MNGT 470 - Final Exam (Ch. 8-15)

Each of the following is one of the phases of team development EXCEPT:

Practicing

Teams are used in organizations because, under the right conditions, they

- Make better decisions

- Develop better products and services

- Create a more engaged workforce

Manuel is putting together a project team for a new app his company is launching. He needs his team to be focused and disciplined to meet the strict delivery deadlines. In other words, Manuel needs everyone to "pull their weight". In order to minimize social loafing on his team, Manuel should:

- Select team-oriented individuals

- Specialize tasks

One of the disadvantages of using teams is called _____________________, which refers to the resources spent on team development and maintenance as opposed to task performance.

process losses

Brooks's law, which originated in software development but can be applied to many industries, states that adding more people to a late software project only makes it ________.

later

Effective communication in organizations depends on accurate encoding and decoding of information. Which of the following is NOT a recommended practice for improving the encoding and decoding process?

The receiver possesses de-encryption technology to decipher encoded messages.

Sophie is facing a novel, complex, and ambiguous situation at work. It is something she does not have experience dealing with, and she believes it is something she needs to work through with her supervisor. Based on the communication context, she needs to select a communication channel that offers sufficient "media richness". What would be the BEST channel for Sophie to choose?

Face-to-face meeting

Effective communication is vital to organizational functioning in which of the following ways?

- Improves coordination

- Promotes employee well-being

- Aids in decision making

(T/F)

The rise of digital communication (e.g. e-mail, text message) has enabled workplace communication to be much more efficient, without any associated limitations or downsides.

False

One should consider a number of factors in selecting an appropriate communication channel. One such factor is the extent to which the channel requires both sender and receiver to be actively involved in the conversation at the same time or at different times. This choice factor is known as ______________________.

synchronicity

Which of the following statement is NOT true of power?

Individuals who hold power always use it, and use it responsibly.

(T/F)

Power is not the act of changing someone's attitudes or behavior; it is merely the potential to do so.

True

__________________ is an influence tactic that involves actively shaping the perceptions and attitudes of others through self-presentation.

Impression management

___________________________ represent(s) the knowledge and other resources available to people or social units (teams, organizations) from a durable network that connects them to others.

Social capital

(T/F)

Conflict only has negative consequences for an organization and should be avoided at all costs.

False

Kate is a finalist for a position at a top accounting firm. She has been called in for a meeting with a hiring manager at the firm, and she is offered a position. Even though the salary offer is 15 percent below her desired target salary, she accepts the offer on the spot, without countering. Kate's interpersonal conflict-handling approach could best be characterized as:

Yielding

When resources may be expandable, both parties have trust and openness toward each other, and issues are complex, the preferred conflict-handling style would be:

Problem-solving

(T/F)

Avoiding conflict may be a good approach in situations in which emotions are too intense.

True

Which type of leadership is characterized by creating, communicating, and modeling a vision for the organization or work unit and inspiring employees to strive for that vision?

Transformational leadership

(T/F)

According to the managerial leadership perspective, people-oriented behaviors are the only appropriate behaviors for a leader.

False

According to the managerial leadership perspective, people-oriented behaviors are the only appropriate behaviors for a leader.

- Standardization

- Informal communication

- Formal heirarchy

(T/F)

Mechanistic organizational structures can be described as having a wide span of control, high decentralization, and low formalization.

False

(T/F)

Centralization can be thought of as "where" decisions are made in an organization (i.e. in a central hq or dispersed throughout the firm), whereas formalization can be thought of as "how" decisions are made (i.e. through formal rules, policies, and standard procedures, or via more informal means.)

True

(T/F)

The external environment is an important contingency that influences the effectiveness of organizational structures. In a dynamic environment, a mechanistic organizational structure would be preferred, because it is more efficient.

False

Which of the following represent potential contingencies in the relationship between culture strength and positive organizational outcomes?

