Deck 12: Group Processes in Work Organizations

Question 1

In the __________ stage of organizational socialization, new workers begin to develop interpersonal relationships with other group members.

A) anticipatory socialization
B) accommodation
C) role management
D) relationship formation

Answer 1

accommodation

Question 2

The we/they feeling refers to intragroup cohesiveness created by the existence of an external threat. This is most commonly caused by

A) group diversity.
B) group similarity.
C) high rates of absenteeism.
D) another group.

Answer 2

another group.

Question 3

Management at XYZ company is considering a new product line that requires expertise that the current engineering group does not have. As a result, the engineering group sees management as a threat. Such perceptions of management as the enemy can lead to

A) decreased cohesiveness in the work group.
B) increased cohesiveness and lower organizational commitment.
C) disruption in achieving goals.
D) more commitment to organizational goals.

Answer 3

disruption in achieving goals.

Question 4

One category of work roles, group task roles, is related to getting the job done. An example of this type of role is the

A) encourager.
B) standard setter.
C) energizer.
D) special interest pleader.

Question 5

Ross just started a job with a new employer. According to the steps in organizational socialization, before he learns about the roles he and others play in the group and makes the transition to regular member, Ross must first

A) clearly communicate his expectations to the group.
B) develop realistic expectations about the organization and the job.
C) forget his expectations and concentrate on the job tasks.
D) discover the expectations that other group members have of him.

Question 6

Juan is the controller at his company and, as such, must make sure that he and all the other managers operate within their budgets. The workers in Juan's department can no longer keep up with the work load and a new position is needed. However, Juan's budget will not cover the salary for an additional person. Juan's dilemma is known as

A) intragroup conflict.
B) intergroup conflict.
C) role conflict.
D) group task conflict.

Question 7

Which of the following is NOT part of organizational socialization?

A) The acquisition of a set of appropriate role behaviors
B) Adjustment to the work group's norms and values
C) The selection of a group role to be played
D) The development of specific work skills and abilities

Question 8

Group task roles

A) are related to getting the job done.
B) include elaborator and coordinator.
C) include orientor and recorder.
D) All of the above

Question 9

Which of the following is the least important factor affecting group cohesiveness?

A) size of the group
B) member similarity
C) type of work being done
D) facing a common enemy

Question 10

Some work groups have team spirit because of

A) conformity.
B) cooperation.
C) compromise.
D) cohesiveness.

Question 11

The main reason that cooperation is the rule rather than the exception in work settings is that

A) people basically like to build positive work relationships.
B) it is often very difficult to achieve work goals alone.
C) most employees want to cooperate with each other.
D) people who work together eventually adopt the same goals.

Question 12

Pressure to adhere to group norms can result in ostracism from the group, especially when

A) new members' goals differ from those of the existing group.
B) supervision intercedes.
C) a worker wants to be noticed by management.
D) there are extreme and repeated violations.

Question 13

The process whereby group members learn about and take on various defined patterns of behavior is called

A) role expectation.
B) behavior differentiation.
C) role differentiation.
D) organizational socialization.

Question 14

Work groups in organizations

A) may form to develop and maintain social relationships.
B) are necessarily always work-related goals.
C) do not involve social interaction.
D) are always formed by formal organizational actions.

Question 15

New employees learn about group roles by

A) accomplishing employee training.
B) observing and imitating others.
C) following natural tendencies.
D) asking others.

Question 16

Which of the following is NOT a purpose of work group norms?

A) Increasing predictability of members' behavior
B) Facilitating group production
C) Providing a sense of identity
D) Committing workers to the same individual goals
E) All of the above are purposes of work group norms.

Question 17

The role of compromiser is categorized as

A) a group task role.
B) a group building and maintenance role.
C) a harmonizer role.
D) a conflict reduction role.

Question 18

An example of the reciprocity rule is when an employee

A) gets promoted because she has dedicated much time to her job.
B) helps out a colleague knowing she will do the same for her someday.
C) receives a compliment from the boss for doing a job very well.
D) works overtime on one day in exchange for taking the previous day off.

Question 19

After hearing all the ideas from her work group, Jean often prevents putting the ideas into action because she refuses to go along with the group. Jean would be classified as a(n)

A) dominator.
B) blocker
C) gatekeeper.
D) opinion giver.

