Ch. 1 What Is Organizational Behavior – Flashcards
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With reference to a basic OB model, ______ are determined in advance of the employment relationship, and refer to variables such as personality, group structure, and organizational culture that lead to processes.
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Inputs
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A survey of over 2,100 CFOs across 20 industries indicated that a lack of interpersonal skills is the top reason why some employees fail to advance.
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TRUE
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Discuss the growing importance of interpersonal skills in the workplace.
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Until the late 1980s, business school curricula emphasized the technical aspects of management, focusing on economics, accounting, finance, and quantitative techniques. Course work in human behavior and people skills received relatively less attention. Over the past three decades, however, business faculty have come to realize the role that understanding human behavior plays in determining a manager's effectiveness and required courses on people skills have been added to many curricula. Developing managers' interpersonal skills also helps organizations attract and keep high-performing employees. Regardless of labor market conditions, outstanding employees are always in short supply. Having managers with good interpersonal skills is likely to make the workplace more pleasant, which in turn makes it easier to hire and keep qualified people. Creating a pleasant workplace also appears to make good economic sense.
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________ get things done through other people. They make decisions, allocate resources, and direct the activities of others to attain goals.
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Managers
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Sally Mitchell works as a manager at an environmental organization. She is currently working on a global warming project and decides which tasks related to creating awareness about the issue need to be done. In addition, she is also deciding which members of her team will work on engaging with the public and which will work on lobbying with the government. She is also assigning people as team members to ensure that tasks are undertaken on time. Which of the following categories of functions is Mitchell undertaking?
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organizing
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Johanna Reid, a campaign manager at a child rights organization, recently started working on an illiteracy project. During the project, she needs to motivate team members to attain their project milestones and direct them through different phases of the project. Which of the following kinds of functions will these tasks be covered under?
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leading
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Lesley Torres is a project manager for the campaign "Action against Deforestation in Indonesia." She recently faced a glitch when the campaign could not be launched publicly according to schedule. Torres monitored the schedule to find the cause of the delay before speeding up the implementation process by allocating more members for the implementation phase. By doing this, which of the following functions is she performing?
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controlling
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Which of the following functions do managers undertake as part of planning functions?
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defining an organization's goals
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According to Henry Mintzberg, a factory supervisor giving a group of high school students a tour of the plant may be termed as a ________.
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figurehead
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Ellen Ortiz works as a sales manager at a telecom firm. The company has recently launched a new product in the market. Her work in the next few weeks involves sharing knowledge about the product with her team members. She will also need to inspire them to reach their sales targets and clarify any doubts about the new product. Which of the following roles is Ortiz playing?
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leader
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Regina George works as a campaign manager in a not-for-profit organization in Hampshire. For the upcoming campaign against genetic engineering, she is networking with managers who are working on the issue of food safety. Through her network of contacts, she strives to gain information about the stakeholders in the food industry and other lobby groups. Which of the following roles is George most likely to be playing according to Mintzberg's classification of managerial roles?
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liaison
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Annette Simpson works for a fashion house in Paris and is preparing for the company's upcoming line of winter clothing. She is currently researching online to know what is in vogue this season. In addition, she is also networking with contacts from the press and fashion magazine editors to understand the changing tastes of consumers. Which of the following roles is Simpson playing according to Mintzberg's classification of managerial roles?
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monitor
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According to Mintzberg's classification of managerial roles, the role of a(n) ________ is to transmit information received from outsiders or from other employees to members of the organization.
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disseminator
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The role of a(n) ________, according to Mintzberg's classification of managerial roles, is to transmit information to outsiders about an organization's plans, policies, actions, and results and to serve as an expert in the organization's industry.
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spokesperson
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According to Mintzberg's classification of managerial roles, a(n) ________ searches the organization and its environment for opportunities and initiates projects to bring about change.
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entrepreneur
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According to Mintzberg's classification of managerial roles, the role of a(n) ________ is to make or approve significant organizational decisions and assign human, physical, and monetary assets.
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resource allocator
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According to Mintzberg's classification of managerial roles, which of the following is a kind of interpersonal role?
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liaison
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According to Mintzberg's classification of managerial roles, which of the following is a kind of decisional role?
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negotiator
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The role of a(n) ________ is a type of informational role according to Mintzberg's classification of managerial roles.
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disseminator
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Which of the following is true regarding technical skills?
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They encompass the ability to apply specialized knowledge.
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The ability to understand, communicate with, motivate, and support other people, both individually and in groups, may be defined as ________.