- Cultural strength is moderate, such that it does not become "cult-like"

- The extent to which the culture is adaptive

- The extent to which cultural content fits the environment

Every organization has observable symbols and signs of the organization's culture. These are known as:

artifacts

When bringing new hires into an organization, the organization's leaders should think about its __________________________ process, by which individuals learn the values, expected behaviors, and social knowledge necessary to assume their roles in the organization.

organizational socialization

Taylor has just taken a job at ZaynCorp. He was told in his interview that the company values teamwork and collaboration. However, he has experienced a very competitive culture, in which sales reps are often pitted against each other. In weekly meetings, a top sales rep is honored, whereas the least successful rep is ridiculed. It may be said that ZaynCorp's _________________ values do not match its enacted values.

espoused

(T/F)

Generally speaking, employees tend to enthusiastically embrace organizational change efforts.

False

Which of the following statements best describes Lewin's Force Field Model of Organizational Change?

In order for change to happen, the forces driving change need to be stronger than the forces restraining change.

Teams

groups of two or more people who interact with and influence each other, are mutually accountable for achieving common goals associated with organizational objectives, and perceive themselves as a social entity within an organization

Process losses

resources (including time and energy) expended toward team development and maintenance rather than the task

Social loafing

some individuals are less motivated and perform worse when working on teams

Disadvantages of Teams

- process losses

- social loafing

Advantages of Teams

- Better at solving complex problems

- Members of teams are more motivated than individuals working alone

- More productive

Brooks's law:

the principle that adding more people to a late software project only makes it later

Minimize Social Loafing

- Form smaller teams

- Specialize tasks

- Measure individual performance

- Increase job enrichment

- Select motivated, team-oriented employees

organizational and team environment

represents all conditions beyond the team's boundaries that influence its effectiveness

Elements that support or inhibit a team's ability to function

- rewards

- communication

- organizational structure

- organizational leadership

- physical space

Task Characteristics

task complexity and task interdependence

Team Size

large enough to have necessary abilities to do the job; small enough to maintain efficient functioning

Team Composition

should be composed of diverse, quality, motivated, team-oriented individuals.

- The team should exhibit the five C's of effective team members.

Team Member Competencies

- Cooperating

- Coordinating

- Communicating

- Comforting

- Conflict Resolving

Team Processes

1. Team development

2. Team norms

3. Team cohesion

4. Team trust

Stages of Team Development

Forming

- Discover expectations, evaluate value of membership

Storming

- Interpersonal conflict, influence goals and means

Norming

- Establish roles, agree on objectives

Performing

- Efficient coordination, high cooperation and trust, resolve conflicts quickly

Team roles

set of behaviors that people are expected to perform because they hold certain positions in a team and organization

Team building

process that consists of formal activities intended to improve the development and functioning of a work team

- helps accelerate team development

Team norms

the informal rules and shared expectations that groups establish to refulate the behavior of their members

Team cohesion

he degree of attraction people feel toward the team and their motivation to remain members

Factors influencing team cohesion:

1. Member similarity

2. Team size

3. Member interaction

4. Somewhat difficult entry

5. Team success

6. External competition and challenges

Team trust

the positive expectations one person has toward another person in situations involving risk

Calculus-based trust

a logical calculation that other team members will act appropriately because they face sanctions if their actions violate reasonable expectations

Knowledge-based trust

the predictability of another team member's behavior

Identification-based trust

mutual understanding and an emotional bond among team members

Self-Directed Teams

cross-functional work groups that:

- organized around work processes

- complete an entire piece of work requiring several interdependent tasks

- have substantial autonomy over the execution of those tasks

Virtual (Remote) Teams

teams whose members operate across space, time, and organizational boundaries and are linked through information technologies to achieve organizational tasks

Communication

the process by which information is transmitted and understood between two or more people

Non-verbal communication

facial gestures, voice intonation, physical distance, and even silence

Emotional contagion

the nonconscious process of "catching" or sharing another person's emotions by mimicking that person's facial expressions and other nonverbal behavior

Information overload

a condition in which the volume of information received exceeds the person's capacity to process it

