Questions

Questions:

1.

A software development team is debating how to implement a new feature. The discussion is intense but focused strictly on data and technical feasibility. What kind of conflict is this, and how should leadership respond?
A) Relationship conflict; leaders should mediate interpersonal issues
B) Functional conflict; leaders should encourage open dialogue
C) Dysfunctional conflict; leaders should impose top-down decisions
D) Task conflict; leaders should discourage debate to avoid delays

2.

A newly formed team struggles with task progress. Members aren’t aligned on expectations and often wait for someone else to take the lead. What two issues are most likely at play?
A) Relationship conflict and too much emotional intelligence
B) Low team cohesion and social loafing
C) Strong norms and high psychological safety
D) Shared leadership and excessive discretion

3.

A project lead balances team well-being with clear goal setting. She listens, motivates, and also sets firm deadlines. Her leadership style likely aligns with:
A) Directive leadership
B) People-oriented leadership
C) Transformational and task-oriented styles
D) Coercive leadership with referent power

4.

A charismatic leader inspires employees to follow her vision, but over time, they stop offering input and defer to her even when they disagree. What leadership risk is emerging?
A) Servant leadership conflict
B) Over-reliance on referent power
C) Breakdown of psychological safety
D) Underuse of reward power

5.

Two colleagues negotiate office space. One demands the larger office, unwilling to budge. The other offers shared-use solutions based on schedules. What best describes their negotiation styles?
A) Integrative vs. distributive
B) Coercive vs. reward
C) Smoothing vs. competing
D) Referent power vs. legitimate power

6.

A leader with low visibility but high discretion has trouble influencing decisions. What power contingency should she focus on enhancing?
A) Non-substitutability
B) Centrality
C) Visibility
D) Referent power

7.

In a cross-functional team, one member plays the role of harmonizer, ensuring conflicts are resolved and people feel heard. This is an example of:
A) Taskwork role
B) Leadership emergence
C) Teamwork role
D) Referent-based influence

8.

A company wants to prevent conflict between two departments. It gives each one separate budgets and goals. This is an example of:
A) Increasing dependence
B) Smoothing strategy
C) Conflict elimination through avoidance
D) Reducing interdependence

9.

An experienced employee gets frustrated when a manager outlines every step of her work. Based on path-goal theory, what’s the mismatch?
A) Directive leadership doesn’t match her skill level
B) She lacks motivation, so support is missing
C) She needs a more coercive leader
D) Participative leadership is overused

10.

A manager avoids making direct decisions, instead encouraging the team to collectively determine their goals. Which leadership style and potential risk is being shown?
A) Shared leadership; possible process losses
B) Authentic leadership; risk of conflict
C) Servant leadership; low employee trust
D) Task-oriented leadership; unclear communication

11.

An employee feels excluded from informal decision-making conversations that happen through social connections. Which form of power is she likely missing out on?
A) Expert
B) Reward
C) Network centrality
D) Discretion

12.

A manager avoids giving negative feedback and consistently downplays tensions. While conflict stays low, so does team performance. What’s the likely cost?
A) Too much task conflict
B) Breakdown in emotional intelligence
C) Avoidance of functional conflict
D) Overuse of rich communication channels

13.

A team receives confusing performance feedback because the evaluation system measures both individual and team outputs, but not clearly. What could improve this situation?
A) Add more non-verbal communication
B) Introduce emotional intelligence training
C) Redesign the hybrid performance system
D) Implement high-context communication

14.

A team with strong technical skills struggles because members hesitate to admit mistakes or ask for help. What concept is likely lacking?
A) Role clarity
B) Psychological safety
C) Directive leadership
D) Complementary mental models

15.

A leader encourages her team to try new methods and rewards innovation, even when early results are imperfect. Which leadership component does this reflect?
A) Path-goal clarifying
B) Encouraging experimentation (transformational)
C) Distributive conflict resolution
D) Servant leadership values

16.

In a negotiation, one party intentionally expresses frustration and switches moods rapidly. This tactic is designed to:
A) Create trust
B) Demonstrate emotional intelligence
C) Extract concessions through unpredictability
D) Reduce the opponent’s BATNA

17.

A manager is respected because they always explain the reasoning behind decisions and are consistent in values and actions. This is an example of:
A) Servant leadership
B) Authentic leadership
C) Task-oriented leadership
D) Legitimate power

18.

A team avoids conflicts by agreeing with dominant voices even when concerns exist. Performance suffers, but harmony is maintained. What is happening?
A) Functional conflict
B) Emotional contagion
C) Groupthink
D) Shared mental models

19.

A manager holds back resources from other departments unless they comply with her preferences. What source of power is being misused here?
A) Reward power
B) Coercive power
C) Expert power
D) Network centrality

20.

A team has one highly agreeable member who avoids giving honest feedback to keep peace. As a result, performance issues continue. What’s the problem?
A) High task orientation
B) Misapplied emotional intelligence
C) Smoothing strategy overuse
D) Weak team cohesion

21.

An intern is well-connected and often acts as the “go-to” person for finding information quickly. Despite low rank, their power comes from:
A) High discretion
B) Expert power
C) Strong network ties and betweenness
D) Reward power

22.

A manager delegates decision-making to the team but checks in frequently, offers guidance when needed, and aligns their work with larger goals. This is best described as:
A) Directive leadership
B) Participative leadership with supportive traits
C) Passive leadership
D) Task-oriented leadership with coercive reinforcement

23.

