Chapter 13
What is meant by competing style?
A management style involving a stance of high assertiveness with low cooperation
All groups are teams, but not all teams are groups.
False
Which of the following is the best way to manage virtual teams?
Focus on what is accomplished, not hours or locations.
You put together a foreign policy team made up of twelve Ivy-League Ph.D.s, who all went through the same Ph.D. program. They are the best and brightest. The foreign policy they develop is likely to show the effects of
Group think
Which of the following characteristics relates to cross-functional groups?
Groups that cut across the firm's hierarchy and are composed of people from different functional areas and possibly different levels
What name is given to the behaviors expected of a specific group member?
Roles
What term describes the process by which an individual learns the norms, values, goals, and expectations of the organization?
Socialization
What are pivotal norms?
Standards that are critical for group success
Which of the following characteristics relates to the norming stage?
The stage when conflicts are largely resolved and harmony ensues
The behaviors expected of a specific person in the group are referred to as
a role
When a group member engages in behaviors oriented toward generating information and resolving problems, he or she is playing
a task specialist role
What term describes groups created by the organization that generally have their own formal structure?
formal groupds
A problem that emerges in larger groups is a tendency for some members to do less than their share and rely instead on other members. This problem is known as
free-riding
A useful way to look at the performance of any work group is the extent to which it
functions like a team
Pam sat through the meeting feeling convinced her team was misinterpreting recent marketing research, but she didn't say anything. The team leader was a close friend. Plus, she didn't want to disrupt the team since she thought she was the only one with reservations. Pam's team appears to be experiencing
groupthink.
All of the following are normally consistent with the role of group facilitator EXCEPT
leading the group to higher levels of role acceptance.
In general, research has shown that the relationship between overall productivity and group cohesiveness is
positive
In understanding how roles in groups are derived, the people, such as bosses and customers, who send messages to others about what they expect are called
role senders
Vanita points out during the meeting that the group has fallen a half hour behind schedule according to the agenda, and should get back to the important work at hand. Vanita is performing a ______ role.
task
Which of the following refers to a temporary group of employees responsible for bringing about a particular change?
task force
Which of the following refers to a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, set of performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable?
team
In general, the more heterogeneous the members of a group are,
the better the group will be able to solve problems.
The defining characteristic of a self-directed work team is
the extent to which it is empowered by management.
A team that consists of members who interact by computer network to collaborate on projects is called a(n)
virtual team
What term describes group behaviors involving interaction with members in other units of the organization or outside the organization?
Boundary-spanning roles
What name is given to the tendency of group members to unite in their pursuit of group goals and to be attracted to the group and each other?
Cohesiveness
A dean's comment to a faculty member that he stopped by during office hours and did not find the faculty member there might be enough to enforce a norm that professors are expected to honor office hours and is an example of how a critical event in a group's history can develop norms.
False
Free-riding tends to increase as group size decreases.
False
The widespread practice of using email to communicate has decreased the potential for conflicts arising from poor communication or misunderstandings.
False
What term describes the tendency of some individuals to perform at less than their optimum in groups, relying instead on others to carry their share of the workload?
Free riding
Andrea led a team that has just finished up a very challenging research project that will assist management in developing long range plans. Despite the stress of the past few months, a few people now seem sad it's over. Now Andrea should
Have an awards ceremony
Which of the following characteristics distinguishes a team from the traditional definition of a group?
It has a common purpose and goals and holds itself mutually accountable.
Which of the following characteristics relates to facilitators?
Leaders who help the group overcome internal obstacles or difficulties so that it may achieve desired outcomes
What are prescriptions for appropriate behavior of group members that help reduce the disruption and chaos that would ensue if group members didn't know how to act?
Norms
What is meant by negotiation?
Occurs when two or more parties discuss a problem with the intent to resolve differences and come up with a solution
Which of the following refers to the stage in which members have reached a level of maturity that facilitates total task involvement?