- Information overload can be minimized by increasing information processing capacity or by reducing information load

Reduce load by:

- Buffering

- Omitting

- Summarizing

Grapevine

an unstructured and informal communication network founded on social relationships rather than organizational charts or job descriptions

Drawbacks include:

- Distorts information, which can exacerbate anxiety

- Can create negative attitudes toward the organization when grapevine is faster than official communication

Power

the capacity of a person, team, or organization to influence others

Sources of Power

- Personal

- Positional

Positional Power

based on a person's position and rank in an organization

Personal Power

based on a person's individual characteristics

Sources of Position Power

1. Legitimate Power (formal authority)

2. Reward Power

3. Coercive Power

Legitimate power

granted to an individual by the organization

Reward power

type of power based on a person's authority to distribute rewards

Coercive power

type of position power based on a person's authority to administer punishments, either by withholding something that is desired or by giving out something that is not desired

Sources of Personal Power

1. Expert Power

2. Referent Power

Expert Power

type of personal power based on specialized knowledge not readily available to many people.

Referent Power

type of personal power gained when people are attracted to, or identify with, that person

Contingencies of Power

Sources of power only generate power under certain conditions:

- Substitutability

- Centrality

- Visibility

- Discretion

Centrality

the power holder's importance based on the degree and nature ofinterdependence with others

Substitutability

Power is strongest when the individual, work unit, or organization has a monopoly over a valued resource

Visibility

Having your talents and accomplishments on display to bosses, coworkers, and others helps you to accumulate power

Discretion

the latitude individuals have to exercise judgment - to make decisions without having to check with others

Social networks

social structures of individuals or social units (e.g. departments, organizations, neighborhoods) that are connected to each other through one or more forms of interdependence

Social capital

represents the knowledge and other resources available to people or social units (teams, organizations) from a durable network that connects them to others

nodes and ties

- nodes are individuals or organizations as described previously

- ties are the connections that bind nodes in social networks

Betweenness

how much you are located "between" others in the network

Degree centrality

the number and percentage of connections you have compared to others in the network

Closeness

higher closeness means shorter, more direct, and efficient paths of connections with others in the network

structural holes

an area between two or more dense social network areas that lacks network ties

Influence tactics

strategies we use to apply our power, i.e. to influence others. (If power represents our "potential energy", influence tactics turn power into "kinetic energy"

impression management

he practice of actively shaping the perceptions and attitudes others have of us through self-presentation and other means

Organizational politics

behaviors that others perceive as self-serving tactics at the expense of other people and possibly the organization

Conflict

the process in which one party perceives that its interests are being opposed or negatively affected by another party

Task conflict

a type of conflict in which people focus their discussion around the issue while showing respect for people who have other points of view

Relationship conflict

a type of conflict in which people focus on characteristics of other individuals, rather than on the issues, as the source of conflict

5 primary approaches to handling interpersonal conflict

1. Problem-solving (aka the "win-win orientation"

2. Forcing

3. Avoiding

4. Yielding

5. Compromising

Assertiveness

motivation to serve one's own interests

- Forcing

- Problem solving

Cooperativeness

motivation to satisfy other party's interests

- Avoiding

- Yielding

Interpersonal conflict-handling styles

1. Emphasize superordinate goals

2. Reduce differentiation

3. Improve communication and mutual understanding

4. Reduce interdependence

5. Increasing resources

6. Clarify rules and procedures

Negotiation

the process whereby two or more conflicting parties attempt to resolve their divergent goals by redefining the terms of their interdependence.

Distributive approaches

those that adopt a win-lose orientation, viewing negotiations as distributing resources from a fixed pie

Integrative approaches

adopt a win-win orientation, viewing negotiations as distributing resources that are expandable

Preparing to negotiate

- develop goals and understand needs

- know your BATNA and power

Negotiation Setting

- location

- physical setting

- audience characteristics

Leadership

process of influencing, motivating, and enabling others to contribute toward the effectiveness and success of the organizations of which they are members