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human skills
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Melissa Woods was recently hired as the campaign manager at an environmental organization. She has a degree in environmental sustainability and possesses substantial knowledge about the issue of global warming. She has the knowledge to lead the public relations team of the organization. However, a few months later, the board of directors of the organization expressed dissatisfaction with Melissa's performance and asked her to resign. Which of the following, if true, best explains this situation?
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Melissa had weak interpersonal and networking skills to run the project.
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Joann Hayes is currently working on a project to tackle climate change. During the project, she needs to find different options to replace the use of non-renewable energy and check the feasibility of different renewable energy options before choosing the most practical one. Which of the following skills does Hayes primarily need to use for these tasks?
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conceptual skills
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360.org, an organization working toward curbing climate change, recently conducted an interview with Jessica for the position of a public relations officer. However, interviewers Brenda and Laura are divided over whether Jessica should be given the job. Brenda believes that Jessica does not have in-depth knowledge about the issue of global warming and its impact. On the other hand, Laura feels that Jessica would be perfect for the job because she has strong networking and interpersonal skills. Which of the following, if true, would strengthen Laura's argument?
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Gaining the support of corporate giants would comprise a large part of the job.
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360.org, an organization working toward curbing climate change, recently conducted an interview with Jessica for the position of a public relations officer. However, interviewers Brenda and Laura are divided over whether Jessica should be given the job. Brenda believes that Jessica does not have in-depth knowledge about the issue of global warming and its impact. On the other hand, Laura feels that Jessica would be perfect for the job because she has strong interpersonal skills. Which of the following, if true, would weaken Laura's argument?
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Jessica was unable to communicate clearly why she was right for the job.
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According to Fred Luthans and his associates, managers involved in traditional management activities undertook which of the following tasks?
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decision making
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According to Fred Luthans and his associates' study of 450 managers, ________ made the largest contribution to the success of managers in terms of speed of promotion within their organization.
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networking
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According to Fred Luthans and his associates, managers who are involved in networking activities are most likely to undertake which of the following?
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politicking
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Which of the following best defines organizational behavior?
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It involves the study of what people do in a company and how it affects the company's output.
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An organization is a consciously coordinated social unit composed of two or more people.
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TRUE
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The planning function involves defining an organization's goals and establishing an overall strategy for achieving those goals.
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TRUE
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A degree in architecture will provide a student with the human skills required for a job.
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FALSE
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How are the management functions of planning, organizing, and leading different from one another? Explain.
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The planning function encompasses defining an organization's goals, establishing an overall strategy for achieving those goals, and developing a comprehensive set of plans to integrate and coordinate activities. On the other hand, the organizing function includes determining what tasks are to be done, who is to do them, how the tasks are to be grouped, who reports to whom, and where decisions are to be made. The leading function is comprised of managers motivating employees, directing their activities, selecting the most effective communication channels, and resolving conflicts among members.
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Samantha Reeves works as a sales manager at Synergy Bank. Explain the nature of tasks she would be performing according to Mintzberg's concept of leadership role.
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The leadership role comprises hiring, training, motivating, and disciplining employees. If Reeves undertakes the leadership role, she would be hiring sales executives and other team members. She would also be training them on product knowledge and motivating them to reach their sales targets. In addition, she would be disciplining employees to follow rules and regulations and the code of conduct of the organization.
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According to Mintzberg, how does the monitor role differ from the disseminator role?
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The monitor role involves collecting information from external organizations and institutions, typically by scanning the news media including the Internet, and talking with other people to learn of changes in the public's tastes, what competitors may be planning, and so forth. On the other hand, the disseminator role comprises transmitting information received from outsiders or from other employees to members of the organization.
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How do Mintzberg's roles of a liaison, spokesperson, and entrepreneur differ from one another? Explain.
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According to Mintzberg's managerial roles, a person with the role of a liaison has an interpersonal role. The role involves maintaining a network of outside contacts who provide favors and information. The role of a spokesperson, on the other hand, is an informational role. It involves transmitting information to outsiders on organization plans, policies, actions, and results. This person serves as an expert on the organization's industry. In contrast, the role of an entrepreneur is a decisional role. It deals with searching organizations and its environment for opportunities and initiating projects to bring about change.
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What are conceptual skills? How are they different from human skills?
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Conceptual skills comprise the mental ability to analyze and diagnose complex situations. The abilities to integrate new ideas with existing processes and innovate on the job are crucial conceptual skills for today's managers. On the other hand, the ability to understand, communicate with, motivate, and support other people, both individually and in groups, defines human skills. For instance, many people are technically proficient, but they are poor listeners. They are unable to understand the needs of others or are weak at managing conflicts. Managers should have good human skills because they need to get tasks done by people.
