Question 1

Command groups are also known as ________.
A) informal groups
B) virtual groups
C) interest groups
D) departments

Accepted Answer

Command groups are often called departments or units.

Question 2

Which of the following statements captures the essence of synergy?
A) Challenge the issue, not the person.
B) Learn by doing.
C) Nothing succeeds like success.
D) The whole is more than the sum of its parts.

Accepted Answer

The essence of synergy is captured in the saying "the whole is more than the sum of its parts."

Question 3

The strategic planning committee at Comfort Fabric Clothing Company consists of managers from engineering, R&D, production, marketing, and finance. This is an example of a(n) ________.
A) cross-functional team
B) informal group
C) virtual team
D) command group

Accepted Answer

Cross-functional teams are composed of members from different departments. In a cross-functional team, the expertise and knowledge in different organizational departments are brought together in the skills and knowledge of the team members.

Question 4

In an attempt to promote innovation in a work group, the supervisor should ________.
A) provide little guidance to the group, and let the group members self-guide themselves
B) provide detailed procedures to the group
C) let group members self-coach within the group
D) provide for only outside the organization resources for the group

Accepted Answer

To further promote innovation, managers can empower teams and make their members fully responsible and accountable for the innovation process. The manager's role is to provide guidance, assistance, coaching, and the resources team members need and not to closely direct or supervise their activities.

Question 5

Daniel is the vice president of an insurance company that sells workers' compensation insurance. Recently, the company has identified problems of cost control in all of its offices. Daniel formed a team composed of the sales managers of all the four regions, along with some staff members from the company's informational technology and administration departments, to study the problem and make recommendations. This team is an example of a ________.
A) functional group
B) task force
C) virtual assembly
D) command group

Accepted Answer

The team has been formed for a specific reason; therefore it is a task force. The members of the team are from various departments, thereby making it a cross-functional team. The geographic location is an entire state, the essence of virtual teams exist. The team is not a command group because all members do not report to the same supervisor/manager. Employees form informal interest groups when they seek to achieve a common goal related to their membership in an organization.

Question 6

Active Appliances, an electrical appliance firm, forms a group to design a new software application. This group consists of a systems designer, a programmer, and a user representative. This is an example of a(n) ________.
A) informal team
B) ad hoc committee
C) cross-cultural team
D) cross-functional team

Accepted Answer

Cross-functional teams are composed of members from different departments. In a cross-functional team, the expertise and knowledge in different organizational departments are brought together in the skills and knowledge of the team members.

Question 7

The group who is responsible for developing the strategies that result in an organization's competitive advantage is the ________.
A) informal group
B) cross-cultural team
C) top management team
D) virtual team

Accepted Answer

Top management teams are responsible for developing the strategies that result in an organization's competitive advantage.

Question 8

To take advantage of the potential for synergy in groups, managers should ________.
A) create groups of similar individuals
B) be strongly directive with the group
C) reward individual performance
D) appoint members with complementary skills

Accepted Answer

To take advantage of the potential for synergy in groups, managers need to make sure that groups are composed of members who have complementary skills and knowledge relevant to the group's work.

Question 9

What is one of the biggest challenges faced by members of virtual teams?
A) Building core teams
B) Sending in reports at the same time
C) Building trust and camaraderie
D) Communicating their feelings

Accepted Answer

Increasing globalization is likely to result in more organizations relying on virtual teams to a greater extent. One challenge members of virtual teams face is building a sense of camaraderie and trust among team members who rarely, if ever, meet face-to-face.

Question 10

A group of managers spend a great deal of time ensuring that they agree on important issues instead of working toward an accurate assessment of the situation. This scenario describes ________.
A) a fundamental attribution error
B) self-serving bias
C) lack of synergy
D) groupthink

Accepted Answer

Groupthink is faulty group decision making that results when group members strive for agreement at the expense of an accurate assessment of the situation.

Question 11

Who takes part in cross-functional teams?
A) Subordinates who report to the same supervisor
B) Members from different cultures
C) CEO, the president, and the heads of departments
D) Members from different departments

Accepted Answer

Cross-functional teams are composed of members from different departments.

Question 12

In which of the following teams are the expertise and knowledge in different organizational departments brought together in the skills and knowledge of the team members?
A) Virtual team
B) Cross-cultural team
C) Research and Development team
D) Cross-functional team

Accepted Answer

In a cross-functional team, the expertise and knowledge in different organizational departments are brought together in the skills and knowledge of the team members.

