Deck 12: Managing New Product Development Teams

Question 1

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

Answer 1

False

Question 2

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

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Virtual teams face challenges in developing trust among its team members.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Heavyweight teams are typically permanent in nature.

Question 5

The evaluation of members of a heavyweight team is done by the project manager rather than the functional manager.

Question 6

Cross-functional communication can lead to longer cycle times.

Question 7

The contract book is an important mechanism for establishing team commitment to the project and a sense of ownership over the project.

Question 8

Heavyweight teams are suitable for platform projects.

Question 9

Project managers of heavyweight teams are typically junior managers.

Question 10

Lightweight teams are appropriate for derivative projects.

Question 11

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

Question 12

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

Question 13

Proximity and frequent interaction help teams to develop shared norms and a dialect for communicating about a project.

Question 14

As the size of the team increases,the potential for social loafing decreases.

Question 15

Virtual teams are best suited for exchanging tacit knowledge.

Question 16

A lack of cross-functional communication can lead to a poor fit between product attributes and customer requirements.

Question 17

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

Question 18

In the forming of virtual teams,it is important to select personnel who have strong interpersonal skills.

Question 19

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 20

Managers of lightweight teams are normally junior or middle management employees.

Question 21

The Vice President of Sunflower Computers is trying to decide on the composition of a new product development team.If he chooses members who are from different backgrounds,he can reap the benefits of:

A) a broader knowledge base.
B) lesser cross-fertilization of ideas.
C) homophily.
D) social loafing.

Question 22

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,which defined in detail the basic plan to achieve the goals of the project,is called a:

A) vision statement.
B) code of ethics.
C) mission statement.
D) contract book.

Question 23

Ruth works in the advertising department of her company.It was observed that she interacted more frequently and more intensely with team members who shared her interests and social background and ignored others.This phenomenon exhibited by Ruth is referred to as:

A) free riding.
B) social loafing.
C) homophily.
D) groupthink.

Question 24

Logan is a member of the marketing department of his company.His team deals only with the operations related to marketing and the team members spend very little time,approximately 7 percent,working on team-related activities.This is an example of the _____ team structure.

A) cross-functional
B) functional
C) heavyweight
D) autonomous

Question 25

Which of the following is typically true of heavyweight teams?

A) Project managers of heavyweight teams lack the authority to command resources.
B) Heavyweight teams are always temporary.
C) In heavyweight teams, the members are collocated with the project manager.
D) Heavyweight teams are considered inappropriate for platform projects.

Question 26

Which of the following is a primary advantage of lightweight teams?

A) Lightweight teams are typically permanent and as a result more stable.
B) Lightweight teams do not have any dedicated liaison personnel and the members have more decision-making authority.
C) The team structure of lightweight teams increases the possibility of homophily.
D) It is easier to coordinate activities in a lightweight team as compared to a functional team.

Question 27

In the context of product development teams,which of the following is true?

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) Forming cross-functional teams hinders cross-fertilization of ideas.
D) Increasing the diversity of team members eliminates the possibility of homophily.

Question 28

Which of the following is true of lightweight teams?

A) Lightweight teams are typically permanent.
B) Lightweight teams do not have any dedicated liaison personnel.
C) Lightweight teams are most appropriate for projects where high levels of coordination are required.
D) Members of lightweight teams are also part of their functional departments.

Question 29

Which of the following is an advantage typically associated with cross-functional teams?

A) A cross-functional interface ensures that cross-fertilization of ideas is reduced.
B) Cross-functional teams allow a project to draw on a wider mix of information sources in the environment.
C) Cross-functional teams usually reduce coordination and communication costs.
D) Cross-functional teams are most efficient in eradicating the problems related to homophily.

Question 30

At Tech Edge Inc.,a special team is set up for making a robot capable of assisting blind people in daily activities.The members of the team are taken from various areas of the firm including R&D,marketing,manufacturing,and distribution.The new team is put under the charge of a senior manager.This team is an example of a:

A) cross-functional team.
B) functional team.
C) homogenous team.
D) self-directed work team.

