Deck 1: An Overview of Organizational Behavior

Question 1

Over time, organizational behavior has gradually shifted from a situational perspective to a universal perspective.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Technology is used to transform inputs into outputs.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

A system is an interrelated set of elements that function as a whole.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Organizational behavior is a designated business function just like marketing and accounting.

Question 5

Leading is the process of setting deadlines and making plans to achieve goals.

Question 6

Organizational behavior is the study of human behavior in organizational settings, the interface between human behavior and the organization, and the organizational itself.

Question 7

Cohesiveness can be measured at the individual and organizational levels.

Question 8

Even though humans behave in organizations, such conduct occurs independently of the environment.

Question 9

Organizing is the process of designing jobs and establishing patterns of authority.

Question 10

Managers use their interpersonal skills to understand cause-and-effect relationships.

Question 11

The organizational system has four basic categories of input from its environment: technological, financial, material, and human.

Question 12

In organizations, most situations and outcomes are contingent; that is, the precise relationship between any two variables is likely to be dependent on other variables.

Question 13

The controlling function includes monitoring organizational behavior and taking corrective action when needed.

Question 14

A systems perspective keeps managers focused on both internal and environmental processes.

Question 15

An organizational system receives inputs from the environment, combines and transforms them, and then returns them to the environment.

Question 16

Interactionalism attempts to explain how people select, interpret, and change various situations.

Question 17

Developing new corporate goals that involve acquiring new businesses is part of the planning function.

Question 18

A manager who pays workers high wages may increase workers' satisfaction, but may also lower important organizational-level outcomes.

Question 19

The situational perspective is illustrated by the notion that the relationship between workers' skill levels and their performance levels is dependent on their degree of loyalty.

Question 20

The ability to think in the abstract comes from a manager's conceptual skills.

Question 21

The first goal of a consultant hired to solve a problem in an organization should be to

A) recognize that the organization has always been this way and little can be done to change it.
B) learn as much as possible about the organization and the people within it.
C) generate an action plan, with specific targets and completion dates.
D) focus exclusively on changing the reward system, since everything else depends on it.
E) make sure employees know the consultant has come to solve the company's problems.

Question 22

A manager who schedules department meetings to effectively disseminate important information to employees has high

A) interpersonal skills.
B) technical skills.
C) diagnostic skills.
D) conceptual skills.
E) leadership skills.

Question 23

A manager acting in the role of a leader will

A) choose the best resources to most effectively and efficiently produce the organization's product or service.
B) verify the quality of resources that pass through the organization.
C) determine how organizational resources will be released in the environment.
D) encourage workers to increase productivity.
E) identify the various suppliers the organization will utilize to acquire resources.

Question 24

An engineer who can solve complex mathematical equations on the job has strong

A) interpersonal skills.
B) problem-solving skills.
C) conceptual skills.
D) diagnostic skills.
E) technical skills.

Question 25

Which is NOT an important reason for understanding organizational behavior?

A) Most people are born and educated in organizations.
B) Government organizations regulate many of our activities.
C) Most adults spend the better part of their lives working in organizations.
D) Organizational behavior offers specific perspectives on the human side of management.
E) Sole proprietorships are increasing common for entrepreneurial organizations.

Question 26

From a universal perspective, managers try to identify the possible ways to solve problems based on organizational conditions.

Question 27

A manager who can see how the various tasks within the organization fit together and how each task contributes toward the "big picture" has strong

A) problem-solving skills.
B) diagnostic skills.
C) technical skills.
D) conceptual skills.
E) interpersonal skills.

Question 28

In dealing with the work-related activities of people, managers must have an understanding of all of the following EXCEPT

A) leadership
B) decision-making
C) organizational structure and design
D) organizational culture
E) long-term plans of marketplace competitors

Question 29

​The study of organizational behavior involves both human behavior and characteristics of organizations, but its principal focus is the exterior environment that surrounds the organization.

Question 30

Planning is the process of

A) designing jobs, grouping jobs into units, and establishing patterns of authority between jobs and units.
B) determining the organization's desired future position and deciding how best to get there.
C) motivating the organization's members to work together toward the organization's goals.
D) monitoring and correcting the actions of the organization and its members to keep them directed toward their goals.
E) utilizing organizational resources with the ultimate goal of attaining organizational goals efficiently and effectively.

Question 31

A manager's ability to develop solutions to problems is determined by her

A) conceptual skills.
B) time management skills.
C) diagnostic skills.
D) interpersonal skills.
E) technical skills.

Question 32

Which of the following is NOT a resource category that organizations use in the pursuit of goals and objectives?

A) human
B) financial
C) physical
D) intangible
E) informational

Question 33

When managers motivate employees with compensation and job opportunity, they are utilizing which managerial function?

