BAM 515 Organizational Behavior

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Understanding and Managing Organizational Behavior

Sixth Edition, 2012

ISBN-13: 9780136124436

Jennifer M. George and Gareth R. Jones

Prentice Hall

02/14

BAM 515 Organizational Behavior

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without written permission from the publisher, except for the inclusion of brief quotation in review. Copyright © 2014 by California Coast University

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Final Examination

BAM 515 Organizational Behavior

Multiple Choice Questions (Enter your answers on the enclosed answer sheet)

1. The study of organizational behavior provides ________ that are useful for people at work to understand and appreciate the many forces that affect behavior in an organizations.

a. guidelines b. rituals c. beliefs d. textbooks

2. The study of organizational behavior provides a set of tools that help ________.

a. people to understand, analyze, and describe behavior in organizations b. people to utilize their intuition and common sense to make business decisions c. generate direct and sufficient profit for all stakeholders d. people understand their own strengths and weaknesses

3. Which of the following terms BEST describes several engineers working together, closely and intensely, to complete a project within a given time span?

a. group b. team c. organization d. society

4. The term ________ means giving employees throughout an organization the authority to make important decisions and to take responsibility for their outcomes.

a. self-management b. empowerment c. outsourcing d. globalization

5. Which of the following is NOT an effect of the changing global economy?

a. increased longevity by individual workers at a single company b. higher pressure for individuals to improve skills and desirability c. more companies doing work in different countries d. increases in temporary employees

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Final Examination

BAM 515 Organizational Behavior

6. To battle effectively against domestic and global competition, organizations can use all of the following EXCEPT ________.

a. downsizing b. self-managed teams c. contingent workers d. job enrichment

7. Behavior and feelings that are inherited from parents is MOST LIKELY a result of ________.

a. nurture b. biological forces c. personality forces d. nature

8. Which of the following BEST explains the significance of nurture and nature in the development of an individual’s personality?

a. Neither nurture nor nature is necessary to the development of personality. b. Only nurture has an impact on the development of an individual’s personality. c. Both nurture and nature are determinants of an individual’s personality. d. Only nature is necessary to the development of an individual’s personality.

9. If a researcher found identical twins, separated at birth, to be nearly identical in personality, what would he MOST LIKELY conclude?

a. Nature is more important than nurture in determining personality. b. Nurture is more important than nature in determining personality. c. Nature and nurture play equal roles in determining personality. d. There are no conclusions that can be drawn from the research.

10. Which of the following statements is FALSE?

a. Selection relates to the nature aspects of ability. b. Placement relates to the nature aspects of ability. c. Training relates to the nurture aspects of ability. d. Placement relates to the nurture aspects of ability.

11. The process of accurately matching workers with jobs that capitalize on their abilities is called ________.

a. selection b. classifying c. placement d. ranking

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Final Examination

BAM 515 Organizational Behavior

12. Training CANNOT be used to ________.

a. increase employees’ skills and abilities b. increase emotional intelligence c. improve performance d. change personalities

13. A person’s work values are ________.

a. relatively long lasting b. fixed over time c. hard to determine d. subject to change every day

14. People’s personal convictions about what end states one should expect from work and how one should behave at work constitute work ________.

a. attitudes b. moods c. behaviors d. values

15. Examples of intrinsic work values include all of the following EXCEPT ________.

a. desiring to be challenged b. establishing social contacts c. wanting to learn new things d. making important contributions

16. Which of the following strategies would LEAST LIKELY promote affective commitment?

a. ask employees to vote on a worthy cause and then donate proceeds b. encourage employees to volunteer in local charitable organizations, once a month c. ask employees to sign non-compete agreements d. support environmental causes

17. ________ commitment exists when employees are happy to be members of an organization.

a. Affective b. Continuance c. Escalation of d. Codependent

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Final Examination

BAM 515 Organizational Behavior

18. Which of the following is an employee with affective commitment LEAST likely to do?

a. be late for work b. perform OCBs c. quit their job d. take days off

19. When managers become aware of evidence of potential discrimination, they should do all of the following EXCEPT ________.

a. pay immediate attention to the problem b. act proactively to address the potential problem c. review the organization’s policies and practices d. treat the potential discriminator unfairly

20. The three components of perception are ________.

a. seeing, hearing, and touching b. observers, observation targets, and opinions c. comprehension, interpretation, and explanation d. situation, perceiver, and target of perception

21. The ________ is whatever the perceiver is trying to make sense of.

a. quandary b. situation c. target of perception d. paradigm of possibility

22. Despite the fact that she walked into the interview chewing gum, which Dan found very unprofessional, he hired Margaret, in part, because, like him, she was born and raised in Ohio. On her first two or three job performance evaluations, Dan gave her high ratings, even though she was often late and missed many deadlines, because she made a good overall impression, especially compared to her very inadequate co-workers.

