Midterm 2 Flashcards
Which of the following meets the four sociological criteria of a group? A. A crowd on a street watching a parade B. The employees of a large organization C. People standing in line at the store D. The United Auto Workers union E. A planning committee
E. A planning committee
According to Tuckman's five-stage theory of group development, the \_\_\_\_\_ stage is when questions about authority and power are resolved through unemotional, matter-of-fact group discussion A. storming B. norming C. forming D. adjourning E. performing
B. norming
\_\_\_\_\_ occurs when an individual's judgment is distorted by the unanimous but incorrect opposition of a noncohesive group. A. The Asch effect B. Role overload C. Role conflict D. Groupthink E. Social loafing
A. The Asch effect
Which of the following is a typical problem experienced by team members?
A. Vague or conflicting team assignments.
B. Inadequate team skills training.
C. Poor interpersonal skills.
D. Poor staffing of teams.
E. Hostile organizational environment for teams.
C. Poor interpersonal skills.
Assigning someone the role of devil's advocate when discussing major alternatives is a way to prevent \_\_\_. A. groupthink B. the Asch effect C. social loafing D. role ambiguity E. role overload
A. groupthink
Which medium has the greatest information richness? A. Face-to-face. B. Telephone. C. Formal numeric. D. Personal written. E. Formal written.
A. Face-to-face.
According to the perceptual model of communication, \_\_\_\_\_ is anything that filters the transmission and understanding of a message. A. decoding B. interference C. miscommunication D. static E. noise
E. noise
A(n) \_\_\_\_\_ communication style is expressive and self-enhancing, but takes unfair advantage of others A. nonassertive B. assertive C. reasons D. aggressive E. results
D. aggressive
A sales manager who threatens to fire any salesperson who uses a company car for personal purposes is relying on \_\_\_\_\_ power. A. referent B. expert C. legitimate D. coercive E. reward
D. coercive
You are a management consultant and a manager from Texaco asks you to summarize the best research evidence on the impact of French and Raven’s five bases of power on job performance, job satisfaction, and turnover. Which of these would be a correct response?
A. Reward power had stronger positive impacts than referent power.
B. No conclusive evidence was found.
C. Employees resent legitimate power, therefore ignore it.
D. Expert and referent power had a generally positive impact.
E. Coercive power can be used to fool people into thinking you will take actions you are actually unwilling to take.
D. Expert and referent power had a generally positive impact.
Commitment, compliance, and resistance are ____.
A. ways to decrease political behavior in the workplace
B. ways of employee empowerment
C. possible outcomes of influence attempts
D. methods of delegation
E. dimensions of power
C. possible outcomes of influence attempts
Kerr and Jermier described two ways the ability of a leader to influence followers’ actions could be limited or restricted. They called these factors:
A. Tasks and Affects
B. Transactions and Transformations
C. Substitutes and Neutralizers
D. In-group experiences and Out-group experiences
E. Incompetence and Callousness
C. Substitutes and Neutralizers
According to _____ leader behavior is acceptable when employees view it as a source of satisfaction. Leader behaviors are motivational to the extent that they reduce obstacles that interfere with goal attainment, provide guidance, and tie rewards to goal accomplishment
A. Graen’s leader-member exchange model
B. Hersey and Blanchard’s situational leadership theory
C. House’s path-goal theory
D. Fiedler’s contingency model
E. Stogdill’s trait theory
C. House’s path-goal theory
Research on transformational leadership yielded which of the following?
A. Transformational leadership was negatively related to employee motivation.
B. Transformational leadership was negatively related to intrinsic motivation.
C. Followers of transformational leaders exerted less effort than those of laissez-faire leaders.
D. Followers of transformational leaders reported less job satisfaction than those of laissez-faire leaders.
E. Transformational leadership was positively related to organizational performance.
E. Transformational leadership was positively related to organizational performance.
Blake and Mouton described what they called a “high-high” leader. In describing group decision making, what does a High-High group mean (High in what?)? Why do Blake and Mouton think that High-High is the best?
