Deck 8: Team Dynamics

Question 1

According to social identity theory:

A)teams are never as productive as individuals working alone.
B)the most effective teams have as many members as the organization can afford.
C)the team development process occurs more rapidly for heterogeneous teams than for homogeneous teams.
D)people define themselves by their group affiliations.
E)team members identify with their team only when they are publicly recognized as members of that team.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Some __________ are just people assembled together without any necessary _______.

A)groups; interdependence
B)production teams; norms
C)teams; cohesiveness
D)task forces; goals
E)teams; norms

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Which of these statements about teams is FALSE?

A)All groups are teams.
B)Teams are held together by their interdependence and need for collaboration to fulfill goals.
C)Team members perceive themselves as a social entity within the organization.
D)Team members influence each other,although some members are more influential than others.
E)All teams exist to fulfill some purpose.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Which of these statements is TRUE?

A)All groups are teams.
B)Groups are teams with a high level of task interdependence.
C)Unlike teams,groups are associated with an organizational objective.
D)Some groups are just people assembled together in the same physical area.
E)Group are teams that have no purpose for their members.

Question 5

In team dynamics,process losses are best described as:

A)productivity losses that occur when team members need to learn a new task.
B)information lost due to imperfect communication.
C)resources expended towards team development and maintenance.
D)knowledge lost when a team member leaves the organization.
E)None of these statements describe process losses.

Question 6

Keeping the team size sufficiently small and designing tasks such that each team member's performance is measurable are two ways to:

A)minimize team cohesiveness.
B)add more roles to the team.
C)increase the risk of forming dysfunctional norms.
D)minimize social loafing.
E)do all of these things to the team.

Question 7

Social loafing is more likely to occur:

A)in smaller rather than larger teams.
B)when the task is boring.
C)in tasks with high interdependence.
D)when employees believe the team's objective is important.
E)among employees with collectivist rather than individualistic values.

Question 8

Teams have which of the following features?

A)Two or more people
B)Members perceive themselves as a social entity
C)Exist to fulfill some purpose.
D)Team members influence each other
E)All of these are features of teams.

Question 9

Employees working in a department would be considered a team only when:

A)they operate without any supervisor.
B)everyone in the department has the same set of skills.
C)they are interdependent and coordinate work activities.
D)they are all located in the same physical area.
E)all of these conditions exist.

Question 10

___________ explains why people belong to informal groups.

A)Goal setting theory
B)Social identity theory
C)Stages of team development
D)Social loafing
E)None of these factors explains why people belong to informal groups.

Question 11

Royal Dutch/Shell Group formed a team to improve revenues for its service stations along major highways in Malaysia.This team,which included a service station dealer,a union truck driver and four or five marketing executives,disbanded after it had reviewed the Malaysian service stations and submitted a business plan.The Malaysian group is called:

A)a friendship group.
B)a commuter group.
C)an informal group.
D)a community of practice.
E)a task force.

Question 12

According to Brooks's Law,adding more people to a late software project tends to:

A)further delay the project.
B)increase team cohesiveness.
C)require less effort to maintain team dynamics.
D)speed the team faster through team development.
E)have no effect on team dynamics.

Question 13

Which of the following is usually an informal group?

A)Task force
B)Team-oriented department
C)Management team
D)Production team
E)People you regularly meet for lunch

Question 14

Compared to individuals working alone,teams have the potential to:

A)make better decisions.
B)develop better products.
C)create a more energized workforce.
D)provide superior customer service.
E)provide all of these results.

Question 15

Employees working in an organization would be considered a team only when:

A)they have the same skills.
B)they report to the same supervisor.
C)they manage their own work activities without a supervisor.
D)they exist to serve some purpose and perceive themselves to a team.
E)Never,because work teams never include all employees from the same department.

Question 16

The drive to bond and the dynamics of social identity theory both explain why people:

A)join informal groups.
B)tend to ignore team norms whenever possible.
C)have difficulty feeling cohesiveness in teams.
D)engage in social loafing.
E)work better alone than in teams.

Question 17

A task force refers to:

A)any informal group that has the same members as the permanent task-oriented group.
B)any formal group whose members work permanently and most of their time in that team.
C)any formal group whose members must be able to perform all tasks on the team.
D)any temporary team that investigates a particular problem and typically disbands when the decision is made.
E)None of these statements describes a task force.

