Deck 1: Understanding Workplace Communication

Question 1

The official culture and the actual culture in a company are not necessarily the same.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

The informal network inside an organization is also referred to as the grapevine.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Text messaging is a form of oral communication.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

The ability to create and interpret graphics is called visual literacy.

Question 5

The ability to quickly assess the emotions of those around them and adapt their words, tone, and gestures accordingly is called social intelligence.

Question 6

Sensing a need for communication typically occurs at the recipient's end in the business communication process.

Question 7

Interpretation of a message occurs at the recipient's end in the business communication process.

Question 8

The main lines of operational communication in a business is the formal network.

Question 9

Solving a communication problem is typically a linear process.

Question 10

Personal communication interferes with good work relationships and should be prohibited in the workplace.

Question 11

The kind and amount of communicating a business does is independent of the nature of the business.

Question 12

Poor communication results in misunderstandings but does not affect an organization monetarily.

Question 13

The higher the position in an organization, the more important communication skills become.

Question 14

Imagination and creativity are for the creative disciplines. Business communication problems should be solved using standard formulas.

Question 15

Bypassing is a communication problem that occurs when a sender and receiver attach completely different meanings to the same words.

Question 16

Widespread use of the Internet has increased companies' attention to social responsibility.

Question 17

All business communicators at an advanced level share essentially the same vocabulary because they are all accomplished professionals.

Question 18

No two people have identical contexts or mental "filters."

Question 19

A business's communication with its suppliers is a typical example of internal-operational communication.

Question 20

Communication ranks at or near the top of the business skills needed for success.

Question 21

Social intelligence, which is the ability of people to quickly assess the emotions of those around them and adapt their words, tone, and gestures accordingly, is a type of _____.

A) computational thinking
B) interpretive skill
C) visual literacy
D) technological competence
E) bypassing

Question 22

_____ is a typical example of new media.

A) Text messaging
B) Postcard
C) Printed report
D) Letter
E) Memo

Question 23

Which of the following statements is true about increasing globalism and workplace diversity?

A) The attitudes about punctuality and efficiency remains constant among businesspeople around the world.
B) Countries and cultures seem to be less interconnected as businesses expand their reach around the world.
C) Increase in globalism has resulted in the requirement for cultural agility.
D) People around the world share standardized notions of business and communication.
E) Cultural differences are the sole reason for workplace diversity.

Question 24

Which of the following is true about external-operational communication?

A) It includes the orders and instructions that supervisors give to their employees.
B) It includes a business's communication with its vendors.
C) It includes the personal interaction between employees of a company.
D) It includes the informal interaction between the supervisor and the subordinates.
E) It includes the formal communication between the members of a functional group.

Question 25

_____ is best defined as the ability to understand and adapt to the preference for individualism or collectivism, religious beliefs, political environment and ideas about social hierarchy of different countries.

A) Cross-cultural competency
B) Analytical skill
C) Computational thinking
D) Visual literacy
E) Corporate social responsibility

Question 26

_____ are typical examples of new media.

A) Podcasts
B) Postcards
C) Printed reports
D) Letters
E) Memos

Question 27

An angry customer calls the public relations department of Uranus Inc. to complain about a defect in the company's product. Such a communication is most likely to be classified as:

A) internal-operational communication.
B) external-operational communication.
C) personal communication.
D) internal-external communication.
E) grapevine communication.

Question 28

Which of the following statements is true about email?

A) Email came into existence during the 1950s.
B) Email has entirely replaced phone and face-to-face conversations.
C) Email is a form of oral communication.
D) Email allows a communicator to reach only one person at a time.
E) Email is a type of new media.

Question 29

Which of the following is an internal audience for a private sector organization?

A) Its competitors
B) Its customers
C) Its employees
D) Its suppliers
E) Government officials

Question 30

Computational thinking is best defined as the ability to:

A) interact with data, see patterns in data, make data-based decisions, and use data to design for desired outcomes.
B) understand and adapt to other people's preference for individualism or collectivism, political environment and ideas about social hierarchy of different countries.
C) quickly assess the emotions of those around and adapt one's words, tone, and gestures accordingly.
D) determine the deeper, underlying meaning or significance of messages expressed by people.
E) manipulate people into accepting one's viewpoint regarding religion.

Question 31

Which of the following is true about internal-operational communication?

A) It mainly includes the orders and instructions that supervisors give to their employees.
B) It mainly includes a business's communication with its suppliers.
C) It mainly includes a business's communication with its customers.
D) It mainly includes a business's communication with government agencies.
E) It mainly includes the instructions that supervisors of a company give to vendors.

Question 32

The ability to meaningfully, accurately, and efficiently create and interpret pictures and other graphics is most accurately called:

A) cross-cultural competency.
B) information literacy.
C) verbal literacy.
D) emotional quotient.
E) visual literacy.

Question 33

The ability to effectively work with data through interpretation, recognize patterns in them, derive data-based decisions, and use data to generate favorable outputs is most accurately referred to as _____.

