Practice MC exam Organization & Management

Dr. M.C. Schippers, Dr. B. Koene

Question 1-25 concern Greenberg and Baron (Schippers) and the question 26-50 concern Daft (Koene).

These questions are meant as a practice for the exam. Note that some questions are based on a case description. A tip for answering these kind of questions is: Read the case carefully and try to apply the theory you have studied. Dont go beyond the information given when answering the questions. In case of doubt, reread the case. In the MC exam, you might have to answer up to eight questions based on one case.

Good luck with the exam!

1. The Hawthorne studies were the earliest systematic research in the field of Organizational Behavior (OB). In which discovery lay the value of the Hawthorne studies to the field of OB? The value to OB lay in the discovery that: a. Physical working conditions had no impact on worker productivity. b. Employee productivity and job satisfaction were directly related to the supervision they received. c. Human needs, attitudes, motives, and relationships were important to worker performance. d. There is one most effective way to organize every work team, although it will vary among teams. 2. Which one of the following statements would be most likely made by a supervisor who endorses a contingency approach to organizational behavior? a. b. c. d. "People work best when left alone." "The only way to get people to work hard is to push them." "Focus on organizations and people will take care of themselves." "I treat different people in different ways based on the situation we're facing."

3. The concept of personality has traditionally received a lot of attention with respect to research in the field of Organizational Behavior. What is currently the predominant position regarding personality in organizational behavior? a. b. c. d. Behavior is solely determined by personality. Behavior is a function of personality and the external environment. The environment is the dominant element in determining behavior. Personality is not a valuable concept even though certain traits do exist.

4. In the field of Organizational Behavior, a lot of research has been conducted with respect to job satisfaction. Recent research (see Greenberg & Baron) suggests that employee job satisfaction can be increased. Which of the following situations will lead to an increase in job satisfaction, according to what we know from this research? a. b. c. d. Employees perceive that the pay system is fair. Employees are given more control over their jobs. People are matched to jobs based on their interests. All of the above situations.

5. It is accepted within the field of organizational behavior that goal setting is important. Research has shown that people will work at the highest level when performance goals have certain characteristics. What characteristics should those goals have in order to maximize performance? These goals should be: a. b. c. d. Difficult, attainable and specific Easy and general in nature. Difficult but general in nature. Moderately to low in difficulty and moderately specific.

Read the following case carefully and then answer questions 6-13 which are related to this case.
Spring Flowers is a company that puts beauty products on the market. The company has 250 people working in various departments. Although the company has been quite successful for several years, lately the company has experienced financial troubles. Sales are falling and a loss is expected in the year to come. Apart from that, it is business as usual within the company. During lunch, a group of managers gathers and are talking with each other. Peter is the newly hired director of personnel. He comes from a line position. While hes never done this type of staff work before, he says, How hard can it be after managing a quality-driven production line for four years? Ive read about human resource management and followed the old HR director around for several weeks before she retired and I took over. Piece of cake. His comments really angered a couple of HR professionals standing in the group. They feel their profession and careers arent taken seriously by Peter, their new boss. Collin, an operations manager,

