Deck 14: Managing Quality Improvement Teams and Projects

Question 1

In the context of quality teams, ________ is the need for individuals to have opportunities to use their creativity and potential during the course of a project and to enjoy good working conditions.

A) mutuality
B) recognition for personal achievement
C) bounded power
D) belonging
E) creative autonomy

Answer 1

E

Question 2

________ is the stage at which the team members regret the ending of the project and the breaking up of the team.

A) Mourning
B) Storming
C) Norming
D) Performing
E) Forming

Answer 2

A

Question 3

________ means giving power to team members who perhaps had little control over their jobs.

A) Needs analysis
B) Implicit promise
C) Empowerment
D) Trust
E) Quality improvement

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Of the preconditions necessary for empowerment, ________ is that if employees are to make decisions related to their jobs, they need the right managerial information.

A) corporate learning
B) participation in planning at all levels
C) adequate communication and information for decision making
D) responsibility with authority
E) clear authority and accountability

Question 5

In the context of quality teams, ________ is the individual's need for supportive, cohesive, and friendly team relations.

A) mutuality
B) recognition for personal achievement
C) belonging
D) bounded power
E) creative autonomy

Question 6

________ is the extent to which a follower has the ability and willingness to accomplish a specific task.

A) Finesse
B) Sleekness
C) Effectiveness
D) Readiness
E) Quickness

Question 7

In the context of quality teams, ________ is the opportunity for personal development as well as recognition for personal achievement through rewards, incentives, or status.

A) belonging
B) recognition for personal achievement
C) mutuality
D) bounded power
E) creative autonomy

Question 8

Of the preconditions necessary for empowerment, ________ means employees should be involved in planning related to their jobs.

A) clear authority and accountability
B) participation in planning at all levels
C) organizational learning
D) responsibility with authority
E) adequate communication and information for decision making

Question 9

In the context of quality teams, ________ is the need for mutual support and encouragement between line management and project managers as well as personal loyalty of project managers to their teams and organizations.

A) mutuality
B) recognition for personal achievement
C) belonging
D) bounded power
E) creative autonomy

Question 10

Knowledge work is effective when workers are given a certain amount of autonomy and decision-making authority. Companies such as 3M encourage their employees to become more ________ in their approach to work.

A) entrepreneurial
B) conspiratorial
C) corporeal
D) surreal
E) competitive

Question 11

Of the preconditions necessary for empowerment, ________ means employees must know what is expected of them and be given authority over their own work.

A) clear authority and accountability
B) flattening hierarchies
C) adequate communication and information for decision making
D) responsibility with authority
E) organizational learning

Question 12

________ is the stage at which the team is composed, and the objective for the team is set.

A) Mourning
B) Storming
C) Norming
D) Performing
E) Forming

Question 13

________ are high-powered teams assigned to work on a specific problem for a limited amount of time.

A) Process improvement teams
B) Natural work groups
C) Tiger teams
D) Virtual teams
E) Cross-functional teams

Question 14

Of the preconditions necessary for empowerment, ________ means that employees should be given a definition of power that focuses on getting things done rather than exerting influence over people.

A) adequate communication and information for decision making
B) participation in planning at all levels
C) clear authority and accountability
D) responsibility with authority
E) flattening hierarchies

Question 15

Which of the following is a reason why employees like teams?

A) mutuality
B) recognition for personal achievement
C) belonging
D) creative autonomy
E) all of the above

Question 16

________ is the stage at which the team becomes a cohesive unit, and interdependence, trust, and cooperation develop.

A) Forming
B) Storming
C) Performing
D) Norming
E) Mourning

Question 17

________ is the stage at which the team becomes a mutually supportive, steady state is achieved and the team engages in successful projects.

A) Forming
B) Storming
C) Performing
D) Mourning
E) Norming

Question 18

________ is the stage at which the team members begin to get to know each other, and agreements have not yet been made that facilitate smooth interaction between team members.

A) Performing
B) Storming
C) Forming
D) Mourning
E) Norming

Question 19

One of the biggest reasons why so many influential voices call for participation and teamwork to manage businesses today is ________ in the workplace.

A) consanguinity
B) diversity
C) complexity
D) unity
E) simplicity

Question 20

In the context of quality teams, ________ is the need for authority and control over project resources and people, personal accountability and challenge, individuals' abilities to influence decisions that affect the project, and opportunities for personal growth and development.