Performing stage
What name is given to groups similar to task forces, but usually responsible for running an operation and in control of a specific work project?
Project teams
Which of the following refers to an intact group of employees who are responsible for a whole work process or segment that delivers a good or service to an internal or external customer?
Self-directed work team (SDWT)
In which of the following conditions should constructive conflict be stimulated?
The group seems to be apathetic.
Which of the following is NOT an important reason that self-directed work teams are given special attention in Chapter 13?
They produce a more congenial and happy group of employees who like their employer.
Nordstrom's department store chain emphasizes the great lengths to which it goes in customer service, an example of which of these reasons to enforce norms?
To emphasize the group's important values
A special case of groupthink is known as the Amarillo Paradox, where the group agrees publicly on a course of action it really doesn't want.
True
When a group has high cohesiveness, synergy can sometimes develop, which means that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
True
Which of the following characteristics relates to group?
Two or more individuals who communicate with one another, share a collective identity, and have a common goal
Hannah is on a team with Carson, and they are often in conflict. Hannah likes to begin her work with careful planning and she gets started immediately. Carson, on the other hand, likes trying out several ideas, and tends to be working frantically at the last minute. Their team conflict most likely stems from
a personality clash.
Megan came to her boss with a proposal for a new Minolta copier. Daniel tells her that he has always used and liked Xerox copiers, but when he thinks about it later he realizes he does not feel really strongly about it. Daniel should adopt a(n) ______ conflict-handling style.
accommodating
Which of the following refers to a style exhibiting low assertiveness and high cooperation?
accommodating style
As a group disbands, with its task complete, it goes through the state of
adjourning
Self-managed teams are groups of workers who have been given ______ for their task domains.
administrative oversight
During the forming stage, the leader should
allow people to socialize
Teams can flounder in organizations for months or even years without realizing that change is required if there is lack of
appropriate feedback.
The factor(s) that influence the effectiveness of work groups most directly
are found within the group or team, including its structure and process.
All of the following are important reasons why groups enforce group norms EXCEPT
avoid having to express core or central values.
Which of the following refers to adherence to the group's norms, values, and goals?
conformity
The current or modern view is that conflict in groups is
d) inevitable and often desirable.
You tell your Wobbly Widget work team that you are giving them complete authority, including control over their budget, to develop a new high-tech Wobbly Widget. You have
empowered them fully.
A group that is created to do something productive for the organization and is headed by a leader is called a(n)
formal group
When a group has its members drawn from several vertical levels of the organization's hierarchy, it is called
functional
In a general sense, teams tend to have and use knowledge than individuals do, and when working together, they create a number of approaches to problems than individuals do.
greater; greater
Which of the following is a disadvantage of larger groups?
less commitment
The most challenging and difficult group for the manager and the organization is the group with
low performance norms and high cohesiveness.
You tell the members of the Wobbly Widget work team, whom you have given both the authority and responsibility to develop a new high- tech Wobbly Widget, that they are the best task force in this whole company. You have
misnamed them
Your work team has been meeting for six months, and 90 percent of your time is now spent working on your eggbeater project. There is almost no conflict or dissent. Your group is
performing
A norm that some people accept, like going out for a beer after work, but that is not important to organizational success is called
peripheral
Cultural differences are important in determining levels of norms. In Japan, for example, after-work schmoozing is often
pivotal
Another endemic problem in groups, which involves maneuvering by members to gain reward or resource advantages, is the process of
politics
You create a self-directed work team with 30 members at your player-piano plant on the theory that the more the merrier and communication is power. You expect the team to be highly productive. The most likely result is
poor communication and low productivity.
When a group of employees is put together and is made responsible for a whole work process, designed to give them a feeling of ownership of a whole job, it is called a
self directed work team
The most common form of quality assurance team in American industry is the quality circle (QC).
true
The psychological or emotional phenomenon that underlies the entire concept of empowerment and self-directed work teams is
trust