team exam 2
In regard to the different methods that teams can take to approach conflict, what would be a good example of a collaborative, interest-based response?
"Larry, I've sensed that this is of great concern. While I'm not sure anything can change, we welcome your own views on this proposal. I think it is important that we all have a chance to understand your point of view."
In regards to the common information effect, what is the main problem with an uneven distribution of information?
Certain pieces of information get more time, attention, and emphasis than alternative pieces of information.
__________ is the term used to describe a person's change in attitude and behavior as a result of their own thinking about a subject, and is more stable than an attitude change induced by peer pressure.
Conversion
Research has found that instigating and upholding task-oriented conflicts in the decision-making process can be a strategy to counteract biased information seeking. One conflict-stimulating procedure involves assigning a counterargument role to a group member. When consensus on a particular decision solution has emerged, the contrary employee tries to identify all weaknesses inherent in it. The group must then react to this criticism, and see if the arguments put forth can be invalidated. This procedure is an example of what type of dissent?
Devil's advocate procedure
Team members bring their individual-level emotional experiences, such as their chronic moods, emotions, and emotional intelligence, to team interactions. The group's affective state that arises from a combination of these components is called group emotion. Of the following reasons, what is the best reason why group emotion serves such an important role in teams?
Emotions that are felt and displayed within the group coordinate the group's behaviors and foster group bonds.
Why is emotional intelligence in teams important?
Employees with higher emotional intelligence are more effective team members, and have higher job performance.
What is one of the best ways for improving the quality of pooled information collected during a collaborative problem-solving session?
Allow individual group members the time to internally recall and record details or observations to be shared later with the group.
With regard to conflict in different cultures, which of the following is NOT true?
Americans are more likely than East Asians to join a talented group that is known to have high-relationship conflict.
When a person's emotions are induced or caused by another person's emotions, and the strength of the emotional experience is often a function of how similar or well liked the source of the emotion is, this phenomenon is called:
vicarious affect
John's team has contributed less work to the company project than Jay's team, who has done the lion's share of the work. When it is time to allocate budgets for the next phase of the project, what form of resource allocation would John's team prefer and Jay's team prefer?
Equality; Equity
Of the two ways which majorities and minorities influence their teams, which of the following is the best example of indirect influence?
Even though Sarah has convinced two members of the team to agree with her views, seven of the ten team members privately agree with Bob's minority viewpoint.
Groups perform better than individuals on a wide range of demonstrable tasks. What is a key reason why groups outperform individuals faced with the same task?
Groups outperform individuals due to a process in which group members become more accurate during the group interaction.
The framing bias makes specific predictions about how people will behave when faced with a sure course of action versus a gamble. Which of the following best describes the effects of the framing bias?
People tend to be risk-averse when choosing among gains, but risk-seeking when choosing among losses
With regard to building cohesion in groups, of the following, which is the best way to facilitate this type of group bonding?
Physical proximity
__________ centers on disagreements that team members have about how to approach a task and who should do what.
Process conflict
Which of the following strategies for reducing the common information effect has been found to be most effective?
Put the team leader in the position of information manager
There are four key processes involved in the escalation of commitment cycle. Which of the following is NOT one of those processes?
Risk determinants
How does "minority influence" benefit a team?
Statistical minorities simulate greater thought about issues.
According to Wageman and Donnenfeld's conflict intervention model, which of the four guiding principles for enhancing teams has the largest effects?
Team (re)Design
Because individuals who deviate from their team's opinion are more harshly evaluated than those who conform to it, which of the following is a reason why team members are more likely to conform to the majority viewpoint?
Team members anticipate future interactions with other group members.
Of the following, which is the best example of the concept of retroactive pessimism?
The Arrow Company has failed on several occasions to secure lucrative contracts from a national retailer. Arrow's competitor received those contracts instead. The team at The Arrow Company has become increasingly pessimistic about their chances for future contract acquisition after every loss
The illusion of transparency refers to what belief?