Which of the following biases has Dan NOT allowed to cloud his judgement when it comes to Margaret?

a. primacy effect b. contrast effect c. halo effect d. similar-to-me effect

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Final Examination

BAM 515 Organizational Behavior

23. The diversity training program at Toots Software Specialists, Incorporated, has come under scrutiny in the past several years. According to those who have filed complaints, the company has not done enough to properly train employees on the management of a diverse workforce. This, some have claimed, has led to a less than desirable workplace environment. As a hired workplace diversity consultant, which of the following diversity training programs would you MOST LIKELY recommend to the leader’s at Toots Software Specialists?

a. self-awareness activities, in which participants’ own prejudices and stereotypes are revealed b. training techniques that emphasize the importance of subordinates’ imitation of leaders c. role-playing that emphasizes the usefulness of absolute accuracy in perception d. None of the above would be effective training techniques.

24. Bonnie works for Thermal Appliances, Inc. as a salesperson. In her twelve years with the company, she has experienced occasional situations in which male employees have told sexually-explicit jokes in her presence, sent sexually-explicit emails, and made inappropriate comments about her clothing and appearance. Over the years, Bonnie has informed her superiors of the inappropriate behavior, but no measures were ever taken to condemn it. She recently decided that this behavior was bothering her to the point of affecting her work and her desire to stay with the company. Because of this she made an appointment to speak with a lawyer about her options. What will her lawyer’s advice MOST LIKELY be?

a. She should have made the complaint when the sexual harassment first began because now she has no case. b. She has a good case against her company for hostile work environment sexual harassment. c. She has a good case against her company for quid pro quo sexual harassment. d. She does not have a case for sexual harassment because her superiors did not find reason enough to discipline the men involved.

25. ________ is a relatively permanent change in knowledge or behavior that results from practice or experience.

a. Learning b. Reconstruction c. Behavior modification d. Operant conditioning

26. Learning does NOT require a learner to ________.

a. learn in a specified time frame b. experience any alteration in knowledge or behavior c. experience any permanent or long lasting change d. learn via practice or through experience

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Final Examination

BAM 515 Organizational Behavior

27. In operant conditioning, learning occurs when the learner recognizes the link between a(n) ________.

a. behavior and its consequences b. conditioned stimulus and its response c. antecedent and a successor d. negative reinforcement and its outcome

28. According to Peter Senge, which of the following is NOT a key activity central to a learning organization?

a. encouraging low self-efficacy b. encouraging learning in groups and teams c. developing complex schemas d. communicating a shared vision for the organization

29. ________ BEST enable(s) organizational members to understand work activities.

a. Daily attendance b. Hard work c. Complex schemas d. Thoughtful beliefs

30. An important ingredient for a learning organization is ________; that is, being able to capitalize on the knowledge that members of the organization have, which might not be written down or codified in formal documents.

a. data mining b. information management c. knowledge management d. infrastructure analysis

31. Which element of work motivation answers the question, “How hard does a person work to perform a chosen behavior”?

a. level of effort b. openness c. level of persistence d. direction of behavior

32. A social scientist studying motivation would MOST LIKELY explain that arriving at work late or ignoring organizational rules are the results of ________ motivation.

a. below average b. dysfunctional c. poor d. misdirected

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Final Examination

BAM 515 Organizational Behavior

33. ________ is an evaluation of the results of a person’s behavior.

a. Motivation b. Performance c. Level of effort d. Level of persistence

34. ________ justice is concerned with the perceived fairness of the processes used to make decisions about the distribution of outcomes.

a. Distributive b. Procedural c. Interpersonal d. Informational

35. ________ justice pertains to employees’ perceptions of the extent to which managers explain their decisions, and the procedures used to make them, to employees.

a. Distributive b. Procedural c. Interpersonal d. Informational

36. Preliminary research has shown that perceptions of ________ justice may be especially important when outcomes like pay and benefits are relatively low.

a. informational b. distributive c. procedural d. interpersonal

37. Job ________ is the process of linking specific tasks to specific jobs and of deciding what techniques, equipment, and processes should be used to perform them.

a. dissection b. specification c. design d. modification

38. All of the following are early approaches to job design EXCEPT ________.

a. scientific management b. job enlargement c. job enrichment d. job intercession

