Institute Of Business Management Studies

Subject: Organizational Behavior

Marks: 100

(Each Question for ½ marks)

(Negative Marking)
Short Answer – Each for 5 marks

IBMS/OB/2010/11

Multiple Choice
Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.

____ 1. Organizational behavior focuses on

a. the economic side of management.
b. the control side of management.
c. the human side of management.
d. the financial side of management.
e. the production side of management.
____ 2. In dealing with the work related activities of people, managers must have an understanding of all of the
following except
a. Leadership
b. decision making
c. organizational structure and design
d. organizational culture
e. how to be an effective negotiator
____ 3. A manager who creates and staffs a new sales division within the organization is performing which
managerial function?
a. Planning
b. Organizing
c. Controlling
d. Supervising
e. Leading
____ 4. Under the systems view, the information Wal-Mart managers receive concerning expected customer demand
for certain products is one type of
a. technology.
b. output.
c. input.
d. transformation.
e. contingency.
____ 5. General Mills combines grains and other ingredients to make breakfast cereals. General Mills is an example
of a(n)
a. manufacturing organization.
b. biotechnology firm.
c. information technology firm.
d. service organization.
 e. hybrid organization.
____ 6. A precise person-job fit is seldom achieved for all of the following reasons except
a. it is difficult to measure employee skill levels.
b. organizations tend to change over time.
c. each person is unique.
d. hiring procedures are imperfect.
e. employees rarely make true contributions to organizations.
____ 7. Categorizing or labeling people on the basis of a single attribute is called
a. attribution.
b. selective perception.
c. racism.
d. stereotyping.
e. prejudice.
____ 8. Individual behavior that makes a positive overall contribution to an organization is called
a. positive inducement.
b. organizational citizenship.
c. motivational behavior.
d. performance behavior.
e. perceptive contribution.
____ 9. The scientific management view of motivation includes all of the following except
a. employees are motivated by money.
b. work is inherently unpleasant.
c. employees want to feel useful and important.
d. advocates incentive pay systems.
e. the nature of the work is not important.
____ 10. In its simplest form, reinforcement theory suggests that behavior is a function of
a. equity perceptions.
b. emotional states.
c. attitudes.
d. subconscious perceptions.
e. consequences.
____ 11. The human relations view of participation was that participation
a. would increase satisfaction, but would not be a source of potentially valuable input.
b. would increase satisfaction, but would likely reduce performance.
c. was necessary but inefficient.
d. was useful to secure creative ideas from employees.
e. could potentially increase the value of the organization's key product or service.
____ 12. Alternative work arrangements are intended to
a. enhance employee motivation and performance.
b. limit the flexibility employees have in scheduling work.
c. accommodate a narrower range of the potential workforce.
d. increase company profits.
e. reduce dependence on key customers.
____ 13. The research of Edwin Lock assumes that behavior is a result of
a. the requirements established by the organization.
b. the organizational culture.
c. conscious goals and intentions.
d. the internal organizational forces to increase profits.
e. none of these.
____ 14. The courts and Equal Employment Opportunity guidelines have mandated that performance measurements be
based on
a. age and sex.
b. race and national origin.
c. industry standards.
d. job-related criteria.
e. competitive benchmarks.
____ 15. In exchange for employee contributions an organization provides rewards such as pay and insurance benefits.
These kinds of rewards are combined to create
a. compensation packages.
b. intangible compensation.
c. symbolic rewards.
d. system rewards.
e. resource exchanges.
____ 16. Medical, psychological, and behavioral responses to stress are primarily
a. eustress.
b. burnout.
c. hardiness adjustments.
d. individual consequences.
e. organizational consequences.
____ 17. Role conflict and role ambiguity can be reduced by which individual strategy for stress management?
a. Job enrichment
b. Time management
c. Participation
d. Support groups
e. Learning to say no
____ 18. A decision maker's actions are guided by
a. personal decisions.
b. a goal
c. an operating budget.
d. interpersonal relationships.
e. a code of honor
____ 19. If a decision maker answers "yes" to all the questions in the Janis-Mann conflict model, the decision maker
will be in a state of
a. unconflicted change.
b. hypervigilance.
c. defensive avoidance.
d. unconflicted adherence.
