Deck 11: Characteristics of the Situation

Question 1

In the information age,companies succeed according to how well they can capture the benefits from "economies of scale and scope".

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Leaders at higher organizational levels spend a considerable amount of time implementing policies.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Organizational climate is partly a function of organizational culture.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Greater horizontal complexity is associated with an increased likelihood for communication breakdowns between subunits.

Question 5

Solving a morale problem exemplifies a structured task.

Question 6

With the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator,judgers prefer activities that are unstructured.

Question 7

The congruence model is a systems model comprised of

A)Task,organization and environment
B)Technology,environment and crises
C)Inputs,processes and outputs
D)Myths,artifacts and symbols

Question 8

Competitive advantage in one generation of a product's life is no guarantee of success for future generations of that product.

Question 9

Researchers advocating the situational viewpoint believed leaders were made,not born.

Question 10

What plays the most important role in determining who emerges as a leader,in response to the Great Man theory of leadership according to leadership researchers?

A)Abilities
B)Traits
C)Situation
D)Behavior

Question 11

History of the organization includes not only the recent past that bears upon today's work but also myths about the organization's origin.

Question 12

Industrial age companies prospered by offering low-cost but standardized products and services.This pertains to

A)Customer segmentation
B)Links to customers and suppliers
C)Innovations
D)Cross functions

Question 13

The role theory clarified how situational demands and constraints cause

A)Vertical complexity
B)Horizontal complexity
C)Role overload
D)Role conflict

Question 14

What may appear to be a major technical innovation may also be devastating to organizational culture.

Question 15

Autonomy is the degree to which a job provides an individual with some control over what he does and how he does it.

Question 16

Administrative costs are low in matrix organizations.

Question 17

The degree of formalization in an organization tends to vary with its size.

Question 18

The lowest level of technological complexity occurs when a continuous process is mechanized from beginning to end.

Question 19

The most important point regarding situational engineering is to get leaders and followers to understand that the situation is not set in concrete.

Question 20

The information age organization operates with integrated business processes that cut across traditional business functions.This concerns which operating assumption underlying the information age?

A)Links to customers and suppliers
B)Cross functions
C)Global scales
D)Knowledge workers

Question 21

What term describes the collective set of business decisions about how to allocate scarce resources to maximize the strengths of the organization,given the external opportunities,while minimizing the organizational weaknesses,given the external threats?

A)Task structure
B)Strategy
C)Intrinsic motivation
D)Dynamics

Question 22

Organizational climate

A)Is highly related to job satisfaction
B)Is wider in scope
C)Has more to do with task perceptions of work
D)Is a system of shared beliefs among members of a group

Question 23

Typically,greater horizontal complexity is associated with

A)The number of hierarchical levels appearing on an organization chart
B)The increased likelihood for communication breakdowns between subunits
C)The degree of standardization in an organization
D)The diffusion of decision making throughout an organization

Question 24

What are the three components of inputs?

A)Skills,abilities,values
B)System,unit,individual
C)Strategy,work,people
D)Environment,resources,history

Question 25

Workers may be able to accomplish their tasks in an autonomous fashion,but the products of their efforts must be coordinated in order for the group to be successful.This refers to

A)Task interdependence
B)Autonomy
C)Task structure
D)Skill variety

Question 26

This refers to the number of hierarchical levels appearing on an organization chart.

A)Centralization
B)Formalization
C)Horizontal complexity
D)Vertical complexity

Question 27

If we consider the example of ironing a shirt,which of the following task dimensions would be high?

A)Skill variety
B)Task significance
C)Task structure
D)Task interdependence

Question 28

An organization with a stable,well-established product line and the need for close coordination between functions would be best off with which type of design?

A)Bureaucratic
B)Functional
C)Matrix
D)Product

Question 29

Task significance is

A)The degree to which a job involves performing a variety of different activities or skills
B)The degree to which a situation or task requires completion of a whole unit of work from beginning to end with a visible outcome
C)The degree to which a job provides an individual with some control over what he does and how he does it
D)The degree to which a job substantially impacts others' lives

Question 30

The organizational structure is

A)A tangible reality
B)An end in itself
C)Sacrosanct and permanent
D)A tool for getting things done in organizations

Question 31

What is the greatest disadvantage of the matrix design?