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What is organizational behavior?
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Organizational behavior is the study of what people do in an organization and how their behavior affects the organization's performance. It studies three determinants of behavior in organizations: individuals, groups, and structure. In addition, OB applies the knowledge gained about individuals, groups, and the effect of structure on behavior in order to make organizations work more effectively. It is concerned specifically with employment-related situations and thus emphasizes behavior as related to concerns such as jobs, work, absenteeism, employee turnover, productivity, human performance, and management.
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Which of the following does systematic study use to look at relationships to attribute causes and effects?
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scientific data
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Which of the following is true regarding systematic study?
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It involves analyzing relationships based on scientific data.
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In order to predict human behavior, it is best to supplement intuitive opinions with information derived from ________.
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systematic study
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Analyzing relationships, determining causes and effects, and basing conclusions on scientific evidence, all constitute aspects of ________ study.
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systematic
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________ refers to basing managerial decisions on the best available scientific proof.
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Evidence-based management
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________ refers to a gut feeling not necessarily supported by research.
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Intuition
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Organizational behavior applies the knowledge gained about individuals, groups, and the effect of structure on behavior in order to make organizations work more effectively.
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TRUE
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Evidence-based management complements systematic study by basing managerial decisions on the best available scientific evidence.
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TRUE
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Why is it important to complement intuition with systematic study in our attempts to understand behavior within organizations?
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It is important to complement intuition with systematic study to understand behavior within organizations in order to make accurate predictions of behavior. Underlying this systematic approach is the belief that behavior is not random. Rather, one can identify fundamental consistencies underlying the behavior of all individuals and modify them to reflect individual differences. The systematic study of behavior is a means to making reasonably accurate predictions. Systematic study involves looking at relationships, attempting to attribute causes and effects, and basing our conclusions on scientific evidence, that is, on data gathered under controlled conditions and measured and interpreted in a reasonably rigorous manner.
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What is evidence-based management (EBM)?
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Evidence-based management (EBM) complements systematic study by basing managerial decisions on the best available scientific evidence. For example, we want doctors to make decisions about patient care based on the latest available evidence, and EBM argues that managers should do the same, becoming more scientific in how they think about management problems. A manager might pose a managerial question, search for the best available evidence, and apply the relevant information to the question or case at hand.
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________ seeks to measure, explain, and sometimes change the behavior of humans and other animals.
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Psychology
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Which of the following disciplines blends concepts from both psychology and sociology to focus on people's influence on one another?
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social psychology
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Which of the following is a difference between sociology and psychology?
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Sociology studies people in relation to their social culture whereas psychology focuses on the individual.
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________ is the study of societies to learn about human beings and their activities.
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Anthropology
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Which of the following fields of study is most likely to involve studying organizational culture, formal organization theory, and structure?
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sociology
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Austin Reed is a graduate student helping to organize a study on individual job satisfaction. The study focuses on the top five causes of satisfaction or dissatisfaction on the job. His department is surveying 200 individuals in 100 different types of organizations. Austin is most likely a graduate student in the department of ________.
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psychology
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You are bringing together faculty from different behavioral disciplines to author a new textbook in organizational behavior. Represented are professors from psychology, sociology, social psychology, anthropology, political science, and industrial engineering. Which faculty member is most likely to furnish information about personality, learning, and motivation?
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psychology
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Myriam is analyzing the gender roles of men and women in management in the United States and comparing them to the gender roles in management in Japan. She is surveying fifty male and fifty female managers in each country to compare their daily behavior. Myriam's study exemplifies how ________ contributes to OB.
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anthropology
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One major study area of social psychology is change, how to implement it, and how to reduce barriers to its acceptance.
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TRUE
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While sociology focuses on the individual, psychology studies people in relation to their social environment or culture.
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FALSE
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Psychology seeks to measure, explain, and sometimes change the behavior of humans and other animals.
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TRUE
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Entomology is the study of societies to learn about human beings and their activities.
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FALSE
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How have the fields of psychology and sociology contributed to our understanding of organizational behavior?
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Psychology seeks to measure, explain, and change the behavior of humans. Early industrial/organizational psychologists studied the problems of fatigue, boredom, and other working conditions that could impede efficient work performance. More recently, their contributions have expanded to include learning, perception, personality, emotions, training, leadership effectiveness, needs and motivational forces, job satisfaction, decision-making processes, performance appraisals, attitude measurement, employee-selection techniques, work design, and job stress. Sociology studies people in relation to their social environment or culture. The greatest contributions by sociologists have been in the study of group behavior in organizations, organizational culture, formal organization theory and structure, organizational technology, communications, power, and conflict.