A remote team switches from daily emails to quick video huddles. They say this feels more collaborative and reduces miscommunication. What concept explains this change?
A) Media richness theory
B) Role ambiguity
C) Task-oriented leadership
D) Semantic filtering

24.

A manager uses a silent pause and a serious facial expression to influence a subordinate without saying a word. What type of communication tactic is being used?
A) Assertiveness
B) Silent authority
C) Nonverbal persuasion
D) Information control

25.

A team made up of diverse skillsets but very different values and personalities is struggling. What foundational element is likely missing?
A) Shared mental models
B) Emotional contagion
C) High media richness
D) Smoothing and harmonizing roles

26.

In a negotiation, one party offers concessions that are low-cost to them but high-value to the other side. What strategy is this?
A) Distributive
B) Avoidance
C) Integrative
D) BATNA leveraging

27.

A team is well-aligned in terms of goals and roles, and all members contribute equally and communicate openly. This team is demonstrating:
A) Task conflict
B) Role ambiguity
C) High team effectiveness
D) Weak norms

28.

A marketing director uses stories and analogies to paint a compelling vision of the company’s future, inspiring employees to pursue a risky rebrand. What leadership style is being applied?
A) Charismatic
B) Transformational
C) Servant
D) Authentic

29.

A conflict arises in a cross-functional team. The leader reminds everyone of their shared end goal and encourages collaborative problem-solving. This approach reflects:
A) Emphasizing superordinate goals
B) Smoothing
C) Distributive negotiation
D) Avoiding interpersonal conflict

30.

A senior employee is respected across departments for their wisdom and mentoring style, and people naturally listen to them even though they aren’t a formal leader. This is an example of:
A) Legitimate power
B) Coercive power
C) Referent power
D) Centrality

31.

A team member notices that one colleague consistently dominates discussions and makes decisions alone. This has started to reduce the team’s collaboration. What leadership model best addresses this dynamic?
A) Servant leadership
B) Shared leadership
C) Directive leadership
D) Achievement-oriented leadership

32.

During negotiations, a manager shows concern for fairness, presents objective data, and maintains a calm tone while understanding the other party’s emotions. They are combining:
A) Smoothing and coercion
B) Reason, emotion, and reputation
C) Legitimate and coercive power
D) Distributive and integrative negotiation

33.

A team leader avoids giving negative feedback and consistently downplays tensions. The team becomes less innovative and stops pushing boundaries. What is the unintended consequence?
A) Excessive transformational leadership
B) Avoidance of necessary task conflict
C) Breakdown of reward structures
D) Overuse of role clarity

34.

An employee negotiates a promotion but has no other job offers or leverage. Their BATNA is weak. This likely means:
A) They hold coercive power
B) They have less negotiation power
C) They are using an integrative strategy
D) They have high centrality

35.

A team’s informal rule is that everyone checks in on Mondays before 10 a.m. to plan the week, even though it’s not formally required. This pattern reflects:
A) Role clarity
B) Conformity pressure
C) Team norm
D) Grapevine communication

36.

An HR manager consistently gets results by working across departments, gathering insider information, and being the connector between people. Their influence comes from:
A) Discretion
B) Coercive power
C) Network betweenness
D) Expert power

37.

A team is high-performing and cohesive. The leader decides to step back and give more autonomy. Which leadership model is best aligned with this situation?
A) Directive leadership
B) Participative leadership
C) Transformational leadership
D) Charismatic leadership

38.

A company implements individual and team rewards for a product launch. The goal is to increase motivation and reduce loafing. This is an example of:
A) Hybrid performance evaluation
B) Smoothing strategy
C) Role clarification
D) Avoidance of interdependence

39.

A conflict arises where one party undermines another by constantly questioning their intelligence and experience. This is likely:
A) Functional task conflict
B) Integrative bargaining
C) Relationship conflict
D) Participative leadership

40.

A team communicates well and has developed routines to make decisions quickly. All members understand their roles and expectations clearly. What concept best describes this team’s state?
A) Low team cohesion
B) Emotional intelligence overload
C) Mature shared mental models
D) Relationship conflict management

Answers:

• B) Functional conflict; leaders should encourage open dialogue

• B) Low team cohesion and social loafing

• C) Transformational and task-oriented styles

• B) Over-reliance on referent power

• A) Integrative vs. distributive

• C) Visibility

• C) Teamwork role

• D) Reducing interdependence

• A) Directive leadership doesn’t match her skill level

• A) Shared leadership; possible process losses

• C) Network centrality

• C) Avoidance of functional conflict

• C) Redesign the hybrid performance system

• B) Psychological safety

• B) Encouraging experimentation (transformational)

• C) Extract concessions through unpredictability

• B) Authentic leadership

• C) Groupthink

• B) Coercive power

• C) Smoothing strategy overuse

• C) Strong network ties and betweenness

• B) Participative leadership with supportive traits

• A) Media richness theory

• B) Silent authority

• A) Shared mental models

• C) Integrative

• C) High team effectiveness

• B) Transformational

• A) Emphasizing superordinate goals

• C) Referent power

• B) Shared leadership

• B) Reason, emotion, and reputation

• B) Avoidance of necessary task conflict

• B) They have less negotiation power

• C) Team norm

• C) Network betweenness

• B) Participative leadership

• A) Hybrid performance evaluation

• C) Relationship conflict

• C) Mature shared mental models