Question 18

Brooks's Law says that adding more people to a late software project only makes it later.This law is mainly referring to:

A)team cohesiveness.
B)process losses.
C)team norms.
D)team environment.
E)informal teams.

Question 19

The motivation to be part of an informal group is influenced mainly by the drive to:

A)defend
B)learn
C)acquire
D)bond or socialize
E)be inclusive and fair

Question 20

Which of the following statements about teams and groups is FALSE?

A)Some teams exist without any goal or purpose.
B)A team can have dozens of members.
C)Departments are teams when employees interact with each other.
D)All members of a work team have influence,although some may have more influence than others.
E)A team always requires some form of communication among its members.

Question 21

____________ encourages employee perceptions about being together as a team and influences the team's ability to accomplish tasks.

A)Task independence
B)A U-shaped work cell
C)An organizational structure with many layers of management
D)An individual reward system
E)A straight-line assembly line

Question 22

A team is effective when:

A)it is able to maintain the team's survival.
B)members are able to fulfill their needs through membership in the team.
C)it achieves its goals.
D)it achieves all of the above.
E)its achieves its goals AND maintain the team's survival.

Question 23

A team that achieves its organizational goals,satisfies member needs,and survives in its environment:

A)is an effective team.
B)is called a task force.
C)has not yet reached its highest level of team development.
D)has a strong communication system but inappropriate reward system.
E)has too many members for the required task.

Question 24

Which of the following statements about teams and task characteristics is FALSE?

A)Teams are generally more effective when each person's tasks have low interdependence with tasks performed by other team members.
B)Teams are generally more effective when tasks are well structured and,therefore,easier to coordinate with other people.
C)Teams usually work better on complex rather than simple tasks.
D)People have a greater sense of being on a team when co-workers are linked through reciprocal rather than pooled interdependence.
E)Team members with relatively independent tasks are less likely to coordinate with each other.

Question 25

Production employees working on an assembly line usually have which of the following types of task interdependence?

A)Sequential interdependence
B)Total independence
C)Reciprocal interdependence
D)Pooled interdependence
E)Straight-line interdependence.

Question 26

Which of the following organizational environment features potentially affects team effectiveness?

A)Reward systems.
B)Communication systems.
C)Organizational leadership.
D)Physical space
E)All of the above.

Question 27

Which of the following does NOT minimize social loafing?

A)Form larger work teams.
B)Specialize tasks.
C)Measure individual performance.
D)Make the work more interesting to the social loafer and other team members.
E)Select team members with a collectivist value orientation.

Question 28

Compared with small teams,large teams usually:

A)are more effective performing services.
B)have more process losses.
C)have team members who feel more involved in the team's success.
D)have more pooled interdependence.
E)have all of these consequences.

Question 29

The phenomenon where people exert less effort when working in groups than when working alone is called:

A)team cohesiveness.
B)social identity.
C)pooled interdependence.
D)team conformity.
E)social loafing.

Question 30

Of what importance is task interdependence to teams or team dynamics?

A)Task interdependence is not important for teams or team dynamics.
B)Low task interdependence motivates employees to work together as a team.
C)Jobs with high task interdependence are usually completed more effectively by teams than by individuals working alone.
D)Low task interdependence is necessary to prevent the team from breaking apart.
E)High task interdependence weakens team cohesiveness.

Question 31

Teams work better when the organizational structure:

A)organizes teams around specialized skills rather than work processes.
B)has many rules and policies for members to follow.
C)encourages interdependence with team members rather than through supervisors.
D)organizes teams around specialized skills,has many layers of management,AND encourages interaction with team members.
E)does not exist.

Question 32

The design and effectiveness of most teams are affected by:

A)organizational leadership.
B)reward systems.
C)communication systems.
D)organizational structure.
E)All of the above conditions.

Question 33

Two company divisions produce completely different products but must seek funding from head office for capital expansion.The relationship between these two divisions would be best described as:

A)pooled interdependence
B)total independence
C)reciprocal interdependence
D)resource-based interdependence
E)sequential interdependence

Question 34

Pooled interdependence is:

A)essential for team effectiveness.
B)the same as reciprocal interdependence.
C)the weakest form of interdependence other than complete independence.
D)the best way to avoid social loafing.
E)None of these statements represent pooled interdependence.

