Deck 1: Career Success Begins With Communication Skills

Question 1

While talking in the lunch room, one of Amina's co-workers, a Canadian, clearly indicates that she believes Canadian cultural values and business practices are far superior to those of Americans. What attitude is Amina's co-worker displaying?

A)tolerance
B)stereotyping
C)ethnocentrism
D)collectivism

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which statement expresses another discovery that Amina has likely made since she began her new job?

A)Her employer has no interest in competing in international or world markets.
B)Frontline employees must deal with increasingly hierarchical levels of management.
C)New communication technologies require employees to communicate more often and more rapidly than in the past.
D)Workplaces offer less flexible working arrangements than in the past.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Amina notices that her colleagues and bosses tend to become anxious when participants at important meetings show up late. What cultural value does this reaction illustrate?

A)formality
B)collectivism
C)individualism
D)time orientation

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Amina thinks about a message that she has to send to a co-worker, and then begins to write the first draft the message. According to the model in the textbook, what stage of the communication process is Amina in at this point?

A)encoding stage
B)feedback stage
C)decoding stage
D)channel selecting stage

Question 5

A colleague of Amina's, a Canadian salesman for Global Success who does business in Asia, has decided to update his sales material by replacing all English abbreviations and acronyms with the actual words they stand for. Which of the recommendations given in the textbook for minimizing written miscommunication among cross-cultural audiences is he practising?

A)adopt local styles
B)cite numbers carefully
C)avoid ambiguous wording
D)use short sentences and paragraphs

Question 6

Amina has sent a message to an applicant for a marketing position with Global Success asking for clarification of some information contained in the applicant's résumé. She needs his reply before she decides whether to forward his application and résumé to the selection committee. At what point can Amina assume that communication has been successful?

A)when the applicant receives the message
B)when she is confident that the applicant understands her meaning
C)when the applicant reads the message
D)when she receives a reply from the applicant

Question 7

Amina realizes that she can communicate more successfully with colleagues and clients when she remembers to focus on the main goal of communication. According to the textbook, what is the main goal of communication?

A)receive feedback
B)encode a message
C)transmit meaning to a receiver
D)select an appropriate channel

Question 8

The presentation by Global Success's information technology team is about new procedures for accessing important network resources. Amina has difficulty understanding the presentation, because the speakers use a lot of technical terms and computer jargon. What barrier to effective listening has Amina encountered?

A)language problem
B)physical barrier
C)personal barrier
D)nonverbal distraction

Question 9

When she is speaking, whether to an individual or a group, Amina often checks to see whether her audience seems to be paying attention. She sometimes repeats key ideas and asks questions to check for understanding. She appears to be adjusting her communication based on a finding by communication researchers discussed in the textbook. Which finding is that?

A)Most of us have developed listening habits that allow us to take in and process about 25% of what a speaker says.
B)Physical barriers can impede effective listening.
C)Many of us like to "grandstand"-we prefer speaking to listening.
D)It can be hard to focus on a message when we are distracted by such things as the speaker's wardrobe, physical appearance, or mannerisms.

Question 10

According to the textbook, Amina will likely discover that, among her colleagues, the most successful are those who possess one of the following. Which one is it?

A)technical expertise
B)excellent communication skills
C)a really cool Web site
D)an advanced degree

Question 11

Amina attends a presentation by members of Global Success's information technology department. Before she takes a seat, Amina turns off her cell phone. She then selects a seat at the front of the room near the speakers. What technique has Amina used to enhance her listening?

A)keeping an open mind
B)capitalizing on lag time
C)controlling her surroundings
D)establishing a receptive mind-set

Question 12

The offices Amina works in have recently been renovated. To encourage teamwork and improve communication, her boss has had the partitions and cubicles replaced with open spaces and shared desks. Which external element in the communication process is the key to this design change?

A)time
B)space
C)distance
D)territory

Question 13

What has Amina most likely discovered is one of the main benefits of using computer software such as Microsoft Word and PowerPoint and/or file formats such as Adobe PDF?

A)Learning to use these technologies effectively can sometimes take considerable time and effort.
B)Using these technologies makes it easier for Amina to produce documents, presentations, and web pages and to make these documents more professional.
C)Amina's computer was already equipped with these programs when she began her job.
D)These technologies are useful tools, but they can't do the actual writing for Amina.

Question 14

Amina plans to meet with seven other human resources specialists in seven different cities in four provinces. The company has decided to eliminate the cost of travel that a face-to-face meeting would incur. The group wants to meet in real time and they want to see and hear each other. What channel or technology might they use?

A)blog
B)web conference
C)intranet
D)voice recognition software

Question 15

Amina has just been asked to post a new document on her company's human resources website detailing guidelines and expectations for ensuring equal treatment and opportunities for success for all employees. The document mentions severe penalties, including firing, for ignoring these guidelines. What advice for capitalizing on workforce diversity, mentioned in the textbook, does Global Success seem to be following?

A)Create zero tolerance policies for bias and stereotypes.
B)Discourage differences and focus on "groupthink" instead.
C)Make more assumptions, since most assumptions tend to be right.
D)Encourage all workers to conform to one organizational culture.

Question 16

Amina feels that she has become a much better communicator in the six months since she was hired. Which statement seems to apply best to Amina's situation?

A)Most experienced businesspeople are better communicators than most students.
B)In business, verbal communication isn't as important as nonverbal communication.
C)With learning and practice, students and business professionals can improve communication skills.
D)People are born with the ability to acquire language and to listen, which means that communication skills are innate and hereditary.

