Deck 9: Groups, Organizations, and the Workplace

Question 1

Sociologists find that individuals in groups are more likely to take risks than they would take when acting alone. This tendency is called ___________.

A) Groupthink
B) Risky shift
C) Deindividuation
D) Norm breakdown

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The sociologist who first noted and described in detail the characteristics inherent to bureaucracies was ________.

A) Emile Durkheim
B) Karl Marx
C) George Simmel
D) Max Weber

Answer 2

D

Question 3

A collective is

A) a large group of people that serve important political roles in the community.
B) an organization that specifically provides services to individuals living in poverty.
C) A small organization whose members are strongly committed to a democratic ideal and provides goods and services in the community.
D) An organization that divides taxation obligations for churches and non-profit entities.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

A ________ is a leader who helps maintain the cohesion of a group and oversees the emotional-based needs of group members.

A) Membership leader
B) Expressive leader
C) Instrumental leader
D) Cooperative leader

Question 5

When the needs and objectives of an organization are negotiated behind the scenes despite the formal organizational structure, this is referred to as:

A) Formal economy
B) Expressive culture
C) Negotiated order
D) Ritualism

Question 6

When organizational rules and procedures are viewed as more important than getting a job done properly, this is referred to as _____________.

A) Ritualism
B) Prioritization
C) Organizational tasking
D) Rigidity structure

Question 7

Amir is a manager who helps workers define their jobs and determine how best they should approach their work. Amir is an example of a(n) ___________.

A) Ritualistic supervisor
B) Instrumental leader
C) Expressive leader
D) Mitigated leader

Question 8

Workers assigned to complete small tasks along a conveyor belt that determines the rate of their work with no negotiation or ability to alter the pace for their human needs is an example of what?

A) Bureaucracy
B) Hierarchy
C) Authoritarianism
D) Rationalization

Question 9

Which of the following is an ideal-type characteristic of a bureaucracy?

A) Leadership is humanized.
B) Pace of work is set for human needs.
C) The structure is hierarchical.
D) The organization is very lean and flexible.

Question 10

Karl Marx argued that the ruling class ensures that everyone in an organization works in a way that maximizes profits and control for the owner of the company through what organization feature?

A) Profit-sharing
B) Hierarchy
C) Equality
D) Goal displacement

Question 11

According to Farley and Flota, within a bureaucracy a supervisor's prestige is largely determined by:

A) The number of people that they supervise.
B) Their rate of pay.
C) Extra corporate incentives accorded to them.
D) All of the above.

Question 12

Sarah Smith has a reputation at work as being a "by the book" person who regardless of the outcome follows the rules and insists that her employees do the same even if it negatively impacts productivity or morale. Sarah Smith's rigid work approach is an example of:

A) anomie
B) bureaucratic personality
C) perpetuation authority
D) gender role conformity

Question 13

Democratic leaders

A) Allow group members to arrive to their own decisions.
B) Provide guidance to their group but do not dictate decisions.
C) Tell their group what to do and how to do it.
D) None of the above.

Question 14

Leaders who tell workers what to do leaving little room for worker input are called:

A) Democratic leaders
B) Laissez-faire leaders
C) Authoritarian leaders
D) Collective leaders

Question 15

In industrialized countries with democratic governments which type of leadership is most effective?

A) Democratic
B) Laissez-faire
C) Authoritarian
D) Collective

Question 16

Women leaders tend to utilize which type of leadership form?

A) Democratic
B) Laisez-faire
C) Authoritarian
D) Collective

Question 17

According to George Ritzer, which type of organization has created the most jobs in recent decades in the US?

A) Large bureaucractic organizations
B) Trans-national corporations
C) Small firms
D) Large and small companies have created about the same number of jobs.

Question 18

The Soloman Asch study conducted in 1956, examined ___________.

A) Conformity and groupthink
B) Primary group status
C) Ideal types
D) Democratic decision-making

Question 19

When a group arrives at a decision that individual members privately oppose but will not challenge it is called:

A) Risky shift
B) Group polarization
C) Groupthink
D) In groups

Question 20

Women who work outside the home are at greater risk for

A) Shortened life span
B) Divorce
C) Less marital equality
D) Higher rates of poverty

Question 21

The university that Maria attends is an example of her ____________.

A) Primary group
B) Secondary group
C) Master status
D) Coalition group

Question 22

Regardless of the formal structure of an organization, members will adapt an organization to work most effectively to fill needs and objectives of the members.

Question 23

Very effective leaders often combine traits of both expressive and instrumental leadership.

Question 24

Organizations tend to have both a formal and an informal structure.

Question 25

Collectivist organizations are the most hierarchical organizational structure.

Question 26

Whistleblowers, or employees who publicly expose wrong-doing inside the organization in which they work, usually later encounter management campaigns to discredit and fire them.

Question 27

Karl Marx emphasized the need for specialization in the workplace so that everyone employed had a specific work role that contributed to the objectives of the organization.

Question 28

Pressures for conformity are not present in all groups.

Question 29

When a group moves towards a stronger position than they originally favored it is called social homogeneity.

Question 30

Group polarization can lead a group to take a position that is more cautious than individual members would take.

Question 31

In the economic boom of the 1990s workers with low levels of education nonetheless experienced wage stagnation or decline.

Question 32

Economic inequality in the United States has risen steadily over the past three to four decades.

Question 33

Define and contrast in-groups and out-groups. How are they related? How are boundaries of in-groups maintained?

Question 34

Describe the difference between a primary group and a secondary group, and provide examples of each. How are they related?

Question 35

What is risky-shift? How and why does it occur and to whom?

Question 36

What is groupthink? Why and how does it occur? Who is at risk for groupthink? Provide an example of groupthink.

Question 37

What is rationalization according to Max Weber?

Question 38

What are some of the negative aspects of a bureaucracy? Name at least two negative elements or dysfunctions of a bureaucracy.

Question 39

Explain why a group will move toward risky decisions that individuals of that group would likely never make on their own. Use proper terms and cite at least one example to support your argument.

Question 40

Describe and discuss Robert Michel's Iron Law of Oligarchy.

Question 41

Discuss the different types of organizational leaders identified by Farley and Flota. What types of leaders are most successful in terms of group success?

Question 42

Name and discuss three elements of bureaucratic dysfunction.

Question 43

How have Japanese workplaces been organized in the recent past? What elements make them different from the typical American workplace?

Question 44

Why do bureaucracies develop? What are their primary functions?

Question 45

Identify and describe at least four (out of six) characteristics of a bureaucracy according to sociologist Max Weber.

Question 46

Explain why and how informal structures might take shape within a bureaucracy.

Question 47

What are some of the negative aspects of a bureaucracy? Name at least four negative elements or dysfunctions of a bureaucracy.

Question 48

Explain how it is that the tendency to pull together in the face of a threat is a powerful way for group or societal leaders to strengthen their own positions. How and why does this take place? Provide at least one example of this occurring at the societal level.