Chapter 15 - Kackung Sticker Flashcards
11) In comparing the characteristics of teams and groups, it can be said that
A) all groups are considered to also be teams.
B) teams have no restrictions on the number of members in them, unlike groups.
C) the intensity with which members work together is always higher in a team than in a group.
D) groups are more formal and teams are more informal.
E) groups have an overriding common goal while teams do not.
Answer: C
Explanation: The two characteristics that distinguish teams from groups are the intensity with which team members work together and the presence of a specific, overriding team goal or objective. A team is a group whose members work intensely with one another to achieve a specific common goal or objective.
Difficulty: 3 Hard
12) ________ refers to increases in performance that result when individuals and departments coordinate their actions.
A) Synergy
B) Conformance
C) Deviance
D) Groupthink
E) Social loafing
Answer: A
Explanation: Synergy is performance gains that result when individuals and departments coordinate their actions.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
13) In order to take advantage of the potential for synergy, managers should
A) create groups where the members have the same personality traits.
B) be strongly directive with the group.
C) build groups with members possessing complementary skills and knowledge.
D) discourage group members from providing each other feedback.
E) reward individual performances instead of the group as a whole.
Answer: C
Explanation: To take advantage of the potential for synergy in groups, managers need to make sure that groups are composed of members who have complementary skills.
Difficulty: 3 Hard
14) To further promote innovation among team members, a manager should avoid
A) offering guidance to the group.
B) coaching the group regarding skills development.
C) closely directing or supervising the group.
D) solving resource issues for the group.
E) assisting the group in defining its goals.
Answer: C
Explanation: To promote innovation, the manager’s role is to provide guidance, assistance, coaching, and the resources team members need and not to closely direct or supervise their activities.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
15) Top management at a company organizes the employees into departments focusing on functions such as sales, product development, and customer service. These departments represent ________ groups.
A) friendship
B) control
C) command
D) interest
E) advocacy
Answer: C
Explanation: Command groups, often called departments or units, perform a significant amount of work in many organizations. When top managers design an organization’s structure and establish reporting relationships and a chain of command, they are essentially creating command groups.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
16) Noelle recently joined a team of scientists who work together in a shared lab environment. All team members have the expertise and experience needed to develop next generation pharmaceutical products. Noelle is part of a(n)
A) task force.
B) informal team.
C) research and development team.
D) interest group.
E) virtual team.
Answer: C
Explanation: A team whose members work face-to-face and have the expertise and experience needed to develop new products is called a research and development team.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
17) ACME Productions put together a group of employees from marketing, engineering, manufacturing, and quality control to develop a new product idea. This is an example of a(n) ________ group.
A) informal
B) friendship
C) self-managed
D) cross-functional
E) top management
Answer: D
Explanation: Formal work groups are cross-functional teams composed of members from different departments.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
18) Managers at Worldwide Auto establish a group, or a(n) ________ team, comprised of engineers from Germany, Japan, and the United States for the design and manufacture of a new vehicle.
A) cross-cultural
B) informal
C) cross-functional
D) advocacy
E) interest
Answer: A
Explanation: Cross-cultural teams are composed of members from different cultures or countries.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
19) Workers at WECO Inc. formed a(n) ________ so that the members can provide each other support both on and off the job.
A) ad hoc committee
B) cross-functional group
C) command group
D) informal group
E) virtual team
Answer: D
Explanation: Sometimes organization members, managers or nonmanagers, form groups because they feel that groups will help them achieve their own goals or meet their own needs (for example, the need for social interaction). Groups formed in this way are informal groups.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
20) A small group of employees from the marketing department of an organization get together for lunch every Friday so they can discuss various personal and professional topics. This is an example of a(n)
A) control group.
B) virtual team.
C) informal group.
D) command group.
E) self-managed work team.
Answer: C
Explanation: Sometimes organization members, managers or nonmanagers, form groups because they feel that groups will help them achieve their own goals or meet their own needs (for example, the need for social interaction). Groups formed in this way are informal groups.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
21) A toy manufacturer wants to assemble a team to market a new toy across the country. A(n) ________ group would be best for this purpose.
A) formal
B) research and development
C) ad hoc
D) friendship
E) interest
Answer: A
Explanation: A group that managers establish to achieve organizational goals is called a formal group. In this case, the team has been put together by the management to advertise the company’s product.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
22) A(n) ________ would be best suited for designing the long-term strategic plan for an organization.
A) informal team
B) cross-cultural group
C) top-management team
D) research and development
E) interest group
Answer: C
Explanation: Top-management teams are responsible for developing the strategies that result in an organization’s competitive advantage.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
23) A company’s CEO is assembling a top-management team. By selecting members who possess different expertise, skills, knowledge, and experience, the CEO is promoting
A) diversity.
B) individualism.
C) groupthink.
D) social loafing.
E) division of labor.
Answer: A
Explanation: Diversity in a work group implies varied expertise, skills, knowledge, and experience among its members.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
24) Raj has noticed that the members within his team seem to forgo personal opinions quite quickly to come to common solutions. He is concerned that this may be leading to suboptimal solutions. Raj is concerned the team may
A) have become too informal
B) be too independent.
C) suffer from synergy.
D) be experiencing groupthink.
E) be demonstrating social loafing.
Answer: D
Explanation: Groupthink is faulty group decision making that results when group members strive for agreement at the expense of an accurate assessment of the situation.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
25) A group of customer service representatives at a call center who are managed by the same supervisor are part of a(n)
A) research and development team.
B) informal group.
C) command group.
D) task force.
E) interest group.
