Deck 6: A: Groups in Organizations

Question 1

The development of shared realities and the culture of an organization are organizational communication processes.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Norms are rules that dictate expected behavior in a group.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Bona fide groups are influenced by the environment but have fixed boundaries.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Groups only serve task goals concerns.

Question 5

We are least comfortable in groups where group goals and personal goals are compatible.

Question 6

Project teams have the same traditions as long-standing work teams.

Question 7

Idea generation,problem solving,conflict,decision making,and compromise are communication processes that occur as a group matures.

Question 8

Primary work teams are ad hoc groups which are designed to work on non-organizational goals.

Question 9

Most of the groups in organizations to which individuals belong are not bona fide groups.

Question 10

Most organizational groups are bona fide groups.

Question 11

People in organizations are attracted to groups where there are more competitive than cooperative behaviors.

Question 12

Groups are formed to fulfill organizational needs,but the underlying assumption is that individual efforts can exceed the efforts of numbers in completing tasks.

Question 13

A union is a formal organizational group.

Question 14

When entering an organization,a person usually is placed in their primary work team.

Question 15

The formation of project teams helps to keep an organization current in response to changing markets.

Question 16

Research and design of products and processes are uses for a project team.

Question 17

Compatibility between group members is attractive to prospective members.

Question 18

The culture of an organization communicates which groups are prestigious and which are not.

Question 19

Generally speaking,the more positively we feel about our personal communication competencies,the less able we are to work successfully in groups.

Question 20

The effectiveness of group interactions is not directly related to the effectiveness of group outcomes.

Question 21

Focus groups are formed to take responsibility for final recommendations and the implementation of change.

Question 22

Long-standing work teams lack well-defined organizational responsibilities because membership will change over time.

Question 23

Suppressing differences of opinion in a group is a positive behavior which benefits the group in the long run.

Question 24

The most obvious example of an industry that utilizes prefabricated groups is the fast-food industry.

Question 25

Directional groups are usually less dependent on the communication competencies of individuals than they are on the information seeking and processes the group adopts for problem solving and decision making.

Question 26

It is more important to focus on the issues of the group rather than a person's status in the group.

Question 27

Prefabricated groups are so rigidly designed that they can bring together a collection of people with no previous experience to produce at a predictable level.

Question 28

Sometimes in a steering committee,no one takes responsibility,therefore allowing for the failure of a project.

Question 29

Group participation should not be considered a productive part of an organization.

Question 30

In a group,being able to communicate well with others is not as important as personal expertise.

Question 31

Similar to project teams,task force groups generally create products and implement processes.

Question 32

Recent research regarding project teams indicated that during the initial stages of formation,high-performance work teams had high opinions of peers and did not place much value on technical expertise.

Question 33

Our government is not an example of a long-standing team because,as the members change,so do the responsibilities of the positions they hold.

Question 34

Communities of Practice generally come together voluntarily with no specific reporting structures or accountabilities.

Question 35

University departments are examples of long-standing teams.

Question 36

Prefabricated groups are best used to meet problem-solving needs.

Question 37

Social support group membership does not affect an employee's level of satisfaction with the organization.

Question 38

Social support groups are a vital part of an organization.

Question 39

Steering committees provide an organization,the advantage of broad participation in the overseeing of a project.

Question 40

Focus groups are a collection of individuals who have no familiarity with a problem,which helps to gain an "unattached" approach to the problem.

Question 41

High-reliability organizations do not establish formal communication protocols.

Question 42

High-reliability organizations are structured towork mostly in stable,low-risk industries.

Question 43

High-reliability organizations regularly examine their communication processes,technologies,and tactics.

Question 44

Walther and Bazarova found that when individuals are in completely distributed groups,they take more responsibility and blame their partners less often than individuals working virtually but with collocated group members.

Question 45

Timmerman and Scott found that the structural characteristics if groups such as size,number of locations,number of time zones,and organizational type influence the type of technology members use for communication.