A) Synergizing
B) Controlling
C) Leading
D) Planning
E) Organizing

Question 34

Organizational behavior focuses on

A) the economic side of management.
B) the control side of management.
C) the human side of management.
D) the financial side of management.
E) the production side of management.

Question 35

Which of the following is one of the specific perspectives of organizational behavior?

A) people as technology users
B) people as resources
C) people as consumers
D) people as task environments
E) people as financial expenditures

Question 36

Evaluating performance and verifying inventory levels are examples of

A) leading.
B) decision making.
C) organizing.
D) planning.
E) controlling.

Question 37

A manager who groups jobs into units and establishes patterns of authority is performing which function of management?

A) Planning
B) Organizing
C) Controlling
D) Supervising
E) Leading

Question 38

Organizational behavior (OB) typically includes the study of which of the following basic components?

A) financial reporting
B) research and development
C) human behavior in organizations.
D) the task environment
E) customer retention.

Question 39

All organizational successes and failures result directly from

A) stakeholder management.
B) comprehensive selection and placement.
C) supplier relationships.
D) the behaviors of many people.
E) the dynamics of the reward system of the organization.

Question 40

The successful application of organizational behavior principles can reduce a company's rates of turnover and absenteeism.

Question 41

A person's ____________________ is an indicator of his or her efficiency and is measured in terms of the products or services created per unit of output.

A) productivity
B) absenteeism
C) turnover
D) profitability
E) cost-effectiveness

Question 42

John, a middle manager in a high-tech form, has the ability to identify the products that consumers want to buy, which is based on his ____.

A) diagnostic skills
B) conceptual skills
C) technical skills
D) interpersonal skills
E) All of the above

Question 43

Which perspective of management would most likely refute the notion that one style of leadership would enhance employee satisfaction and job performance under any condition?

A) Situational perspective
B) Classical perspective
C) Behavioral perspective
D) Interactional perspective
E) Universal perspective

Question 44

Successful business strategies are grounded in creating and maintaining a competitive advantage that is ______________.

A) inflexible
B) sustainable
C) volatile
D) intangible
E) all of these

Question 45

Under the systems perspective, a system is defined as

A) an interrelated set of elements that functions as a whole.
B) a procedure for fair and impartial performance appraisals.
C) a collection of independent organizations.
D) the central technology of the organization.
E) the ideal process for completing a particular job.

Question 46

Businesses pursuing a ______________ strategy focus on a narrow market segment or niche.

A) cost leadership
B) differentiation
C) specialization
D) growth
E) psychological

Question 47

____ attempts to explain how people select, interpret, and change various situations.

A) Interactionalism
B) Contextualism
C) Universalism
D) Individualism
E) Systems theory

Question 48

A ________ is anything that gives a firm an edge over rivals in attracting customers and defending itself against competition.

A) cultural privilege
B) business bias
C) personal talent
D) competitive advantage
E) monopoly

Question 49

Although Costco pays its employees substantially more than its closest competitor, Sam's Club, it has similar financial returns on its labor costs due to which of the following?

A) lower turnover and higher levels of productivity
B) higher turnover andhigher levels of employee productivity
C) promotion-from-within policies and better benefits
D) a larger part-time workforce

Question 50

If a company creates and maintains a culture that encourages employees to bring new ideas into the company, it is most likely to be using what strategy?

A) cost leadership
B) differentiation
C) specialization
D) growth
E) sabotage

Question 51

All of the following are inputs an organization receives from its environment EXCEPT

A) money.
B) materials.
C) people.
D) employee behaviors.
E) information.

Question 52

Some outcomes can be studied at the individual, group, and organization levels.Which of the following is generally assessed at both the individual and organizational levels?

A) Absenteeism
B) Financial performance
C) Survival
D) Norms
E) Cohesiveness

Question 53

Under the systems view, the profits that Wal-Mart receives as a result of the services it provides is one type of

A) technology.
B) output.
C) input.
D) transformation.
E) contingency.

Question 54

According to Michael Porter, to have a competitive advantage, a company must ultimately be able to give customers _______________.

A) the best possible product
B) the best possible service
C) the best possible price
D) superior value for their money
E) everything they want

Question 55

Which of the following perspectives argues that there's "one best way" to solve a problem that will work for any organization?

A) The universal perspective
B) Behavioral organization theory
C) The systems perspective
D) The interactional perspective
E) The contingency perspective

Question 56

Which of the following is not studied as a group-level outcome in organizational behavior?

A) Productivity
B) Absenteeism
C) Norms
D) Performance
E) Cohesiveness

Question 57

Which of the following is NOT a source of competitive advantage?

A) selling the most expensive version of an adequate product
B) having a well-known brand name
C) providing the best customer service
D) being more convenient to buy from
E) developing a steady stream of innovative products

Question 58

Organizations pursuing a specialization strategy often try to develop a competitive advantage based on customer____________.

