Exam 13: Understanding Groups and Managing Work Teams

A major drawback of using global teams is ________.

Collectivist societies tend to have an enormous problem with social loafing.

In a short essay, discuss the second stage of group development.

Asch's findings show that ________ cultures tend to be more conformist than North American cultures.

There is no way to reduce social loafing within a team.

Status incongruence can be upsetting to employees because it sends a signal that organizational accomplishments ________.

Low cohesiveness combined with a strong alignment between group goals and organizational goals typically results in this.

In a global team, team members should guard against ________, which can be a source of discord and resentment among team members.

Managers should especially try to avoid conflict during the storming stage of group development.

The Retreat (Scenario) The first-line managers of ELH Inc. were sent on a retreat to Silver Falls for their inaugural strategic planning meeting. Few people knew each other, but their task was clear: design a new performance appraisal system for subordinates that would be effective and usable. The first day, little was accomplished except for the jockeying to see who would be the official leader. Finally, Jim seemed to wrangle control and helped provide the first real direction for the group. By the second day, the group seemed to begin working well. They spent the morning determining group standards with respect to how they would make decisions within the group and how to manage the idea-generation process. On the third and fourth days, the managers got down to work and moved amazingly quickly, with ideas flowing freely. By the end of the fourth day, they had a workable system developed, and they felt satisfied. That night they all signed off on a new document to be presented to the regional manager the next day. They all felt a twinge of regret at having to break up the group and return to normal work life. -The official forming stage of the group development process wasn't complete until group members ________.

Solomon Asch carried out pioneering studies in understanding ________.

Members of a virtual team never actually communicate with one another.

Asch was surprised most by finding that in some conditions, group members would provide information that they knew to be ________.

Al is given two different "top priorities" from two different managers. Al is experiencing ________.

Small groups appear to perform better when it comes to ________.

Problem-solving teams usually ________.

An organization that is composed predominantly of teams should reward employees primarily for ________.

Dan in New York is part of a team that is creating new software for the One Laptop Per Child program. The graphic designer for Dan's team is in Uruguay. The programmers for the team are in different parts of California. The team meets by videoconference once a week. Dan's team is likely to be a ________.

The Retreat (Scenario) The first-line managers of ELH Inc. were sent on a retreat to Silver Falls for their inaugural strategic planning meeting. Few people knew each other, but their task was clear: design a new performance appraisal system for subordinates that would be effective and usable. The first day, little was accomplished except for the jockeying to see who would be the official leader. Finally, Jim seemed to wrangle control and helped provide the first real direction for the group. By the second day, the group seemed to begin working well. They spent the morning determining group standards with respect to how they would make decisions within the group and how to manage the idea-generation process. On the third and fourth days, the managers got down to work and moved amazingly quickly, with ideas flowing freely. By the end of the fourth day, they had a workable system developed, and they felt satisfied. That night they all signed off on a new document to be presented to the regional manager the next day. They all felt a twinge of regret at having to break up the group and return to normal work life. -In the third and fourth days of the retreat, the managers were in the ________ stage of group development.

How agreeable or disagreeable team members are affects team performance, especially when ________.