Deck 13: Groups and Teams: Increasing Cooperation, Reducing Conflict

Question 1

In the workplace, informal groups cannot undercut the plans of formal groups.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

A work team may be self-managed, cross-functional, or virtual; however it cannot be all of these at the same time.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Over 25 years ago, Peter Drucker's prediction that the future organization would be organized around teamwork has become a reality.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Continuous improvement teams consist of small groups of volunteers or workers and supervisors who meet intermittently to discuss workplace- and quality-related problems.

Question 5

An informal group typically does not have an officially appointed leader, although a leader may emerge from members of the group.

Question 6

Informal groups can be highly productive, but not more so than formal groups.

Question 7

Twenty-six new employees from Global Technologies Inc. are attending orientation, receiving information about company policies, and filling out various forms. These employees comprise a group.

Question 8

A maintenance crew is an example of a production team.

Question 9

A group is staffed with specialists pursuing a common objective.

Question 10

Teamwork cannot reduce destructive internal competition.

Question 11

More than 75% of the top 1,000 U.S. companies use some form of self-managed work teams.

Question 12

Quality circles are not the same as continuous improvement teams.

Question 13

Research finds that the majority of workplace learning is informal.

Question 14

A group is a small group of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose and performance goals.

Question 15

Participating on virtual teams does not require individuals to be available for electronic communication 24 hours a day.

Question 16

A group is defined as two or more freely interacting individuals who share collective norms, share collective goals, and have a common identity.

Question 17

An advice team, such as an advisory council or an employee involvement group, is created to broaden the information base for managerial decisions.

Question 18

Common commitment is the essence of a team, and what differentiates it from a group.

Question 19

Teamwork improves quality, speed, workplace cohesiveness, and productivity.

Question 20

There is no need for virtual workers to meet regularly.

Question 21

Small teams are more likely than large ones to be more tolerant of autocratic leadership.

Question 22

A task role consists of behavior that fosters constructive relationships among team members.

Question 23

Group cohesion arises during the norming stage of team development.

Question 24

The process of getting oriented and getting acquainted with the group is known as the norming stage of team development.

Question 25

Mutual trust and commitment are developed within a team because members are mutually accountable to other members of the team.

Question 26

The norming stage of team development generally does not last long.

Question 27

People tend to exert less effort when working alone than in groups, a tendency known as social loafing.

Question 28

Small teams with 2 to 9 members tend to be more highly committed and satisfied, and have better morale.

Question 29

In the forming stage of group development, the leader should encourage members to work through their conflicts about tasks and goals.

Question 30

During the storming stage, the leader of a team should allow members the empowerment they need to concentrate on solving problems and completing the assigned task.

Question 31

The tendency of a group or team to stick together is known as cohesiveness.

Question 32

Creating self-managed teams in the workplace has a positive effect on productivity and attitudes of self-responsibility and control.

Question 33

A leader should begin a newly formed group with rituals.

Question 34

Generally speaking, the optimal team size is considered to be 5 to 6 members.

Question 35

Both teams and individuals benefit from specific, measurable performance goals with continual feedback to tell individuals and team members how well they are doing.

Question 36

Managers can stimulate individuality in teams by encouraging people to have face-to-face exchanges at work.

Question 37

An example of a maintenance role is an initiator, someone who suggests new goals or ideas.

Question 38

Roles are socially determined expectations of how an individual should behave in a specific position.

Question 39

Two types of team roles are task and maintenance.

Question 40

Many groups stall in the storming stage of group development.

Question 41

Conflict is a process in which one party perceives that its interests are being opposed or negatively affected by another.

Question 42

Maintenance roles point up the boundaries between acceptable and unacceptable behavior among group or team members.

Question 43

Excessive conflict can erode organizational performance because of political infighting, dissatisfaction, lack of teamwork, and turnover.

Question 44

One of the primary reasons norms are enforced is to emphasize the group's important values and identity.

Question 45

The principal casualty of groupthink is the reduction in alternative ideas.

Question 46

Other names for functional conflict are constructive conflict or cooperative conflict.

Question 47

The tendency of people to go along with others for the sake of avoiding conflict is called the Abilene paradox.

Question 48

Avoiding is an appropriate response to conflict when emotions are high and a cooling-off period is needed.

Question 49

The best way to manage virtual teams is to focus on what's accomplished, not whether an employee is working from her patio or at 10 p.m.