e. vigilant information processing.
____ 20. Which of the following are types of informal groups?
a. Special project; interest
b. Interest; friendship
c. Task; friendship
d. Command; task
e. Command; interest
____ 21. In which stage of group development are goals established?
a. Mutual acceptance
b. Control and organization
c. Communication and decision making
 d. Motivation
e. Productivity
____ 22. Norms are
a. a tendency toward a particular set of behaviors.
b. a standard against which the appropriateness of a behavior is judged.
c. the sum of the activities of individuals.
d. two or more people interacting with and influencing each other.
e. a set of expected behaviors associated with position.
____ 23. When cohesiveness is ____ and norms are ____ compatible with organizational goals, productivity is the
highest.
a. low; not
b. high; not
c. high; highly
d. present; highly
e. low; highly
____ 24. Which of the following includes conditions conducive to groupthink?
a. Group cohesiveness, leader's promotion of personal preferences, insulation from expert
opinions
b. Group cohesiveness, members' promotion of personal preferences, best decision is goal
c. Group cohesiveness, leader promotion of personal preferences, critical thinking urged
d. Members' promotion of personal preferences, best decision is goal, critical thinking urged
e. Group cohesiveness, member's promotion of personal preferences, insulation from expert
opinions
____ 25. Why do younger workers seem to benefit from team environments?
a. Supervision in teams is increased.
b. Workers receive higher wages in team environments.
c. Individuals receive more recognition in team environments.
d. Teams give them freedom to grow and manage themselves.
e. Teams increase employees' respect for authority.
____ 26. A combination of a work team and a problem-solving team is called a
a. virtual team.
b. quality circle.
c. cross-functional team.
d. product development team.
e. management team.
____ 27. During the ____ phase of team implementation, teams usually long for a system that resembles the old
manager-centered organizational structure.
a. tightly formed teams
b. start-up
c. leader-centered teams
d. self-managing teams
e. reality and unrest
____ 28. Shortly after implementation, team performance often ____ before returning to previous levels.
a. fluctuates unpredictably
b. ceases completely
c. increases slightly
d. declines
e. dramatically increases
____ 29. Which type of network has each person communicating with only one other person, except for one person
who communicates with everyone?
a. Star
b. Circle
c. Chain
d. Wheel
e. All-channel
____ 30. ____ is the ability to affect the perceptions, beliefs, attitudes, motivation, and/or behaviors of others.
a. Force
b. Influence
c. Coercion
d. Authority
e. None of these
____ 31. Which of the following is not a part of initiating-structure behavior, as identified in the Ohio State leadership
studies?
a. Subordinates are aware of what is expected of them in their positions.
b. The leader clearly defines leader-subordinate roles.
c. There is mutual trust and respect between the leader and subordinate.
d. Methods for accomplishing the task are determined.
e. Channels of communication are established.
____ 32. Researchers at Ohio State investigating the issue of stability of leader behaviors over time found that
a. an individual's leadership pattern did not change much in similar situations.
b. the situational context was not an important determinant of leader effectiveness.
c. employees whose supervisors ranked high on consideration had higher performance
ratings.
d. leaders who exhibited high levels of consideration and structure- initiating behaviors were
most effective.
e. employees whose supervisors ranked high in initiating structure had fewer absences from
work.
____ 33. A major difference between the behavioral approach and the LPC theory of leadership is that
a. the behavioral approach allows for the complex nature of a leader's personality.
b. the behavioral approach views the task-oriented and relationship-oriented traits of a given
individual as constant.
c. the LPC theory contends a leader's effectiveness depends on the situation.
d. the LPC theory views the task-oriented and relationship-oriented traits of a given
individual as variable.
e. the behavioral approach presumes that a task-oriented leader will usually outperform a
relationship-oriented leader.
____ 34. Position power is considered to be strong when
a. the subordinate is a member of the out-group.
b. the subordinate is a member of the in-group.
c. the subordinate's position is more powerful than the leader's position.
d. the leader must get job assignments from someone else.
e. the leader can assign work and recommend promotions.
____ 35. According to Vroom, a manager who presents the program to group members individually, obtains their
suggestions, and then makes the decision is using a(n) ____ style of subordinate participation.
