Exam 10: Understanding Work Teams

While discussing their marketing campaign for a new product, the members of the cross-functional team responsible for Carver Inc. realized that a couple of changes relating to their prior plan would be beneficial. The offer of a franchising that had earlier been brushed off by the company head was discussed thoroughly and it was decided that it would be implemented on a trial basis initially, and on full scale if found to work well. From the information provided, it can be concluded that this cross-functional team has a high degree of ________.

For creating good team players, an organization's reward system must be reworked to encourage competitive efforts rather than cooperative ones.

Which of the following is an example of a task conflict?

Describe and discuss self-managed work teams.

What is social loafing? How can the management undermine the tendency of social loafing?

Explain how organizations can create team players.

In which of the following teams is leadership of most importance to coordinate the efforts of various teams in order to produce a desired outcome?

Diane Fielding, owner of the famous "Mint" chain of restaurants, planned to revamp the whole concept and structure of her outlets. With this purpose in mind, she selected five managers from her existing outlets based on their performance in relation to targets, experience, and motivation. Each manager was asked to take up an aspect of the restaurant's functioning like menu, décor, and customer service measures. Diane was sure that this group of high performers possessed a clear understanding of the ground realities which made them the best candidates to contemplate and implement the required changes. In order to reward them, she announced a hefty bonus for their collective performance. Six months later, after the changes were implemented, Diane realized that the group had made many questionable decisions which were resulting in problems. Which of the following, if true, would best explain this outcome?

Which of the following is true with regard to use of individuals and teams?

Using teams makes sense when the assignment involves independent tasks.

Conscientiousness and openness to experience are two personality dimensions of the Big Five personality model that predict better performance in teams.

Which of the following accurately differentiates between work groups and work teams?

Which of the following statements is true regarding size of teams?

The extensive use of work teams benefits organizations by ________.

Nancy is a part of a group at work which stresses a lot on collective goals and performance. Nancy is amazed at how well the members of the team use their skills to benefit themselves and their team members. Whenever a problem arises, the team, as a whole, provides reasons and solutions for the same. She enjoys working in this group as there is a lot of positive energy. This group that Nancy is a part of is a work group.

More and more organizations are resorting to teams as they represent a better way to use employee talents.

What is meant by member preferences? How can it be altered?

Elle Appliances has recently released its "Elite" cooking range. The cooking appliances were advertised extensively with offers for early-bird buyers and assured refunds if the goods were found defective. This resulted in a lot of hype surrounding the goods and high levels of projected demand in the market. However, after its release in the market, the products failed to substantially add to the company's profits. When the venture failed to recover even the minimum projected returns, the marketing manager blamed the production department for the delays in production, while the production manager claimed that he was doing his best to dispatch stock on the predetermined days. Which of the following best explains the failure of this venture by Elle?

What is the relationship between task conflicts and reflexivity among team members?

A software development firm has witnessed substantial growth and seeks to expand and reorganize its structure to meet the demands from clients in a better manner. HR has been given a clear directive that one of the major criteria for selection of recruits would be the candidate's ability to function as a team player. This is because the company is revamping all its major functions from the traditional departmental model to an arrangement of flexible teams. Joe Sanchez is one of their oldest and most experienced employees who demonstrated considerable ability in developing the best programs but the problem with him is that he prefers to work alone. The company does not wish to lose resources like him and others who lack the ability to work in groups but team work is essential in their reorganization. Which of the following strategies will help rectify this problem?