The illusion of transparency refers to what belief?
As a newcomer to a group, what is one of the best behaviors to show in order to reduce old-timer resistance and increase acceptance?
The newcomer distances themselves from their previous group.
A study at an R&D organization, where teams worked together for more than five years, revealed what?
The performance of the groups increased over time, but only up to a point; after five years of working together, performance declined steeply.
Wageman and Donnenfeld's model of conflict resolution focuses on: team (re)Design, task process coaching, conflict process coaching, and membership change. All of the following are true with regard to Wageman and Donnenfeld's conflict intervention model EXCEPT:
The team goal or shared vision should only be developed after the leader has coached about conflict.
There are several biases of human communication, which affect team performance. All of the following are known threats or biases to effective communication in groups EXCEPT
absorptive capacity—people experience information overload when listening to another team member.
Using the managerial grid model, low concern for the self, coupled with high concern for the other party, would lead to:
accommodation
During the commitment phase of the group socialization process, the key factor that affects commitment, both for the individual and for the team, is the:
alternatives that are available to the individual and the team.
An example of a rights-based argument is __________; an example of a power-based approach is __________.
arguing about the terms of a contract; making a threat
The greater the overlap or commonality of experience or among team members' mental models, the greater the likelihood that team members will:
be able to cope with unexpected demands.
When a team member modifies their behavior to coordinate or synchronize with another team member's behavior, this is called:
behavioral entrainment.
Message recipients often hear what they want to hear when receiving messages, and interpret the neutral facts about a topic in a way that is favorable toward their own opinions or position. This communication bias is known as:
biased interpretation.
The three most popular norms of fairness are: equality, also known as __________; equity, also known as __________; and needs also known as __________.
blind justice; contribution-based justice; welfare-based justice
Leaders who are the most likely to be effective at transformational leadership are those who:
can accurately recognize diverse emotions
According to the "Managerial Grid," concern for self and concern for the other person determines the conflict approach one uses. High concern for the self, coupled with high concern for the other party, would lead to:
collaboration.
For teams to be effective in their work, they need to have a shared knowledge base. However, the shared knowledge base that governs a team is only as adequate as its:
communication system.
When people change their attitudes as a result of direct influence or pressure, this is referred to as:
compliance.
All of the following are TRUE about conformity EXCEPT:
conformity is greater when people have high social status in their team.
Groupthink occurs when team members place the goal of __________ above all other decision priorities.
consensus
An effective way to remedy the common information effect is to:
consider the decision alternatives one at a time.
All of the following can help minimize the escalation of commitment EXCEPT:
continuing to invest based upon how many resources have already been invested
People who persist in the face of hardships and ridicule are viewed as particularly sincere, confident, and courageous, given that they are willing to risk social censure. The reason why harassed minorities are viewed in this positive way is known as the __________.
courage hypothesis
The common information effect is best described as the tendency for groups to:
discuss and consider information that they all have in common more than unique information (that only one person in the group may be aware of).
Implicit trust refers to how people put their trust in others even in the absence of rational reasons to do so. All of the following might lead to the development of implicit trust EXCEPT:
distinctiveness--focusing on how the group members are distinct from one another in terms of diversity.
Three critical activities occur during group socialization that affect the productivity of teams, and they are:
evaluation, commitment, and role transitions.
People consider two types of cues when assessing status of team members: real status and pseudo status. An example of real status is __________; an example of pseudo status is __________.
experience with a task; gender
People with a high sense of identity fusion with their group are less likely to:
feel disconnected from their group.
Group polarization is best described as the tendency for:
group discussion to intensify group opinion; producing more extreme judgment than might be obtained by pooling individuals' views separately.
Marilyn, Bob, and Carl all believe a certain defendant is probably guilty and should be sentenced. Individually their recommendations for a sentence are 3,5, and 7 years. When they meet as a group however, they recommend 10 years. This change and collective shift is called:
group polarization
If a group believes they can be successful, and takes on a "we can" attitude, this represents:
group potency.