Question 13

When team leaders of various cross-functional groups report to the same manager, the team leaders form a(n) ________.
A) cross-cultural group
B) command group
C) informal group
D) task force

Accepted Answer

Subordinates who report to the same supervisor compose a command group. When top managers design an organization's structure and establish reporting relationships and a chain of command, they are essentially creating command groups.

Question 14

Which of the following enables managers to disregard geographic distances?
A) Virtual team
B) Cross-cultural team
C) Research and Development team
D) Cross-functional team

Accepted Answer

The principal advantage of virtual teams is that they enable managers to disregard geographic distances and form teams whose members have the knowledge, expertise, and experience to tackle a particular problem or take advantage of a specific opportunity.

Question 15

Teams that are empowered to take responsibility for acting autonomously in order to complete identifiable pieces of work are referred to as ________.
A) informal groups
B) interest groups
C) virtual teams
D) self-managed work teams

Accepted Answer

Self-managed work teams are teams in which team members are empowered and have the responsibility and autonomy to complete identifiable pieces of work.

Question 16

Another name for a task force is a(n) ________.
A) informal group
B) interest group
C) ad hoc committee
D) virtual group

Accepted Answer

Managers form task forces to accomplish specific goals or solve problems in a certain time period; task forces are sometimes called ad hoc committees.

Question 17

Teams that rarely interact with each other on a face-to-face basis are referred to as ________.
A) informal teams
B) ad hoc teams
C) virtual teams
D) task forces

Accepted Answer

Virtual teams are teams whose members rarely or never meet face-to-face but, rather, interact by using various forms of information technology such as e-mail, text messaging, computer networks, telephone, fax, and videoconferences.

Question 18

A major problem that self-managed work teams can encounter is ________.
A) selection of members with the right skills and ability to work with others
B) disciplining team members
C) being given work that is sufficiently complex
D) managers who are too "hands off"

Accepted Answer

Managers can take a number of steps to ensure that self-managed work teams are effective and help an organization achieve its goals by giving teams enough responsibility and autonomy to be truly self-managing and making sure a team's work is sufficiently complex. Like all groups, self-managed work teams can sometimes run into trouble. Members may be reluctant to discipline one another by withholding bonuses from members who are not performing up to par or by firing members.

Question 19

The salespersons who report to a common sales manager are known as a(n) ________.
A) informal group
B) command group
C) cross-functional group
D) cross-cultural group

Accepted Answer

Subordinates who report to the same supervisor compose a command group. When top managers design an organization's structure and establish reporting relationships and a chain of command, they are essentially creating command groups.

Question 20

Joanna, a manager, is responsible for organizing a team for the development of a new product. To be successful in creating synergy in the team, Joanna's top priority should be to ________.
A) choose members of the most diverse backgrounds possible
B) supervise the group closely
C) bring in members with complementary skills relevant to the work
D) choose members who have worked together previously without any problems

Accepted Answer

To take advantage of the potential for synergy in groups, managers need to make sure that groups are composed of members who have complementary skills and knowledge relevant to the group's work.

Quiz 11: Effective Team Management

Command groups are also known as ________.

Which of the following statements captures the essence of synergy?

The strategic planning committee at Comfort Fabric Clothing Company consists of managers from engineering, R&D, production, marketing, and finance. This is an example of a(n) ________.

In an attempt to promote innovation in a work group, the supervisor should ________.

Active Appliances, an electrical appliance firm, forms a group to design a new software application. This group consists of a systems designer, a programmer, and a user representative. This is an example of a(n) ________.

The group who is responsible for developing the strategies that result in an organization's competitive advantage is the ________.

To take advantage of the potential for synergy in groups, managers should ________.

What is one of the biggest challenges faced by members of virtual teams?

A group of managers spend a great deal of time ensuring that they agree on important issues instead of working toward an accurate assessment of the situation. This scenario describes ________.

Who takes part in cross-functional teams?

In which of the following teams are the expertise and knowledge in different organizational departments brought together in the skills and knowledge of the team members?

When team leaders of various cross-functional groups report to the same manager, the team leaders form a(n) ________.

Which of the following enables managers to disregard geographic distances?

Teams that are empowered to take responsibility for acting autonomously in order to complete identifiable pieces of work are referred to as ________.

Another name for a task force is a(n) ________.

Teams that rarely interact with each other on a face-to-face basis are referred to as ________.

A major problem that self-managed work teams can encounter is ________.

The salespersons who report to a common sales manager are known as a(n) ________.

Joanna, a manager, is responsible for organizing a team for the development of a new product. To be successful in creating synergy in the team, Joanna's top priority should be to ________.