A) data recognition
B) computational thinking
C) emotional quotient
D) visual literacy
E) bypassing

Question 34

Which of the following is a major trend in the present business arena?

A) Increased popularity of hierarchical company structures
B) Decreased diversity of employees in the workplace
C) Increased focus on corporate social responsibility
D) Increased rejection of the new media
E) Decreased usage of electronic correspondence by business writers

Question 35

Social intelligence is best defined as the ability to:

A) efficiently practice free riding when working in a group.
B) quickly assess the emotions of those around and adapt one's words, tone, and gestures accordingly.
C) interact with data, see patterns in data, make data-based decisions, and use data to design for desired outcomes.
D) uphold the social beliefs of your community.
E) organize and subsequently supervise a group of people to achieve a common goal.

Question 36

_____ is a type of oral communication.

A) An email
B) A telephonic conversation
C) Text messaging
D) A letter
E) Instant messaging

Question 37

A memorandum reporting a shortage of certain goods written by the warehouse supervisor of Yellow Lamination Inc. to the company's purchasing department is most likely to be classified as:

A) internal-operational communication.
B) external-operational communication.
C) personal communication.
D) grapevine communication.
E) internal-external communication.

Question 38

The widespread use of the Internet, which has resulted in an increased transparency in organizations' business practices and an increased accountability to the public has:

A) resulted in an increased focus in developing a socially responsible image.
B) laid restrictions on the quick spread of negative information.
C) had an adverse affect on workforce diversity.
D) reduced the need for strong analytical skills.
E) eliminated the need for external-operational communication.

Question 39

Baby Boomers are people:

A) with more than three children.
B) who were born soon after World War II.
C) who were brought up in more than one cultural background.
D) who support population control strategies.
E) with children in more than one country.

Question 40

Which of the following is an example of internal-operational communication?

A) A letter addressed by a consumer to the customer care service of an organization that provides post-purchase support
B) A memo containing the production and sales target for an organization
C) An order form submitted to an organization's supplier of raw materials
D) A letter addressed to a government official
E) An advertisement put on a company's website for the general public

Question 41

In the context of the external audiences of today's businesses, suppliers, contractors, distributors, shippers, and contract workers are referred to as:

A) regulatory agents.
B) public groups.
C) industry partners.
D) core business partners.
E) community groups.

Question 42

Which of the following statements is true about personal communication?

A) Personal communication is a type of external-operational communication.
B) Internal-operational communication does not include personal elements.
C) An external-operational communication often contains elements of personal communication.
D) The productivity of an employee is unaffected by personal communication.
E) Personal communication is typically regulated by the formal network.

Question 43

Which of the following statements is true about organizational culture?

A) Organizational culture is independent of an organization's communication.
B) The communication of a multicultural organization requires more adaptation to participants' values than that of a relatively homogeneous organization.
C) The focus on organizational culture by management consultants and theorists has drastically decreased over time.
D) The official organization culture is the same as the actual organizational culture.
E) Organization culture is the customary way of perceiving things and is rarely stated.

Question 44

Which of the following is an example of external-operational communication?

A) Discussions that senior management holds to determine the goals and processes of the business
B) The orders and instructions that supervisors give employees about dealing with angry customers
C) Advertisements that companies put up on their websites for the general public
D) The reports that employees prepare concerning sales, production, inventories, finance and maintenance
E) The messages that employees write to their supervisors regarding the progress of their work

Question 45

Which of the following best illustrates a personal communication?

A) A list of targets prepared by a supervisor for the subordinates
B) A business proposal sent to the top management of an organization
C) A formal letter written to the general manager of a company
D) A mail to a supplier thanking him for the Christmas card he had sent
E) A letter to the government of a country requesting permission to establish trade with its organizations

Question 46

Which of the following is true about the formal network of an organization?

A) The formal channel includes the upward movement of information in an organization.
B) The formal channel does not include the downward movement of information in an organization.
C) The formal channel does not include the lateral movement of information in an organization.
D) The formal channel chiefly comprises all the personal communications within an organization.
E) The formal channel chiefly comprises all the personal communications between an organization and its regulatory agents.

Question 47

Which of the following statements is true about business communication within an organization?

A) An organization dealing in repair services is most likely to require far more communication than an organization dealing in automobile manufacturing.
B) Businesses in a comparatively stable environment tend to depend on established types of formal communication in a set organizational hierarchy.
C) Simpler organizations typically require more communication as compared to complex organizations.
D) The geographic dispersion of an organization does not affect its internal communication.
E) The communication of homogeneous organization requires more adaptation to participants' values than that of a multicultural organization.

Question 48

In the course of the communication process, which of the following is likely to occur immediately at the audiences' end after the primary communicator sends a message?

A) Consideration of possible strategies
B) Reception of the message
C) Selection of a course of action
D) Development of a well-informed sense of the situation
E) Composition of a message

Question 49

Which of the following is true about the informal network of an organization?

A) It consists of the major, well-established channels for information exchange.
B) It forms the main lines of operational communication.
C) It is simple and follows a set pattern.
D) It runs alongside the formal network.
E) It is called a grapevine when it exists outside an organization.