Question 35

Organizational leadership,organizational structure,and reward systems are:

A)three of the main sources of team cohesiveness.
B)three team design features.
C)three elements of the organizational and team environment.
D)three of the main causes of social loafing.
E)three ways to minimize teambuilding.

Question 36

Social loafing can be minimized by doing which of the following?

A)Adding more people to the team.
B)Creating tasks where each member's contribution is pooled.
C)Monitoring individual performance.
D)Making the work less interesting to the social loafer and other team members.
E)Selecting team members with a highly individualistic value orientation.

Question 37

In terms of team size,the general rule is that teams:

A)cannot have more than seven or possibly eight members.
B)should have just enough members with the necessary competencies to complete the work.
C)can be large or small without any influence on the team's effectiveness.
D)cannot have fewer than five members.
E)should be as large as possible so as many people are involved to get buy-in.

Question 38

When forming a team,it is critical that each team member has:

A)the complete set of skills necessary to perform the team's task alone.
B)the motivation to work together.
C)valuable skills that other team members do not know about.
D)no previous experience working with any of the other members.
E)all of these characteristics.

Question 39

Teams are most effective when their members:

A)have the same skills and values.
B)collectively possess the required competencies for the task.
C)are motivated to participate in the team.
D)have all of these features.
E)collectively possess the required competencies for the task AND are motivated to participate in the team.

Question 40

Employees should almost always be organized into teams when they have:

A)pooled interdependence.
B)a very high level of heterogeneity.
C)counterproductive norms.
D)high levels of social loafing.
E)reciprocal interdependence.

Question 41

Which of these statements about team roles is FALSE?

A)Some team roles are formally prescribed with the job.
B)Team members often negotiate the preferred roles in the team during the team development process.
C)Some team roles support task completion,whereas other roles support the team's maintenance.
D)Some team roles are informally fulfilled by various team members.
E)A team role is almost always assigned to the same person for the life of the team.

Question 42

What generally occurs during the 'storming' stage of team development?

A)Members learn about each other and evaluate the benefits and costs of continued membership.
B)Members shift their attention away from task orientation to a socioemotional focus as they realize their relationship is coming to an end.
C)Members have learned to coordinate their actions and now become more task-oriented.
D)Members develop their first real sense of cohesion and,through disclosure and feedback,make an effort to understand and accept each other.
E)Members try to assume specific responsibilities and influence the team's goals and means of goal attainment.

Question 43

Which of he following is NOT a stage of team development?

A)performing.
B)storming.
C)norming.
D)conforming.
E)forming.

Question 44

"Fault lines" are more likely to occur when teams:

A)have very few members.
B)have developed through to the performing stage.
C)are heterogeneous.
D)are highly interdependent.
E)have none of these features.

Question 45

The textbook warns that team building is usually ineffective when:

A)attempting to improve the team development process.
B)the team needs to resolve internal conflicts.
C)the team needs to clarify its performance goals.
D)team members need to clarify or reconstruct perceptions of their roles in the team.
E)Team building is NOT usually ineffective in any of the above situations.

Question 46

Which common team building activity aims to improve relations among team members?

A)Group therapy.
B)Role definition.
C)Personal testimonials.
D)Regression therapy.
E)Paintball wars.

Question 47

Most team building interventions try to:

A)select the most appropriate members for the various teams in the organization.
B)identify the best leader for the team.
C)help team members find ways to reduce their interdependence.
D)improve the work environment.
E)accelerate the team development process.

Question 48

A characteristic of team roles is that:

A)they influence the emotions and attitudes,but not behaviours,of team members.
B)they are always assigned by organizational leaders to specific people in the team.
C)they usually weaken team cohesiveness.
D)most teams can operate effectively without any team roles.
E)many roles within formal teams exist informally.

Question 49

During which stage of team development does a consensus form around the team's objectives?

A)performing.
B)reforming.
C)norming.
D)conforming.
E)forming.

Question 50

Team building is often ineffective because:

A)the activity is usually chosen without properly diagnosing the team's needs.
B)the activity occurs over a long period of time,whereas it should occur in a few intense days.
C)the activity tends to occur on the job,whereas effective team building removes employees from their familiar workplace.
D)companies provide many types of team building in different situations,whereas all teams should have the same team building activities.
E)all of these statements explain why team building is often ineffective.

Question 51

The team development model does NOT recognize that:

A)some teams remain in a particular stage longer than others.
B)informal groups do not experience any development process.
C)teams really never develop past the norming stage.
D)the storming stage is a type of performing.
E)the storming stage follows the forming stage.

