COMM 331 Organizational Communication

According to McGregor, which of the following characterize the assumptions of a "Theory X" manager?

Workers are lazy, dislike responsibility, and are not very bright.

With regard to communication patterns, new technologies tend to lead to

a and b (Increased upward communication and increased diversity of communication)

Weber believed that rules are most effective when they are retained flexibly in oral form.

False

In a cybernetic system, enactment serves to maintain the system goal.

False.

Depersonalization refers to the feeling of not being able to face another day at work.

False

Discrimination refers to negative attitudes toward an organizational member based upon gender or perceived culture.

False

Emotional communication at work is only stressful if the emotions communicated are "fake" or non-genuine.

False

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

False

In a crisis, effective leaders will wait awhile before they begin communicating.

False

In an organization characterized by cultural separatism, members of the minority culture are forced to adopt the norms and values of the dominant culture.

False

Jobs that are characterized by emotional labor emphasize the expression of genuine feelings by employees.

False

Tacit knowledge typically is saved in organizational documents.

False

Taylor's Theory of Scientific Management proposes that the apprenticeship system is the ideal system of job training, as it teaches both job skills and workplace values.

False

The "New Science" systems theory is founded on the notion that all systems in nature and society are like those described by classical physics

False

Theory and research suggest that decision making is a perfectly rational process of information search and decision choice.

False

Tokens are highly visible representatives of the majority group in an organization.

False

Anticipatory socialization primarily involves the process of learning about certain occupations before entering the organization.

True

Artifacts are the most visible level of culture in Schein's model.

True

Because they are often unaware of the organizational context in which stress occurs, friends and family members are less able to provide effective informational support.

True

Organizations advocating a trait approach to leadership often use personality tests to select people for leadership roles.

True

Organizations that adopt new technologies are marked by an overall increase in the amount of communication.

True

When new communication media are developed, older communication technologies are not used anymore.

False

In order to fulfill the requirements of her new job, Jade must attend a seminar on desk-top publishing. Through this seminar, she will learn_______ information.

role-related

According to Likert, a System III organization will exhibit good performance and moderate levels of absenteeism and turnover.

True

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory was developed as a general theory of human motivation.

True

Miller, Johnson, and Grau found that perceived quality of information was the strongest predictor of workers' openness to organizational change attempts.

True

Research concerning participation in decision making has shown small, but consistent, effects on satisfaction and performance.

True

Scholars of organizational culture see it as something that is both emergent and highly complex.

True

Support from supervisors is most likely to come in the form of informational and instrumental support.

True

Susan works as a firefighter in a male-dominated organization. She is often sexually harassed on the job by her male coworkers. When asked about the appropriateness of this behavior, Susan sighs, "Boys will be boys. What can I do about it, anyway?" According to the critical approach, Susan is

hegemonically contributing to the control of the patriarchal organizational power structure.

Organizational communication scholars can address issues related to global warming by

helping local, state, national, and international agencies coordinate their activities to cope with the human consequences of global warming.

Cecil does not like working with Jane because every time they disagree she fights until she gets her own way. Jane uses a style characterized by

high concern for self, low concern for others.

Allie works for a large manufacturing firm and enjoys the feeling of being a "cog" in the machine and being able to leave work behind when she leaves the plant. When she is forced to participate in a new workplace democracy program, she thinks, "If this is democracy, how come they can make me go to these meetings." What paradox of participation does Allie illustrate?

the paradox of power

The workforce is now increasingly temporary, part-time, and independent.

True

Planned change always involves top management dictating change processes to lower level employees.

False

The theory of Scientific Management sought to eliminate

uneven work and systematic soldiering,

The four key components of Deal and Kennedy's "strong cultures" are

values, heroes, rites/rituals, and the cultural network.

Systems theory originated within the study of:

Biology

Non-profit organizations are unlikely to utilize classical approaches to improve efficiency.

False

Asking questions about the organization during an interview is considered by experts on interviewing to be inappropriate behavior.

False

Classical management principles are no longer used in today's organizations.

False

In order to save money on real estate costs, Jacques' company asked him to begin teleworking. What is Jacques most likely to feel concerned about?

His isolation from the rest of the company.

According to the prescriptive approach to culture, successful companies can be identified in terms of their cultures.

True

An organization in second generation affirmative action has met the legal goals and has moved its emphasis toward supporting female and minority members.

True

An out-group member is likely to do their job based on their job description.

True

Blake and Mouton suggest that all managers should adopt a team management approach.

True

Both profit and non-profit organization increasingly can be characterized as service organizations.

True

Bounded rationality suggests that decision makers make decisions that are limited by human cognitive practices and by the practices of organizational life.

True

Burnout and tedium are synonymous terms for being overwhelmed by the pressures of work.

True

Communication in classical organizations is highly formal and standardized.

True

Communications within a human relations organization tends to be less formal than in an organization run with a classical approach.

True

Coordinating the interaction between the federal government and local police to deal with a terrorist threat is an organizational communication issue.

