Verified Test Bank Effective Groups and Teams Chapter 15

Contemporary Management, 11e (Jones)

Chapter 15 Effective Groups and Teams

1) All groups are teams, but not all teams are groups.

2) Managers can take advantage of the potential for synergy by creating groups with members who have complementary skills and knowledge relevant to the work at hand.

3) Cross-functional teams by nature diminish customer responsiveness as team members possess very different skills and expertise.

4) When top managers design an organization's structure and establish a chain of command, they are essentially creating self-managed work teams.

5) Managers of a multinational organization will mostly utilize virtual teams and rely heavily on face-to-face meetings to keep employees connected across regions.

6) When group members are reciprocally interdependent, managers are advised to create smaller groups.

7) Deviance signals that a group did not respond when a member violated group norms.

8) High levels of cohesiveness can cause group members to be less focused on group goals and more focused on overall organizational performance.

9) Group identity and healthy competition are consequences of group cohesiveness.

10) As group size increases, social loafing decreases.

11) In comparing the characteristics of teams and groups, it can be said that

A) all groups are considered to also be teams.

B) teams have no restrictions on the number of members in them, unlike groups.

C) the intensity with which members work together is always higher in a team than in a group.

D) groups are more formal and teams are more informal.

E) groups have an overriding common goal while teams do not.

12) ________ refers to increases in performance that result when individuals and departments coordinate their actions.

A) Synergy

B) Conformance

C) Deviance

D) Groupthink

E) Social loafing

13) In order to take advantage of the potential for synergy, managers should

A) create groups where the members have the same personality traits.

B) be strongly directive with the group.

C) build groups with members possessing complementary skills and knowledge.

D) discourage group members from providing each other feedback.

E) reward individual performances instead of the group as a whole.

14) To further promote innovation among team members, a manager should avoid

A) offering guidance to the group.

B) coaching the group regarding skills development.

C) closely directing or supervising the group.

D) solving resource issues for the group.

E) assisting the group in defining its goals.

15) Top management at a company organizes the employees into departments focusing on functions such as sales, product development, and customer service. These departments represent ________ groups.

A) friendship

B) control

C) command

D) interest

E) advocacy

16) Noelle recently joined a team of scientists who work together in a shared lab environment. All team members have the expertise and experience needed to develop next generation pharmaceutical products. Noelle is part of a(n)

A) task force.

B) informal team.

C) research and development team.

D) interest group.

E) virtual team.

17) ACME Productions put together a group of employees from marketing, engineering, manufacturing, and quality control to develop a new product idea. This is an example of a(n) ________ group.

A) informal

B) friendship

C) self-managed

D) cross-functional

E) top management

18) Managers at Worldwide Auto establish a group, or a(n) ________ team, comprised of engineers from Germany, Japan, and the United States for the design and manufacture of a new vehicle.

A) cross-cultural

B) informal

C) cross-functional

D) advocacy

E) interest

19) Workers at WECO Inc. formed a(n) ________ so that the members can provide each other support both on and off the job.

A) ad hoc committee

B) cross-functional group

C) command group

D) informal group

E) virtual team

20) A small group of employees from the marketing department of an organization get together for lunch every Friday so they can discuss various personal and professional topics. This is an example of a(n)

A) control group.

B) virtual team.

C) informal group.

D) command group.

E) self-managed work team.

21) A toy manufacturer wants to assemble a team to market a new toy across the country. A(n) ________ group would be best for this purpose.

A) formal

B) research and development

C) ad hoc

D) friendship

E) interest

22) A(n) ________ would be best suited for designing the long-term strategic plan for an organization.

A) informal team

B) cross-cultural group

C) top-management team

D) research and development

E) interest group

23) A company's CEO is assembling a top-management team. By selecting members who possess different expertise, skills, knowledge, and experience, the CEO is promoting

A) diversity.

B) individualism.

C) groupthink.

D) social loafing.

E) division of labor.

24) Raj has noticed that the members within his team seem to forgo personal opinions quite quickly to come to common solutions. He is concerned that this may be leading to suboptimal solutions. Raj is concerned the team may

A) have become too informal

B) be too independent.

C) suffer from synergy.