Question 52

One problem with team building is that:

A)organizations rarely provide any team building to employees any more.
B)team building tends to slow down the team development process.
C)corporate leaders incorrectly assume team building is a broad-brush solution to general team problems.
D)none of the known team building interventions has any effect on teams.
E)all of these are problems with team building.

Question 53

Teams with strong fault lines:

A)experience more dysfunctional conflict within the team.
B)proceed more quickly through the team development process.
C)have team members with similar demographic and professional backgrounds.
D)tend to have very few members on the team.
E)have better interpersonal relations.

Question 54

The primary objective of team building is to:

A)accelerate the team development process.
B)encourage all team members to experience lower cohesiveness.
C)help the team discover and remove members guilty of social loafing.
D)help the team move from a homogeneous to a more heterogeneous composition.
E)determine whether the team should accept more tasks.

Question 55

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of effective team members that is categorized in your text:

A)cooperating.
B)communicating.
C)conflict resolving.
D)completing.
E)comforting.

Question 56

An effective team member __________ and manages the team's work so it is performed efficiently and harmoniously.

A)cooperates
B)communicates
C)coordinates
D)delegates
E)comforts

Question 57

A diverse team is better than a homogeneous team:

A)on complex projects and tasks requiring innovative solutions.
B)on tasks requiring a high degree of cooperation.
C)in situations where the team must reach the performing stage of team development quickly.
D)in every organizational activity.
E)Never; heterogeneous teams are always less effective than homogeneous teams.

Question 58

Team building should be viewed as:

A)a medical inoculation.
B)a quick jump-start to the team's development.
C)a necessary practice for selecting team leaders.
D)Team building should be viewed as all of these.
E)None of these.

Question 59

The first three stages of team development in sequential order are:

A)storming,norming,performing.
B)adjourning,conforming,performing.
C)forming,storming,norming.
D)forming,norming,performing.
E)forming,conforming,reforming.

Question 60

Conforming,performing,and reforming are all:

A)stages of team development.
B)types of team norms.
C)reasons why teams disband.
D)factors that improve team cohesiveness.
E)none of the above statements are correct.

Question 61

Which of the following does NOT occur as team cohesiveness increases?

A)Team members are more motivated to maintain their membership in the team.
B)Team members spend more time together.
C)Team members experience more dysfunctional conflict among themselves.
D)Team members experience less stress.
E)Team members provide more social support to each other.

Question 62

As team leader,you discover that a competitor is about to develop a similar product that your group is currently developing.What is most likely to happen if you tell your team members about this external threat?

A)The team would become more cohesive.
B)The team would begin to introduce dysfunctional norms.
C)The team would move quickly to the adjourning stage of team development.
D)Individual team members would become more productive through social loafing.
E)All of these will occur.

Question 63

Compared to people in low-cohesion teams,members of high-cohesion teams:

A)are less motivated to maintain their membership.
B)are more likely to resolve conflicts swiftly and effectively.
C)are less sensitive to each other's needs.
D)are less likely to share information with each other.
E)tend to experience all of these results.

Question 64

The degree of attraction people feel toward the team and their motivation to remain members is called:

A)social loafing.
B)team development.
C)team heterogeneity.
D)task interdependence.
E)team cohesiveness.

Question 65

Jane has been working in a quality control team for the past year and has developed a feeling that her values are different from the values of her coworkers.Moreover,some team members seem to be unpredictable because they say one thing but do not actually follow through with their promises.Still,Jane has remained with the company and stayed on this team because she enjoys quality control work and doesn't see any other employment available in this field.What foundation of trust does Jane most likely have in this team?

A)Calculus-based
B)Identification-based
C)Knowledge-based
D)Team-based
E)Jane has no trust at all in this team.

Question 66

Liam works with four other accounting professionals as a team within one company.Liam doesn't particularly agree with many of his teammates' ideas,such as leaving work early and failing to double-check some account entries.However,he works comfortably with the group because their behaviour and decisions are predictable.What foundation of trust does Liam have in this team?

A)Calculus-based
B)Identification-based
C)Knowledge-based
D)Evaluation-based
E)Liam has no trust at all in this team.