A)Decreased lateral communication and coordination
B)Inefficient utilization of human resources
C)Employees end up working for two bosses
D)It can create scheduling nightmares

Question 32

The degree to which a situation requires completion of a whole unit of work from beginning to end with a visible outcome is called

A)Skill variety
B)Task significance
C)Task identity
D)Autonomy

Question 33

When there is a known procedure for accomplishing a task,rules governing how one goes about it and if these rules are followed,there is one result.These features characterize a(n)

A)Task identity
B)Structured task
C)Task significance
D)Unstructured task

Question 34

Lance is an emergency room nurse and handles life and death cases every day.Lance's job has high

A)Skill variety
B)Task identity
C)Task significance
D)Task structure

Question 35

This represents the degree to which a leader's work group is affected by the activities of other subunits within the organization.

A)Centralization
B)Lateral interdependence
C)Horizontal complexity
D)Spatial complexity

Question 36

What is the advantage of a product organization design?

A)Centralized decision making and control
B)Efficient use of scarce resources
C)Skill development for technical personnel
D)It places a premium on organizational goals

Question 37

Jeff works as a self-employed consultant.He decides when,where and how he works based on market demand and personal preference.Jeff's job has a high degree of

A)Autonomy
B)Task interdependence
C)Task structure
D)Skill variety

Question 38

Which of the following is an advantage of decentralized organizations?

A)Uniform policies and procedures
B)Minimal participation in the decision process
C)Greater acceptance and ownership of decision outcomes
D)Clearer coordination procedures

Question 39

Which of the following statements about unstructured tasks is false?

A)Unstructured tasks are by nature somewhat ill defined
B)Reducing the degree of ambiguity inherent in an unstructured situation is a leadership behavior appreciated by followers
C)While it is easier for a leader to give instruction in unstructured tasks,it is not necessarily the most helpful thing to do
D)Subordinates need help when a task is unstructured

Question 40

What is the disadvantage of functional organizations?

A)Poor coordination across departments
B)Duplication of resources
C)Less in depth technical expertise
D)Weak coordination across different product groupings

Question 41

Define the job characteristics of skill variety,task identity and task significance and also describe a job that would be high on each dimension.

Question 42

Which of the following statements about crises is true?

A)Leaders are more apt to use participation or consultation during crises
B)All leaders purposely create crises in order to be perceived as being charismatic
C)Work groups facing crises generally expect their leaders to be more assertive,directive and decisive
D)During crises,leaders are more likely to look to followers to develop and implement a solution

Question 43

Explain how technological complexity affects the leadership process with examples.

Question 44

Define and differentiate organizational culture and organizational climate.

Question 45

Describe organizational complexity and the three dimensions on which it can be measured.

Question 46

Explain how level of authority affects leaders' and followers' behavior.

Question 47

Define formalization and mention its advantages and disadvantages for leaders and followers.

Question 48

In terms of environmental uncertainty,structures in stable environments should be

A)Flexible enough to adapt to changing conditions
B)Relatively formalized
C)Highly differentiated
D)Organic structures

Question 49

The highest level of technological complexity occurs in

A)Large furniture-manufacturing companies
B)Printing shops
C)Oil refining operations
D)Custom cabinetmakers

Question 50

The root of extinction,both for an organization and for the population at large,is not attending to

A)Process characteristics
B)Task characteristics
C)Organizational characteristics
D)Environmental characteristics

Question 51

Write a short note on the 'feedback' as a task component in the job characteristics model with examples.

Question 52

Define task structure.Describe the leadership style(s)needed to train and supervise a new worker on a job with high task structure.

Question 53

Explain how organizational culture impacts organizational climate.

Question 54

Acme is a manufacturing firm with a bureaucratic structure,using technology of moderately high complexity.Because management has put off updating equipment,the company now faces a crisis.What type of leadership is needed to oversee the transition to new equipment?

A)Assertive
B)Consultative
C)Flexible
D)Supportive

Question 55

Define task interdependence and describe the leadership style for jobs with high interdependence.