Deck 16: Communicating Effectively

Question 1

When Shira Goodman took over as Staples' executive vice president in marketing, she and her staff led a companywide effort to simplify the shopping experience.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Staples currently markets and sells The Communication Button, which gives shopping tips and tools to customers.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Communication is to an organization what the bloodstream is to a person.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Communication affects how people in an organization relate to each other.

Question 5

Transmission is a process of sending, receiving, and sharing ideas, attitudes, values, opinions, and facts.

Question 6

It is necessary for a manager to have access to relevant information in order to make sound decisions.

Question 7

Encoding translates thoughts or feelings into a medium that conveys the meaning intended.

Question 8

If Travis Brown wants to use the principles of increasing encoding accuracy, he should know that these principles do not all apply to all forms of communication.

Question 9

One of the major requirements of the sender is the ability to make the message meaningful and significant.

Question 10

Women are less likely to ask for information or directions in a public situation that would reveal their lack of knowledge.

Question 11

Studies have shown that most people can recall immediately only 50 percent of what someone tells them.

Question 12

As a manager, Nick Bradford uses three types of messages: nonverbal, verbal, and written.

Question 13

The ability to interpret facial expressions is not an important part of communication.

Question 14

In Japan, strict rules of etiquette guide seating behavior. If businesspeople are traveling together on a train, the most junior person sits next to the window, facing the direction the train is moving.

Question 15

Spatial arrangements in corporate offices in North America can send many signals to members of the organization.

Question 16

Feng Shui is a system for arranging everything around you in such a way that your environment works for you and with you.

Question 17

Most people prefer face-to-face communication because nonverbal messages are an important part of it.

Question 18

New Balance had an ethical challenge in communicating with its Indian manufacturer..

Question 19

The fundamental problem with downward communication is that it is too often one-way. It is a lean channel that does not encourage feedback from those on the receiving end.

Question 20

Cirque du Soleil encourages downward communication. This will provide feedback on how well employees understand the messages they have received.

Question 21

Managers and other employees use a horizontal channel when communicating across departmental lines, with suppliers, or with customers.

Question 22

Horizontal channels are extremely important in today's team-based organizations, where employees must often communicate among themselves to solve their clients' production or process problems.

Question 23

According to a survey of Fortune 500 companies, employee network groups have experienced relatively slow growth in the past decade.

Question 24

More than 90 million people use MySpace and thousands more use social networks where people share one category.

Question 25

The expansion of social networks will be driven not just by the technology, but also by the various causes of people who use it.

Question 26

The Self-Management Competency feature "Are You Open to Feedback" allows you to assess your openness to giving feedback to others.

Question 27

When feedback is not rewarding, the sender eventually changes the type of message.

Question 28

Receiver reactions tell the sender how well goals are being achieved or tasks are being accomplished.

Question 29

Stereotyping is the meaning given to a message by either sender or receiver.

Question 30

One of the first steps in communicating more successfully is for the manager to determine their overall communication strategy.

Question 31

Hurdles to communication can be divided into organizational and individual hurdles.

Question 32

Authority and status level is an individual hurdle, rather than an organizational hurdle to be overcome.

Question 33

Information technologies often reinforce existing status relationships and magnify their effects on communication.

Question 34

To combat the problem of a loss of understanding from the sender to the receiver, top managers are increasingly using live video presentations to deliver the same message to employees at all the organization's locations.

Question 35

Jargon is a type of communication shorthand that makes it easier to communicate with persons outside a particular field of knowledge.

Question 36

Verbatim is the study of the way words are used and the meanings they convey.

Question 37

A sender's feelings influence encoding of messages and may or may not be apparent to the receiver.

Question 38

The Chinese will lose social face if they fail to understand what is being asked or cannot do what is requested.

Question 39

When communicating with the Chinese, use written rather than oral communication when possible.

Question 40

E-mail usage has been associated with an increase in face-to-face communications anda feeling of employees being more connected to the organization.

Question 41

Comprehensive listening entails active efforts to get complete information, understand the main message, and determine important details.

Question 42

A discerning listener wants to be able to make a decision based on the information provided.

Question 43

Communication is often ineffective because the message is inadequately planned.

Question 44

Effective communicators really try to understand the message from thelistener's point of view.

Question 45

The ability to use real-time information to make decisions raises two major ethical issues: theft and piracy.

Question 46

Organizations may monitor an employees' work when they are working away from the office.

Question 47

The Computer Ethics Institute in Washington, D.C. was formed because of growing concerns with the ethical use of computer technology.

Question 48

The self-management competency feature "Ethics and Information Technology," gives you an opportunity to assess and develop further your understanding of legal ethics.

Question 49

With the ability to send text messages, and receive and send e-mails from almost anywhere in the world, we now have the ability to access lots of information.

Question 50

The three large credit reporting agencies maintain credit information on more than 200 million people.

Question 51

Protection of privacy through the legal system has just recently caught up with technological developments.

Question 52

The marketing department at Staples created a red icon, the _____________, to communicate with customers that shopping should be easy at Staples.

A) Easy Button
B) Smart Bar
C) Fast Fingers
D) Quick Tool

Question 53

In order to make sure that Staples does not have trouble sustaining themselves, Shira Goodman, executive vice president of marketing, communicates with customers and employees _______________.

A) verbally
B) through e-mail
C) via the telephone
D) all of the above

Question 54

Communication is essential in all of the following work settings except __________.

A) manufacturing plant
B) transportation system
C) office supply firm
D) all of the above are correct

Question 55

__________ is the transfer and exchange of information and understanding from one person to another through meaningful symbols.

