MGT/311 Final Examination Study Guide

This study guide will prepare you for the Final Examination you will complete in the final week. It contains practice questions, which are related to each week’s objectives. In addition, refer to each week’s readings and your student guide as study references for the Final Examination.

Week One: Individual Employee Characteristics

Objective: Evaluate individual characteristics of employees.

1. Jan is a security officer. Jan believes that it is important to know exactly who is in the office at any given time. She notices that some employees do not sign out of the office when they take lunch, which makes it impossible to keep track of who is actually in the office. Jan becomes frustrated with those employees. She makes note of them and reports them to their supervisors.

In the above scenario, what is the behavioral component of Jan's attitude to the employees who did not sign out of the office?

a. FORMCHECKBOX Jan does not like that some employees do not sign out of the office when they take lunch.

b. FORMCHECKBOX Jan finds it impossible to keep track of who is actually in the office.

c. FORMCHECKBOX Jan becomes frustrated with those employees who do not sign out of the office.

d. FORMCHECKBOX Jan notes which employees leave the office without signing out, and reports them to their supervisors.

2. Joseph was very excited about moving into his new office with a window, after 4 years of working in a cubicle. However, after moving in, he found that nothing had really changed. His level of work satisfaction remained the same. Which of the following explains what happened to Joseph?

a. FORMCHECKBOX People tend to overestimate the pleasure they will receive from a future positive event.

b. FORMCHECKBOX People tend to overestimate the sadness they will feel when experiencing a future negative event.

c. FORMCHECKBOX People experience both positive and negative emotions differently.

d. FORMCHECKBOX People tend to do a good job of predicting how they are going to feel when something happens.

3. Marina loves to visit a new country every year. Her hobbies are visiting museums, painting, traveling, and learning new languages. Which dimension of the Big Five model best describes Marina, according to her hobbies?

a. FORMCHECKBOX Agreeableness

b. FORMCHECKBOX Conscientiousness

c. FORMCHECKBOX Openness to experience

d. FORMCHECKBOX Emotional stability

Objective: Analyze the impact of individual employee characteristics on organizational performance.

4. Carlos is upset because his boss gave him work to finish over the weekend. It is Friday. Which of the following will LEAST help Carlos lift his spirits?

a. FORMCHECKBOX Attending his Friday night soccer match

b. FORMCHECKBOX Playing video games with his friends

c. FORMCHECKBOX Going out to dinner with his friends

d. FORMCHECKBOX Going to the party at his girlfriend's house

5. Julie smiles and acts politely toward a customer at her checkout, even though she really deeply dislikes this customer. What is the term used to explain the disparity between the emotion Julie displays and the emotions she is actually experiencing?

a. FORMCHECKBOX Emotional exposure

b. FORMCHECKBOX Felt emotions

c. FORMCHECKBOX Emotional dissonance

d. FORMCHECKBOX Emotional distance

6. Sharon is unhappy in her job for many reasons. Yesterday a customer asked her where the shampoo was located. Sharon listlessly replied, "I don't know." She then turned her back on the customer and continued stocking the shelf.

This is an example of how job satisfaction can affect

a. FORMCHECKBOX employee OCB

b. FORMCHECKBOX customer satisfaction

c. FORMCHECKBOX absenteeism

d. FORMCHECKBOX turnover

Objective: Determine management methods based on individual employee characteristics.

7. During an annual review, Mitchel made the following assertion: "When I look at myself and my performance I see that what I have achieved is outstanding and has, not surprisingly, won me the admiration and envy of most of my colleagues. I notice that everyone keeps talking about me; they are all just waiting to find out what triumph I will pull off next! In short, I don't just deserve a raise, but need one, since without me, let's face it, the place would simply fall apart." Which of the following is probably the best descriptor of Mitchel's personality?

a. FORMCHECKBOX Type A

b. FORMCHECKBOX External locus of control

c. FORMCHECKBOX Narcissistic

d. FORMCHECKBOX High Mach

8. Mrs. Jonas believes strongly that it is important that worker's rights be respected, and that one of the more important ways of doing this is to ensure that all workers be properly documented. She is supervising a contracting company that is building a new warehouse for her company. While doing this, she discovers that many of the workers employed by the contractor are undocumented aliens working for well below minimum wage.

Mrs. Jonas comes to you for an explanation of why she is so uncomfortable. You might refer her to the theories of

a. FORMCHECKBOX Hofstede

b. FORMCHECKBOX Maslow

c. FORMCHECKBOX Skinner

d. FORMCHECKBOX Festinger

Week Two: Motivation and Communication

Objective: Determine strategies to motivate employees.