Task and Affect are the two issues here. A high high leader is said to be high in both task and affect. Task is getting the job done, while affect is the emotional side. Task and Affect are independent from each other. Some people think there is a tradeoff between task and affect, and if you are high in one, you need to be low in the other, but You can be high in both task and affect. High affect is neccisary to make sure that all members of the group suppost major decisions. High task is necisarry because it encourages disagreements and that critical in bringing high quality decisions to organizations.
What is the role of the “environment” in the Group Communication Model?
In the group communication model some values and attitudes are shared amount group members, but there is also a big portion that isnt shared with anyone in the organization. Some are even shared with one or two other group members. The environment is the cultural framework in which communication takes place. The environment includes political, social and technological conditions. It also includes frequent changes in the world around us.
Emanuel Kant developed the theory of the “categorical imperative.” What is the application of this theory in a business setting? Can you suggest other theories that would serve the same purpose?
This thoery sudgests that the leadership in an organization needs to have guidelines, rules, and principles to establish a foundation of ethics. Organizations have a social contract, and mush treat customers, stakeholders, and employees fairly. Organizations should do the right thing because it’s the right thing.
The “Appearance of Leadership” is a concept we described in class. What do we mean by this? Please define and explain this term.
The appearance of leadership is more the followers attitudes towards a leader then the leaders attitude. We generally think a leaders as being tall, white, male, and attractive. So when followers see a leader that has these traits they automatically see them as a great leader. Even if in reality they are not a great leader. appearance of leadership is the attitude that followers have towards leaders, not the attitude that leaders themselves have.
Describe the “Great Man Theory” of leadership. What are the traits of a great leader?
This term does not refer to leaders in general, but to the concepts of a very specific theory we described in class. The “Great Man Theory” was the first theory of leadership to be systematically studied, and argued that great leaders are fundamentally different than “normal” (non-leader) human beings. That is, they possess a specific set of traits that are different from the rest of us, and are able to lead on the basis of these traits. In attempting to prove this theory, early leadership researchers attempted to discover the basic traits that all great leaders have in common. The research concluded that no such list exists. While all leaders have traits, there is no single set of traits that are common to all great leaders. Therefore, in answer to part two of the question, there is no set of traits that define a great leader.
One of the student presentations discussed social networking in the workplace. The group described several advantages and disadvantages of the use of social networks in the workplace.
a. Please give an example of a positive use of a social network in the workplace.
b. Please give an example of the kind of problem that can be experienced in the workplace from social networking.
There can be many intuitive answers to a question like this one, so you will probably get close to full credit for a reasonable answer. However, I prefer answers that reflect the material discussed in class and show you were learning from the presentation. So, think back to the handout given by the students presenting before you give an answer off the top of your head.
The student presentations gave several positives and negatives regarding social networking in the workplace. The best answers will reflect the discussion.
Positives:
- Inexpensive advertising and promotion.
- Social networking can be used to expand your business network
- Social networking can be used to connect to customers, and establish an identity with them.
- Direct cybersales
- Limited use in the workplace can create a relaxed atmosphere that some see as improving productivity.
Negatives:
- The misuse of social networks can cause reduced employee productivity.
- There can be breaches of confidentiality. This can impact workers as well as company secrets.
- Social networks bring a danger of the loss of intellectual property.
- There are “free speech” issues. What can you say without injuring your company’s interests?
- Once something is posted on-line, it is permanent…it can’t really ever be erased.
\_\_\_\_\_ is defined as the "we feeling" that binds members of a group together A. The Asch effect B. Social Loafing C. Groupthink D. Role conflict E. Group cohesiveness
E. Group cohesiveness
Kelly is taking 18 credits per semester and working full time to pay for her college tuition. With only 24 hours in the day, she feels like she isnt being effective either as a student or an employee. Kelly is experiencing. A. social loafing B. role overload C. role ambiguity D. role conflict E. role exchange
B. Role overload
The gatekeeper maintenance role serves to
A. Mediate conflict through reconciliation or humor
B. Pull together ideas and suggestions
C. Keep the group headed toward its stated goal
D. Encourage all group members to participate
E. Evaluate the quality of group processes
D. Encourage all group members to participate
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable A. A team B. Socio-emotional cohesiveness C. A group D. Instrumental cohesiveness E. Cross-functionalism
A. A team