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Final Examination

BAM 515 Organizational Behavior

39. Scientific management is a set of principles stressing job ________.

a. simplification and specialization b. enlargement and enrichment c. fulfillment and meaning d. training and development

40. The information systems department at Wilson and Davis Co. was given the specific and difficult goal of learning how to program a new computer system within 20 days of the equipment’s arrival. Although the department has experienced and qualified programmers, two months after equipment installation, the department has still not learned how to program the complex system. This incident illustrates that ________.

a. employee participation in goal setting is critical to its success b. goal setting may not work for complicated tasks that require a considerable amount of learning c. organizational citizenship behavior is important in order to achieve goals d. goal setting cannot work when the workers lack the skills to perform at a high level

41. The necessary elements of a successful MBO program include all of the following EXCEPT ________.

a. specific goals b. difficult goals c. penalties d. rapport and trust between the manager and the subordinate

42. When following the management by objectives process, if conditions change which of the following is FALSE?

a. It can be important to have a willingness to change objectives in midstream. b. It may no longer be appropriate to use the original objectives. c. There is no point in continuing work toward inappropriate objectives. d. There is no need to change objectives.

43. ________ is the experience of opportunities or threats that people perceive as important although they fear because they might not be able to handle or deal with effectively.

a. Stress b. Anticipation c. Excitement d. Expectancy

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Final Examination

BAM 515 Organizational Behavior

44. The major factors of stress that affect everyone are threat, opportunity, importance, and ________.

a. uncertainty b. expansiveness c. behavior d. emotion

45. If an organization wanted to minimize the danger of workplace violence it would be LEAST LIKELY to ________.

a. ensure that employees are aware of the workplace violence policy b. provide employees with cell phones c. install security systems in the workplace d. offer a harsh warning for the first offense of violence

46. When job ________ is used, two or more employees are responsible for a single job and agree on how to divide job-related tasks and working hours.

a. sharing b. rotation c. enrichment d. diversification

47. For an employer, which of the following is NOT an advantage of telecommuting?

a. higher productivity b. reduced absences c. retention of valuable employees d. coordination of work

48. Which of the following is LEAST LIKELY to be a class covered under an employee health management program?

a. prioritize effectively b. stop smoking c. eat a healthy diet d. improve your personal well-being

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Final Examination

BAM 515 Organizational Behavior

49. The two basic attributes of a group are ________.

a. that members of a group interact with one another and believe that there is potential for mutual goal accomplishment b. that members of a group interact with one another and are assured the accomplishment of a common goal c. that members of a group have similar goals and syngestic capabilities to accomplish their objectives d. that members of a group have intense interactions with one another and number more than three people

50. A ________ is a set of two or more people who interact with each other to achieve certain goals or meet certain needs.

a. faction b. group c. gathering d. quorum

51. ________ emerge naturally in organizations because members believe that working together in a group will help them achieve their goals or meet their needs.

a. Corporate clusters b. Formal work groups c. Informal work groups d. Organizational assemblages

52. Collective, formal, sequential, fixed, serial, and divestiture tactics MOST OFTEN lead new- comers to develop an ________ role orientation.

a. itemized b. iconographic c. individualized d. institutionalized

53. Which of the following is NOT one of the socialization tactics used by the military?

a. formal b. collective c. sequential d. disjunctive

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Final Examination

BAM 515 Organizational Behavior

54. A company uses an individualized role orientation. The company MOST LIKELY values ________.

a. tradition b. experimentation c. obedience d. informal norms

55. A group is working on increasing fuel efficiency in cars. The group is composed of the brightest minds in the field, but one of the researchers has a breakdown and isn’t able to finish his work. Other group members are delayed in their portion of the project. This will cause actual performance to ________.

a. be much lower than potential performance b. be much higher than potential performance c. equal zero d. equal process gains

56. Effective work groups perform at higher than optimal levels when they minimize ________.

a. communication b. process gains c. performance difficulties d. process losses

57. In order for an organization to achieve its goals, managers and work groups need to strive to ensure that a group’s ________ performance comes as close as possible to its ________ performance.

a. actual; targeted b. actual; potential c. potential; latent d. actual; forecasted

58. A “skunk works” is a research and development team that ________.

a. solves day-to-day problems in the organization b. intends to maximize organizational interactions c. expedites new product designs and promotes innovation d. consists of social loafers with personal grooming issues

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Final Examination

BAM 515 Organizational Behavior

59. ________ technologies enable team members to communicate with each other in real time.

