Deck 10: The Nature of Work Groups and Teams

Question 1

Members of a group believe there is the potential for mutual goal accomplishment.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

A company puts together a group to develop a sales plan. This is an example of an informal group.

Answer 2

False
Managers establish formal work groups to help the organization achieve its goals, such as developing sales plans.

Question 3

Command groups are built on the basic reporting relationships in organizations and are frequently represented on organizational charts as departments.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

The forming stage of group development has been completed once group members agree on standards to guide group behavior.

Question 5

Managers establish formal work groups to help the organization achieve its goals.

Question 6

Work groups may not pass through all development stages in order. Yet, all work groups will pass through the adjourning stage.

Question 7

A friendship group is a collection of organizational members who enjoy each other's company and socialize with each other (often both on and off the job).

Question 8

Whenever people work in a group, they are also working as a team.

Question 9

A command group is a collection of people who come together to accomplish a specific goal, and then usually disband once the goal has been accomplished.

Question 10

A group is a set of two or more people who interact with each other to achieve certain goals or meet certain needs.

Question 11

When groups are small, it is difficult to recognize individual contributions to the group.

Question 12

A task force is a collection of subordinates who report to the same supervisor.

Question 13

The group is ready to tackle tasks and work toward achieving its goals in the norming stage of group development.

Question 14

Informal work groups emerge naturally in organizations because members believe that working together in a group will help them achieve their goals or meet their needs.

Question 15

A group goal is one upon which all or most of a group can agree.

Question 16

An effective team draws on the abilities and experiences of its members to accomplish things that could not be achieved by individuals working separately.

Question 17

A team is a formal group of members who interact at a high level and work together intensely to achieve a common group goal.

Question 18

Members of a group must share identical goals.

Question 19

Interest groups are collections of organizational members who enjoy each other's company and socialize with each other.

Question 20

The storming stage of group development is characterized by considerable conflict.

Question 21

Group status is the implicitly agreed-upon, perceived importance of what a group does in an organization.

Question 22

One advantage of larger groups is that they have a greater number of resources at their disposal to accomplish their goals.

Question 23

When individuals are stimulated by the presence of other group members, their performance of well-learned tasks and repeated behaviors is enhanced.

Question 24

Co-action social facilitation is the effect of passive spectators on individual performance.

Question 25

Group function is the work that a group contributes to the accomplishment of organizational goals.

Question 26

Group efficacy is the sum total of each individual group member's beliefs about his or her own ability to perform effectively.

Question 27

Audience effects are the effects of passive spectators on individual performance.

Question 28

A potential advantage of heterogeneous groups is that the group makes good decisions because diverse points of view are represented.

Question 29

The lower level of interaction among members of larger groups makes sharing information difficult.

Question 30

To reap the advantages of heterogeneity, group members must understand each other's differences and points of view and use them to enable the group to perform at a high level and achieve its goals.

Question 31

Members of groups with high status are likely to be motivated to perform at a high level because they see their work as especially important for the success of the organization as a whole.

Question 32

An advantage of a smaller group size is a greater division of labor.

Question 33

Just as self-efficacy is an important determinant of individual accomplishments, group efficacy is an important determinant of group accomplishments.

Question 34

Homogeneous groups MOST OFTEN have fewer communication and coordination problems than heterogeneous groups.

Question 35

Members of a homogeneous group have many characteristics in common.

Question 36

Efficacy does not exist when a group is formed; rather, it is a shared belief that emerges over time as members work together.

Question 37

A group of men and women of diverse races and cultural origins who possess degrees from a variety of institutions and have different beliefs about the centrality of work in their lives is a homogeneous group.

Question 38

Social facilitation is the effect that the physical presence of others has on an individual's performance.

Question 39

An individual's performance of difficult, complex, or novel tasks is not affected by the presence of other group members.

Question 40

The function of a group does not affect the behavior of its members.

Question 41

Role responsibilities dictate the way members should interact with one another to perform their specific roles.

Question 42

Conformity to group norms is good in all situations.

Question 43

Role relationships may be formally specified in a written job description or emerge informally over time.

Question 44

A role is a set of behaviors or tasks a person is expected to perform, according to his or her position in a group or organization.

Question 45

Group norms are formal written rules of conduct.

Question 46

Effective groups influence and regulate the behavior of their members.

Question 47

Unlike formal roles and rules, group norms do not contribute to the achievement of group and organizational goals.

Question 48

When the membership in a group changes, rules help newcomers learn the right way to perform their roles.

Question 49

The term "role taking" describes the process of creating a role by assuming certain responsibilities that are not part of one's assigned role.

Question 50

Standard operating procedures specify in writing the best way to perform particular tasks.

Question 51

Idiosyncrasy credits provide group members with the freedom to violate group norms without being punished.

Question 52

Role taking is the common process of assuming a formal organizational role.

Question 53

Although it is important for a formal work group to control its members' behaviors, a lack of control over team members' behaviors is one thing that separates formal from informal work groups.

Question 54

Written rules are formal descriptions of actions and behaviors required by a group or organization.

Question 55

The division of labor that occurs in groups and organizations necessitates the development of roles.

Question 56

When individuals conform to group norms to attain rewards or avoid punishment, they are conforming on the basis of identification.

Question 57

One of the basis for conformity is internalization.

Question 58

The most widespread basis for conformity to group norms is compliance; that is, assenting to a norm in order to attain rewards or avoid punishment.

Question 59

Healthy groups generate rules in the early stages of their development, to which they remain committed despite pressures to change.

Question 60

Office furniture can be used to maximize the benefits and minimize the drawbacks of social facilitation and interaction.

Question 61

Sequential socialization tactics tend to lead to an individualized orientation.

Question 62

Fixed socialization tactics give newcomers precise knowledge about the timetable for completing each stage of the learning process.

Question 63

Group goals are always congruent with organizational goals.

Question 64

With divestiture socialization tactics, newcomers receive negative interpersonal treatment from other members of the group.

Question 65

Conformity ensures that a group can control members' behaviors to get tasks accomplished, and deviance forces group members to reexamine the appropriateness of norms.

Question 66

Role orientation is the characteristic way in which members of a group respond to various situations.

Question 67

When group members are rewarded for high performance, such performance becomes a group goal, and norms develop toward that end.

Question 68

When disjunctive socialization tactics are used, newcomers must figure out and develop their own way of behaving.

Question 69

Newcomers who have an institutionalized orientation are more likely to engage in role taking rather than role making.

Question 70

When group norms are inappropriate, deviance can spark a needed change within the group.

Question 71

When collective socialization tactics are used, newcomers go through a common learning experience designed to produce standardized or highly similar responses to different situations.

Question 72

When random tactics are used, the order in which socialization proceeds is based on the interests and needs of the individual newcomer.

Question 73

Variable socialization tactics tend to lead to an institutionalized orientation.

Question 74

In an individualized orientation, individuals are taught that it is acceptable and desirable to be creative and to experiment with changing how the group does things.

Question 75

Groups need conformity and must avoid deviance to accomplish their goals and perform at a high level.

Question 76

When a group's tasks require creativity, it is especially important that all views are expressed and heard, regardless of how outlandish or deviant they might seem.

Question 77

In an institutionalized role orientation, newcomers are taught to respond to situations according to the circumstances.

Question 78

If a group of assembly-line workers reprimands a "rate buster," group performance may be impeded because rate busters tend to lower their level of performance to fall more in line with the norms of the group.

Question 79

When informal socialization tactics are used, newcomers are segregated from existing group members during the learning process.

Question 80

Groups respond to deviance by ignoring the behavior.