a. delegate
b. consult (group)
c. consult (individually)
d. facilitate
 e. decide
____ 36. The leader-member exchange model (LMX)
a. is based on subordinate contributions and leader inducements.
b. clarifies the role of communication in the leadership process.
c. stresses the importance of variable relationships between supervisors and each of their
subordinates.
d. confirms the dual-structure of task and relationship behaviors by leaders.
e. illustrates the situational nature of leadership, particularly in service firms.
____ 37. Studies have generally found that compared to out-group members, in-group members
a. complain more because they have access to the leader.
b. tend to have higher levels of performance and satisfaction.
c. are responsible for nearly all new product developments.
d. make more ethical decisions.
e. are absent more often, but get more work done when they attend.
____ 38. Suppose your department is faced with a severe budget shortfall. One manager steps up and initiates changes
that save the department a great deal of money. Which of the following would likely happen based on
attributions made about leadership?
a. You will begin to regard that manager as a leader.
b. The manager will subsequently have a greater capacity to lead the department.
c. The ethical culture of the department would change.
d. Both responses a and c above are correct.
e. Both responses b and c above are correct.
____ 39. Examples of reward power include all of the following except
a. pay
b. work assignments
c. promotion
d. transfer
e. praise
____ 40. What is the reasoning behind role modeling?
a. Having managers act out the role of the subordinate gives them a better understanding of
the subordinate's feelings.
b. A manager should select subordinates who are similar to him or her.
c. Having subordinates act out the role of manager in contrived settings gives them a better
understanding of directives.
d. A leader behaves in the same way that he or she wants subordinates to behave.
e. A leader is more likely to build referent power if he or she is sensitive to others' needs and
feelings.
____ 41. At Harbor Paints, Inc., the sales representatives often argue with the production employees because promised
orders are often behind schedule. The production employees claim the sales representatives frequently fail to
submit orders until they are already past due. The sales representatives and the production employees are
experiencing
a. conflict between organization and environment.
b. competition for scarce resources.
c. intergroup conflict.
d. interpersonal conflict.
e. representative conflict.
____ 42. The degree to which two party's goals can be achieved simultaneously is called
a. goal interdependence.
b. goal reciprocity.
 c. goal accommodation.
d. goal avoidance.
e. goal compatibility.
____ 43. When the interaction between groups is very important to goal attainment, and the goals of the two groups are
compatible, which reaction to conflict is likely to occur?
a. Competition
b. Collaboration
c. Compromise
d. Accommodation
e. Avoidance
____ 44. The Win-Win approach to negotiation includes all of the following except
a. there are no winners and losers.
b. both parties reach agreement.
c. negotiators often depart from perfect rationality.
d. both parties want to have their needs satisfied.
e. both parties are committed to fulfilling their end of the agreement
____ 45. Organizational structure can be analyzed by examining all of the following except
a. separation of specialized tasks.
b. the degree of acceptance by employees.
c. the size and shape of the organization.
d. the organization's configuration.
e. responsibility and authority within the organization.
____ 46. ____ is the extent to which work in an organization is separated into various tasks and assigned to various
people.
a. Segregation
b. Departmentalization
c. Differentiation
d. Administrative component
e. Division of labor
____ 47. Formalization includes all of the following except
a. rules and procedures
b. jobs and activities
c. the locus of decision-making authority
d. predict and control
e. explicit and implicit rules
____ 48. Research conducted by Peter Blau and his associates concluded that large size is associated with all of the
following except
a. more formalization.
b. a larger span of control.
c. more levels in the hierarchy.
d. greater flexibility.
e. specialization of labor.
____ 49. Dynamism and complexity combine to create
a. organizational structure.
b. uncertainty.
c. management.
d. the environment.
e. strategy.
____ 50. T.E. Deal and A.A. Kennedy define a firm's culture "____."
 a. "by the newest members of the organization."
b. "in the company's annual report."
c. "through stories and symbols."
d. "as the way we do things around here."
e. "in rumors started by competitors."

