Pre-Assessment Flashcards
Employees A and B work together on the same project team. When the team faces a complex problem, the team leader usually asks B to generate alternative solutions for the team to consider. Experience has shown that B is more likely to take initiative, to set ambitious goals, and to feel that the team can effectively influence its environment. Employee A tends to do well on jobs that are routine, is plagued with self doubt, and feels that the team is largely powerless over its environment.
Which statement is correct?
Employee A exhibits negative core self evaluation, and employee B exhibits positive core self evaluation.
Employee B was upset by Employee A’s behavior at the department’s planning meeting.
Which factors will influence Employee B’s perception in this situation?
Situation, target, and perceiver
A person is broadminded, courageous, and forgiving.
Which type of values are these?
Instrumental values
An employee enjoys having a large span of responsibility and is motivated to do well because of personal feelings.
Which kind of reward is this?
Intrinsic reward
Which theory of motivation focuses on 5 levels of needs, and further separates those needs by lower-order needs and higher-order needs?
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory
Manager A supervises 10 district units with 100 employees and receives $100,000 in compensation. Manager B supervises 5 district units with 50 employees and also receives $100,000 in compensation. Manager A is upset by this relationship and is looking for a new job.
Which theory explains A’s motivation to look for a new job?
Equity theory
A manager challenged an employee to produce an average of 24 assemblies each day for a week. This production goal was higher than the employee had ever achieved during any week. The manager gave the employee a tally sheet to mark after each assembly was completed.
Considering the goal-setting theory of motivation, the manager was counting on which factors to influence the employee to achieve the production goal?
Specificity and feedback
What defines a set of expected behavior patterns attributed to a person occupying a given position in a social unit?
Group role
Which type of group is defined by the organization’s structure?
Formal group
Management has noticed that the quality improvement work group is struggling because members seem to be working in different directions.
Which suggested action can the company take to increase group cohesiveness?
Physically isolate the group
To resolve a conflict between the department staff and the janitorial staff, the department head informs the department staff of a new policy prohibiting the eating of food at the desk.
Which type of conflict resolution technique does this represent?
Authoritative command
What is an advantage of a cohesive group?
When performance-related goals are high, a cohesive group is more productive.
What is an advantage of a group that is not very cohesive?
When performance norms are low, productivity may be higher than in a cohesive group.
Which term describes the tendency for individuals to expend less effort when working collectively than when working individually?
Social loafing
What is a strength of group decision making?
Increased diversity of views
Which statement is true about work teams?
Members of the group generate positive synergy through coordinated effort.
What type of team is formed when employees from about the same hierarchical level but from different work areas come together to accomplish a task?
Cross-functional team
What are primary factors that differentiate virtual teams from face-to-face teams?
Overcome time and space constraints and create limited social context
What is a characteristic of problem-solving teams that is different than cross-functional teams?
Problem-solving team members come from the same work unit.
A team was assigned a project. Halfway through the project it was obvious that the team was failing to meet expectations. Management had made sure that individuals assigned to the team had good interpersonal skills as well as good problem-solving and decision-making skills. However, they overlooked other abilities of team members required for accomplishing the work.
Which ability necessary for team members was overlooked?
Technical expertise
When organizing a team to develop a new quality control system, management wanted to assign team members having characteristics common to effective teams.
Which list specifies common characteristics of effective teams?
A manageable level of conflict, members who are conscientious, and effective leadership
A company switched from assembly lines to self-managed work teams.
What can team members do to improve the synergy and success of their teams?
Take action on problems as individual members as well as in work teams
A company is changing their work organization from employees working individually to the use of teams.
Which reward system could be used to foster long-term team effectiveness?
Reward system that rewards both individual and group activity
Management is considering a reorganization of sales regions and plans to allow employees to live and work in their respective sales territories throughout the United States. However, the vice president of sales wants the regionally-dispersed agents to participate in weekly sales meetings.
Which type of teams should be organized?
Virtual teams
What is the optimal method for maximizing team member participation in a global meeting?
Video conferencing technology
A team is struggling to become productive but cannot decide who should do what.
How should the team leader attempt to resolve the problem?
Coach the team through the difficulty
Which option defines organizational culture?
A shared system of meanings that is unique to the organization
What is one of the six primary characteristics that define an organization’s culture?
People orientation
What is one of the forces that plays a particularly important role in sustaining an organization’s culture?
Socialization process
How can an organization transmit its culture to its employees?
By using material symbols and specific language
When is organizational culture considered dysfunctional?
When cultural incompatibility deters making acquisitions or mergers
What is an advantage of a strong organizational culture?
The company has low employee turnover.
How might a charismatic leader work to increase performance in an organization?
Articulate an appealing vision.
Which contingency theory of leadership proposes that early in the interaction between a leader and a given follower the leader implicitly categorizes the follower as an “in” or an “out”?
Leader-member exchange theory
What is a characteristic employed by transformational leaders?
Provides vision and sense of mission and gains trust
Which approach might be used to mentor a less-experienced employee?
Counseling and sponsorship
Which conflict-resolution techniques might a manager use to control the level of conflict that has become dysfunctional?
Superordinate goals and altering the structural variables
Recognize how workplace politics influence behavior within an organization.
How do employees often respond when feeling threatened by organizational politics?
With defensive behaviors
What is a purpose of employee performance evaluations?
To provide feedback and determine reward allocations
What is true about the relationship between performance evaluation and motivation?
Employees must have confidence that the effort they exert will lead to a favorable performance evaluation.
In which circumstances would the use of 360-degree performance evaluations apply?
When both internal and external customer feedback is helpful
A company has restructured around teams but performance has not met expectations.
What should be the main evaluation criterion in an appropriate performance evaluation for supporting and improving the performance of teams?
Team results being tied to important goals
