b. e-mail c. face-to-face conversation d. videoconferencing
c) Difficult/Synthesis
36. In the sentence, "I did not tell the teacher you were cheating," if the word "I" was emphasized by the tone of your voice, what are you implying? a. Someone else told the teacher you were cheating. b. I was talking about someone else. c. I told the teacher you were cheating. d. I may have implied it.
a) Difficult/Synthesis
21. All of the following would freeze a conversation EXCEPT a. You think you have problems! b. You are very skilled at that. c. You're jealous. d. You had better listen.
b) Difficult/Synthesis
1. Which of the following is not a barrier to communication? a. filtering b. intention of communication c. selective perception d. jargon
b) Easy/Comprehension
45. Verbal communication should be used when a. immediate feedback is needed. b. conveying facts. c. ideas are complicated. d. no feedback is needed.
a) Medium/Comprehension
54. An external communication that combines the look of an article with the focused message of an ad is a. a web page. b. an advertorial. c. a press release. d. a sweepstakes form.
b) Easy/Knowledge
3. Communication fulfills all of the following organizational functions EXCEPT a. transmitting information. b. sharing emotions. c. control. d. coordination.
c) Easy/Comprehension
32. Communication that is asynchronous a. is written for one receiver, but can be read by many. b. is written for one receiver and read by one receiver. c. is written by the sender and can be read any time by the receiver. d. is written for many but often read by only a few.
c) Easy/Knowledge
52. Which of the following is not an example of external communications? a. ads b. press release c. attitude surveys d. web page
c) Easy/Knowledge
6. The personal filtering of what we see and hear so as to suit our own needs is a. filtering. b. semantics. c. selective perception. d. information overload.
c) Easy/Knowledge
24. Which of the following is not a type of communication? a. verbal b. direct c. nonverbal d. written
b) Easy/Knowledge
4. In the communication process model, the task of translating an idea into words is called a. decoding. b. encoding. c. medium. d. noise.
b) Easy/Knowledge
51. Recent surveys indicate that managers spend a majority of their time communicating with what group? a. those external to the organization b. superiors c. subordinates d. others that are internal to the firm
e.g., those in other departments). (c) Medium/Analysis
A professor decides to save paper by posting her syllabus on the university's web-based course application program instead of printing it and handing it out during the first class. She sends an e-mail to all her students prior to the actual start of the course that reads, "Your syllabus is available on Courseweb. I will go over that syllabus during the first class but, since I am attempting to conserve paper, will not make a copy available to you. Students however, are welcome to print out their own copy of the syllabus." 9. Given the above scenario, the students have what role in the communication process? a. receiver b. medium c. decoder d. sender
a) Easy/Application
25. Anna is placing her workgroup's lunch order over the phone with the Pizza Shoppe. She is using what type of communication? a. verbal b. direct c. nonverbal d. written
a) Easy/Comprehension
5. The individual originating a message is called the a. sender. b. encoder. c. receiver. d. decoder.
a) Easy/Knowledge
50. Which of the following is not a function of business communication? a. creating information b. exchanging information c. seeking information d. giving information
a) Easy/Knowledge
2. Jason received the sales report and noted how badly the southern sector performed. As he prepared the a presentation for the weekly executive meeting, Jason decided to focus his remarks on the northern and western sectors, which had record sales levels, and refrain from mentioning the southern numbers. This scenario focuses on the communication barrier of a. filtering. b. selective perception. c. emotional disconnects. d. semantics.
a) Medium/Analysis
9. Which of the following statements about workplace gossip is not correct? a. Research finds that only a minimal amount of workplace communication occurs at the grapevine level. b. Politically motivated employees use the grapevine to disseminate self-promoting information in the organization. c. Employees trust their peers as a source of information. d. Managers can control and manipulate the grapevine if they understand it.
a) Medium/Analysis
12. Which of the following terms is an example to biased language? a. salesman b. cleaner c. nurse d. engineer
a) Medium/Application
30. Nina is a career counselor in a university's career development office. She is making recommendations to a student in a career planning session related to improving the quality of the student's conversation. Which piece of advice should be deleted from Nina's list? a. Speak more than the receiver. b. Ask questions. c. Use eye contact and smile. d. Be receptive to new ideas.
a) Medium/Application
38. You are part of a marketing team that has just secured a contract for a national ad campaign. The client firm is holding a luncheon to celebrate the contract signing and you are attending. According to Edward Hall's work, what distance will you maintain from members of the client firm as you network with them? a. personal b. social c. intimate d. public
a) Medium/Application
40. Effective managers tend to use more a. information-rich channels. b. verbal channels. c. written channels. d. nonverbal channels.
a) Medium/Application
19. Maria is conducting a seminar on active listening. She is preparing a list of ways to improve one's active listening. Which of the following statements is not on her list? a. To not be rude, do not ask questions of the sender. b. Establish eye contact. c. Pay attention to what is not said. d. Be surprised.
