Deck 12: Managing New Product Development Teams

Question 1

Lightweight teams are suitable for platform projects.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Heavyweight teams are permanent in nature.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

The evaluation of members of a lightweight team is done by the project manager.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Research has shown that large product development teams are superior to small teams because they can share the work and have better ideas.Commitment of team members is also higher.

Question 5

In a functional team approach to new product development,team members remain in their functional departments and meet periodically to work on the project.

Question 6

Cross-functional communication can lead to longer cycle times.

Question 7

Functional teams typically have a project manager or dedicated liaison personnel.

Question 8

The purpose of the contract book is to gain commitment to and ownership of the new product development from team members.

Question 9

The personality traits of individuals do not have an impact on the success of new product development teams.

Question 10

If members of a new product development team live and work great distances from each other,a virtual team may have to be developed.

Question 11

The contract book must be developed before a project charter can be written.

Question 12

The decentralized self-coordination international virtual team is suited to architectural innovation.

Question 13

Homogeneous teams should possess more information,on average,than heterogeneous groups.

Question 14

A cross-functional team is one that has members of different ethnic backgrounds in it.

Question 15

Project champions are suitable for heavyweight teams.

Question 16

Autonomous teams usually undertake derivative projects.

Question 17

In forming a virtual team,you should choose persons who avoid interaction so that no one person dominates the group.

Question 18

Functional team members are usually highly committed to development projects.

Question 19

Negotiating delivery deadlines is a task coordination activity.

Question 20

In heavyweight teams,the long-term career development of individual members rests with their project managers rather than their functional managers.

Question 21

Kate's supervisor called her to talk about her participation in a new product development team.The supervisor told Kate she had been engaging in social loafing.This meant that Kate

A) would work only when she was around other people.
B) would engage in too much socializing while working.
C) would not put much effort into the team's work because it was a large team and she figured her effort would not be needed or recognized.
D) would waste time on social networking sites.

Question 22

Andrew has put together a functional new product development team.Which of the following is most likely to be true about this team?

A) Team members will spend up to 50% of their time on team-related activities.
B) The team will require a person to act as a dedicated liaison.
C) Team members will need to coordinate with members from different functions.
D) The team will most likely handle derivative projects.

Question 23

Dr.Askew was the Chairman of the Freshman Program Committee at Mountain Home University.This committee was designing a new curriculum for freshman.When he heard that the department chair of the Business department doubted the effectiveness of the committee,Dr.Askew went to meet with the chair and assure her of the committee's progress.Dr.Askew is performing a(n)_____ activity,which is a boundary-spanning activity.

A) ambassador
B) task coordination
C) scouting
D) paternalism

Question 24

Which of the following statements is true regarding the various boundary-spanning activities in new product development teams?

A) Asking a team's internal customers for their comments on the team's performance is an ambassador activity.
B) Developing a project schedule is a task coordination activity.
C) Acting as representative of a team at a regional company conference is a scouting activity.
D) Identifying journals that can further enhance team members' knowledge is a task coordination activity.

Question 25

Virtual teams are adept at exchanging tacit knowledge.

Question 26

Sam works at Waterways Inc.and will be heading a team of individuals to work on improving the cost,quality,and performance of the company's award winning water purifying system.Based on this information,which of the following is most likely to be true?

A) Sam is a junior manager.
B) Team members will be located in their respective functions.
C) Sam has a high level of power.
D) The potential for conflict between the team and the functions is low.

Question 27

Bill is looking for a team leader for a heavyweight new product development team.He told his administrative assistant that he needs someone with multilingual skills.By this he means someone who

A) can speak English and Spanish.
B) can speak the language of marketing, engineering, and manufacturing.
C) can speak as well as listen well to others.
D) can speak without bias toward any employee.

Question 28

In constructing new product development teams,

A) the larger the team, the easier it is to foster a shared sense of identity among team members.
B) as the size of the team increases, the potential for social loafing increases.
C) cross-functional communication can lead to a poor fit between product attributes and customer requirements.
D) the diversity of team members helps avoid homophily.

Question 29

Frank tells his son about when he was part of the Macintosh team at Apple Computer.The team had its own building,own dress,and behavior code.They had their own operating procedures and even their own flag (skull and crossbones to show they were rebels).This sounds like a(n)_____ team.

A) functional
B) lightweight
C) heavyweight
D) autonomous

Question 30

Which of the following are the advantages of collocation?

A) It provides opportunities for rich face-to-face communication.
B) It is suitable for teams whose members are spread across distances.
C) It reduces employee and organizational travel expenses.
D) It facilities independent work.

Question 31

Jan is the member of a new product development team.Her supervisor asked her how she likes the experience and she replied,"Our team seems to be suffering from homophily." This means that

A) team members are afraid of persons who are more senior to them.
B) team members spend all their time chatting about personal issues.
C) team members are only interested in talking to people very different from themselves.
D) team members only like other people whom they perceive as being similar to themselves.

Question 32

Dr.Askew was the Chairman of the Freshman Program Committee at Mountain Home University.This committee was designing a new curriculum for freshman.When he did an Internet search of the websites of other colleges and universities to discover what type of freshman curriculum they have developed,he was performing a(n)_____ activity.

