OB Quiz 9

The task of seeking information involves asking for ideas, suggestions, information, or facts.

TRUE the task of seeking information involves asking for ideas, suggestions, information, or facts. Task functions are those activities directly related to the effective completion of the team's work.

In the context of empowerment skills, _____ include self-expression skills and skills in reflective listening.

communication skills In the context of empowerment skills, communication skills include self-expression skills and skills in reflective listening. Empowerment cannot occur in a team unless members are able to express themselves in emotionally intelligent ways as well as listen carefully to one another.

Integrated involvement is emotional and psychological closeness to other team or group members.

false . Integrated involvement is closeness achieved through tasks and activities. It results in enjoyment of work, social identity and self-definition, being valued for one's skills and abilities, opportunities for power and influence, conditional positive regard, and support for one's beliefs and values.

In the context of empowerment skills, the most critical _____ include negotiating skills, especially with allies, opponents, and adversaries.

process skills In the context of empowerment skills, the most critical process skills include negotiating skills, especially with allies, opponents, and adversaries. Allies are the easiest people to negotiate with because they agree with you about the team's mission and you can trust their actions and behavior.

____ are groups in which two or more members represent each of two distinct cultures.

Bicultural groups Bicultural groups are groups in which two or more members represent each of two distinct cultures. On the negative side, diversity within a group may increase the uncertainty, complexity, and inherent confusion in group processes, making it more difficult for the group to achieve its full productivity.

_____ enhance togetherness, cooperation, and teamwork, enabling members to achieve psychological intimacy while furthering the success of a team.

Maintenance functions Maintenance functions enhance togetherness, cooperation, and teamwork, enabling members to achieve psychological intimacy while furthering the success of the team. Maintenance functions are those activities essential to the effective, satisfying interpersonal relationships within a group or team.

_____ are groups in which members represent three or more ethnic backgrounds.

Multicultural groups Multicultural groups are groups in which members represent three or more ethnic backgrounds. On the negative side, diversity within a group may increase the uncertainty, complexity, and inherent confusion in group processes, making it more difficult for the group to achieve its full productivity.

Which of the following statements is true of work teams?

They emphasize collective work products. Work teams emphasize shared leadership, mutual accountability, and collective work products. Groups emphasize individual leadership, personal accountability, and exclusive work products.

A wild turkey in a top management team is:

a devil's advocate who challenges the thinking of the CEO and other top executives. the presence of a wild turkey in the top management team can be a particularly positive force. The wild turkey is a devil's advocate who challenges the thinking of the CEO and other top executives and provides a counterpoint during debates. If not shouted down or inhibited, the wild turkey helps the CEO and the team sustain peak performance and retard the CEO's dysfunction and decline

Two of the important process issues in work teams are the managing of cooperative behaviors and the managing of _____.

competitive behaviors two of the important process issues in work teams are the managing of cooperative behaviors and the managing of competitive behaviors. Both sets of behaviors are helpful in task accomplishment, and they should be viewed as complementary.

In the context of empowerment skills, _____ engage in encouraging, helpful behavior to maximize the gains for everyone on a team.

cooperative people Cooperative people engage in encouraging, helpful behavior to maximize the gains for everyone on the team. The alternative orientations to cooperation are competitive, individualistic, and egalitarian approaches.

Organizational performance of a CEO peaks toward the end of his or her tenure.

false Organizational performance increases during a CEO's tenure to a peak, after which performance declines. Hambrick and Fukutomi found five seasons in a CEO's tenure: (1) response to a mandate, (2) experimentation, (3) selection of an enduring theme, (4) convergence, and (5) dysfunction.

Task functions are those activities essential to the effective, satisfying interpersonal relationships within a group or team.

false Task functions are those activities directly related to the effective completion of the team's work. For example, the task of initiating activity involves suggesting ideas, defining problems, and proposing approaches and/or solutions to problems.

The presence of a wild turkey in the upper echelons is always a negative force.

false The presence of a wild turkey in the top management team can be a particularly positive force. The wild turkey is a devil's advocate who challenges the thinking of the CEO and other top executives and provides a counterpoint during debates.

An effective group must have a(n) _____, especially when the group is a cross-functional one, where different perspectives carry the seeds of conflict.

integrator An effective group must have an integrator, especially when the group is a cross-functional one, where different perspectives carry the seeds of conflict. However, cross-functional teams are not necessarily a problem.

In the context of diversity, a challenger is a team member who:

is the devil's advocate who questions everything from the group's mission, purpose, and methods to its ethics. The challenger is the devil's advocate who questions everything from the group's mission, purpose, and methods to its ethics. Members may exhibit one or more of these four basic styles over a period of time

Self-managed teams are teams that:

make decisions that were once reserved for managers. Self-managed teams, also called self-directed teams or autonomous work groups, are teams that make decisions that were once reserved for managers. Self-managed teams are one way to implement empowerment in organizations.

According to the group development model proposed by Warren Bennis and Herbert Shepard, the task issues that are addressed by a group include:

the mission of the group. The task issues include the mission or purpose of the group, the methods the group employs, and the outcomes expected of the group. One logical group development model proposed by Warren Bennis and Herbert Shepard delineates four stages following the group's formation: mutual acceptance, decision making, motivation and commitment, and control and sanctions.

Because task activities build tension within teams or groups, tension-reduction activities are important to drain off negative or destructive feelings.

true Communication gatekeepers within a group ensure balanced contributions from all members. Because task activities build tension within teams or groups, tension-reduction activities are important to drain off negative or destructive feelings.

Team creativity and divergent thinking can be enhanced through greater diversity in teams, electronic brainstorming, training facilitators, and building a playground.

true Leigh Thompson, a management and organizations professor at Northwestern University, thinks differently and suggests that team creativity and divergent thinking can be enhanced through greater diversity in teams, electronic brainstorming, training facilitators, membership change in teams, and building a playground. These practices can overcome social loafing, conformity, and downward norm setting in teams and organizations.