a) Medium/Evaluation
27. Which of the following statements about storytelling is INCORRECT? a. Storytelling helps construct common meanings for individuals in an organization. b. The more frequently stories are shared in an organization, the lower the organizational commitment. c. The greater the strength of the stories shared in an organization, the greater the organization commitment. d. The higher quality story relayed by an entrepreneur, the greater the ability to secure capital for his firm.
b) Medium/Analysis
4. Which of the following is not a criterion that individuals may use in deciding whether or not to filter a message? a. past experience b. month of the year c. emotional state, involvement with the topic and level of attention d. knowledge and perception of speaker
b) Medium/Comprehension
5. Martin is the financial director of the small business. He recently read a memo from one department presenting a new idea for a product. During the discussion on the item afterward, Martin kept focusing on the cost of producing and marketing that product. The barrier facing Martin in this scenario is a. filtering. b. selective perception. c. emotional disconnects. d. semantics.
b) Medium/Comprehension
18. Which of the following pieces of advice is not a tip to improve your listening habits? a. Start by stopping. b. Think about what you will say when the time comes. c. Don't multitask during listening. d. Empathize with the sender's viewpoint.
b) Medium/Evaluation
3. Which of the following statements about filtering information is INCORRECT? a. Filtering is withholding information to manage a person's reactions. b. Filtering prevents people from getting a complete picture of a situation. c. People tend to filter downward communication more than upward communication. d. To maximize the chances of sending effective communication, it is advisable to use multiple channels to send it.
c) Medium/Analysis
35. What has research shown to be true about nonverbal communication? a. Nonverbal cues are only minimally important. b. Our gestures and other nonverbal movements are largely habitual and really do not convey much to your audience. c. When individuals are lying, they blink more frequently, shift their feet, and shrug more often. d. Only 7% of our message is conveyed through nonverbal communication while 55% is conveyed through the actual words of the message.
c) Medium/Analysis
47. Which of the following statements about e-mail is INCORRECT? a. Over 100 million American adults use e-mail at least once a day. b. Some companies are so concerned about the amount of e-mail their employees receive that they are instituting "no e-mail Fridays." c. E-mail is the most popular medium of communication today. d. A large portion of e-mails received are either scam or spam attempts.
c) Medium/Analysis
12. If students try to go online to view the syllabus and the university's computer system keeps shutting down on them as they read the syllabus, the students are dealing with what aspect of the communication model? a. message b. medium c. feedback d. noise
d) Difficult/Application
2. Research on communication indicates all of the following EXCEPT a. Poor communication can lead to lawsuits. b. Effective communication skills are the top skills sought by recruiters today. c. Poor communication is seen as a causal factor in 70-80% of all accidents. d. Although good communication helps retain effective performers, it does not increase a firm's market share.
d) Difficult/Evaluation
A professor decides to save paper by posting her syllabus on the university's web-based course application program instead of printing it and handing it out during the first class. She sends an e-mail to all her students prior to the actual start of the course that reads, "Your syllabus is available on Courseweb. I will go over that syllabus during the first class but, since I am attempting to conserve paper, will not make a copy available to you. Students however, are welcome to print out their own copy of the syllabus." 8. In this scenario, the professor has what role in the communication process? a. receiver b. medium c. decoder d. sender
d) Easy/Application
6. 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. a. decoded b. validated c. received d. encoded
d) Easy/Comprehension
31. A memo is an example of a. verbal communication. b. direct communication. c. nonverbal communication. d. written communication.
d) Easy/Knowledge
53. External communication about a client's product or service created for a specific receiver is a. a company report b. a web page c. an ad d. a press release
d) Easy/Knowledge
13. Which of the following statements about listening is correct? a. Listening takes practice and concentration. b. Managers listen up to 70% of their day. c. Listening skills are related to promotions. d. All of the above
d) Medium/Analysis
7. Martha's mom asks her to go to the grocery store for her. Martha agrees and heads upstairs to get ready. Before she leaves her house, she sits down at her desk to check her e-mail and receives a text message from her friend Nancy to turn on the television and see the story about their friend, Jill. As the story about Jill comes on, Martha's mom comes in and asks Martha to get her an eight-ounce can of diced tomatoes. Martha smiles at Mom and nods and listens to the story on television as she e-mails Sandra and picks up her phone to text Nancy. When Martha gets to the store, she heads to the tomato aisle and stands in front of the pureed tomatoes trying to remember if mom wanted an 8- or 16-ounce can. This scenario depicts which barrier to communication? a. filtering b. selective perception c. semantics d. information overload
d) Medium/Application
41. Which of the following communication channels would be the most information-rich? a. Written letters. b. Handheld devices. c. E-mails. d. Videoconferencing.
d) Medium/Knowledge