D) be experiencing groupthink.

E) be demonstrating social loafing.

25) A group of customer service representatives at a call center who are managed by the same supervisor are part of a(n)

A) research and development team.

B) informal group.

C) command group.

D) task force.

E) interest group.

26) When the CEO of an organization redesigns the organizational chart to define different reporting relationships among the organization's managers, she is essentially creating ________ groups.

A) informal

B) self-managed

C) command

D) virtual

E) interest

27) Which statement is true about a command group?

A) A command group is an example of an informal group.

B) A command group is composed of employees who enjoy one another's company and socialize with one another.

C) A group of interns who work in a hospital and have lunch together twice a week constitute a command group.

D) A command group is composed of the CEO, the president, and the heads of the most important departments.

E) A command group consists of employees who report to the same supervisor.

28) Machinists in a manufacturing plant who have worked together for many years and report to the same shop foreman exemplify a

A) friendship group.

B) virtual team.

C) cross-functional group.

D) self-managed team.

E) command group.

29) Task forces are generally

A) permanent groups and often referred to as ad hoc committees.

B) composed of employees who enjoy one another's company and socialize with one another.

C) managers or nonmanagerial employees from various departments or divisions who meet to solve a specific, mutual problem.

D) managers who form to focus on their own goals beyond overall organizational needs.

E) not used to addressing recurring or long-term problems.

30) ________ are task forces that are relatively permanent.

A) Interest groups

B) Informal groups

C) Standing committees

D) Virtual groups

E) Self-managed teams

31) ________ are empowered to assume responsibility and autonomy to complete identifiable pieces of work for an organization.

A) Informal groups

B) Interest groups

C) Command groups

D) Top-management teams

E) Self-managed work teams

32) For a self-managed team to be most effective, a manager must

A) try to anticipate and solve problems for the team before they arise.

B) provide close supervision for all the team activities.

C) choose members for the team solely on the basis of their educational qualifications.

D) provide training in the required fields to all the team members.

E) give team members limited autonomy and responsibility for their tasks.

33) Eliza is part of a(n) ________ group within her company and looks forward to Friday Funday each week, when members socialize in the break room at the end of the day.

A) command

B) virtual

C) interest

D) ad hoc

E) friendship

34) Environmentally conscious members within a company organize weekly meetings to discuss how their company can use fewer Styrofoam cups and less paper. The members constitute a(n) ________ group.

A) virtual

B) formal

C) command

D) interest

E) friendship

35) In comparing group sizing, members in a larger group ________ than members in a smaller group.

A) interact more with each other

B) are generally more motivated

C) find it easier to share information with one another

D) have more resources at their disposal

E) tend to be more committed

36) What challenge might a manager face if choosing a smaller group size to accomplish a project?

A) It is more difficult to motivate the members of smaller groups.

B) Managers need to invest more personal time in facilitating interaction within smaller groups.

C) Developing specialized expertise can be more difficult with smaller groups.

D) Information sharing is more limited within smaller groups.

E) Smaller groups cannot be empowered to self-manage.

37) ________ refers to how much influence the work of one group member may have on the work of another.

A) Reciprocity

B) Division of labor

C) Social loafing

D) Task interdependence

E) Pooling

38) ________ exists when group members make separate, independent contributions to group performance.

A) Sequential task interdependence

B) Total task dependence

C) Reciprocal task dependence

D) Simultaneous task interdependence

E) Pooled task interdependence

39) A sales manager creates a weekly group sales target of $10,000 for her employees. To entice her group members to achieve this target, she rewards each member who reaches $2,000 in sales. This approach creates ________ task interdependence.

A) sequential

B) ordered

C) pooled

D) simultaneous

E) reciprocal

40) ________ task interdependence exists when group members must perform specific tasks in a prescriptive order.

A) Sequential

B) Partial

C) Pooled

D) Reciprocal

E) Uniform

41) An assembly line is an arrangement of workers and machines in which a product passes consecutively from one process to another in a set order until completed. The assembly line group exemplifies

A) pooled task interdependence.

B) a virtual team format.

C) transactional leadership.

D) reciprocal task interdependence.

E) sequential task interdependence.