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Compare and contrast the fields of psychology, social psychology, and sociology.
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All three fields deal with human behavior. While psychology focuses on the individual, sociology studies people in relation to their social environment or culture. Social psychology blends concepts from both psychology and sociology, though it is generally considered a branch of psychology. It focuses on people's influence on one another. Thus, it could be said that social psychology falls between the extremes of the individual focus of psychology and the large group focus of sociology.
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Which of the following is true regarding contingency variables?
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They refer to situational factors that moderate the relationship between two or more variables.
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Raymond Mayer is conducting a study on discrimination against campaign activists based on gender. In his study, he noted that male executives who visited Indonesian villages to promote the use of renewable energy received a highly positive response. In contrast, women who visited the same villages received an antagonistic response. However, Mayer stated that his findings only applied to villages. In this study, the presence of a village is considered a ________ variable.
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contingency
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________ variables are variables that moderate the relationship between two or more variables.
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Contingency
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Human beings are simple in nature and, thus, simple, universal principles explain all kinds of organizational behavior.
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FALSE
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Organizational behavior cannot offer reasonably accurate explanations of human behavior or make valid predictions.
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FALSE
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Why do only a few absolutes apply to organizational behavior?
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Human beings are complex, and few, if any, simple and universal principles explain organizational behavior. Since we are not alike, our ability to make simple, accurate, and sweeping generalizations is limited. For instance, two people often act very differently in the same situation, and the same person's behavior changes in different situations. Not everyone is motivated by money, and people may behave differently at a religious service than they do at a party. That does not mean, of course, that we cannot offer reasonably accurate explanations of human behavior or make valid predictions. It does mean that OB concepts must reflect situational, or contingency, conditions.
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Which of the following is a result of globalization?
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jobs moving to nations with low-cost labor
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Managers who oversee the movement of jobs to countries with low-cost labor are most likely to ________.
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face opposition from labor groups
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The bookselling industry was revolutionized by ________.
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the availability of Big Data
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Gould Furniture is one of the leading furniture companies in Indonesia. In the past, the company had a homogeneous workforce of Indonesian employees. The company is desperate to cut operating and manufacturing costs and, hence, is considering outsourcing part of the manufacturing process to low-cost Vietnam. However, local community leaders across the country are strongly opposing this decision. They believe that exporting jobs to other countries is detrimental to their country in every way possible. Which of the following, if true, is the flaw in the local community leaders' opinion?
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The furniture market contributes to 20 percent of deforestation in the country.
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________ refers to the heterogeneity of organizations in terms of gender, age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and inclusion of other diverse groups.
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Workforce diversity
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By 2020, the 55-and-older age group of the U.S. labor force will represent approximately ________ of the total labor force.
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one-quarter
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A common characteristic of service jobs is that they ________.
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need substantial interaction with an organization's customers
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Which of the following is an example of a position in a service job?
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flight attendant
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Which of the following is not a reality for today's workforce?
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Issues related to well-being have dropped as the number of employees who work at home rises. Employees have fewer outside commitments.
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Recent studies show ________.
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attaining a balance between personal life and work is a primary career goal
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Which of the following terms best describes organizations that allow people to communicate and work together even though they may be thousands of miles apart?
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networked organizations
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Which of the following is the major challenge for managers in a fully networked organization?
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managing people who work together but are geographically separated
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Christopher Richardson works as a graphic designer in Sydney. He often coordinates with colleagues working in Germany. In addition, he interacts with clients across the globe. Which of the following is most likely to facilitate his communications with clients and colleagues?
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networked organization
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Which of the following is a cause of work-life conflicts?
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global organizations
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Which of the following is true regarding positive organizational scholarship?
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It studies how organizations develop human strengths, foster vitality, and unlock potential.
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________ is a key independent variable in positive organizational behavior research.
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Engagement
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The concept of "reflected best-self" involves ________.
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asking employees to think about when they were at their personal best in order to exploit their strengths
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Which of the following is an example of an ethical dilemma?
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Should I play politics to advance my career?
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The Royal Bank of Canada story highlights several issues of interest to those seeking to understand organizational behavior, including motivation, ethics, emotions, personality, and culture.
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TRUE
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Managers at global companies have realized that economic values are generally transferable across national boundaries.
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FALSE
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Workforce diversity refers to how organizations are becoming more homogeneous in terms of gender, race, and ethnicity.
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FALSE
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The job of a guest relations executive at a hotel is a kind of service job.