Question 17

Based on the information in the textbook, what has Amina likely learned about her communication skills in the past six months?

A)Texting and instant-messaging are not used at all in the workplace.
B)The Human Resources Manager, who is 56 years old, is just as proficient as she is with these new technology-based communication channels.
C)Nobody that she communicates with pays much attention to conventional spelling, grammar, or punctuation.
D)She needs to develop appropriate communication skills for a wider range of purposes, audiences, and situations.

Question 18

Before they began revising the handbook, Amina and her colleagues had to find some relevant articles written by human resource professionals to check whether the policies and procedures outlined in the current document were still accepted as preferred human resources practices. Which technology, resource, or software did they likely use to find useful articles?

A)an online library database
B)an Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) document
C)a wiki
D)Microsoft PowerPoint

Question 19

Laura Ambrose, a regional manager in the central human resources office of Global Success, has asked Amina to collaborate with three colleagues, from branch offices in three different cities, to revise a benefits handbook for employees. They have each revised and re-written a section of the handbook using a wiki. When they submit the finished document to Ms. Ambrose, what is most likely to be her reaction?

A)She says that Amina and her colleagues seem to have misunderstood the information contained in the handbook they co-authored.
B)She says that it seems that the three collaborators aren't sufficiently skilled with the technology they used to complete the document.
C)She says that the document shows her that people need to meet face-to-face in order to collaborate successfully.
D)She says that the content is excellent, but that the final document seems choppy and disconnected and that it contains several typing, grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors.

Question 20

Amina meets with Joan, an employee in the Accounts Receivable Department, who is having some difficulty with her manager. Joan seems hesitant about sharing her problem. At one point, Amina feels that Joan may not be expressing all that she wants to say. Amina stops and asks Joan whether she feels anxious about discussing the problem. Joan says no, but her eyes, face, posture, and gestures seem to contradict what she says. What is likely the most accurate indicator of her feelings?

A)her eyes
B)her facial expression
C)her posture
D)her hand gestures

Question 21

When speaking with someone whose first language is not English, it is a good idea to speak more loudly than usual to help him or her understand.

Question 22

Normally, younger employees who are very computer-literate and "tech-savvy" have also developed better writing and speaking skills than older colleagues and employers.

Question 23

Information that we access in a library is always more credible that information that we find using online sources.

Question 24

Stereotyping is the belief that one's own culture is superior.

Question 25

One effect of modern communication technologies, such as instant messaging, is that communication is often synchronous and is more often interrupted.

Question 26

Canadians generally place more emphasis on tradition, ceremony, and social rules than people in most other cultures.

Question 27

Because speech speed is so much faster than thought speed, speakers must be concerned about speaking slowly enough to be understood.

Question 28

Many companies have customized templates that employees can use as a basis for new documents, presentations, or web pages.

Question 29

Becoming familiar with and using modern office and collaboration technologies can help employees be more successful in today's workplace.

Question 30

Researchers say that most of us listen at 75 percent efficiency.

Question 31

In order to be successful in the "knowledge economy" of tomorrow, Canadian businesses will need to rely more on the ability of their employees to communicate effectively with people beyond their regional, national, and possibly homogeneous working groups.

Question 32

Employees in today's workplace are usually expected to leave decisions to managers who are higher in the company's hierarchical structure.

Question 33

You will not be able to control some of the many factors that determine your success in the workplace. One factor that you can control, however, is how well you communicate.

Question 34

Customers often prefer companies that practise diversity.

Question 35

In North America, looking a person straight in the eye is usually interpreted as a sign of respect, confidence, and truthfulness.

Question 36

People who develop the habit of faking attention to a listener often find it hard to concentrate even when they want to pay attention.

Question 37

Computer-based communications systems such as wikis that allow users to collaborate on web-based documents and websites are useful resources, but users should also be aware of some hazards they may present.

Question 38

Since communication skills are inherited, there is no point in trying to develop and improve these skills.

Question 39

If Françoise believes that all Americans are impatient and rude, she is guilty of stereotyping.

Question 40

Younger employees (members of the "Net Gen") will likely find that employers are quick to accept and adapt to the communication habits and styles of younger workers.

Question 41

In Canada we prefer a space zone of 1.25 to 3.5 metres (4 to 12 feet) when communicating with acquaintances, co-workers, and strangers. This is known as the ____________________ space zone.

Question 42

In the communication process, the computer, telephone, letter, memo, report, fax, and face-to-face meeting are all examples of ____________________ .

Question 43

Many Canadians dress quite casually, often call business contacts by their first names, and appreciate directness when doing business. This reflects a key cultural value with respect to ____________________.

Question 44

Business writers often use a file format, called ____________________, which is more permanent, transferable, and difficult to make changes to than other file formats.

Question 45

The textbook defines ____________________ as "having sympathy for and appreciating beliefs and practices differing from our own."

Question 46

Word processing software often includes ____________________, which are pre-formatted documents into which business writers can add individualized content.

Question 47

You are meeting with a new client who is wearing a low-necked, sleeveless dress. She has many dramatic tattoos on her arms and neck. You realize ten minutes into your conversation with the client that you don't remember her name, although she introduced herself, and you haven't answered the question she has just asked because you haven't processed it. The textbook calls this type of barrier to effective listening a ____________________ ____________________ (two words).

Question 48

In the communication process, ____________________ means converting an idea into words or gestures that will convey meaning.

Question 49

The most successful players in the new world of work will be those with highly developed ____________________ skills.