A) recognition for personal achievement
B) creative autonomy
C) belonging
D) bounded power
E) mutuality

Question 21

The formula used to calculate the payback period for qualifying projects is ________.

A) Ct = ∑(Cd + Cᵢ)
B) Ct = PP/Bₐ
C) PP = ∑(Cd + Cᵢ)
D) PP = Ct/Bₐ
E) Bₐ = Cd + Cᵢ

Question 22

In ________ stage of the conflict resolution process, the problem is resolved.

A) frustration
B) outcome
C) interaction
D) conceptualization and orientation
E) compromising

Question 23

________ are teams that rarely or never physically meet, except in electronic meetings using group decision software.

A) Process improvement teams
B) Cross functional teams
C) Tiger teams
D) Self-directed work team
E) Virtual teams

Question 24

In ________ stage of the conflict resolution process, people are at odds, and competition or aggression ensues.

A) collaborating
B) frustration
C) interaction
D) outcome
E) conceptualization and orientation

Question 25

________ are teams organized around a common product, customer, or service.

A) Process improvement teams
B) Self-directed work team
C) Tiger teams
D) Natural work groups
E) Cross-functional teams

Question 26

The "parking lot" methodology was pioneered by ________.

A) GM
B) IBM
C) GE
D) HP
E) CIGNA

Question 27

In ________ stage of the conflict resolution process, opponents identify the issues that need to be resolved.

A) interaction
B) compromising
C) conceptualization and orientation
D) outcome
E) frustration

Question 28

Which of the following alternatives of conflict-resolution approach involves letting things work themselves out without involving a leader?

A) goal structure
B) defusion
C) coordination
D) confrontation
E) avoidance

Question 29

Which of the following alternatives of conflict-resolution approach involves injecting the leader into the conflict to find a solution?

A) defusion
B) goal structure
C) reward system
D) confrontation
E) avoidance

Question 30

________ is accomplished by following a process that identifies roles for team members and then helps them to become competent in achieving those roles.

A) Brainstorming
B) Team building
C) Meeting management
D) Conflict resolution
E) Facilitation

Question 31

Perform a cost-benefit analysis with payback period calculation using the following data: Direct Costs
• 15 laptops-$1,850/each
• A server-$2,100
• Network installation-$16,500
• Software-$22,500
Indirect Costs
• Training-$10,000
Annualized Benefits
• Increased capacity-$250,000

A) total costs are $52,950 with a payback period of 0.21 years
B) total costs are $52,950 with a payback period of 0.32 years
C) total costs are $108,250 with a payback period of 0.43 years
D) total costs are $78,850 with a payback period of 0.32 years
E) total costs are $78,850 with a payback period of 0.43 years

Question 32

The ________ is a flipchart or whiteboard where topics that are off the subject are parked with the agreement that these topics will be candidates for the next meeting's agenda.

A) project charter
B) flowchart
C) facilitation board
D) PERT chart
E) parking lot

Question 33

________ is helping or aiding teams by maintaining a process orientation and focusing the group.

A) Meeting management
B) Team building
C) Facilitation
D) Brainstorming
E) Conceptualization

Question 34

Tools for successful ________ include an agenda, predetermined objectives for the meeting, a process for running the meeting, processes for voting, and development of an action plan.

A) interaction
B) team building
C) meeting management
D) facilitation
E) conceptualization and orientation

Question 35

________ are simple tools to help teams identify objectives, participants, and expected benefits from projects.

A) Force fields
B) Parking lots
C) Project charters
D) Arrow Gantt charts
E) Sticky dots

Question 36

In ________ stage of the conflict resolution process, team members discuss and air the problems.

A) collaboration
B) conceptualization and orientation
C) outcome
D) interaction
E) frustration

Question 37

Which of the following alternatives of conflict-resolution approach involves smoothing ruffled feelings while getting the team project back on track?

A) avoidance
B) defusion
C) reward system
D) confrontation
E) goal structure

Question 38

________ enlist people from a variety of functional groups within the firm.

A) Process improvement teams
B) Cross-functional teams
C) Self-directed work team
D) Natural work groups
E) Virtual teams

Question 39

________ work to improve processes and customer service.

A) Process improvement teams
B) Cross-functional teams
C) Tiger teams
D) Natural work groups
E) Virtual teams

Question 40

The ________ lists the major tasks involved in a project and their precedence relationships.

A) Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
B) project charter
C) cost-benefit analysis
D) leadership council
E) goal structure

Question 41

Organizational learning leads to change in organizational behavior in a way that reduces performance.

Question 42

In a study of project managers who were involved in project teams, three motivators emerged.

Question 43

Major challenges in the area of workforce development include the integration of human resources practices and the alignment of human resource management with strategic change processes.

Question 44

Corporate learning relies on an open culture where no one feels threatened to expose opinions or beliefs.

Question 45

Business is transforming itself from a "command and control" environment to one of collaboration.

Question 46

With fewer layers of management, companies tend to rely more on teams.

Question 47

A team is defined as a finite number of individuals who are united in a common purpose.

Question 48

The formula to calculate the expected time or the weighted average of the tasks, using the three time estimates for each task, is ________.

A) (a + 4m + b)
B) (a - 4m - b)/6
C) (a - 4m - b)
D) 6(a + 4m + b)
E) (a + 4m + b)/6

Question 49

The task variance is computed as ________.

A) σt² = [(b + a)/6]²
B) σT² = ∑σt²
C) σt² = [(b - a)/6]²
D) σT = √σT²
E) σT² = ∑σt

Question 50

In an activity network diagram, the ________ indicates which tasks depend on the completion of other tasks in the process.

A) critical path
B) slack time
C) task variance
D) project standard deviation
E) precedence relationship

Question 51

Granting authority to employees guarantees that people will work well together and will necessarily achieve all the lofty goals that are espoused in empowerment.

Question 52

The Baldrige criteria encourage employee participation.

Question 53

Empowerment means giving power to team members who perhaps had little control over their jobs.

Question 54

Robert Cole and his coauthors explained the need for employee participation as a key element in managing changing organizations in an increasingly complex world.

Question 55

Quality professionals are unanimous-to be successful in achieving teamwork and participation, strong leadership both at the company level and within the team is essential.

Question 56

Quality management is a vehicle by which leaders abdicate their responsibility.

Question 57

The situational leadership model clarifies the interrelation between employee preparedness and effectiveness of leadership.

Question 58

In an activity network diagram, the path of activities with no slack is called the ________.

A) activity-on-node
B) critical path
C) activity network
D) Work Breakdown Structure
E) early times path

Question 59

Task readiness is a function of three variables.

Question 60

A ________ analysis requires three time estimates for each activity.

A) Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
B) Critical Path Method (CPM)
C) Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)
D) project charter
E) cost-benefits

Question 61

The project charter includes spaces for signatures to identify reporting relationships for planning purposes.

Question 62

Some of the meeting structured process techniques, such as silent voting and idea writing, help team members reach consensus rapidly.

Question 63

Soft costs are easily recovered in project savings.

Question 64

Effective meeting management is an important skill for a facilitator of quality improvement teams.

Question 65

During the planning stage of the project, the team should refer to the work breakdown structure and identify measures against which team performance can be judged.

Question 66

Force-field analysis is designed to identify and quantify all of the forces for or against organizational change.

Question 67

W. E. Deming provides a widely adopted typology of team roles.

Question 68

The scope of a cross-functional team is a single department.

Question 69

The scope of a Tiger team is organization-wide.

Question 70

Only cost-benefits analysis (CBA) involves identifying direct and indirect project costs and expected returns for projects.

Question 71

The scope of a virtual team is always wide.

Question 72

Only preliminary data is required to perform baselining or intervention analysis effectively.

Question 73

Key figures at the identifying needs stage of team activity are individuals with strong goal awareness.

Question 74

Avoidance involves letting things work themselves out without involving a leader.

Question 75

The scope of a process improvement team is local or a single department.

Question 76

During the forming stage, teams develop ground rules.

Question 77

The scope of a natural work group is customer- or region-centered.

Question 78

Structured problem solving is a fact-based manner of gathering data regarding the problem and having the data analyzed by a disinterested observer to add weight to the claims of one of the conflicting parties.

Question 79

Collaboration is one of the stages occurring in the conflict resolution process.

Question 80

If a team is functional, individual participation enhances the group's effectiveness.