Question 50

Which of the following best illustrates an ill-defined problem?

A) The task of calculating the annual profits of a company
B) The task of calculating the money left in a department's budget
C) The task of counting the number of hours an employee stays in the office
D) The task of communicating a bad news to an employee
E) The task of deciding how much money to return to a customer during an approved complete refund

Question 51

Which of the following is an example of external-operational communication?

A) Discussions that senior management holds to determine the goals and processes of the business
B) The orders and instructions that supervisors give employees about dealing with angry customers
C) Discussion between the heads of two companies about the possibility of a merger between their companies
D) The reports that employees prepare concerning sales, production, inventories, finance and maintenance
E) The messages that employees write to their supervisors regarding the progress of their work

Question 52

The grapevine of an organization is best defined as:

A) the formal network within an organization.
B) the formal network that exists outside a organization.
C) the main lines of operational communication.
D) the informal network within an organization.
E) the formal network used by an organization to communicate with its competitors.

Question 53

Which of the following approaches will be most effective for solving business communication problems?

A) Relying exclusively on heuristics to solve problems because they have worked in past situations
B) Treating all communication situations as well-defined problems
C) Using standardized solutions for solving business problems
D) Considering the likely effects of a number of different solutions
E) Using the formula that is applicable for solving well-defined problems

Question 54

Which of the following is true about contexts for communication?

A) The contents of a communication is heavily influenced by the communicators' professional roles.
B) The communicators' particular contexts do not exert an influence on the act of communication.
C) The elements of the larger context related to communication remain constant.
D) The organizational context does not influence how one communicates
E) Customs in the surrounding culture is not a part of the larger context related to communication.

Question 55

Skillful managers are most likely to deal with their organization's grapevine by:

A) controlling it with strict rules.
B) eliminating the network.
C) recognizing its presence and using the network.
D) ignoring it as long as it does not involve members of the organization.
E) feeding it with gossip and rumors.

Question 56

Which of the following statements is true about ill-defined problems?

A) Ill-defined problems can be solved by using a set formula.
B) The communication process involved in solving an ill-defined problem cannot be recursive.
C) Most ill-defined problems come in neat packages with the path to the best solution clearly implied.
D) Different people handle ill-defined problems differently.
E) Every ill-defined problem has a unique and perfect solution.

Question 57

Which of the following statements is true about the actual organizational culture?

A) It is invariably the same as the official organizational culture.
B) It remains the same across organizations.
C) It is formally promoted through the company's mission statement like the official culture of the company.
D) It is not advisable for a communicator to account for the actual organizational culture of a client.
E) The organizational culture of an organization is often unstated.

Question 58

The first step in the communication process is to:

A) compose a message.
B) sense the need for communication.
C) interpret the message.
D) select a course of action.
E) decide on a response.

Question 59

In the process of communication, once the primary sender of the message develops a well-informed sense of the situation, the next logical step is to:

A) analyze the potential audiences.
B) interpret the message.
C) choose an appropriate time to send the message.
D) draft and then revise a message carefully so that it will get the job done and also reflect well on the sender
E) extract information from the message.

Question 60

The major, well-established channels for information exchange within an organization are collectively called its _____.

A) personal communication network
B) formal network
C) core business partners
D) regulatory agents
E) grapevine network

Question 61

Discuss new media.

Question 62

Briefly discuss the communicator's particular context that exerts the strongest influence on the act of communication.

Question 63

Jason wanted to sell his pipe organ and informed his mother about his intention. He told her, "I want to sell my organ." His mother was horrified as Jason's message led her to think that he wanted to sell his body organ. This is an example of:

A) sugging.
B) bypassing.
C) masking.
D) brainstorming.
E) heckling.

Question 64

Create a scenario and detail the different contexts for communication to be considered for effective communication between communicators in two different countries.

Question 65

When two people using the same word think that they agree on its meaning but actually do not, they are experiencing the communication problem known as:

A) sugging.
B) bypassing.
C) masking.
D) brainstorming.
E) heckling.

Question 66

List the two main types of problem. What is the approach followed in solving these problems?

Question 67

During the course of their communication, Albert and Nathan attach different meanings to the same word. This is an example of:

A) sugging.
B) bypassing.
C) masking.
D) brainstorming.
E) heckling.

Question 68

Discuss the effects of the grapevine on an organization. How do skillful managers take advantage of this network?

Question 69

In the course of the communication process, which of the given steps logically follows after the listener receives the message sent by the communicator?

A) Considering the possible strategies
B) Interpreting the message
C) Replying to the message
D) Choosing the medium of reply
E) Generating the message

Question 70

What is the goal of business communication? Define mental filters and bypassing.

Question 71

Which of the following is exclusive to the "sending the message" step in a business communication process?

A) Choosing a good time to deliver the message
B) Composing the message
C) Selecting a course of action
D) Considering possible communication strategies
E) Sensing a communication need

Question 72

Explain the main categories of business communication.

Question 73

Briefly explain the two main communication networks of an organization.