A) Motivation
B) Communication
C) Technology
D) Proxemics

Question 56

Kristina Beagle is a new manager with TransAm Pacific Corp. As a manager, she will use the communication process in the __________ function.

A) planning
B) controlling
C) leading
D) all of the above

Question 57

Casey Gage is a manager of a large manufacturing plant and is discussing the concept of communication with his sales force. An important factor that should not be left out of the discussion is that ___________.

A) communication is an easy process
B) managers can accomplish very little without effective communication
C) communication need not be effective to be useful
D) some methods of relaying information allow managers to circumvent effective communication

Question 58

Communication is critical to operating a business with any degree of success. In order for communication to take place, there must be __________.

A) a grapevine
B) validity in the message
C) a sender and receiver
D) data to send

Question 59

Steven Koehler translated his thoughts in a written medium. This process is known as __________.

A) focusing
B) encoding
C) jargoning
D) decoding

Question 60

Lourdes Garcia is interested in a position with Compaq. Therefore, she phones to find out about the position, writes a letter, and then phones again to confirm that the letter was received. Garcia is engaging in __________.

A) encoding
B) networking
C) managing
D) decoding

Question 61

Mark Chacon is sending an application letter to the chief of staff at Baptist Hospital regarding an internship opening. Chacon explains his interest in the hospital and provides background information about his qualifications for the job. Chacon is involved in __________.

A) establishing a liaison role
B) encoding
C) decoding
D) dialoging

Question 62

Each of the following is a principle of good encoding except for __________.

A) relevancy
B) simplicity
C) creativity
D) focus

Question 63

Daniel Graham is concerned about increasing his encoding accuracy. He emphasizes significant points by changing his tone of voice, pausing, gesturing, or using appropriate facial expressions. These are all dimensions of __________.

A) repetition
B) simplicity
C) focus
D) organization

Question 64

Sandra Salazar is careful to complete each point in her message before proceeding to the next. Salazar is concerned with __________ in the encoding process.

A) organization
B) repetition
C) synergy
D) relevancy

Question 65

Melissa McLain is concerned that her words may not be clearly heard or fully understood the first time. This concern can be addressed by __________.

A) repetition
B) simplicity
C) extinction
D) proxemics

Question 66

Juan Garcia realizes that the communication process has a better chance of being effective if the message is important and significant to the receiver. In other words, Garcia feels that the message must be __________.

A) concise
B) relevant to the receiver
C) understood, no matter what
D) consistent

Question 67

The __________ is the person who decodes the message sent.

A) sender
B) receiver
C) subordinate
D) manager

Question 68

__________ translates messages into a form that has meaning to the receiver.

A) Decoding
B) Communicating
C) Listening
D) Technology

Question 69

Mark Rand just received a letter from a student inquiring about a summer job. Rand will react first on the basis of whether there are any job openings, which is part of the __________ process.

A) encoding
B) decoding
C) monitoring
D) giving feedback

Question 70

Roberto Gomez decided to use various means of media, such as newsletters, e-mail, and the telephone. His decision is based on research that shows that two months after receiving information, individuals can recall __________ percent of what someone tells them.

A) 10
B) 25
C) 40
D) 70

Question 71

Cheri Hansen knew that she had to concentrate on paying attention to her subordinates because research showed that of the 75 percent or more time that managers spent in communicating, only __________ percent is spent on listening to others.

A) 20
B) 30
C) 50
D) 70

Question 72

Ashley Hackett has been working at Dillard's Department Stores for four years as a first-line manager. She realizes that she needs to develop more effective listening skills. Hackett should attempt each of the following except __________.

A) to stop talking
B) counteracting employees' statements with arguments
C) removing distractions
D) avoid prejudging what the person thinks or feels

Question 73

The __________ is the element of the communication process that contains the verbal and nonverbal symbols used to represent the information we want to convey to receivers.

A) message
B) encoding process
C) decoding process
D) proxemic

Question 74

Managers and other employees use three types of messages including ___________.

A) nonverbal, informal, all-channel
B) horizontal, vertical, wheel
C) nonverbal, verbal, written
D) star, grapevine, chain

Question 75

Carlos Cortez knew that he had to be careful in using nonverbal expressions when interacting with his subordinates. This is due to the fact that __________ percent of the content of messages are transmitted through facial expressions and body movement.

A) 20
B) 40
C) 60
D) 80

Question 76

Abigail Cook is promoted to executive vice president and given a large new office with windows that is located far from her employees. The company is communicating mostly through __________.

A) a verbal message
B) a nonverbal message
C) decoding a special message
D) semantics

Question 77

Charles Cowles is very aware of his physical space and what the use of that space says about him. He is concerned with __________.

A) proxemics
B) semantics
C) feng shui
D) phonetics

Question 78

All of the following are true concerning nonverbal communication except:

A) as much as 50 percent of the content of a message may be communicated by facial expression and body posture.
B) words themselves may account for only 20 percent of the content of the message.
C) eye contact should be constant and prolonged to communicate your intense interest in the sender.
D) table arrangements are important both inside and outside the boardroom.

Question 79

Management at Northern Ontario practices feng shui. Managers felt that office workers might feel anxious or fearful if __________.

A) they had to listen to noise from passing trains
B) there was no privacy
C) they had to move offices frequently
D) they had their backs to the door

Question 80

Employees at Northern Ontario are asked to remove clutter from their desks because clutter indicates __________.

A) a violation of feng shui guidelines
B) rudeness to others in the office
C) a lack of professionalism
D) all of the above