A) ambassador
B) task coordination
C) scouting
D) paternalism

Question 33

Dr.Askew was the Chairman of the Freshman Program Committee at Mountain Home University.This committee was designing a new curriculum for freshman.When he negotiated with the Dean of the University that committee members have no other service assignments so they could concentrate on this project and that the team be given 12 months to complete its goals,he was performing a(n)_____ activity.

A) ambassador
B) task coordination
C) scouting
D) paternalism

Question 34

The Vice President of Fortune Computers is trying to decide on the composition of a new product development team.If he chooses members who are from different backgrounds,the positive effects will be

A) broader knowledge base.
B) increased trust.
C) good coordination and communication right from the start.
D) social loafing.

Question 35

Your boss does not favor the use of cross-functional teams.How would you respond to this?

A) The use of cross functional teams can result in products that do not satisfy customers' needs.
B) A cross-functional interface can help better ensure a product's quality and price.
C) Cross-functional teams usually result in products that cannot be engineered.
D) Cross-functional teams necessitate the need for back and forth iterations between different stages in the product development process leading to longer cycle times.

Question 36

Karen is a member of a new product development team.She still reports to her manager,the marketing director,but spends about 25 percent of her time on the project.Her team has a project manager.This sounds like a(n)_____ team.

A) functional
B) lightweight
C) heavyweight
D) autonomous

Question 37

Susan is the member of a new product development team.She no longer reports to her manager,the engineering director,and spends all of her time on the project.However,the team will disband once the new product is on the market.This sounds like a(n)_____ team.

A) functional
B) lightweight
C) heavyweight
D) autonomous

Question 38

The Vice President of Biogyn Lifesciences is trying to decide on the composition of a new product development team.If she chooses members who are from different backgrounds,one of the disadvantages will be

A) the team will more quickly achieve consensus on ideas.
B) the team may have more difficulty communicating and cooperating.
C) the team will tend to have more difficulty generating multiple ways of looking at the problem.
D) the team will spend too much time socializing.

Question 39

Apple Computers reported that once the Macintosh computer was successfully launched,many of the people on the development team had trouble adjusting to the corporate culture again and some even left the company.This is one drawback of the _____ team.

A) functional
B) lightweight
C) heavyweight
D) autonomous

Question 40

John was serving in an autonomous team and was asked to sign a document honoring the project plan and pledging to work towards the goals specified.This document is called a

A) project charter.
B) contract charter
C) project book.
D) contract book.

Question 41

The CEO of Cromwell Electronics has put together an autonomous new product development team.Now he is trying to decide what type of a leader to appoint to head the team.What should he look for in the leader of this team to improve its chances of success?

Question 42

Which type of international virtual team is likely to be used only for strategic innovations of the utmost importance due to its high expense?

A) Decentralized self-coordination
B) System integrator as coordinator
C) Core team as system architect
D) Centralized venture team

Question 43

In which type of international virtual team are R&D personnel and resources relocated to a single location to enable maximum integration and coordination?

A) Decentralized self-coordination
B) System integrator as coordinator
C) Core team as system architect
D) Centralized venture team

Question 44

The main purpose of the contract book is to

A) clarify goals.
B) facilitate cooperation.
C) establish commitment to and ownership of the project.
D) develop a legal contract.

Question 45

Members of a virtual team

A) must be located in the same office.
B) may live great distances apart.
C) will automatically have a sense of commitment to each other.
D) will find it easy to develop trust in each other.

Question 46

What is a project charter and a contract book? Explain their purpose and how they are related to each other?

Question 47

Which type of international virtual team conducts all R&D through decentralized divisions,but each coordinates with one person?

A) Decentralized self-coordination
B) System integrator as coordinator
C) Core team as system architect
D) Centralized venture team

Question 48

Innovations that are_____ require greater centralization,while those that are _____ can be more decentralized.

A) modular; architectural
B) incremental; radical
C) architectural; modular
D) radical; architectural

Question 49

Which type of international virtual team is more likely to arise if there are well-developed standard interfaces between components being developed in different locales?

A) Decentralized self-coordination
B) System integrator as coordinator
C) Core team as system architect
D) Centralized venture team

Question 50

Which type of international virtual team has a team that takes the lead role in R&D activities while also coordinating the R&D activities of the decentralized divisions?

A) Decentralized self-coordination
B) System integrator as coordinator
C) Core team as system architect
D) Centralized venture team

Question 51

Dr.Askew was the chairman of the Freshman Program Committee at Mountain Home University.This committee was designing a new curriculum for freshman.Explain how Dr.Askew might perform all three boundary-spanning activities.

Question 52

Marion has argued that with modern information technologies,collocation of team members is no longer important.How would you respond to this claim?

Question 53

What are the advantages and disadvantages to having a heterogeneous new product development team?

Question 54

When John Vegas contacted Dr.House about developing a marketing plan for Gerusa,a company that uses Photodynamic Therapy to treat cancer,Dr.House learned the following facts.Mr.Vegas lived in Kentucky.Dr.House was in North Carolina.The marketing expert lived in New Mexico.The medical director lived in Germany,and the scientist who had come up with this cancer treatment lived in Russia.What type of team would work for this far-flung organization? What problems might they encounter?