42) ________ task interdependence exists when the work of each group member is completely dependent on the work performed by the other group members.

A) Total

B) Pooled

C) Sequential

D) Serial

E) Reciprocal

43) Members of research and development teams are required to come up with new and improved products. In order to do so, team members need to constantly share information with each other and ensure their activities are closely coordinated. This observation reflects the existence of ________ within a research and development team.

A) pooled task interdependence

B) total task independence

C) reciprocal task interdependence

D) sequential task interdependence

E) no task dependence

44) To achieve high levels of motivation of a group with ________ interdependence, a manager should leverage his or her reward power to acknowledge individual performance.

A) little to no

B) sequential

C) progressive

D) pooled

E) reciprocal

45) ________ reflect the behaviors and tasks that each member of a group is expected to perform because of his or her position in the group.

A) Group roles

B) Leadership traits

C) Synergies

D) Interdependencies

E) Group norms

46) At the weekly meetings, Janelle, the project manager, is expected to update all members on the status of project milestones and highlight any issues or risks. In this example, Janelle is expected to conform to her

A) behavioral traits.

B) group role.

C) individual goals.

D) gender stereotype.

E) task interdependencies.

47) Members of a task force were recruited to provide specific perspectives to resolving a specific problem; however, the manager empowered the group to evolve their individual activities and contributions as needed to succeed. The executive is encouraging

A) social loafing.

B) role-making.

C) synergy.

D) groupthink.

E) interdependence.

48) The development team for a greeting card company includes a writer whose focus is on crafting the messages for a series of new cards. The responsibility to craft the words for the team is an example of

A) a virtual role.

B) group conforming.

C) a group role.

D) empowerment.

E) group norming.

49) Ken was appointed by his manager to lead a new team. He is considered a

A) formal leader.

B) informal leader.

C) role manager.

D) role maker.

E) groupthink leader.

50) The members of a newly formed group are getting to know one another and attempting to reach an understanding of how each of them should act within the group. This stage of group development is called

A) storming.

B) norming.

C) forming.

D) adjourning.

E) performing.

51) When developing groups, there will almost always be disagreements and conflicts as members work to develop a common understanding. This stage of group development is called

A) forming.

B) norming.

C) performing.

D) storming.

E) adjourning.

52) During which stage of group development does group camaraderie begin to emerge?

A) forming

B) adjourning

C) performing

D) storming

E) norming

53) Managers need to empower self-managed teams, provide sufficient autonomy to them, and ensure that its members are motivated in the ________ stage of group development.

A) forming

B) adjourning

C) performing

D) storming

E) norming

54) A task force submits its final report on the project that they had been working on before members are reassigned to new priorities. At which stage is the group operating?

A) forming

B) storming

C) adjourning

D) norming

E) performing

55) A project team has worked through initial differences between members and reached a common view of individual roles and group goals. Everyone is energized to begin working together to achieve day-to-day tasks and realize the goals. Which stage of group development has just been completed?

A) forming

B) storming

C) norming

D) adjourning

E) performing

56) ________ are shared guidelines or rules of behavior that can be used to help a group perform at a high level and meet its goals.

A) Group deviances

B) Reciprocal tasks

C) Group norms

D) Divisions of labor

E) Group roles

57) A group exhibiting ________ may perform poorly due to an inability to evaluate and change its dysfunctional norms.

A) low conformity

B) moderate deviance

C) high conformity

D) no conformity

E) high deviance

58) The members of a cross-functional team have an informal agreement that whenever a team member goes out of town on business, that team member will leave a phone number where he or she can be reached. This arrangement is known as a

A) virtual norm.

B) group norm.

C) virtual role.

D) group role.

E) deviance rule.

59) Group ________ is the degree to which the members of a group are attracted to belonging in the group.

A) role making

B) deviance

C) interdependence

D) conformity

E) cohesiveness

60) When a group experiences high cohesiveness, it will exhibit

A) lower levels of participation within the group.

B) high deviance within the group.

C) high emphasis on group goal achievement.

D) decreasing levels of conformity to group norms.

E) decreasing levels of group attractiveness.

61) When a group is experiencing low cohesiveness,

A) it becomes attractive to new members.

