Contemporary Organizational Behavior (elsbach)

Contemporary Organizational Behavior (Elsbach)

Topic Summary 9   Groups and Teams

1) Groups and teams differ primarily on which factor?

A) Shared responsibility for goals

B) Basic unit of coordinating work in organizations

C) Accomplish tasks that can't be effectively performed by an individual

D) Operate within organizations

Answer:  A

Explanation:  A) Shared responsibility for goals is one factor that teams have but groups don't.

AACSB:  Analytical thinking

LO:  9.1: Recognize the difference between a group and a team

Difficulty:  Easy

2) Which of the following statements about groups and teams is correct?

A) A team is always a group but a group isn't always a team

B) A group operates independently but a team almost always operates in the larger organizational context

C) A team will have an assigned leader but a group will have an emergent leader

D) A group's function is social while a team's function is work

Answer:  A

Explanation:  A) A team is always a group but a group isn't always a team.  The definition of a team can be viewed as a group plus additional factors such as shared goals and accountability.

AACSB:  Analytical thinking

LO:  9.1: Recognize the difference between a group and a team

Difficulty:  Hard

3) Which of the following is not a factor that relates to group effectiveness?

A) Purpose and type

B) Context and composition

C) Internal factors

D) Experience and leadership

Answer:  D

Explanation:  D) Three sets of factors relate to group effectiveness: purpose and type, context and composition, and internal factors.

AACSB:  Analytical thinking

LO:  9.2: Explain factors that lead to effective groups

Difficulty:  Medium

4) What are two external factors associated with success in groups?

A) Production and action

B) Coaching and support

C) Training and leadership

D) Effective communication and good interpersonal dynamics

Answer:  B

Explanation:  B) Coaching and support are two factors external to the group that is associated with success in groups.

AACSB:  Analytical thinking

LO:  9.2: Explain factors that lead to effective groups

Difficulty:  Medium

5) A demolition crew's job is to bring down old buildings.  The employees work together in a coordinated effort to clear the site of the building within the time specified in their contract.  This demolition crew is an example of what type of team?

A) Executive

B) Deconstruction

C) Project

D) Production

Answer:  C

Explanation:  C) This would be an example of a project team because their work has a specific time bound purpose which is to demolish a building within the contracted time period.

AACSB:  Analytical thinking

LO:  9.2: Explain factors that lead to effective groups

Difficulty:  Medium

6) Firefighters have to work together using their highly specialized skills to respond to each unique emergency situation effectively.  Firefighters are an example of what type of team?

A) Project

B) Action and performance

C) Short-term

D) Parallel

Answer:  B

Explanation:  B) Firefighters responding to an emergency are classified as an action and performance team.  Their job focuses on a single performance, the emergency situation at hand, and they work together using their skills to be able to respond to the task before them. The coordination required is immense and must be done very quickly.

AACSB:  Analytical thinking

LO:  9.2: Explain factors that lead to effective groups

Difficulty:  Medium

7) In what way are production teams and service teams similar?

A) They both focus on improving ongoing aspects of the business

B) They both focus on improving aspects of employee interactions

C) They both focus on meeting short-term goals of the business

D) The names can be used interchangeably

Answer:  A

Explanation:  A) Production teams focus on improving the production or operational performance via increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of ongoing operations.  Service teams focus on addressing the ongoing needs of customers.  The common element between service teams and production teams is that they address ongoing issues in the organization instead of short-term projects.

AACSB:  Analytical thinking

LO:  9.2: Explain factors that lead to effective groups

Difficulty:  Hard

8) What are the three major types of coaching?

A) Initial, ongoing, turnover

B) Process, behavioral, developmental

C) Storming, norming, performing

D) Positive, neutral, negative

Answer:  B

Explanation:  B) The three major types of coaching are process, behavioral, and developmental.

AACSB:  Analytical thinking

LO:  9.2: Explain factors that lead to effective groups

Difficulty:  Easy

9) What kind of group is composed of members who differ on gender, education level, functional specialty, and age?

A) Analogous

B) Heterogeneous

C) Homologous

D) Homogenous

Answer:  B

Explanation:  B) A group with members holding diverse key characteristics such as gender, education level, functional specialty, and age, is a heterogeneous group.

AACSB:  Analytical thinking

LO:  9.2: Explain factors that lead to effective groups

Difficulty:  Medium

10) Which of the following is not an organizational source of support for groups?

A) Diversity

B) Coaching

C) Rewards or recognition

D) Increasing autonomy

Answer:  A

Explanation:  A) Organizations can provide many sources of support for their groups such as coaching, designing rewards and recognition systems, and increasing their autonomy.

AACSB:  Analytical thinking

LO:  9.2: Explain factors that lead to effective groups

Difficulty:  Medium

11) The ability to function as a team member is a competency that is ________.

A) Innate

B) Natural

C) Learned

D) Emergent

Answer:  C

Explanation:  C) As with other skills and abilities, the ability to function effectively as a team member is a competency that is learned.

AACSB:  Analytical thinking

LO:  9.3: Describe group norms and their development including the 5-stage and the 2-stage model of development

Difficulty:  Medium

12) Individuals change their behavior to conform to group norms because norms serve an important ________ and ________ function.

A) Group; social

B) Psychological; social

C) Interactive; influential

D) Physiological; belonging

Answer:  B

Explanation:  B) Norms serve an important social and psychological function in many ways and this can influence the individual's behavior.

AACSB:  Analytical thinking

LO:  9.3: Describe group norms and their development including the 5-stage and the 2-stage model of development

Difficulty:  Hard

13) If a team lead wants their group members to share ideas more freely and share in a sense that their teammates will follow through with their commitments, which interpersonal or maintenance norm should they develop within the team?

A) Task

B) Accountability

C) Creativity

D) Trust

Answer:  D

Explanation:  D) Trust is an important interpersonal or maintenance norm that facilitates presenting new ideas and believing that teammates will fulfill their commitments.

AACSB:  Analytical thinking

LO:  9.3: Describe group norms and their development including the 5-stage and the 2-stage model of development

Difficulty:  Hard

14) According to Tuckman's model, what changes at each level of group development?

A) Feelings of interconnectedness

B) Group norms

C) Group satisfaction

D) Leader workload

Answer:  B

Explanation:  B) As groups progress through the levels of Tuckman's five-stage model, development involves a relatively predictable sequence of changes in group norms.

AACSB:  Analytical thinking