9. According to the job characteristics model, which of the following results in the maximum internal rewards for an individual?

a. FORMCHECKBOX When they are given tangible rewards

b. FORMCHECKBOX When they learn that they personally have performed well on a task that they care about

c. FORMCHECKBOX When they initiate a program that enables them to work with a variety of like-minded colleagues

d. FORMCHECKBOX When their training is realized and their expectations are met

10. Aberdone Company has redesigned the jobs of the workers in accounts receivables. Instead of simply billing customers, they are now responsible for what used to be management tasks, such as for following up on nonpayment, determining when bills will be sent to a collection agency, and what accounts receivables can be written off as noncollectable. What term would best be used to describe how the company is enriching the job dimensions?

a. FORMCHECKBOX Task combination

b. FORMCHECKBOX Formation of natural work units

c. FORMCHECKBOX Establishing client relationships

d. FORMCHECKBOX Vertical job expansion

11. A firm introduces job enrichment in order to motivate its employees. Evidence would suggest that which of the following is the most likely result of this change?

a. FORMCHECKBOX reduced absenteeism and turnover costs

b. FORMCHECKBOX lower fixed costs

c. FORMCHECKBOX a drop in quality

d. FORMCHECKBOX a decrease in productivity

Objective: Create effective organizational communication.

12. Ana is trying to finish an account analysis for a client, but she is missing data. She e-mails Claire in database administration to launch a query and get back to her. Claire quickly sends Ana the data that she needs. This is an example of ________ communication.

a. FORMCHECKBOX motivation

b. FORMCHECKBOX control

c. FORMCHECKBOX information

d. FORMCHECKBOX emotion

13. Steven does not understand why Margarita is not talking to him. He merely sent her an e-mail outlining what needs to be done to fix her project proposal. Which of the following e-mail limitations has Steven failed to understand?

a. FORMCHECKBOX Misinterpreting messages

b. FORMCHECKBOX Privacy concerns

c. FORMCHECKBOX Communicating negative messages

d. FORMCHECKBOX Company confidentiality

14. Jessica needs to describe her vision for an important ad campaign to three of the new team members. What should Jessica do?

a. FORMCHECKBOX Send an e-mail.

b. FORMCHECKBOX Schedule a meeting.

c. FORMCHECKBOX Write a memo.

d. FORMCHECKBOX Publish a formal report.

Week Three: Groups and Teams

Objective: Determine strategies to develop effective groups and teams.

15. Jillian is project lead for a team that is writing, programming, testing, and performing quality assurance on a new Spanish language software program. Jillian is in Boston where the developing house is located. Her writers are in Spain. Her programmers are in India. Her testers are in Texas. And her quality assurance team is in Argentina. After given clear specifications, each team has authority to make the necessary decisions to complete their task, or send a task back to another part of the team. Which of the following best describes Jillian's team?

a. FORMCHECKBOX Cross-functional virtual

b. FORMCHECKBOX Self-managed face-to-face

c. FORMCHECKBOX Problem-solving virtual

d. FORMCHECKBOX Problem-solving face-to-face

16. In addition to evaluating and rewarding employees for their individual contributions, management should consider using which of the following to reinforce team effort and commitment?

a. FORMCHECKBOX Personalized incentives

b. FORMCHECKBOX Individual performance evaluations

c. FORMCHECKBOX Fixed hourly wages

d. FORMCHECKBOX Profit sharing

17. Upon adjournment of the team meeting, Lawrence immediately went to his work space and wrote an e-mail summarizing the new ideas and goals that the team has developed. He sent the e-mail to each team member, as well as to other teams that will eventually work on the material, and all related supervisors. At lunch in the cafeteria, Lawrence chatted with his friends about the meeting and responded to some of their concerns about the new ideas. Which team role best characterizes Lawrence?

a. FORMCHECKBOX Maintainer

b. FORMCHECKBOX Promoter

c. FORMCHECKBOX Controller

d. FORMCHECKBOX Creator

Objective: Determine strategies to resolve conflict within organizations.

18. Encouraging group leaders to maintain an ongoing minimum level of conflict is part of the ________ view of conflict.

a. FORMCHECKBOX functional

b. FORMCHECKBOX traditional

c. FORMCHECKBOX human relations

d. FORMCHECKBOX interactionists

19. The conflict-handling intention of collaborating is

a. FORMCHECKBOX assertive and uncooperative

b. FORMCHECKBOX assertive and cooperative

c. FORMCHECKBOX unassertive and uncooperative

d. FORMCHECKBOX unassertive and cooperative

20. Emma is the labor union negotiator. Today she is meeting with management to discuss the new 5-year contract, including wages and benefits. This example of labor-management negotiations over wages exemplifies which type of bargaining?

a. FORMCHECKBOX integrative

b. FORMCHECKBOX reflective

c. FORMCHECKBOX distributive

d. FORMCHECKBOX restrictive

Week Four: Organizational Structure, Culture, Power, and Politics

Objective: Analyze the influence of organizational structure on behavior.