B) its effectiveness can be increased by reducing or eliminating competition among groups.

C) its members have little desire to retain their group membership.

D) the size of the group should be increased considerably.

E) there is an emphasis placed on group goal accomplishment.

62) In order to make the most effective contribution to an organization's competitive advantage, managers should strive to achieve a(n) ________ level of cohesiveness in the organization's groups.

A) low

B) moderate

C) high

D) nonexistent

E) extremely high

63) Managers can increase group cohesiveness by

A) making the group size very large.

B) effectively managing diversity within groups.

C) eliminating competition among groups.

D) focusing on group goals rather than on organizational goals.

E) ensuring groups face sufficient obstacles, so goals require effort by all members.

64) How might team meetings proceed with an overly cohesive team?

A) Meetings would have a good mix of personal interaction and task completion.

B) Meetings might be fairly slow-moving and quiet as members would be reluctant to share information.

C) Meetings would be terse and get quickly to the point.

D) Meetings might start with excessive personal discussion and struggle to efficiently complete meeting tasks.

E) Meetings would happen infrequently, so the team members could minimize personal contact.

65) The higher the cohesiveness of a group, the higher the ________ in the group.

A) level of deviance

B) degree of social loafing

C) level of participation

D) level of conformity

E) emphasis on individual goals

66) Which statement is true regarding group cohesiveness?

A) To promote cohesiveness in groups, managers should form groups that are significantly large in size.

B) If a group is high in cohesiveness and small in size, managers should consider dividing the group in half and assigning different tasks and goals to the two newly formed groups.

C) Decreasing levels of group cohesiveness results in little deviance in groups.

D) As group cohesiveness decreases, the emphasis placed on group goal accomplishment increases.

E) As groups become more successful, they become increasingly attractive to their members, and their cohesiveness tends to increase.

67) ________ is the tendency of group members to exert less effort when they work in groups than they would exert if they were acting alone.

A) Synergy

B) Conformity

C) Cohesiveness

D) Social loafing

E) Deviance

68) Jill is a member of a research and development team. Her weekly appraisal indicates that her personal contributions since joining the team are significantly lower than what she accomplished previously as an individual contributor. Jill's behavior exemplifies

A) synergy.

B) group conformity.

C) cohesion.

D) social loafing.

E) task interdependency.

69) Raul knows there are tasks the team still needs to complete, but he chooses not to get involved in more activities as he is confident others in the group will pick up the slack. Raul is exhibiting

A) cohesion.

B) role making.

C) group conformity.

D) groupthink.

E) social loafing.

70) A team member is more likely to engage in social loafing when

A) the group is excessively large.

B) individual contributions to a group are identifiable.

C) valuable contributions of individual members are emphasized.

D) rewards are linked to individual performance.

E) the group size is at an appropriate level.

71) Kimberly suspects that some members of her command group are not contributing as much as other members and yet the overall goals of the group are being met. What could Kimberly do to minimize any social loafing that might be taking place?

A) Clearly communicate to all members why each individual contribution is valuable to the organization.

B) Offer a group reward to incentivize all members to make sure the group goals are achieved.

C) Increase the size of the group so there is more peer pressure to perform.

D) Make sure group goals are easily identifiable and achievable.

E) Increase the size of the group so there are more resources than needed to accomplish group goals.

72) Sometimes managers form a(n) ________ group because they want to focus on achieving personal goals.

A) interest

B) informal

C) friendship

D) self-managed

E) command

73) Luca is the vice president of the finance department. He is part of a management team that also includes the CEO, CFO, and vice presidents from the marketing and production business units. Luca's management team is a(n)

A) cross-cultural team.

B) informal group.

C) top management team.

D) interest group.

E) cross-functional group.

74) Lilly is a member of a new product design team. The team leader proposed a process that would get quick results, but Lilly was concerned quality would suffer. Due to ________, Lilly did not voice her concern as she did not want to appear unsupportive of the team.

A) group deviance

B) synergy

C) social loafing

D) groupthink

E) division of labor

75) Managers often form and maintain ________ to make sure important issues continue to be addressed.