expresses his approval of Peters perspective. You know, once youve had a line job in production, staff work is easy. But the real key to success is to remember to do whatever it takes to get the job done. Collin thinks that Peter may be of help to him in his career in the position of HR director. Collin is willing to say or do almost anything to ingratiate himself with Peter. In the sales department, one of the managers, Richard, is trying to figure out how to motivate his staff in these troubled times. Richard has modified his management style, improved working conditions, and even raised everyones pay about 2%, but job satisfaction has not increased. His boss, Frederik, thinks that Richard should focus on praising his employees more, giving them greater responsibilities, and encouraging them to try for more responsible positions within the company. Jacob, Marvin, and Mary work as sales representatives for the company. As they are having lunch together Jacob discovers that he is receiving a higher commission rate than Marvin or Mary. When he excuses himself, Marvin and Mary start talking about how Jacob sells less than they do, has higher expenses, and has less time with the company than they do. They are still talking agitatedly about this subject by the time Jacob returns to the table. Larry, a creative director has been looking for another job, since the company started to get into trouble. However, he is very important to the company, and might even play a role in saving the company with one of his creative ideas. Therefore, the management team as well as his co-workers pressure him to stay. They point out how good the company has always treated him, and tell him that it would be a disaster for the company if he left. On the other hand, the management team of the company realizes that some layoffs are unavoidable. They decide to lay-off fifty people. However, the decision is made that all people that will be laid off, will be offered the help of an outplacement agency in finding another job. In spite of this offer, several of co-workers are concerned about the fairness of the way organizational decisions are being made regarding who will be laid off. The management team has had several meetings about the financial troubles of the organization. Today, the final decision will be made about the future of the company. In this meeting, the management team decides to launch a new product ahead of schedule. The product has a small chance of success (about 20%), but if it succeeds, the company will be saved. It took a lot of money to develop the product. However, the product does not succeed. In spite of this, management decides to invest even more in the new product and with that decision, puts the company at stake. The managers are convinced of the rightness of this decision.

Answer the following 8 questions on the basis of the above case. 6. On the basis of this case, what can be said about Peter and Collin with respect to their personality styles? a. Peter would be high on self-monitoring, whereas Collin would be high on Type A personality. b. Peter has a Type B personality, whereas Collin would be high on self-efficacy. c. Peter has a proactive personality, whereas Collin would be high on selfmonitoring. d. Peter has high self-efficacy skills, whereas Collin would be high on machiavellianism. 7. Based on this case, and the two-factor theory of Herzberg, what is the focus of Richard and Frederik in motivating staff? a. b. c. d. Richards focus is on motivators, whereas Frederiks focus is on hygiene factors. Richards focus is on hygiene factors, whereas Frederiks focus is on motivators. Richards focus is on values, whereas Frederiks focus is on discrepancies. Richards focus is on discrepancies, whereas Frederiks focus is on values.

8. What is Jacobs likely future behavior based on his discovery that he is receiving a higher commission rate than Marvin and Mary, and based on equity theory? a. b. c. d. He may raise his inputs by working harder. He may adjust his thinking by convincing himself that he deserves this pay. He may lower his outcomes, for instance by working through a paid vacation. All of the above.

9. If Larry decides to stay with the company, because he feels obliged to do so, of what kind of commitment would that be an example? a. b. c. d. Affective commitment. Continuance commitment. Hygiene commitment. Normative commitment.

10. Which needs of the employees is being met by the offering of outplacement services, according to Maslows need hierarchy theory? a. b. c. d. Physiological needs Safety needs Self-actualization needs Social needs

11. Several co-workers have concerns about the fairness of the way organizational decisions are being made regarding who will be laid off. What does their concern refer to? a. b. c. d. Procedural justice. Inequity. Instrumentality of the decision. Valance of the decision.

12. The management team decides to take a rather risky decision by launching the new product ahead of schedule, and subsequently holds on to this decision. From the case description, it can be seen that holding on to this decision represents a bias in their decision making process. What is the name of this bias in decision-making? a. b. c. d. Escalation of commitment phenomenon Throwing good money after bad Bias toward implicit favorites Risky choice framing

13. Continued from Question 12 , what process might have prevented the management team of Spring Flowers from this bias in decision making? a. b. c. d. Bounded rationality Goal framing Groupthink Reflexivity

The next questions will not concern the above case of Spring Flowers. 14. John is observing group functioning as part of his OB studies. The group hes observing shows a high degree of conflict, is resisting control of the leader and shows hostility toward each other. In what stage of group development is this group? a. b. c. d. Forming Storming Norming Performing

15. In OB several group development models have been proposed. One of these models claims that groups generally plan their activities during the first half of their time together, and then revise and implement their plans in the second half. Which group development model is this? a. b. c. d. Congruence-productivity model. Group role model. Punctuated-equilibrium model. Socialization transfer model.

16. Worker turnover in the XYZ Corporation is quite high. It seems that people from the same work group, where there had been recent layoffs, are quitting at a high rate. Most of them start working for the same company, because they heard that this is a good organization to work for. Of what effect is the story above an example? a. b. c. d. The snowball effect. Social impact effect. The old boys' network effect. The effect of centralized communication.