A demonstrable task is a task that
has an obvious, correct answer.
Group identity refers to the extent to which people feel their group membership is an important part of who they are. Relational identity refers to __________; collective identity refers to __________.
having a relationship with a particular person; being a member of a particular group
The uneven communication problem is the fact that:
in most groups, a minority of people do a majority of the talking.
A team that has a large representational gap has:
inconsistent views and mental models about the definitions of the team's problem or task.
All of the following may help a group avoid or minimize groupthink EXCEPT:
increasing the size of the team
When a team consists of members who come from different functional areas, with different areas of expertise, different information, different priorities, and different perceptions of problems and opportunities, the __________ is exacerbated.
information dependence problem
Members of a team go through a process called role transition as members of a group. This process involves several phases and transitions. The typical ordering of these phases are:
investigation, socialization, maintenance, resocialization, and remembrance.
Team members high in motivation to acquire relationship-threatening information, or "MARTI":
make more sinister attributions about their coworkers behaviors and intentions
Which of the following is NOT a behavioral consequence of decision fatigue
making more accurate decisions.
Group cohesion refers to the attraction that group members have to their group and its members. All of the following statements are true about group cohesion EXCEPT:
members of cohesive teams have more old-timers as members than members of non-cohesive teams.
Regarding team development and group socialization, three key predictors of newcomer performance are:
newcomer empowerment, team expectations, and team performance.
Key indicators of involvement in an experienced community of practice (the person's level of engagement with the given practice community) are a shared vocabulary, recall of previous lessons, learning from one another, and:
open communication
In regard to how accountability effects organizational decision making, accountability for __________ leads to greater escalation behavior, whereas accountability for __________ increases decision-making effectiveness.
outcomes; process
Tom and Tim are in a five-person team. Tim perceives that the team's recent arguments pertain to team tasks. Tom does not detect such overtones of conflict in task discussions. The fact that they don't see conflict in the same way is an example of __________ conflict.
perceptual
Greater amounts of relationship conflict in a team are associated with lower levels of __________, and negatively associated with __________.
performance; team effectiveness
Relationship conflict is best described as conflict about:
personalities, often involving anger and ego clashes.
Group entitativity refers to the degree to which people perceive themselves to be a unified team. The greater the level of entitativity, the more that people feel the group fills their needs, the more identification people have with their group, and the more __________.
the person assumes they should act in accord with the principles of the team
team mental model is a common understanding that members of a team share about how something works. For example, a team might have a common understanding of how to assemble a transistor radio. All of the following are TRUE about team mental models EXCEPT:
they are developed instantly, naturally, and are immediately compatible.
The two psychological explanations for group polarization are: informational influence and normative influence. Informational influence is best described as the need __________; normative influence is best described as the need __________.
to be right (accurate); to be liked (accepted)
The average lifespan of a team is approximately:
24 months.
The Abilene Paradox is a bias that was initially described by what kind of situation
A family continues a trip across the hot desert even though nobody wants to take the trip.
Which situation best illustrates the escalation of commitment?
A marketing manager continues to promote a specific brand, despite clear evidence that the brand is losing market share to competitors.
Which is the best example of the communication bias termed "message tuning"?
A store owner gives elaborate street directions to Madison Square Garden to a gentleman from Wisconsin,
A team with a high adaptive capacity brings what capability to their organization
Ability to change or shift their strategy in the face of upheaval
Which of the following is the best example of a task-content conflict?
Heather and Phyllis disagree about what the ultimate goal of their task-force should be.
Related to the confirmation bias, an example of "tunnel vision" would be:
In advance of the board meeting regarding the company's decision to move their offices, Ken has made up his mind to move the office to Wisconsin. He spends a lot of time finding information on the tax benefits of doing business in Wisconsin and overlooks similar tax benefits in Indiana
When an arrangement, such as a legal contract, is made amongst team members to ensure compliance, this is an example of which type of trust?