True

Critical approaches to organizational communication have their philosophical roots in the work of Karl Marx.

True

Fayol's Theory of Classical management suggests that organizations will be most effective when central management has control over decision making and employee activities.

True

Human resources theorists argue that communication about new ideas is a critical component of organziations

True

In a global economy, communication helps an organization obtain the resources, information, and experience needed to survive.

True

In laissez-faire capitalism, the government takes a "hands off" approach to business and allows market forces to balance trade.

True

Taylor would like to sign up for organizational communication class and she wants to decide who is the single best instructor in the department from which to take the class. Taylor's decision making process would best be characterized as:

an optimizing model

Which of the following approaches considers conflict as inefficient, counterproductive and manageable through third party intervention?

classical

Because emotional contagion can lead to burnout, researchers suggest that caregivers learn and practice

empathic concern

Hylmo and Buzzanell found that telework often results in

greater individuality and more teamwork

When McDonald's changes its menu based on the national location of the franchise, McDonald's is __________ its environment.

imposing itself on? (not adapting to)

Fairhurst argued that _______ has the most impact on organizational change.

management support

Communication is enacted at which phase in the conflict process?

manifest conflict

To deal with the negative consequences of affirmative action programs, it is recommended that organizations also incorporate which criteria for hiring and promotion?

merit

Time and motion studies were used to determine the

most time efficient way to accomplish tasks and the one best way to do a job.

McDonalds is an example of a company as it has restaurants in almost every country in the world from Russia to Mexico.

multinational

The content of communication in a classical organization tends to be about

task topics.

____________ are usually described as being interactional, contextual, episodic and improvisational.

Cultural performances

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

Demetrius is a graduate student in organizational communication. After much study, he's concluded that though there is a great deal of conflict in most organizations, the conflict is usually productive and leads to enhanced understanding and better decisions. Which frame of reference to organizational study is Demetrius adopting?

Pluralist frame of reference

What did the research team conducting the Hawthorne Studies conclude about why worker productivity improved during many portions of the study?

Productivity improved as a function of an open management style, Productivity improved as a function of the Hawthorne Effect, and Productivity improved as a function of social factors within the work group.

According to Weick, the primary goal of organizations is to:

Reduce uncertainty

In order to deal with the variety of challenges proposed by a complex environment, a system must incorporate which of the following properties?

Requisite variety

The concepts which are particularly important to the theory of concertive control are control, identity (identification), and discipline.

True

The personal branding movement pushes individuals to market themselves by determining (or creating) an identity that is notable and distinguishable.

True

The relational tradition of network analysis was a response to the fact that the organizational chart was not the best representation of communication flow within an organization.

True

The role making phase of development is a two-way exchange between the boss and the subordinate and is characterized by negotiation.

True

Theory X and Theory Y involve the assumptions that managers hold about workers

True

There is a difference between studying organizational culture as something an organization is versus something that it has.

True

The difficulty organizations are facing with e-commerce is that consumers are not coming back to the website and purchasing more. One reason for the difficulty is

all transactions are self-service

Wilbur typically logs onto his computer first thing in the morning to pick up electronic mail messages that had been sent to him the previous day. This is an example of

asynchronous communication

Georgette has always thought she and Ted had the perfect marriage. Every time they disagree, she pushes for her side, and he wants her happy, so she always gets her way. Georgette uses a _________ style of conflict resolution and Ted uses a _________ style.

competitive/accommodative

An increase in the diversity of workgroup members has been found to have what impact on communication?

enhanced problem solving

A leader who models the behaviors he or she wants followers to do is fulfilling which concept of transformational leadership?

exemplification

Which of the following is not a tactic used by newcomers to seek information?

in-group relationships

Which mediation tactic is used to clarify misunderstandings and gather information?

nondirective

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 a 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

Mosha realizes that he is coming dangerously close to burning out on his job as a CPA for a large manufacturing company because of the conflicting demands of his job. Consequently, he has asked his supervisor to provide a specific job description and have a meeting to formulate specific job-related goals. This behavior is an example of which of the following coping strategies?

problem-centered coping

The role of a critical theorist in the emancipation process is similar to the role of a

psychoanalyst

From an organization's perspective, what is the most important function of the employment interview?

recruiting and screening

Molly did not hear about the opening for the Director of Public Relations position in her place of employment because she is not tapped into the informal communication network. Molly has experienced difficulty in access resulting from

relational barriers

Reactions to organizational change by lower level employees that interfere with change implementation processes are called:

resistance

The themes identified by Peters and Waterman characterize excellent organizations as

staying focused on what they do best and avoiding radical diversification.

Julian's coworkers often come to him for information about how their company handled disgruntled customers in the past since he has worked for the company for 25 years. The information he provides is not written down, but is invaluable in helping coworkers in making decisions about how to deal with difficult customers. Julian's information is an example of __________ knowledge.

tacit

Ideologies shape our understandings about

what exists, what is good, and what is possible.

The personal branding movement primarily offers solutions to

white, professional men.