17. In a discussion with other managers, Stone tells Thelma that he disagrees with her. I dont agree, but I would like to hear your position, I could be wrong. What is Stones reaction, in terms of supportive communication, an example of? a. b. c. d. Validating language. Not owning your own decision. Focusing on the person. Being tactful and not saying what you mean.

18. Bills company tends to have employees from all levels gather data, prepare reports, and pass this information on to senior level managers who actually make the decisions. Of what kind of decision-making is this an example? a. b. c. d. Empowered decision-making. Top-down decision making. Decision making via the Delphi technique. Non-programmed decision making.

19. According to the decision style model, people differ with respect to their orientations toward decisions. In terms of the rational-economic model, which decision style would be most effective? a. b. c. d. The analytical style. The behavioral style. The conceptual style. The directive style.

20. Nancy becomes aware that her company is emitting toxic waste into a nearby stream. After finding that reporting it to her supervisor does no good, she reports the incident to the press. Of what kind of behavior is Nancy's action an example? a. b. c. d. Distributive justice. Organizational citizenship behavior. Procedural justice. Whistle-blowing.

21. In Greenberg and Baron, several tactics of influence are described. Two of these tactics are playing hard to get and the fast-approaching-deadline technique. On what basic principle are these two tactics based? a. b. c. d. Commitment/consistency. Friendship/liking. Reciprocity. Scarcity.

22. Suppose that you do something the way your boss asks you to do it because you believe your boss knows the best way to do it. What type of power would your boss be relying on in this case? a. b. c. d. Coercive power Legitimate power Expert power Reward power

23. Joanne shows the ability to cooperate with others, develop networks and coalitions, and generally work with subordinates rather than try to dominate them. Of what kind of motivation is this an example? a. b. c. d. Personalized power motivation. Social influence motivation. Socialized power motivation. Prosocial behavior motivation.

24. In Greenberg and Baron, several contingency theories of leader effectiveness are described. One of these is the situational leadership theory. What must leaders be able to, according to the situational leadership theory? a. b. c. d. Set appropriate goals and inspire others to attain them. Control valued rewards and punishments, and use these according to the situation. Diagnose a situation and identify the appropriate behavioral response. Choose the proper strategy for decision-making and make sure this strategy gets implemented.

25. If followers are willing to do the job, but don't know how to go about doing it, which style of leadership is best? a. b. c. d. Delegating Participating Selling Telling

26. Intuitive decision processes would work best when which of the following factors were dominant: a. b. c. d. Managers can use networked computer databanks for analysis. There are few alternatives available. Experience with similar decisions is extensive, and has been successful. A manager must make the decision alone.

27. In the garbage can model: a. b. c. d. Solutions may be proposed even when problems do not exist. Choices are not made unless problems are solved. Many problems are solved. No problem is allowed to persist without being solved.

28. Corporate entrepreneurship: a. b. c. d. Attempts to release the creative energy of all employees. Usually results in fewer, though higher quality, innovations. Will replace creative departments and new venture teams. Results in idea champions who are the supervisors of production.

29. The point of the _______ is that many organizations must adopt frequent administrative changes and need to be structured differently from organizations that rely on frequent technical and product changes for competitive advantages. a. b. c. d. Horizontal linkage model Switching structure Ambidextrous approach Dual-core approach

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30. Which of the following is (are) manifestation(s) of corporate culture? a. b. c. d. Legends Ceremonies Stories All of the above

31. It has been found that a learning organization has a strong organizational culture characterized by the following value(s): a. The whole is more important than the part, and boundaries between parts are minimized. b. External strategic focus with continual thoughts of what others are doing thats right. c. Life-time employment for workers at every level (unless a work rule is violated). d. All of the above. 32. What is the major goal of an organization during the entrepreneurial stage of the life cycle? a. b. c. d. Growth Goal-setting Survival Complete organizational structure

33. Rules and standard procedures as developed by Weber were to: a. b. c. d. Help managers get tough with lazy employees. Keep managers in their positions of control and power. Enable activities to be performed in a predictable and routine manner. Punish anyone who got out of line.