A) top management teams

B) command groups

C) virtual groups

D) self-managed work teams

E) standing committees

76) ABC Manufacturing has locations in the United States, Mexico, and China. To address a complex quality issue impacting all locations, the CEO should form a(n) ________ team to most efficiently leverage the expertise of quality control managers from each site.

A) virtual

B) pooled interdependent

C) informal

D) self-managed

E) interest

77) A computer manufacturing company employs many workers in different locations to produce specific computer mechanisms that are assembled into the final product. The workers are involved in a ________ task interdependence.

A) command

B) pooled

C) reciprocal

D) sequential

E) virtual

78) To enhance both individual and group performance, Klaus uses the ________ process by encouraging Jackie to take the initiative to accept additional responsibilities and expand her existing focus.

A) role-taking

B) role-engulfment

C) role-making

D) role-playing

E) groupthink

79) Clive's manager appointed him to lead the marketing group because Clive emerged as a natural team leader in a previous assignment. Clive is now considered a(n) ________ leader.

A) charismatic

B) top management

C) ad hoc

D) formal

E) informal

80) During which stage of group development do close ties between group members develop?

A) storming

B) adjourning

C) performing

D) forming

E) norming

81) ________ is when groups experience conflict within the group.

A) Intragroup conflict

B) Intergroup conflict

C) Group cohesiveness

D) Group deviation

E) Groupthink

82) Cole's work group is responsible for creating product user manuals. The group is becoming increasingly frustrated with the development team, which continues to push out the dates for providing product information for the manuals. This is an example of

A) intragroup conflict.

B) group conformity.

C) group cohesiveness.

D) group deviation.

E) intergroup conflict.

83) During a leadership workshop, employees are divided into groups to role play and discuss lessons learned. Based on the high energy and unique perspectives provided by Group A during the last read-out, attendees are now favoring joining Group A. Group A possesses

A) cohesiveness.

B) deviation.

C) intragroup conflict.

D) intergroup conflict.

E) conformity.

84) When assembling a group, what should a manager do regarding resources?

A) Assign resources with opposing approaches and disparate knowledge to minimize synergy.

B) Minimize resources so that each member has the opportunity to take on multiple roles.

C) Assign an abundance of resources to ensure easy achievement of goals.

D) Focus on homogeneous resources to avoid conflicts.

E) Assign only the level of resource necessary to achieve goals and allow work to be effectively split across members.

85) The software development and test teams work together closely to deliver new products. Until the software developers have written and tested the code for each new feature, the test team cannot begin its testing. This illustrates a(n) ________ task interdependence.

A) cohesive

B) pooled

C) sequential

D) intragroup

E) reciprocal

86) Describe the differences between groups and teams and discuss how using groups and teams can help an organization gain a competitive advantage.

87) Define cross-functional teams and provide an example that illustrates how cross-functional teams can help an organization improve responsiveness to customers.

88) Discuss the advantages of using teams for innovation. What is the role of managers in promoting innovation?

89) Discuss diversity from the point of view of a large organization's CEO. Why is it an important factor when assembling your top-management team?

90) What are self-managed teams? Detail the roles of a manager in ensuring that self-managed teams are effective.

91) Differentiate between the two types of informal groups and explain why each might be formed. Provide an example of each.

92) Briefly explain the three types of task interdependence. Provide an example for each.

93) Define the five stages of group development and provide an example of what might happen to the group dynamics during each stage.

94) What are group norms? Detail the impact that the balance of conformity and deviance will have on a group's performance.

95) Identify the factors that influence group cohesiveness. Describe how a manager could maintain cohesiveness at an optimal level for each of the factors.

96) Explain what is meant by social loafing and what three specific steps that you would implement as a manger to reduce or eliminate this undesirable work behavior.

97) Define synergy and discuss what you can do as a manager to enhance synergy in a group.

98) Define virtual team and describe its advantages and disadvantages.

99) A company has a strict dress code, with employees wearing business suits every day but with the option to dress business casual on Fridays. One manager began dressing in business casual on other days besides Fridays, feeling it was acceptable as long as he was not meeting with customers. How might the other managers respond to this manager's deviance from the group norm? How might deviance be functional for this group?

100) What are the three reasons group members conform to norms?