True/False
Indicate whether the statement is true or false.

____ 51. Organizational behavior is the study of human behavior in organizational settings, the interface between
human behavior and the organization, and the organizational itself.
____ 52. Figurehead, leader, and liaison are all interpersonal roles that a manager can perform in an organization.
____ 53. In organizations, most situations and outcomes are contingent; this is, the precise relationship between any
two variables is likely to be situational, dependent on other variables.
____ 54. Productivity can be measured at the individual and organizational levels.
____ 55. Workforce diversity refers to the important similarities and differences among the employees of the
organization.
____ 56. Workforce diversity refers only to differences in age, gender, ethnicity, and physical ability.
____ 57. A person who feels discomfort with personal relationships is said to be an extrovert.
____ 58. Dysfunctional behaviors are all of the total set of work-related behaviors that the organization expects the
individual to display.
____ 59. Because informal reward systems, such as satisfaction and feelings of accomplishment, are more salient to
employees, they are often at the center of a person's equity perceptions.
____ 60. In order to be happy, individuals must separate the notions of success and money.
____ 61. The foremost advantage of job specialization is the extreme monotony of highly specialized tasks.
____ 62. Employee empowerment promotes participation in a wide variety of areas, including but not limited to work
itself, work context, and work environment.
____ 63. Empowerment only enhances organizational effectiveness if certain conditions exist. One of the conditions is
that the organization must be sincere in its efforts to spread power and autonomy to lower levels of the
organization.
____ 64. Flextime allows workers to tailor their workday to fit their personal needs.
____ 65. For difficult goals to motivate behavior, they must be set at a low level so they are possible to attain.
____ 66. An organization that uses a flexible reward system may allow employees to choose the combination of
benefits they prefer, but not how they receive their pay.
____ 67. Stress is defined as an individual's adaptive response to a stimulus.
____ 68. Critical activities, important activities, and trivial things are all part of effective time management.
____ 69. Programmed decisions are common at the lower levels of the organization.
____ 70. The rational decision-making process assumes that managers follow a systematic, step-by-step process.
____ 71. A task group is relatively temporary and informal.
____ 72. The basic group performance factors include size, cohesiveness, and norms.
____ 73. A group norm is a standard against which the appropriateness of a behavior is judged.
____ 74. Demanding, high performance goals challenge members to create a real team, as opposed to being merely a
group.
____ 75. Implementation of self-managing work teams often takes two to five years.
____ 76. Email is probably the most common form of written communication in organizations.
____ 77. Each person in a circle network communicates with the people on both sides but not with anyone else.
____ 78. Buildings, office spaces, and furniture can convey messages.
____ 79. According to path-goal theory, the greater an individual perceives his or her ability to be, the more acceptable
he or she will find directive leadership.
____ 80. The end result of using the Vroom-Yetton-Jago model is a recommended decision style without regard to the
appropriate situation.
____ 81. The leader-member exchange model (LMX) of leadership stresses the importance of how much leaders
contribute to the organization.
____ 82. Transformational leadership is most important in regards to change.
____ 83. Leadership substitutes are individual, task, and organizational characteristics that tend to outweigh the leader's
ability to affect subordinates' satisfaction and performance.
____ 84. High standards of ethical conduct are being held up as a prerequisite for effective leadership.
____ 85. Leadership only matters if influence has occurred.
____ 86. At its extreme, coalition building, which is frequently used in political bodies, may take the form of blatant
reciprocity.
____ 87. Power and political behavior are likely to play an important role in perceptions of informational justice.
____ 88. Goals keep the organization on track by focusing the attention and actions of the members.
____ 89. Departmentalization is a consequence of the division of labor.
____ 90. When a manager has a small span of control; he or she can maintain close control over workers and stay in
contact with daily operations.
____ 91. Formalized decentralization tends to reduce managerial control.
____ 92. Responsibility is an obligation to do something with the expectation of achieving some output.
____ 93. Max Weber considered bureaucracy to be an inefficient form of administration.
____ 94. The structural imperatives approach to organization design follows a contingency perspective.
____ 95. The simple structure characterizes large, well-established companies in simple, stable environments.
____ 96. Many cultures still take a traditional view of organization structure not unlike the approaches used in the USA
during the days of classical organization theory.
____ 97. The values that make up an organization's culture are rarely taken for granted; that is, they are written down
and made part of formal training procedures.
____ 98. Sociologists frequently adopt the "native's point of view" when studying culture.
____ 99. Social psychologists claim stories become the basis that individuals in organizations use to make judgments.
____ 100. Advances in information processing and communication have paralleled each other.

Completion
Complete each statement.

101. ____________________ ____________________ can be defined as the study of human behavior in