a. Compatible b. Asynchronous c. Synchronous d. Concomitant

60. Because of the globalization of business, organizations will MOST LIKELY ________ their reliance on virtual teams.

a. increase b. decrease c. maintain d. end

61. Power is BEST defined as the ability of ________.

a. managers to increase their authority and pursue their own interests b. managers to increase their authority and ability to influence the work of others c. one person or group to cause another person or group to do something that they might not otherwise have done d. one person or group to promote their own agenda

62. Managers engage in ________ to increase their power and pursue goals that favor their individual and group interests.

a. arbitration b. accommodation c. organizational politics d. political decision making

63. A(n) ________ is a group of managers who have similar interests.

a. coalition b. organization c. network d. consortium

64. ________ are what a person wants; ________ are why the person wants them.

a. Demands; interests b. Interests; demands c. Wishes; desires

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Final Examination

BAM 515 Organizational Behavior

d. Cravings; compulsions 65. During management-union negotiations, ________ is the process by which the parties decide who will get what and how much.

a. attitudinal bargaining b. distributive bargaining c. attitudinal structuring d. distributive structuring

66. Union and management negotiators MOST OFTEN develop ________ relationships with one another and try to cooperate to avoid stalemate.

a. short-term b. one-sided c. adversarial d. long-term

67. Real communication occurs when ________.

a. the sender gives feedback to the receiver b. the sender and the receiver agree with each other c. the sender and receiver reach a common understanding d. information is being transmitted

68. Good communication serves all of the following functions in an organization EXCEPT ________.

a. providing knowledge b. motivating organizational members c. expressing feelings and emotions d. ensuring agreement between employees

69. Nell Bates has recently become the supervisor of the shipping department at Bates and Hitchcock Suppliers, Inc. In her first week on the job, she spent 10 minutes meeting with each employee to discuss the department’s objectives and the timeline for meeting these objectives. This scenario demonstrates that one function of communication is to ________.

a. share individual perspectives b. provide information c. control individual efforts d. express feelings and emotions

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Final Examination

BAM 515 Organizational Behavior

70. In persuasive communication, the sender’s task is to ________.

a. inform the receiver b. provide the reader with facts c. remain logical and objective d. influence the receiver’s response

71. Which of the following statements is TRUE?

a. Active listeners do not ask questions. b. Active listeners ignore nonverbal cues. c. Active listeners avoid interrupting the speaker. d. Active listeners overlook the “unsaid” things.

72. ________ MOST OFTEN offer the most facility for persuasive communication.

a. Websites b. Letters and memos c. E-mail messages d. Face-to-face conversations

73. During the holiday season, a clothing store always hires ten more employees due to the increase in business. How is this an example of programmed decision making?

a. Hiring more employees is a response to a novel opportunity. b. Hiring more employees is a response to a new threat. c. Hiring more employees is a response to a recurring threat. d. Hiring more employees is a response to a repeated opportunity.

74. Decision making in response to ________ occurs when members of an organization make choices or act in ways that result in benefits or gains.

a. problems b. opportunities c. contingencies d. consequences

75. Mike Barry, editor of the Carole Creek Times, has to decide which one of two reporters he will fire because the newspaper is losing money. Mike has to make this decision MOST LIKELY because of a(n) ________.

a. opportunity b. performance program c. problem

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Final Examination

BAM 515 Organizational Behavior

d. bounded rationality 76. In order to help each employee to develop a sense of ________, organizations should empower individuals to experiment, create, and explore what they want.

a. self b. wonder c. personal identity d. personal mastery

77. The owner of a local ice cream shop, which makes homemade ice cream, recently bought a very expensive industrial-sized mixer so that the shop could make bigger batches of ice cream at once. At first he thought the mixer would allow him to speed up the ice cream making process, but now he is having doubts about whether the cost of the mixer is worth the time saved. The owner is experiencing ________.

a. buyer’s remorse b. decision paralysis c. seller’s conundrum d. thoughtful disengagement

78. According to Senge, ________ involves creating an ongoing frame of reference that all the organization’s members use to frame problems or opportunities and that binds them to an organization.

a. developing systems thinking b. building a shared vision c. using complex mental models d. practicing personal mastery

79. Organizational ________ is the process of making the specific choices about how to arrange the tasks and job relationships that comprise the organizational structure.

a. formulation b. design c. culture d. enhancement

80. A business owner accepts the importance of the ________ theory. Consequently he has structured his company to fit the factors that affect it the most in an effort to eliminate as much uncertainty as possible.