Question 67

Team cohesiveness tends to be higher:

A)in smaller teams.
B)when entry into the team becomes extremely difficult and humiliating.
C)when the team has distinct fault lines.
D)when members have limited interaction.
E)when all of these conditions occur

Question 68

How do norms affect the behaviour of team members?

A)Norms encourage members to try new behaviours not previously sanctioned by the team.
B)Norms represent the glue or esprit de corps that holds the team together.
C)Norms help the team regulate and guide the behaviours of its members.
D)Norms help the team move from the forming to storming stages of team development.
E)Norms apply to the attitudes and beliefs,but not the behaviours of team members.

Question 69

Team success,team size,and member similarity are three:

A)of the main factors influencing team cohesiveness.
B)ways to change team norms.
C)elements of the organizational and team environment.
D)of the main causes of social loafing.
E)ways to minimize teambuilding.

Question 70

What is the relationship between team cohesiveness and team productivity?

A)Higher team cohesiveness increases productivity.
B)Higher team cohesiveness reduces efficiency.
C)Team cohesiveness has no effect on productivity.
D)The effect of cohesiveness on productivity depends on the group's attitude towards cohesiveness.
E)The effect of team cohesiveness on productivity depends on whether team norms are consistent with organizational goals.

Question 71

Calculus-based trust:

A)no longer exists in Canadian companies.
B)is the minimum level of trust to hold a relationship together.
C)is mainly based on the other party's predictability.
D)occurs when one party thinks,feels,and responds like the other party.
E)has none of these characteristics.

Question 72

The three main foundations of trust are:

A)relational,transactional and calculative.
B)identification-based,knowledge-based and calculus-based.
C)adaptive,static and dynamic.
D)overt,covert and non-existent.
E)relational,deterministic and autocratic.

Question 73

Which of the following has a curvilinear relationship with team cohesiveness,that is,the strongest cohesiveness is neither at very high or very low levels of this factor?

A)Member similarity
B)Member interaction
C)Team success
D)Difficult entry to the team
E)All of these conditions have a curvilinear relationship with team cohesiveness.

Question 74

If a dysfunctional norm is very deeply ingrained,the best strategy is probably to:

A)tell the group that corporate leaders are willing to tolerate the dysfunctional norm.
B)disband the group and replace it with people having more favourable norms.
C)supplement the existing group with one or two people having more favourable norms.
D)introduce rewards that further support the dysfunctional norm.
E)do nothing.

Question 75

Several customer service teams in your organization have dysfunctional norms in which they don't pro-actively ask clients whether they would like to try certain new services.If you were given the opportunity to form a new customer service team,which of the following would remove or avoid forming this dysfunctional norm?

A)Soon after the team members are selected,you clearly state the norm that team members should pro-actively ask clients to consider other services.
B)You select employees who do not accept the dysfunctional norm.
C)You introduce a team-based reward system that explicitly discourages the dysfunctional norm.
D)If team members are regularly forgetting to ask clients to consider other services,then you would explicitly talk to them about the problems and dangers of this dysfunctional norm.
E)All of these actions would remove or avoid forming this dysfunctional norm.

Question 76

Calculus,knowledge and identification are:

A)the three stages of team development.
B)three ways to improve team cohesiveness.
C)three foundations of trust
D)three types of psychological contract.
E)the three stages of conflict among team members.

Question 77

Which foundation of trust is determined mainly by the other party's predictability?

A)Calculus-based
B)Identification-based
C)Knowledge-based
D)Relational
E)Transactional

Question 78

Team cohesiveness can be strengthened in each of the following ways EXCEPT:

A)making the team just large enough to facilitate goal accomplishment.
B)letting anyone become a team member.
C)creating or sensitizing the team to an external threat to its existence or goal accomplishment.
D)ensuring that team members have compatible values and goals.
E)showing members that the team is necessary to fulfill individual needs.

Question 79

Which of these statements about team norms is FALSE?

A)Norms apply only to thoughts or feelings,not behaviours.
B)Team members often conform to prevailing norms without direct reinforcement or punishment from other team members.
C)Some norms develop from a critical event in the team's history.
D)Team norms are most strongly influenced by events soon after the team is formed.
E)Some norms develop from the beliefs and values that members bring to the team.

Question 80

Which foundation of trust exists when an employee has negative expectations about the employer's intentions and believes the employer will adversely affect the employee's well-being?

A)Knowledge-based
B)Identification-based
C)Predictable
D)Affective
E)None of these responses describes the foundation of trust described.