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

Question 1

A work team may be self-managed, cross-functional, virtual, or even all of these at the same time.

Answer 1

True
Explanation: The various types of teams are not mutually exclusive.Work teams may also be self-managed, cross-functional, or virtual.See Table 13.2.

Question 2

Over 20 years ago, Peter Drucker predicted that the future organization would be organized around teamwork, but that has yet to occur.

Answer 2

False
Explanation: Twenty-five years ago, management philosopher Peter Drucker predicted that future organizations would not only be flatter and information-based but also organized around teamwork, and that has certainly come to pass.

Question 3

Quality circles are now known as continuous improvement teams.

Answer 3

True
Explanation: Self-managed teams have emerged out of what were called quality circles, now known as continuous improvement teams.

Question 4

About 25% of Fortune 1000 companies use some form of self-managed work teams.

Question 5

In the workplace, informal groups can undercut the plans of formal groups.

Question 6

Formal communication is the essence of a team, and what differentiates it from a group.

Question 7

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

Question 8

A formal group typically has no officially appointed leader, although a leader may emerge from members of the group.

Question 9

Among the benefits of teamwork is the reduction of destructive internal competition.

Question 10

A maintenance crew is an example of an action team.

Question 11

A team created to broaden the information base for managerial decisions is known as a recommendation team.

Question 12

A cross-functional team is staffed with specialists pursuing a common objective.

Question 13

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

Question 14

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

Question 15

Participating on virtual teams necessarily requires individuals to be available for electronic communication 24 hours a day.

Question 16

Managers of virtual workers should arrange for them to meet regularly.

Question 17

Twenty-five new employees from across the Kendall Automotive Technologies organization are attending an orientation, receiving information about company policies, and filling out various forms.These employees comprise a team.

Question 18

While quality is usually improved by using teamwork in an organization, productivity typically suffers because teamwork is time consuming.

Question 19

Research finds that the majority of workplace learning occurs in formal groups.

Question 20

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

Question 21

While individuals prefer to have measurable goals as well as feedback about their performance, this is not required for teams since goals and feedback can be generated from within.

Question 22

Many groups stall in the performing stage of group development.

Question 23

Mutual trust and commitment are developed within a team because members are mutually accountable to a supervisor.

Question 24

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

Question 25

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

Question 26

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

Question 27

Group cohesion arises during the forming stage of group development.

Question 28

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

Question 29

Generally speaking, the optimal team size is considered to be 12 to 15 members.

Question 30

Larger teams are more likely than small ones to have formal and autocratic leadership.

Question 31

A leader should ease the transition of an adjourning group with rituals celebrating "the end" and "new beginnings."

Question 32

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

Question 33

During the performing stage, the leader of a team should allow members the empowerment they need to work on tasks.

Question 34

Job modeling is a socially determined set of rules for how an individual should behave in an organization.

Question 35

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

Question 36

Members of smaller teams tend to be more highly committed and satisfied.

Question 37

The norming stage of team development is a lengthy and painful one.

Question 38

Creating self-managed teams in the workplace has a very positive effect on job satisfaction and organizational commitment.

Question 39

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

Question 40

Two types of team roles are task and stability.

Question 41

The conflict-handling style of compromising is appropriate when both parties to a conflict have equal power.

Question 42

Organizations with too much conflict tend to be plagued by apathy and missed deadlines.

Question 43

A positive outcome of groupthink is the development of more alternative ideas.

Question 44

The weakness of accommodating as a method for handling conflict is that it is only a temporary fix that fails to address the underlying problem.

Question 45

One of the primary reasons norms are enforced is to leverage the group's power with management.

Question 46

Allowing criticism of ideas helps prevent groupthink.

Question 47

Performance in the workplace is maximized with a moderate level of conflict.

Question 48

According to research, negative conflict can have positive effects on performance.

Question 49

Conflict is naturally avoided when organizations are structured along functional lines.

Question 50

When job boundaries are ambiguous, employees are less possessive, and conflict is likely to be minimized.

Question 51

Another name for functional conflict is productive conflict.

Question 52

When parties to a conflict have deeply rooted, opposing value systems, the most appropriate method to handle the conflict is collaboration.

Question 53

Competition is a form of conflict.

Question 54

Speed of resolution is the primary benefit of using the collaborating conflict-handling style.

Question 55

Groupthink is a cohesive group's blind unwillingness to consider alternatives.

Question 56

Certain kinds of conflict can be beneficial for organizations.

Question 57

Avoiding it is never an appropriate response to conflict.

Question 58

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

Question 59

When resources are scarce, conflict is more likely.

Question 60

Conflict is the dramatic and often violent clash of opposing forces that lacks a simple resolution that would be satisfactory to all parties.

Question 61

At Bremond Stafford Architects, a group of designers are developing the first drawings for a proposed multiuse development section of a large city that is being revitalized.What type of work team is this group?

A)Project team
B)Production team
C)Product team
D)Action team
E)Advice team

Question 62

Which of the following is a characteristic of a continuous improvement team?

A)A built-in part of any effective organizational group.
B)A type of advice team.
C)Requires assigned membership.
D)Emerged from self-managed team concept.
E)Encourages high empowerment.

Question 63

A work team that works to accomplish tasks that require people with specialized training and a high degree of coordination is called a(n)

A)production team.
B)project team.
C)development team.
D)action team.
E)advice team.

Question 64

Luis, Kennedy, and Jennifer met once a week for several months in the fall to redesign department work spaces, to be implemented when the organization moved to a new building in January.This is an example of a

A)top management team.
B)problem-solving team.
C)cross-functional team.
D)virtual team.
E)continuous improvement team.

Question 65

Who are typical members of continuous improvement teams?

A)Workers and supervisors
B)Supervisors and managers
C)Managers and agents representing competitors
D)Managers and outside suppliers
E)Customers and suppliers

Question 66

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

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

Question 67

In all but the worst weather, Laura and four of her 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)informal group.
C)self-managed team.
D)virtual team.
E)formal group.

Question 68

Which of the following is true of informal groups?

A)Informal groups can advance the plans of formal groups.
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 have appointed leaders.
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)formal group.
C)normative group.
D)informal group.
E)network group.

Question 70

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

A)Increased speed
B)Decreased stress
C)Reduced costs
D)Improved workplace cohesiveness
E)Reduced destructive internal competition

Question 71

A team composed of people from different departments who are pursuing a common objective is called a

A)quality circle.
B)problem-solving team.
C)cross-functional team.
D)virtual team.
E)work force.

Question 72

Devil's advocacy is a method used to induce programmed conflict.

Question 73

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

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

Question 74

Jane 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)virtual team.
C)cross-functional team.
D)informal group.
E)formal group.

Question 75

A team that consists of members who interact by computer network to collaborate on projects is called a(n)

A)remote team.
B)e-team.
C)self-managed team.
D)informal team.
E)virtual team.

Question 76

The dialectic method is the process of assigning someone to play the role of critic to voice possible objections to a proposal.

Question 77

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)collaborative unit.
D)quality circle.
E)group.

Question 78

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 79

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 accountable.

A)cross-functional team
B)group
C)team
D)panel
E)formal group

Question 80

Which of the following is most likely to be considered an action team?

A)A group of scientists working on a new cancer drug.
B)All workers on the night shift of a plastics manufacturing facility.
C)An advisory council on teacher development for a school district.
D)An airline cockpit crew.
E)An information-technology improvement task force.