21. A plant manager who organizes the plant by separating engineering, accounting, manufacturing, personnel, and purchasing into departments is practicing ________ departmentalization.

a. FORMCHECKBOX target customer

b. FORMCHECKBOX product

c. FORMCHECKBOX functional

d. FORMCHECKBOX geographic

22. The more that lower-level personnel provide input or are actually given the discretion to make decisions, the more ________ there is within an organization.

a. FORMCHECKBOX centralization

b. FORMCHECKBOX disempowerment

c. FORMCHECKBOX work specialization

d. FORMCHECKBOX decentralization

Objective: Analyze the influence of organizational culture on behavior.

23. The key characteristic of organizational culture that addresses the degree to which people are competitive rather than easygoing is termed

a. FORMCHECKBOX aggressiveness

b. FORMCHECKBOX assertiveness

c. FORMCHECKBOX aversiveness

d. FORMCHECKBOX risk taking

24. Jose is a manager for a manufacturing company in which managers are expected to fully document all decisions, and it is important to provide detailed data to support any recommendations. Which characteristic of organizational culture best describes this aspect of Jose's job?

a. FORMCHECKBOX Low team orientation

b. FORMCHECKBOX High aggressiveness

c. FORMCHECKBOX High stability

d. FORMCHECKBOX Low risk taking

Objective: Analyze the influence of power and politics on behavior.

25. Clifford has to work to support his family. He would like to go home before nine, but his boss says that he must stay and complete an assignment. Clifford is ________ his boss, who controls his job.

a. FORMCHECKBOX grateful to

b. FORMCHECKBOX more powerful than

c. FORMCHECKBOX dependent on

d. FORMCHECKBOX similar to

26. One reacts to ________ power out of fear of the negative ramifications that might result if one fails to comply.

a. FORMCHECKBOX legitimate

b. FORMCHECKBOX coercive

c. FORMCHECKBOX punitive

d. FORMCHECKBOX referent

Week Five: Managing Diversity and Change

Objective: Determine strategies to manage diversity.

27. Policies and practices to improve the climate for diversity can be effective as long as they are designed to

a. FORMCHECKBOX acknowledge all employees’ perspectives

b. FORMCHECKBOX be delivered in a single session

c. FORMCHECKBOX not involve reorganizing tasks within a group

d. FORMCHECKBOX not interfere with the organization’s competitive advantage

28. Ability directly influences an employee’s level of performance. To get high-performing employees, a manager can use an effective selection process to ensure a good fit between employees and job requirements, as well as ensure that promotion and transfer decisions affecting individuals reflect candidates’ abilities, and what else?

a. FORMCHECKBOX use face-to-face interviews as the primary method for final selection

b. FORMCHECKBOX emphasize biographical characteristics since they are good indications of ability

c. FORMCHECKBOX fine tune the job to better match the incumbent’s abilities

d. FORMCHECKBOX establish clear expectations up front to make sure the individual is maximizing his or her abilities to meet the expectation

Objective: Devise methods to manage organizational change.

29. A paper sales company designs and offers a new method of purchasing and shipping commercial quantities of paper through their Web site, versus contacting their sales representative. This is an example of

a. FORMCHECKBOX accidental change

b. FORMCHECKBOX a change agent

c. FORMCHECKBOX planned change

d. FORMCHECKBOX competition demands

30. Alex has a new idea for a way to cut costs in his department, but he is not willing to share his idea with his manager because the last department manager that tried new cost cutting methods was recently fired. Based on the example, how can Alex's company improve the culture to create innovation?

a. FORMCHECKBOX Flatten the management structure in the organization.

b. FORMCHECKBOX Reward both successes and failures organizationally.

c. FORMCHECKBOX Increase the resources in Alex’s department.

d. FORMCHECKBOX Encourage communication between various departments.

Answer Key

1. d

2. a

3. c

4. b

5. c

6. a

7. c

8. d

9. b

10. d

11. a

12. c

13. a

14. b

15. a

16. d

17. b

18. d

19. b

20. c

21. c

22. d

23. a

24. d

25. c

26. b

27. c

28. c

29. c

30. b