Question 1

Electronic brainstorming tends to reduce the adverse effects of evaluation apprehension and production blocking that occurs in traditional team decision-making sessions.Explain how these two concepts adversely affect traditional team decision making and why they are less likely to occur in electronic brainstorming.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Electronic brainstorming tends to reduce the adverse...

Question 2

Team building should be viewed as:

Accepted Answer

The answer of Team building should be viewed as:
...

Question 3

The textbook warns that team building is usually ineffective when:

Accepted Answer

Team building is generally effective in all the situations mentioned, as it aims to improve team dynamics, resolve conflicts, clarify goals, and help members understand their roles better.

Question 4

For many years,OB scholars argued that brainstorming is less effective in the creative process than its proponents believed.However,IDEO and other successful companies continue to use brainstorming to enhance creativity.Identify two problems with brainstorming as well as two reasons why IDEO and other companies use brainstorming in spite of the criticism by OB scholars.

Accepted Answer

The answer of For many years,OB scholars argued that brainstorming...

Question 5

During an organizational behavior course,the instructor states that the concept of 'virtual teams' is just a fad that doesn't deserve any attention in this class.Explain to the instructor why his or her statement about the future of virtual teams may be incorrect.Be sure to define virtual teams in your answer.

Accepted Answer

The answer of During an organizational behavior course,the instructor states...

Question 6

Rather than relying on design engineers alone to design new products,the CEO of Quokka Resources wants to form teams of people from several departments to develop more creative products.These teams will consist of design engineers,manufacturing engineers,marketing staff and purchasing staff.Quokka's CEO believes that these teams will develop more creative products than design engineers did when working alone.Identify three potential constraints that might interfere with the CEO's expected benefits of team-based decision making and creativity.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Rather than relying on design engineers alone...

Question 7

The principal of Northern Community College has asked eight administrators to identify new revenue-generating uses of classrooms and related facilities between teaching semesters.The group is given one afternoon to generate as many creative ideas as possible and to decide which one of these is the best.Some administrators in the group often disagree with each other and might criticize each other's ideas.The principal is not concerned whether all the administrators are committed to their final recommendation.Describe one team decision-making structure that would be most effective in this situation.Your answer should also explain why this method is better than other forms of team decision making.

Accepted Answer

The answer of The principal of Northern Community College has...

Question 8

A large bank wanted to develop a more team-focused culture,so it put all departments and branches through a series of three-day team building sessions.These expensive sessions represented a combination of wilderness-based trust-building (such as trust falls and leaderless problem solving)and sessions in which employees revealed their personal experiences and problems.Six months after the workforce had completed this training,the bank discovered that most departments and branches operated very much as they had before the team building program.There was little team culture and employees worked together with varying degrees of proficiency.Moreover,several employees had left the firm because they were upset about revealing their personal lives to colleagues.Identify two types of team building problems that would explain the general failure of this team building intervention.

Accepted Answer

The answer of A large bank wanted to develop a...

Question 9

Virtual teams are similar to conventional face-to-face teams in many ways,but they do differ with respect to task and team member characteristics.Explain how virtual teams need to be different from conventional teams regarding the tasks that should be assigned to the team and the necessary team member characteristics.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Virtual teams are similar to conventional face-to-face...

Question 10

NuForm Ltd's executive team met today to discuss and decide whether to fund an experimental design for the company's main product.Individually,most executives were willing to invest some seed money for the project.However,by the end of the meeting,the team had collectively decided to allocate a large percentage of next year's development budget for this risky and uncertain project.Based on your knowledge of group polarization,explain what might have happened to cause this shift towards such a risky decision.

Accepted Answer

The answer of NuForm Ltd's executive team met today to...

Question 11

Describe the characteristics of a typical self-directed work team.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Describe the characteristics of a typical self-directed...

Question 12

Sociotechnical design theory identifies four main conditions for high-performance self-directed work teams.Identify any three of these conditions and explain why each condition is important for self-directed work teams.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Sociotechnical design theory identifies four main conditions...

Question 13

conditions that Cadhersh needs to consider so that the new plant supports self-directed work teams.Your answer should discuss these features in the context of the chocolate bar manufacturing process.

Accepted Answer

The answer of conditions that Cadhersh needs to consider so...

Question 14

One of the emerging concepts in team dynamics is 'virtual teams'.Describe this concept,give one explanation why these teams are possible and give one explanation why these teams are increasingly necessary

Accepted Answer

The answer of One of the emerging concepts in team...

Question 15

Team building is often ineffective because:

Accepted Answer

Team building is often ineffective because the activity is usually chosen without diagnosing the team's needs, leading to activities that do not address the specific issues or goals of the team.

Question 16

Quokka Electronics has research and development operations in three locations across Canada.The company is planning to develop a new microprocessor,which involves exploring previously untested ideas and applying methods that have a high degree of complexity.This project would require a dozen researchers and technicians with diverse skills and knowledge and whose individual work would be highly interdependent with each other.Under these conditions,would you recommend a virtual team or a conventional face-to-face team? Justify your choice.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Quokka Electronics has research and development operations...

Quiz 10: Developing High Performance Teams