Question 50

When job boundaries or task responsibilities are unclear, it can often lead to conflict.

Question 51

In accommodating, both parties give up something to gain something.

Question 52

Norms are a cohesive group's blind unwillingness to consider alternatives.

Question 53

When parties to a conflict have deeply rooted, opposing value systems, collaboration is inappropriate for resolving the conflict.

Question 54

Each member of a team or group should be told to be a critical evaluator and to actively voice objections and doubts to prevent groupthink.

Question 55

Conflict is not beneficial for organizations.

Question 56

Competition is a not a form of conflict.

Question 57

Accommodating discourages cooperation so the desires of the other party are unable to prevail.

Question 58

A moderate level of conflict can induce creativity and initiative, thereby raising performance.

Question 59

When resources are scarce, conflict is less likely.

Question 60

Longer-lasting impact is the primary benefit of using the collaborating conflict-handling style.

Question 61

Molly organized several teachers to discuss the school's interior painting scheduled for summer. They looked at several brands, and heard a presentation by a designer who then helped them choose a color palette to recommend to school administrators. In this instance, the teachers make up a(n) _____.

A) self-managed team
B) formal group
C) cross-functional team
D) informal group
E) virtual team

Question 62

Informal groups can be highly productive-even more so than formal groups.

Question 63

Which of the following is the best way to manage virtual teams?

A) When beginning with a virtual team, set the final deadline and reprimand any virtual team members who don't make the deadline.
B) Focus on what is accomplished, not hours or locations.
C) Because you don't have face-to-face contact, relay instructions via phone.
D) Require each team member to keep his or her own personal record of the work that's been done as a team.
E) Utilize employees on a global team around the clock.

Question 64

Which of the following is not a benefit of teamwork in an organization?

A) increased speed
B) increased stress
C) reduced costs
D) improved workplace cohesiveness
E) reduced destructive internal competition

Question 65

A data processing group is an example of a(n) _____.

A) routine team
B) production team
C) advice team
D) action team
E) project team

Question 66

Invulnerability, stereotyping of opposition, rationalization, and illusion of unanimity are symptoms of the Abilene paradox.

Question 67

In all but the worst weather, Beth and three coworkers met each day at 12:15 to walk the wilderness trail behind their office building. This is an example of a(n) _____.

A) continuous improvement team
B) formal group
C) self-managed team
D) virtual team
E) informal group

Question 68

Which of the following is true of informal groups?

A) Informal groups have appointed leaders.
B) A temporary committee is an example of an informal group.
C) Members of an informal group are assigned to it by the skills they possess.
D) Informal groups can advance or undercut the plans of formal groups.
E) Informal groups are primarily created to solve an organizational problem.

Question 69

A group that is created to do something productive for the organization and is headed by a leader is called a(n) _____.

A) dynamic group
B) informal group
C) normative group
D) formal group
E) network group

Question 70

Excessive conflict has little effect on organizational performance.

Question 71

Teamwork increases costs and destructive internal competition.

Question 72

Devil's advocacy is the process of assigning someone to play the role of critic to voice possible objections to a proposal.

Question 73

Work teams, which engage in collective work requiring coordinated effort, are of four types that may be identified according to their basic purpose: advice, process, project, or virtual.

Question 74

A _______ is defined as a small group of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable.

A) quality circle
B) group
C) panel
D) collaborative unit
E) team

Question 75

In managing virtual workers, a manager should _____.

A) give directions only by phone or in person
B) make sure the worker is keeping to a fixed schedule of hours
C) let employees work using their own expectations of how to do their jobs
D) meet regularly, face-to-face
E) initiate change quickly

Question 76

The stages in which groups may evolve into teams often aren't of the same duration or intensity, or even necessarily always in this sequence.

Question 77

Being mutually accountable to a supervisor rather than to other members of the team makes members feel mutual trust and commitment-a key part in motivating members for team effort.

Question 78

The dialectic method is used to elicit different opinions without inciting people's personal feelings.

Question 79

Two or more freely interacting individuals who share collective norms, share collective goals, and have a common identity are called a _____.

A) cluster
B) self-managing work team
C) group
D) quality circle
E) collaborative unit

Question 80

At one GE factory, teamwork resulted in a workforce that was 20% more productive than comparable GE workforces elsewhere. This is an example of increased productivity, an advantage of teamwork.