Question 20

For a cohesive group to be productive,

A) members must be very dissimilar.
B) cohesiveness must be unrelated to work.
C) groups must have strong work-related norms.
D) None of the above

Question 21

Some forms of group conflict can be directly associated with

A) increased communication.
B) faster socialization.
C) clarification of roles.
D) member satisfaction.

Question 22

The reciprocity rule refers to

A) prosocial behaviors.
B) the exception rather than the rule.
C) mutually agreeable work goals.
D) one good turn deserves another.

Question 23

An example of autocratic decision making is when

A) the director asks for input from workers but then makes a decision alone.
B) the supervisor decided which word processing software is to be used.
C) the salespeople agree after a discussion to offer a discount on orders over $1,000.
D) a vote is taken among secretaries to trade Veterans Day for the day after Thanksgiving as a vacation day.

Question 24

Competition

A) cannot coexist with cooperation in a work group.
B) exists because the group is not cohesive.
C) is considered imperative for individual and organizational success in Western cultures.
D) is discouraged when it exists at the expense of group members.

Question 25

When a decision must be made quickly, the best decision making strategy is

A) democratic.
B) consensus.
C) autocratic.
D) participative.

Question 26

The introduction of a superordinate goal usually serves to

A) draw two competing sides together.
B) distract warring factions.
C) heighten intragroup conflict.
D) increase job satisfaction.

Question 27

Disadvantages of group decision making include which of the following?

A) Aspects of the problem are divided among several people
B) The potential for groupthink and group polarization
C) Decisions are highly critiqued
D) Most groups prefer not to make decisions
E) All of the above are disadvantages of group decision making.

Question 28

Interindividual conflict arises when

A) a person is faced with two sets of incompatible goals.
B) one person is striving to attain two goals.
C) one person violates group norms.
D) two people compete for the same goal.

Question 29

Which of the following is NOT an individual conflict resolution strategy?

A) Compromise
B) Avoidance
C) Confrontation
D) Accommodation

Question 30

Conflict between two individuals in a group is called

A) intraindividual conflict.
B) intragroup conflict.
C) intergroup conflict.
D) interindividual conflict.

Question 31

Conflict occurs among individuals and groups when

A) the people conform to different norms.
B) the individuals lack communications skills.
C) the conflicting parties have incompatible goals.
D) people do not have a clear understanding of goals.

Question 32

Compared to individual decision making, group decision making

A) yields better decisions on the average.
B) leads to conflict.
C) will represent what is best for the group.
D) is preferred in most situations.

Question 33

Jane likes to work with others on tasks at work because she has to work harder when she is working alone. It is likely that Jane is

A) dissatisfied with her job.
B) committed to her work group.
C) engaging in social loafing.
D) motivated by the presence of others.

Question 34

One of the most common sources of conflict in organizations is

A) people not getting along with each other.
B) scarcity of individual resources.
C) competition between work group members.
D) low organizational commitment of work group members.

Question 35

Wanda and Bob both wanted to make their department's presentation at the next stockholders meeting. Bob gave in to Wanda's wishes because he wanted to maintain a good relationship with Wanda. Bob used which of the following conflict resolution strategies?

A) Accommodation
B) Compromise
C) Collaboration
D) Avoidance

Question 36

It may not be desirable for a manger to stimulate conflict when

A) workers appear to be disinterested in work.
B) workers' energy levels are low.
C) workers' creativity is stymied.
D) workers are highly productive.

Question 37

Interorganizational conflict

A) is the stumbling block of free enterprise.
B) is conflict between organizations with compatible goals.
C) is caused by disagreements over surplus resources.
D) helps organizations compete to provide better goods and services.

Question 38

Autocratic decision making is advantageous because

A) it is fast.
B) the leader usually has the most accurate information.
C) it avoids conflict.
D) it involves members of the work group.

Question 39

Several salespeople disagree with their colleagues about how the new product introduction should be handled. This is an example of what level of conflict?

A) intragroup
B) intraorganizational
C) intergroup
D) interorganizational

Question 40

Which of the following conflict resolution strategies results in a win-win situation?

A)collaboration
B) compromise
C) avoidance
D) accommodation

Question 41

Norms are rules that groups adopt governing appropriate and inappropriate behavior for members.

Question 42

Organizational socialization is defined as the learning of specific work skills and abilities.

Question 43

The more quickly new employees become socialized, the less apt they are to be productive.