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TRUE
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Evidence that an organization is able to exist and grow over the long term is called organizational survival.
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TRUE
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A way for managers to respond to the problem of unethical behavior is to provide in-house advisors who can be contacted anonymously.
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TRUE
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Explain workforce diversity and the key managerial skills for dealing with workforce diversity. What are two trends in workforce demographics?
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The workforce has always adapted to variations in economies, longevity and birth rates, and socioeconomic conditions. Longevity and birth rates have also changed the dynamics in organizations; global longevity rates have increased six years in a very short time (since 1990), while birth rates are decreasing for many developed countries, trends that together indicate a lasting shift toward an older workforce. Socioeconomic shifts have a profound effect on workforce demographics. The days when women stayed home because it was expected are just a memory in some cultures, while in others, women face significant barriers to entry into the workforce.
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Explain the meaning of Big Data and discuss how its increased availability has led to new privacy concerns.
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As technological capabilities for handling Big Data have increased, so have issues of privacy. This is particularly true when data collection includes surveillance instruments. For instance, an experiment in Brooklyn, New York, has been designed to improve the quality of life for residents, but the researchers will collect intensive data from infrared cameras, sensors, and smartphone Wi-Fi signals.
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Using the concept of organizational survival, how would you define what makes an organization successful? Why is organizational survival important to defining organizational success?
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Organizational survival refers to evidence that an organization is able to exist and grow over the long term. The survival of an organization depends not just on how productive the organization is, but also on how well it fits with its environment. A company that is very productively making goods and services of little value to the market is unlikely to survive for long, so survival factors in things like perceiving the market successfully, making good decisions about how and when to pursue opportunities, and engaging in successful change management to adapt to new business.
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A(n) ________ is an abstraction of reality, a simplified representation of some real-world phenomenon.
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model
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Which of the following is true regarding models?
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Models show that outcomes can influence inputs in the future.
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With reference to a basic OB model, ________ are determined in advance of the employment relationship and refer to variables such as personality, group structure, and organizational culture that lead to processes.
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inputs
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Which of the following is an example of an input at an individual level?
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values
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An example of an input at an organizational level is ________.
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structure
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Which of the following is one of the three variables proposed by a basic OB model which refers to actions that individuals, groups, and organizations engage in as a result of inputs?
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processes
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Which of the following is an example of a process at an individual level?
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decision making
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An example of a process at a group level is ________.
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communication
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Which of the following is an example of a process at the organizational level?
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change of practices
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________ is an example of an outcome at the organizational level.
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Profitability
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Which of the following is an example of an outcome at an individual level?
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attitude
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The discretionary behavior that is not part of an employee's formal job requirements and that contributes to the psychological and social environment of the workplace is called ________ behavior.
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citizenship
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Group ________ is the extent to which members of a group support and validate one another at work.
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cohesion
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The discretionary behavior that is not part of an employee's formal job requirements and that contributes to the psychological and social environment of the workplace is called cohesive behavior.
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FALSE
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110) Group functioning refers to the quantity and quality of a group's work output.
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TRUE
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What is withdrawal behavior? Explain.
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Withdrawal behavior is the set of actions that employees take to separate themselves from the organization. There are many forms of withdrawal, ranging from showing up late or failing to attend meetings to absenteeism and turnover. Employee withdrawal can have a very negative effect on an organization. The cost of employee turnover alone has been estimated to run into the thousands of dollars, even for entry-level positions. Absenteeism also costs organizations significant amounts of money and time every year. Withdrawal behavior may result in the workflow being disrupted and important decisions being delayed. In today's changing world of work, reasonable levels of employee-initiated turnover improve organizational flexibility and employee independence, and they can lessen the need for management-initiated layoffs.
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What is citizenship behavior?
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The discretionary behavior that is not part of an employee's formal job requirements and that contributes to the psychological and social environment of the workplace is called citizenship behavior. Successful organizations need employees who will do more than their usual job duties—who will provide performance beyond expectations. In today's dynamic workplace, where tasks are increasingly performed by teams and flexibility is critical, employees who engage in "good citizenship" behaviors help others on their team, volunteer for extra work, avoid unnecessary conflicts, respect the spirit as well as the letter of rules and regulations, and gracefully tolerate occasional work-related impositions and nuisances.
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What is group cohesion?
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Group cohesion is the extent to which members of a group support and validate one another at work. In other words, a cohesive group is one that sticks together. When employees trust one another, seek common goals, and work together to achieve these common ends, the group is cohesive; when employees are divided among themselves in terms of what they want to achieve and have little loyalty to one another, the group is not cohesive.