a. contingency b. best-fit c. profit d. standardized

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Final Examination

BAM 515 Organizational Behavior

81. Technology refers to the ________.

a. system of interrelated jobs that motivate workers to contribute their skills and knowledge toward the achievement of organizational goals b. combination of skills, knowledge, tools, machines, computers, and equipment used in the design, production, and distribution of goods and services c. attitudes, values, and norms that allow organizational members to best manage specific environmental forces d. adjustments that occur between functions in a differentiated organization

82. ________ is the use of rules and SOPs to control an organization’s activities.

a. Visualization b. Formalization c. Standardization d. Conceptualization

83. The effects of IT can be seen ________ companies.

a. inside b. between c. both inside and between d. neither inside nor between

84. The sales and production departments within the television company, Omega, need to communicate with one another or the company will not produce enough televisions to fulfill its sales needs. The problem is that these two departments report to different directors. There is poor communication between these two departments. It would be BEST for the company to work on ________ in order to produce enough televisions.

a. flattening its structure b. decentralizing authority c. role enlargement d. mutual adjustment

85. Which of the following is NOT a component of organizational culture?

a. values b. beliefs c. norms d. technology

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Final Examination

BAM 515 Organizational Behavior

86. A(n) ________ value is a desired mode or type of behavior.

a. terminal b. corporate c. instrumental d. organizational

87. A company manufactures parts for military aircrafts. The process requires accuracy and precision, and each job must be done in a certain way to ensure high quality. An instrumental value of this company would MOST LIKELY be ________.

a. creativity b. excellence c. attention to detail d. risk taking

88. Many large companies attempt to develop a cohesive set of values and norms throughout their organization by ________

a. developing comprehensive, rigid human resource policies b. terminating those who do not adopt the company values c. transferring their top managers to their global divisions d. establishing different national subcultures within the organization

89. Ethical values and rules do all of the following EXCEPT ________.

a. reduce the need for people to always evaluate what is right or wrong b. minimize the organization’s chances of hiring the best job applicants c. control self-interested behavior that might threaten the collective interests of an organization d. establish desired end states and the modes of behavior needed to achieve them

90. ________ have the ultimate responsibility for ensuring an organization behaves ethically.

a. Stakeholder groups b. Top managers c. All employees d. Government agencies

91. ________ occurs when an employee informs an outside person or organization about his or her organization’s illegal or unethical behaviors.

a. Insider trading b. Whistle-blowing c. Preemptive disclosure d. Institutional sabotage

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Final Examination

BAM 515 Organizational Behavior

92. A centralized organization places a high value on profitability. Whenever an employee makes a move that costs the organization money, they are terminated. The BEST action for the company to take in order to encourage ethical behavior is to ________.

a. enact new termination policies giving workers more protection b. increase severity of punishments for whistleblowers c. eliminate punishments and only use rewards for desired behaviors d. change from an organic structure to a mechanistic structure

93. Organizational ________ is the movement of an organization away from its present state and toward some desired future state to increase its effectiveness.

a. progress b. change c. development d. momentum

94. The owner of a small greeting card company does not want to challenge her staff to look at the production of greeting cards or the greeting card market in new ways. The owner has worked with her staff since the company began twenty yeas ago. Which of the forces of change is the owner NOT willing to adjust?

a. social b. ethical c. competitive d. economic

95. All of the following are group impediments to change EXCEPT ________.

a. group norms b. group cohesiveness c. groupthink d. group habit

96. A company’s ability to innovate and competently use its technological advantage is dependent upon its ________.

a. production process b. customers c. employees d. mission

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Final Examination

BAM 515 Organizational Behavior

97. Which of the following is not an OD technique that can be used to manage change within a group or between groups?

a. team building b. process consultation c. intergroup training d. organizational mirroring

98. An organization went through a huge restructuring, and there were massive layoffs. Employees that were not laid off are working with employees they have never met before. At this time, the BEST technique for the organization to use in order to improve worker interactions is ________.

a. team building b. reengineering c. process consultation d. mirroring

99. The sales division has been having difficulty working with the accounting staff. The accounting staff views the sales staff as arrogant and bossy. The sales staff views the accounting staff as stingy and unfriendly. The BEST technique for the organization to use in order to help the work interactions of these two groups is ________.

a. organizational mirroring b. process consultation c. avoidance between functions d. organization confrontation

100. ________ is an OD technique designed to improve the effectiveness of interdependent groups.

a. Team building b. Intergroup training c. Organizational mirroring d. Sensitivity training