A) intimidation
B) integrity
C) intimacy
D) integration
E) immolation

Question 59

The systems view is important to managers because it

A) underscores the importance of the organization's environment.
B) gives them a set procedure for making decisions.
C) allows them to eliminate the interaction among various elements of the organization.
D) reduces their risk of human error.
E) shifts the focus from outside the company to inside the company.

Question 60

Firms pursuing a __________ strategy strive to be the lowest cost producer in an industry for a particular level of product quality.

A) cost leadership
B) differentiation
C) specialization
D) growth
E) self-sabotaging

Question 61

An organization with a product innovation competitive advantage would likely seek a core workforce of research and development employees who have which quality?

A) an entrepreneurial mindset
B) a shorter-term focus
C) a low tolerance for ambiguity
D) conservative values
E) a high aversion to taking risks

Question 62

Deming's ______________ cycle of continuous improvement promoted the adoption of 14 principles to make any organization efficient and capable of solving almost any problem.

A) plan-do-check-act
B) plan-check-act-do
C) act-do-check-plan
D) act-plan-check-do
E) check-plan-act-do

Question 63

The __________ effect occurs when people improve some aspect of their behavior or performance because they know that they are being assessed.

A) Hamilton
B) Henricks
C) Hawthorne
D) Hampton
E) Hoover

Question 64

__________ management is based on the belief that productivity is maximized when organizations are rationalized with precise sets of instructions based on time-and-motion studies.

A) Scientific
B) Sociological
C) Straightforward
D) Strategic
E) Stratospheric

Question 65

​ Decades of research have reinforced some of what many people intuitively believe about OB and identified common misunderstandings, Which of the following questions could NOT be answered as a result of this research into OB?

A) What goal level will best motivate my employees?
B) How important is job satisfaction to job performance?
C) Should I seek a promotion with a competing firm?
D) Is stress always bad?

Question 66

A _______________ reflects the size and strength of the statistical relationship between two variables.

A) correlation
B) mean
C) mode
D) standard deviation
E) range

Question 67

What strategy focuses on company expansion, either organically or through acquisitions?

A) differentiation
B) cost leadership
C) specialization
D) growth
E) domination

Question 68

Organizations pursuing a differentiation strategy often try to develop a competitive advantage based on product _____________.

A) intervention
B) integration
C) invitation
D) innovation
E) integrity

Question 69

What is the range of correlations?

A) 0 to 10
B) 1 to 10
C) 0 to 100
D) -10 to 10
E) -1 to 1

Question 70

Maximizing the efficiency of the manufacturing or product development process to minimize costs is referred to as _________.

A) managerial skill
B) business superiority
C) operational excellence
D) maintenance strategy
E) differentiation

Question 71

​What is the term for a written prediction specifying expected relationships between certain variables?​

A) hypothesis
B) theory
C) prophecy
D) correlation
E) ​statistic

Question 72

The _________ method relies on systematic studies that identify and replicate a result using a variety of methods, samples, and settings.

A) philosophical
B) statistical
C) mathematical
D) scientific
E) ​humanist

Question 73

A researcher hypothesizes that the age of employees influences their awareness of diversity.In this example, age is the _____________ and diversity awareness is the ____________.

A) variable, control
B) theory, correlation
C) correlation, theory
D) independent variable, dependent variable
E) dependent variable, independent variable

Question 74

The _________ variable in an experiment is predicted to be affected by something else.

A) dependent
B) independent
C) codependent
D) interdependent
E) control

Question 75

​Which of the following is a hypothesis?

A) Setting a goal will be positively related to the number of products assembled.
B) A researcher found a .8 correlation between goal-setting and productivity.
C) Personally, I am more productive when I set goals.
D) I wonder if there is a relationship between goal-setting and productivity.​
E) There is no way to determine whether goal-setting is positively or negatively related to productivity.

Question 76

​A _________ is a collection of verbal and symbolic assertions that specify how and why variables are related, and the conditions under which they should and should not relate.

A) hypothesis
B) theory
C) data set
D) fact
E) ​statistic

Question 77

The _________ variable in an experiment is predicted to affect something else.

A) dependent
B) independent
C) codependent
D) interdependent
E) measured

Question 78

Deming felt that when things go wrong, there is a 94 percent chance that the ________ rather than the __________ is the cause.

A) user, technology
B) technology, user
C) system, worker
D) worker, system
E) organization, environment

Question 79

After World War I, attention shifted away from scientific management to understanding the role of _____________ in organizations.

A) managerial corruption
B) law and politics
C) gender and sexual harassment
D) religion and spirituality
E) human factors and psychology

Question 80

What letter is used to refer to a correlation?

A) r
B) f
C) p
D) n
E) c