Deck 9: Understanding Groups and Managing Work Teams

Question 1

The group was in the ________ stage when they were competing to see who would lead the group.

A)adjourning
B)forming
C)storming
D)performing

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Permanent work groups are not likely to go through this stage.

A)Forming.
B)Storming.
C)Norming.
D)Adjourning.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

A group that has gone through the norming stage of the group development process ________.

A)may return to the performing or adjourning stage
B)never returns to the storming stage
C)always returns to the storming stage
D)may return to the forming or storming stage

Answer 3

D

Question 4

When the management group was determining standards and establishing how they would make decisions,they were in the ________ stage of group development.

A)forming
B)adjourning
C)norming
D)storming

Question 5

In the performing stage of group development,the group becomes cohesive.

Question 6

Managers should try to avoid conflict especially during the storming stage of group development.

Question 7

To be considered a group,a gathering must include at least eight people.

Question 8

A group consists of managers who share specific goals.

Question 9

The official forming stage of the group development process wasn't complete until group members ________.

A)got acquainted with one another
B)experienced conflict
C)introduced one another
D)felt themselves a part of the group

Question 10

Formal groups ________.

A)include people who eat lunch together each day
B)are defined by an organisation's structure
C)include people who share a common interest
D)meet at a regular time and place

Question 11

In the third and fourth days of the retreat,the managers were in the ________ stage of group development.

A)performing
B)forming
C)adjourning
D)storming

Question 12

The group is likely to work on its primary task during the adjourning stage of group development.

Question 13

This kind of team brings individuals together from different work disciplines with different knowledge and skills.

A)Formal group.
B)Cross-functional team.
C)Command group.
D)Self-managed team.

Question 14

During a recent meeting,a shouting match arose between a design manager and a marketing representative about a marketing plan for a new product.This team seems to be at the ________ stage of group development.

A)storming
B)conflict
C)norming
D)forming

Question 15

High levels of conflict ________.

A)are never a factor in group effectiveness
B)increase social loafing
C)can contribute to group effectiveness
D)always lead to greater group efficiency

Question 16

When the management team left Silver Falls to return to their own teams and departments,they had just completed the ________ stage of group development.

A)forming
B)storming
C)adjourning
D)performing

Question 17

Of the following,which is NOT thought to be an advantage of teams within an organisation?

A)Employee job satisfaction.
B)Low interdependence between tasks.
C)More innovation.
D)New products developed faster at lower costs.

Question 18

Formal groups tend to form around friendships and common interests.

Question 19

The forming stage of group development begins when people join the group.

Question 20

This stage involves the most conflict during the entire group development process.

A)Performing.
B)Storming.
C)Norming.
D)Forming.

Question 21

As the size of a group increases,the output of ________.

A)each group member tends to decrease
B)each group member tends to increase
C)the group stays the same
D)the group decreases

Question 22

Group cohesiveness is largely a measure of how ________.

A)clear the group's goals are
B)attainable the group's goals are
C)much individuals share the group's goals
D)much the group's goals match organisational goals

Question 23

High cohesiveness combined with a strong alignment between group goals and organisational goals typically results in this.

A)Strong productivity increase.
B)Moderate productivity decrease.
C)No productivity change.
D)Moderate productivity increase.

Question 24

High cohesiveness combined with a very weak alignment between group goals and organisational goals typically results in this.

A)A productivity decrease.
B)A large productivity increase.
C)No productivity change.
D)Moderate productivity increase.

Question 25

Small groups appear to perform better when it comes to ________.

A)social loafing
B)problem solving
C)efficiency of performing tasks
D)getting diverse input into a problem

Question 26

Define the forming stage of group development.

Question 27

Large groups appear to perform better when the goal of the group is to ________.

A)interpret facts
B)solve problems quickly
C)create consensus on a new product
D)find facts

Question 28

Define the norming stage of group development.

Question 29

Define a problem-solving team.

Question 30

Define the performing stage of group development.

Question 31

Al is given two different 'top priorities' from two different managers.Al is experiencing ________.

A)role reversal
B)role conflict
C)organisational conflict
D)social conflict

Question 32

Define a cross-functional team.

Question 33

The only effective way to guard against social loafing is for managers to make special efforts to do this.

A)Be fair to all group members.
B)Treat all group members equally.
C)Assess the group as a whole exclusively.
D)Assess individual contributions of group members.

Question 34

Status incongruence can be upsetting to employees because it sends a signal that organisational accomplishments ________.

A)are not always rewarded consistently
B)are never rewarded
C)are rewarded fairly and justly
D)are always rewarded

Question 35

The primary reason for why social loafing occurs is that output contributions from ________ easily be measured.

A)the entire group cannot
B)individuals can
C)the entire group can
D)individuals cannot

Question 36

Members of a virtual team never actually communicate with one another.

Question 37

Asch could feel fairly confident that his results were legitimate because ________ pressured by the group.

A)only 1 per cent of respondents gave wrong answers when they were
B)35 per cent of respondents gave wrong answers when they were not
C)only 1 per cent of respondents gave wrong answers when they were not
D)90 per cent of respondents gave wrong answers when they were

Question 38

Solomon Asch carried out pioneering studies in understanding ________.

A)group conformity
B)group status
C)group size
D)group roles

Question 39

A low-ranking employee having the best parking space in the company parking lot is an example of ________.

A)status equality
B)a status level
C)status reversal
D)status incongruence

Question 40

Asch found that in some conditions,group members would provide information that they knew to be ________.

A)unsubstantiated
B)doubtful
C)exaggerated
D)wrong

Question 41

When team members complain that they aren't being paid enough,the team has this kind of contextual problem.