Incentive-based
Regarding ways to avoid groupthink, what is the goal of using the risk technique?
It creates an atmosphere in which team members can express doubts and raise criticisms without fear of rejection or team hostility.
A situational example of the False Consensus Effect is
Jessica feels that it is acceptable to participate in slightly unethical behavior if it could help her be more successful in her career.
An example of the overconfidence bias is:
Joe makes a stock price prediction and believes that there is only a 5% chance that his estimate is wrong; overlooking recent articles about the bad financial health of the business
Transactive Memory Systems are the ways in which teams encode, store, and retrieve critical information necessary for doing their work. Of the following, select the best situational example of a Transactive Memory System:
Julia has considerable experience in product engineering and Nathan has a background in product parts sourcing, and they are able to remember more about a new client because each knows the other's skill set.
Regarding information dependence issues, which of the following examples best illustrates the concept of a hidden profile?
Mary, Talia, and Sue have researched where the company retreat should be held this year, and they seem to agree on the location. However, Talia has found out some information that she hasn't yet shared with the group; a motorcycle convention at the same time and location as their retreat, which, if shared, will probably contradict the team's common choice.
Key symptoms of groupthink take root and blossom in groups that succumb to the pressures of reaching unanimity. Which of the following is one of those symptoms?
Members of the group regard themselves as invulnerable, morally correct, and exempt from organizational standards.
A transactive memory system, or TMS, is a shared system for attending to, encoding, storing, processing, and retrieving information. In one investigation, teams were asked to assemble radios without written instructions. The most effective group was given what type of training experience before "group test day"?
Members received team training and were assigned to work with same team on test day
Which of the following statements is TRUE about minorities in teams?
When minorities in a group express a differing opinion, the general level of cognitive activity in the group increases, and group members engage in more message scrutiny.
Which of the following is the best example of social embeddedness?
Which of the following is the best example of social embeddedness?
A situational example of team putting knowledge to practice through knowledge adaptation is:
a manager discovers, by lots of personal research, that his department has created a new type of adhesive that is not sticky when wet but very sticky when dry. The manager challenges himself and his employees to improvise fixes to an employee's broken bicycle with this product.
An intervention that might exacerbate the common information effect is:
prediscussion polling
Group socialization refers to the:
process by which a person becomes a full member of a team.
An example of the curse of knowledge is a:
professor who understands an idea perfectly, but cannot explain it clearly to students.
When a team member feels comfortable asking a question without worrying about being rebuffed, this is known as:
psychological safety.
Members of teams who regard their organization to be market-focused tend to gather information about __________. Conversely, employees who regard their organization as bureaucratic tend to be most interested in gathering information on __________.
reward allocation; how they are treated by authority figures
In terms of creating conditions that encourage ethical decision making in organizations, all of the following are valid EXCEPT:
rewarding people based upon their bottom line profitability.
In a longitudinal study of teams that worked together for over 5 years, a series of behavioral changes took place in these aging groups. Each of the following occurred EXCEPT:
role assimilation
When a speaker tunes a message to suit an audience and, in the course of tuning the message, the speaker's subsequent memories and impressions about the topic change, this effect is known as:
saying is believing.
The confirmation bias is best described as the tendency for people to
seek and consider evidence that supports their preferred hypothesis, and discount or ignore information that refutes their beliefs.
Groups with a weak sense of collective efficacy will
set less challenging goals for themselves.
Task conflict is best described as:
tasks and the work to be done.
A truism for optimizing the knowledge resources of a team, is that teams perform better when their members know who is good at what. Two advantages of this shared knowledge amongst team members are that unexpected problems can be solved more quickly and __________.
team members can match problems with the people most likely to solve them
A team mental model is a common understanding, shared by members of a team,about how something works. Mental models most efficiently develop through the process of:
team members sharing information regarding their specialized knowledge, skills, and abilities.