organizational settings, the interface between human behavior and the organization, and the organization
itself.
102. The study of ____________________ ____________________ can greatly clarify the factors that affect how
managers manage.
103. By designing jobs and establishing patterns of authority, the manager is performing the
____________________ function.
104. Performance evaluation, reward systems, and motivation all apply to ____________________.
105. Attending a business convention to gather information about new industry developments would be part of the
____________________ role.
106. ____________________ is concerned with the interactions between people and their environments, especially
their cultural environment.
107. ____________________-____________________ orientation is tied to values that are oriented toward the
past and the present and include respect for traditions and social obligations.
108. The culture of the United States has a more ____________________-____________________ orientation
than does the culture of Hong Kong or China.
109. Breakthroughs in ____________________ technology have resulted in leaner organizations and more
collaboration across employees, but also in less personal communication and an increased sense of urgency in
communications.
110. A(n) ____________________ worker is hired because of what they know.
111. John believes that people from the south live a slow, farm life indicates he is ____________________ people
from the south.
112. The equity theory describes the equity comparison process in terms of an ____________________-
____________________-____________________ ratio.
113. Although statistics are inconclusive, observers report that ____________________-____________________
injuries, illnesses, and even suicides related to work are rising.
114. Job enrichment is based on the ____________________-____________________ theory of motivation,
which states positive job-related experiences and feelings of achievement, responsibility, and recognition are
intrinsic to a job and could serve to motivate employees.
115. Hackman and Oldham believed that critical ____________________ ____________________ determine the
extent to which characteristics of the task enhance employee responses to that task.
116. The ____________________ workweek allows employees to work their full forty hours in fewer than the
traditional five days.
117. The courts and Equal Employment Opportunity guidelines have mandated that performance measurements be
based on ____________________-____________________ criteria.
118. ____________________ is an individual's adaptive response to a stimulus that places excess demands on that
individual.
119. ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ most important contributions
were his identification of the general adaptation syndrome and the concepts of eustress and distress.
120. A(n) ____________________ is a set of expected behaviors associated with a particular position in a group or
organization.
121. A(n) ____________________ ____________________ is any meaningful change in a person's personal or
work situation; too many life changes can lead to health problems
122. The most crucial step in the decision-making process is selecting a(n) ____________________.
123. ____________________ ____________________ is the extent to which a decision-maker is willing to
gamble when making a decision.
124. With ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ group members follow a
generate-discussion-vote cycle until they reach a decision.
125. ____________________ teams tend to be permanent and do the actual daily work of the unit.
126. ____________________ teams may never actually meet together in the same room; their activities take place
via computer.
127. Implementation of teams is a long and difficult process, often taking ____________________ to
____________________ years.
128. For team implementation to be successful, change must start with ____________________
____________________.
129. The popular ____________________ has all the characteristics of traditional verbal communication except
that there is no feedback.
130. A(n) ____________________ links the organization to the external environment.
131. Problems with the ____________________ approach prompted researchers to examine leader behaviors.
132. Martin Evans and Robert House developed the ____________________-____________________ theory.
133. The ____________________-____________________ theory proposes that leader behavior will motivate
subordinates if it helps them cope with environmental uncertainty created by task structure, the formal
authority system, or the primary work group.
134. ____________________ leaders recognize the need for change and create a vision to guide that change.
135. ____________________ ____________________, a subtle form of referent power, means that a leader
behaves in the way he or she wants subordinates to act.
136. Political behavior is viewed as ____________________ in the political behavior alternative model if it is fair
to all parties concerned.
137. Politics often are viewed as synonymous with ____________________ ____________________ or
____________________ and therefore as something distasteful and best left to others.
138. Either too much or too little conflict may result in low ____________________.
139. Competition for scarce ____________________ can lead to intergroup conflict.
 140. The ____________________ ____________________ approach to organization design has been the most
discussed and researched perspective in the past thirty years.
141. The ____________________ ____________________ perspective of organizational design includes the role
of the top management decision maker.
142. Organization culture deals with the set of ____________________ held by the members of an organization.
143. Research on organization culture exploded onto the OB scene in the early ____________________.
144. Emile Durkheim was an early sociologist who studied myths and ____________________.
145. ____________________ ____________________ continues the technical improvement and extends the
applications of radical and systems innovations.
146. Managing the organization culture requires attention to ____________________ ____________________.
147. ____________________ is the process through which individuals become social beings.
148. Organization development is based on a(n) ____________________ change process and focuses on managing
the ____________________ of the organization.
149. The direct alteration of jobs usually is called ____________________ ____________________.
150. ____________________ ____________________ involve gathering data, analyzing and summarizing them,
and returning them to employees and groups for discussion and to identify and solve problems.

Essay

151. What is meant by the statement that organizational behavior has a descriptive, rather than prescriptive, nature?
How does this relate to its importance as a managerial tool?
152. How would a manager use dual-structure theory to motivate employees?
153. Define, discuss, and provide examples of the needs for achievement, affiliation, and power. Be specific with
the examples provided.
154. Discuss the evolution of job design.
155. Describe the steps you would take in conducting a survey feedback process.