34. Clan control is most often used in: a. b. c. d. Small, informal organizations or in organizations with a strong culture. Small, formal organizations or in organizations with a weak culture. Large, informal organizations or in organizations with a weak culture. Large, formal organizations or in organizations with a strong culture.

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35. Characteristics of service technology include all of the following except: a. b. c. d. Longer response time is acceptable. Labor- and knowledge-intensive. Customer interaction is generally higher. Quality is perceived and difficult to measure.

36. Using Perrow's technology/structure framework, in which category would you most likely find the public relations department of Dow Chemical Co., the outreach arm for all media and community relations? a. b. c. d. Craft Nonroutine Engineering Routine

37. Suppose that DaimlerChrysler is considering changing its production operations from an assembly line in which each employee adds one piece as a car chassis goes by to an operation in which several employees work as a team to build the total car, with the team deciding who does what tasks. If DaimlerChrysler implements the change, the interrelationships would change from: a. Pooled interdependence on the line to reciprocal interdependence between the teams. b. Reciprocal interdependence on the line to sequential interdependence between the teams. c. Sequential interdependence on the line to pooled interdependence between the teams. d. Routine tasks to mediating technology. 38. The purpose of the sociotechnical systems approach is to: a. Apply the theory of job enlargement. b. Provide qualified management to an organization in a turbulent environment. c. Offer the most advanced information technology possible to maximize organizational competitiveness. d. Combine human needs with technical efficiency in job design.

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39. Which theory argues that organizations try to minimize their reliance on other organizations for the supply of important resources and try to influence the environment to make resources available? a. b. c. d. Interorganization theory Resource-based view Resource dependence theory Economic supply theory

40. A basic assumption of the population ecology model is that:

a. Management competence is the biggest factor in the survival of organizations. b. The environment determines which organizations survive or fail. c. Principles of evolution are not applicable to organizations because the fittest dont survive. d. A community of organizations is a closed system. 41. An example of mimetic force is: a. b. c. d.
42.

Benchmarking Accounting standards. Pollution controls. Consultant training. A company may use any or all of the mechanisms of mimetic, coercive, or normative forces to change itself for greater _______ in the institutional environment. Profit Market share Resource dependency Legitimacy

a. b. c. d.

43. Sectors of the environment which have direct impact on the organization are called the: a. b. c. d. Task environment. General environment. Organizational buffers. Environmental boundary-spanners.

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44. Assessment of environmental uncertainty of an organization is based primarily on analysis of two dimensions, which are: a. The need for information about the environment and the need for resources from the environment. b. The number of sectors and the organizations niche. c. The extent of turbulence and the amount of available resources. d. Differentiation and integration. 45. Which of the following characteristics most accurately describes mechanistic organizations? a. b. c. d. Authoritarian, unfriendly leadership Communication is horizontal IT-based organizations equipped to meet individualized customer demands Tasks are broken down into specialized parts

46. With a _______ structure, the organization consists of loosely connected clusters of separate components. a. b. c. d. Divisional Multifocused Modular Functional

47. The product or divisional structure: a. b. c. d. Is not suited to fast change in an unstable environment. Centralizes decision-making. Facilitates integration and standardization across product lines. Allows units to adapt to differences in products, regions, and clients.

48. The organization should be viewed as a system which is a set of interrelated elements that: a. b. c. d. Acquires inputs, transforms them, and discharges outputs. Is independent from the environment. Should be sealed off from the environment. Focuses primarily on internal efficiency.

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49. Scientific management, pioneered by Frederick Taylor, claimed that decisions about organizations and job design should be based on: a. b. c. d. Precise, scientific procedures after careful study of individual situations. The insights of practitioners. Leadership, motivation, and human resource management. Management theory.

50. Contingency means that: a. b. c. d. Organizations should be structured loosely. Management structure is determined by the era or times. One thing depends on other things, such as structure depending on environment. The key contingent of workers should be college graduates.

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