Answer: C
Explanation: Subordinates who report to the same supervisor compose a command group.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
26) When the CEO of an organization redesigns the organizational chart to define different reporting relationships among the organization’s managers, she is essentially creating ________ groups.
A) informal
B) self-managed
C) command
D) virtual
E) interest
Answer: C
Explanation: When top managers design an organization’s structure and establish reporting relationships and a chain of command, they are essentially creating command groups.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
27) Which statement is true about a command group?
A) A command group is an example of an informal group.
B) A command group is composed of employees who enjoy one another’s company and socialize with one another.
C) A group of interns who work in a hospital and have lunch together twice a week constitute a command group.
D) A command group is composed of the CEO, the president, and the heads of the most important departments.
E) A command group consists of employees who report to the same supervisor.
Answer: E
Explanation: Subordinates who report to the same supervisor compose a command group.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Groups and teams
28) Machinists in a manufacturing plant who have worked together for many years and report to the same shop foreman exemplify a
A) friendship group.
B) virtual team.
C) cross-functional group.
D) self-managed team.
E) command group.
Answer: E
Explanation: Subordinates who report to the same supervisor compose a command group.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
29) Task forces are generally
A) permanent groups and often referred to as ad hoc committees.
B) composed of employees who enjoy one another’s company and socialize with one another.
C) managers or nonmanagerial employees from various departments or divisions who meet to solve a specific, mutual problem.
D) managers who form to focus on their own goals beyond overall organizational needs.
E) not used to addressing recurring or long-term problems.
Answer: C
Explanation: Task forces are committees of managers or nonmanagerial employees from various departments or divisions who meet to solve a specific, mutual problem.
Difficulty: 3 Hard
30) ________ are task forces that are relatively permanent.
A) Interest groups
B) Informal groups
C) Standing committees
D) Virtual groups
E) Self-managed teams
Answer: C
Explanation: Task forces that are relatively permanent are often referred to as standing committees.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
31) ________ are empowered to assume responsibility and autonomy to complete identifiable pieces of work for an organization.
A) Informal groups
B) Interest groups
C) Command groups
D) Top-management teams
E) Self-managed work teams
Answer: E
Explanation: Self-managed work teams are teams in which members are empowered and have the responsibility and autonomy to complete identifiable pieces of work.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
32) For a self-managed team to be most effective, a manager must
A) try to anticipate and solve problems for the team before they arise.
B) provide close supervision for all the team activities.
C) choose members for the team solely on the basis of their educational qualifications.
D) provide training in the required fields to all the team members.
E) give team members limited autonomy and responsibility for their tasks.
Answer: D
Explanation: Managers must analyze what type of training team members need, and provide it. Working in a self-managed work team often requires that employees have more extensive technical and interpersonal skills.
Difficulty: 3 Hard
33) Eliza is part of a(n) ________ group within her company and looks forward to Friday Funday each week, when members socialize in the break room at the end of the day.
A) command
B) virtual
C) interest
D) ad hoc
E) friendship
Answer: E
Explanation: Friendship groups are informal groups composed of employees who enjoy one another’s company and socialize with one another.
34) Environmentally conscious members within a company organize weekly meetings to discuss how their company can use fewer Styrofoam cups and less paper. The members constitute a(n) ________ group.
A) virtual
B) formal
C) command
D) interest
E) friendship
Answer: D
Explanation: Employees form informal interest groups when they seek to achieve a common goal related to their membership in an organization.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
35) In comparing group sizing, members in a larger group ________ than members in a smaller group.
A) interact more with each other
B) are generally more motivated
C) find it easier to share information with one another
D) have more resources at their disposal
E) tend to be more committed
Answer: D
Explanation: A disadvantage of small rather than large groups is that members of small groups have fewer resources available to accomplish their goals.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
36) What challenge might a manager face if choosing a smaller group size to accomplish a project?
A) It is more difficult to motivate the members of smaller groups.
B) Managers need to invest more personal time in facilitating interaction within smaller groups.
C) Developing specialized expertise can be more difficult with smaller groups.
D) Information sharing is more limited within smaller groups.
E) Smaller groups cannot be empowered to self-manage.
Answer: C
Explanation: A disadvantage of small rather than large groups is that members of small groups have fewer resources available to accomplish their goals.
Difficulty: 3 Hard
37) ________ refers to how much influence the work of one group member may have on the work of another.
A) Reciprocity
B) Division of labor
C) Social loafing
D) Task interdependence
E) Pooling
Answer: D
Explanation: Task interdependence is the degree to which the work performed by one member of a group influences the work performed by other members of the group.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
38) ________ exists when group members make separate, independent contributions to group performance.
A) Sequential task interdependence
B) Total task dependence
C) Reciprocal task dependence
D) Simultaneous task interdependence
E) Pooled task interdependence
Answer: E
Explanation: Pooled task interdependence exists when group members make separate and independent contributions to group performance.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
39) A sales manager creates a weekly group sales target of $10,000 for her employees. To entice her group members to achieve this target, she rewards each member who reaches $2,000 in sales. This approach creates ________ task interdependence.
A) sequential
B) ordered
C) pooled
D) simultaneous
E) reciprocal
Answer: C
Explanation: Pooled task interdependence exists when group members make separate and independent contributions to group performance.
Difficulty: 3 Hard
40) ________ task interdependence exists when group members must perform specific tasks in a prescriptive order.
A) Sequential
B) Partial
C) Pooled
D) Reciprocal
E) Uniform
Answer: A
Explanation: Sequential task interdependence exists when group members must perform specific tasks in a predetermined order; certain tasks have to be performed before others, and what one worker does affects the work of others.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