Question 44

Group polarization involves

A) groups making decisions that are more extreme than those of individuals.
B) groups making decisions that are less extreme than those of individuals.
C) groups becoming more cohesive as discussion continues.
D) group members working together to prevent groupthink.

Question 45

Group task roles are related to getting the job done.

Question 46

When cohesiveness is lost in large work groups, there is no way that it can be reestablished.

Question 47

Roles are patterns of behavior assigned to each individual according to the group's beliefs.

Question 48

A work group is two or more individuals engaged in social interaction for the purpose of achieving a goal.

Question 49

Role differentiation is the process by which group members learn about and take on various defined roles.

Question 50

Cary is a stock broker who is personally in favor of advising a client to invest about one-third of his money in a high-risk investment. After discussing the investment with a group of his colleagues, Cary advises the client to put more than half of his money in the high-risk investment. This process is an example of

A) groupthink.
B) group polarization.
C) collaboration.
D) mindguarding.

Question 51

Group building and maintenance roles include aggressor, dominator, and playboy.

Question 52

Which of the following is NOT a feature associated with effective teams?

A) the task is complex
B) members' skills are complementary to each other
C) members have good communication skills
D) members are self-motivated
E) All of the above are features of effective teams.

Question 53

While cohesive groups are usually more satisfied than noncohesive groups, they are not necessarily more productive.

Question 54

The Clara Dress Co. has developed a new team of six professionals. This team would likely be most effective in which of the following tasks?

A) sewing pockets on skirts and dresses
B) reorganizing the entire product line and planning a new advertising campaign
C) supervising line workers
D) The team would be equally effective in all of the above tasks.

Question 55

Employees who do not conform to group norms are usually just ignored by group members.

Question 56

Teams that have complete responsibility for whole tasks, products, or service lines are called

A) self-managing work teams.
B) quality circles.
C) complete teams.
D) task-focused teams.

Question 57

Which of the following is the best example of a team?

A) workers on an assembly line
B) a crew working on making an independent film
C) the U.S. Supreme Court
D) a jury

Question 58

When the manufacturing group discussed the fact that their product had experienced some failures in the past few months, they agreed that the failures were due to misuse on the part of the customer, and that the quality manager typically overreacts to such reports. As a result, the group decided to increase production of the product without checking for defects. This is an example of

A) the illusion of invulnerability.
B) the illusion of unanimity.
C) collective rationalizations.
D) mindguards.

Question 59

Groupthink generally occurs

A) in all decision making groups.
B) among dissatisfied group members.
C) in highly cohesive decision making groups.
D) in response to intergroup conflict.

Question 60

"Groupthink" refers to the situation where

A) group members arrive at a consensus without a critical analysis.
B) a democratic vote is unanimous.
C) group members independently arrive at the same decision.
D) a group leader tells the others how to think.

Question 61

Avoidance is never an appropriate conflict resolution strategy.

Question 62

Group polarization is the tendency for groups to make less extreme decisions than the individuals that comprise the group would have made alone.

Question 63

Younger workers are more prone to conflict than are older workers.

Question 64

Since opposites tend to attract, the more dissimilar the characteristics of group members, the more cohesive the group is likely to be.

Question 65

Groupthink is a syndrome characterized by a concurrence-seeking tendency which overrides the ability of a cohesive group to make critical decisions.

Question 66

Brainstorming is a highly efficient and effective problem-solving technique.

Question 67

Cohesiveness refers to the amount of pressure exerted to keep the group together.

Question 68

The use of teams in U.S. organizations is actually declining.

Question 69

Teams are most effective when they are working together on tasks that individuals can complete very effectively.

Question 70

A manager's asking for input from subordinates before making a decision is using a democratic decision making process.

Question 71

In courtrooms, juries use democratic decision making.

Question 72

In times of crisis, it is usually best to use group decision making strategies.

Question 73

Because cohesive groups are more satisfied than noncohesive groups, cohesive groups are also more productive.

Question 74

One positive outcome of conflict is stimulation of creativity and innovation in work groups.

Question 75

Interpersonal conflict is the cornerstone of the free enterprise system.

Question 76

Having a common threat causes work groups to be less productive and cohesive.

Question 77

An important feature of effective teams is that members share exactly the same types of knowledge and skills.

Question 78

Both competition and cooperation exist in all work groups.

Question 79

Group conflict can lead to high quality decisions.

Question 80

Democratic decision making and consultative decision making are based on majority rule.