A)Performance evaluation and reward system.
B)Abilities of members.
C)Conflict levels.
D)Adequate resources.

Question 42

High cohesiveness always results in a productivity increase.

Question 43

In a short essay,discuss how the work of Solomon Asch might affect managerial behaviour.

Question 44

The studies by Solomon Asch show that group norms are a powerful force.

Question 45

A major contextual factor that contributes to making a team effective is ________.

A)personality
B)diversity
C)trust
D)having specific goals

Question 46

Teams are increasingly popular among successful organisations because they have been found to ________.

A)outperform individuals in every kind of task
B)match the performance of individuals in many tasks
C)outperform individuals in many tasks
D)match the performance of individuals in every kind of task

Question 47

Group norms strongly influences how hard a group member works.

Question 48

Which statement is TRUE of accountability?

A)Work team members are individually accountable only.
B)Work team members are both individually and mutually accountable to one another.
C)Work group members are both individually and mutually accountable to one another.
D)Work group members are mutually accountable to one another.

Question 49

The characteristics that make a team effective include ________.

A)composition,diversity,autonomy and size
B)motivation,resources,leadership and trust
C)context,composition,work design and processes
D)job description,autonomy,skill variety and task significance

Question 50

How agreeable or disagreeable team members are affects team performance,especially when ________.

A)the team is diverse
B)the team has at least one disagreeable member
C)the team has only one disagreeable member
D)the team is large

Question 51

The use of work teams creates the potential for an organisation to generate ________.

A)greater outputs with greater inputs
B)fewer outputs with greater inputs
C)fewer outputs with fewer inputs
D)greater outputs with fewer inputs

Question 52

The knowledge,skills and abilities of team members is a ________ factor that contributes to team effectiveness.

A)work design
B)composition
C)process
D)context

Question 53

These are the Big Five personality traits that seem to have the greatest influence on team performance.

A)Agreeableness and emotional stability.
B)Emotional stability and extraversion.
C)Extraversion and conscientiousness.
D)Conscientiousness and openness to experience.

Question 54

A major compositional factor that contributes to making a team effective is ________.

A)autonomy
B)personality
C)team efficacy
D)adequate resources

Question 55

In a short essay,discuss how social loafing can affect a team and how it can be combated.

Question 56

A team that lacks new,interesting and exciting ideas needs which of the following to fulfil this team role?

A)Creator-innovator.
B)Thruster-organiser.
C)Upholder-maintainer.
D)Linker.

Question 57

A group of five working collectively would be certain to out-produce five workers working individually.

Question 58

The main difference between work groups and work teams is that ________.

A)work teams share information
B)work teams have a common goal
C)work groups have a common goal
D)work groups share information

Question 59

Team diversity leads to ________ in overall team performance.

A)an eventual decrease
B)an eventual increase
C)an initial decrease
D)an immediate increase

Question 60

Which statement is TRUE of Fortune 500 companies?

A)Half have 100 per cent of their employees on teams.
B)80 per cent have half of their employees on teams.
C)100 per cent have half of their employees on teams.
D)Half have 80 per cent of their employees on teams.

Question 61

Work teams require positive synergy between members.

Question 62

Team efficacy is a measure of how ________ a team is.

A)cooperative
B)efficient
C)confident
D)skilled

Question 63

A certain amount of which of the following is usually required for effective teams?

A)Social loafing.
B)Dysfunction.
C)Distrust.
D)Conflict.

Question 64

Autonomy is a ________ factor that contributes to team effectiveness.

A)context
B)process
C)composition
D)work design

Question 65

Disagreeable team members rarely decrease team performance.

Question 66

The 'two-pizza' rule holds that work teams should ________.

A)include a homogeneous group of people who all like just one or two kinds of pizza
B)be small enough to be fed by two pizzas
C)have 16 people or 2 eight-slice pizzas
D)always have two alternatives when they make a decision

Question 67

Accountability for a work team is strictly on an individual basis.

Question 68

A team that lacks discipline needs which of the following to fulfil this team role?

A)Linker.
B)Controller-inspector.
C)Upholder-maintainer.
D)Explorer-promoter.

Question 69

Teams and groups are the same thing.

Question 70

Specific goals are a ________ factor that contributes to overall team effectiveness.

A)composition
B)work design
C)context
D)process

Question 71

An organisation that is composed predominantly of teams should reward employees primarily for ________.

A)competitive efforts
B)being team leaders
C)individual efforts
D)cooperative efforts

Question 72

An effective team leader is often more of a coach than a manager.

Question 73

The skills of a work team can vary randomly.

Question 74

Which of the following should a team try to completely eliminate,if possible?

A)Disagreement.
B)Social loafing.
C)Individual accountability.
D)Conflict.

Question 75

When assembling a team,managers should look for individuals who ________.

A)can fulfil team roles and have team skills
B)are team players
C)have both team and job skills
D)have required job skills

Question 76

Diverse teams perform better than uniform teams right from the start.

Question 77

The best way to eliminate social loafing is to make sure that team members are ________ for the team's goals.

A)individually accountable
B)not accountable
C)jointly accountable
D)both individually and jointly accountable

Question 78

A team that is suffering attacks by managers from another division needs which of the following to fulfil this team role?

A)Upholder-maintainer.
B)Reporter-advisor.
C)Thruster-organiser.
D)Assessor-developer.

Question 79

Work teams that perform at a high level typically fill ________ different team roles.

A)six
B)nine
C)eight
D)ten

Question 80

Which of the following statements about team skills is CORRECT?

A)Team skills cannot be picked up through training.
B)Team skills can never be learned .
C)Team skills are inborn.
D)Team skills can be learned.