Question 31

Karen's supervisor,while discussing about her participation in a new product development team,tells her that she has been engaging in social loafing.This indicates that Karen:

A) has been involved in whistle blowing activities.
B) has been discriminating against colleagues belonging to minority groups.
C) has not been putting much effort into the team's work.
D) has stolen office property.

Question 32

Which of the following is an advantage of a functional team?

A) The team structure of a functional team is straightforward to implement.
B) The team structure of a functional team allows for greater cross-functional coordination.
C) The team structure of a functional team increases the cross-fertilization of ideas.
D) The team structure of a functional team increases the possibility of social loafing.

Question 33

Which of the following is true of functional teams?

A) Functional teams consist of members from multiple areas in the firm such as R&D, marketing, manufacturing, distribution, and so on.
B) The functional team structure provides little opportunity for cross-functional coordination.
C) Functional teams are not appropriate for derivative projects that affect only a single function.
D) Functional teams are usually permanent.

Question 34

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

A) team members are not exerting the expected amount of effort.
B) team members spend all their time chatting about their personal issues.
C) team members are only interested in talking to people who are senior to them.
D) team members only like other people whom they perceive as being similar to themselves.

Question 35

Which of the following is an advantage typically associated with heavyweight teams?

A) Heavyweight teams have strong cross-functional coordination.
B) The team structure of heavyweight teams increase the possibility of social loafing.
C) Heavyweight teams are typically permanent and hence stable.
D) The team structure of heavyweight teams decreases the cross-fertilization of ideas.

Question 36

Which of the following is true of the autonomous team structure?

A) In autonomous teams, individuals may spend less than 10 percent of their time working on team-related activities.
B) In autonomous teams, the potential for conflict between team and functions is very low.
C) In autonomous teams, team members are collocated with a senior project manager.
D) The project manager of an autonomous team is not given full control over resources.

Question 37

Albert has put together a new product development team based on the functional team structure.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 typically require dedicated liaison personnel.
C) The team will have a high degree of cross-functional integration.
D) The team structure will be straightforward to implement.

Question 38

Which of the following is a disadvantage associated with autonomous teams?

A) The project manager of an autonomous team does not have any control over resources contributed from different functional departments.
B) The autonomous team structure does not accommodate cross-functional integration.
C) It is hard for autonomous teams to fold back into the parent organization when a project is completed.
D) Autonomous teams do not have a project manager because of which they face a lot of coordination problems.

Question 39

Which of the following is a defining characteristic of autonomous teams?

A) Autonomous teams are not held accountable for the success of a project.
B) Autonomous teams do not have a project manager and so there is always a coordination problem.
C) The degree of cross-functional integration is low in the case of autonomous teams.
D) Autonomous teams often do not conform to the operating procedures of the rest of the organization.

Question 40

The Vice President of Biomedics is trying to decide on the composition of a new product development team.If she chooses members who are from multiple functional areas in the firm,which of the following is likely to be one of the disadvantages she is likely to experience?

A) Increase in instances of whistle-blowing
B) Increase in communication and coordination costs
C) Lesser cross-fertilization of ideas
D) Lesser instances of social loafing

Question 41

Which of the following types of international virtual teams conducts all R&D through decentralized divisions,but each division coordinates with one person?

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

Question 42

Typically collocation of team members:

A) provides opportunities for rich face-to-face communication.
B) ensures that whistle-blowers are well protected.
C) reduces the cross-fertilization of ideas.
D) reduces opportunities for informal interaction.

Question 43

Which of the following types of international virtual teams 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 44

Members of a virtual team:

A) must be located in the same office.
B) may live great distances apart.
C) will be collocated.
D) must belong to the same country.

Question 45

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

Question 46

Nancy argues that with modern information technologies,collocation of team members is no longer important.How would you respond to this argument?

Question 47

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

Question 48

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

Question 49

Virtual teams are best defined as the teams in which the members:

A) are situated at a great distance from each other and collaborate intensively via advanced information technologies.
B) are drawn from multiple functional areas in the firm such as R&D, marketing, manufacturing, and distribution and they work at the company headquarters.
C) have the tendency to cooperate only with people whom they perceive as being similar to themselves.
D) have the tendency of shirking their responsibilities and blaming one another for poor performance.

Question 50

The CEO of Bright 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?