Chapter 01 - The Study of Organizations, Organizations
Chapter 01
The Study of Organizations, Organizations
True / False Questions
1. (p. 4) That people work in organizations, produce goods and services and contribute to
society is a phenomenon limited to the United States.
FALSE
Difficulty: Easy
Rationale: Working in organizations, producing goods and services and contributing to society are activities that can be found worldwide.
2. (p. 5) The study of organizational behavior isn't a discipline or a generally accepted science
with an established theoretical foundation.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
3. (p. 6) Today's workforce looks, thinks and acts very much like the workforce of the past.
FALSE
Difficulty: Easy
Rationale: Today's workforce is much more diverse than in prior eras; workers today do not look, think or act like the workforce of the past.
4. (p. 6) Middle managers must perform both leadership and follower roles.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
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Chapter 01 - The Study of Organizations, Organizations
5. (p. 6) Groups within an organization have little impact on individual behavior.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Groups in organizations have a powerful impact on both individual and organizational performance.
6. (p. 6) A person's behavior in any situation involves the interaction of that individual's
personal characteristics and the characteristics of the situation.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
7. (p. 7) An organization chart shows the common processes within an organization, such as
communication and decision making.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: An organization chart is the blueprint that shows how people and jobs are grouped together.
8. (p. 7) Communication and decision making are common organizational processes.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
9. (p. 8) Organizations invariably have a positive cultures, although the level of positive energy
may rise and fall over time.
FALSE
Difficulty: Easy
Rationale: The culture of an organization can be positive or negative.
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Chapter 01 - The Study of Organizations, Organizations
10. (p. 8) Factors in the external environment have an influence on how an organization is
structured.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
11. (p. 9) Managers increasingly work in an unpredictable economic environment.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
12. (p. 9) Group performance is the foundation of organizational performance.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Individual performance is the foundation of organization performance.
13. (p. 9) Understanding individual behavior is critical for effective management.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
14. (p. 9) Learning to manage cultural diversity has become less important in recent years.
FALSE
Difficulty: Easy
Rationale: Learning to manage cultural diversity has become more important in recent years.
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Chapter 01 - The Study of Organizations, Organizations
15. (p. 9) Stakeholder theory attempts to explain and predict how individual behavior is
aroused, sustained and stopped.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Motivation theory attempts to explain and predict how individual behavior is aroused, sustained and stopped.
16. (p. 9) One of the most powerful influences on individual performance is an organization's
reward system.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
17. (p. 10) A reward system is limited to monetary rewards.
FALSE
Difficulty: Easy
Rationale: Performance of the work itself can provide employees with rewards as well, particularly if job performance leads to a sense of
personal responsibility, autonomy and meaningfulness.
18. (p. 10) Conflict among groups always results in benefits for the organization as a whole.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Although conflict among groups can have beneficial results, too much or the wrong kinds of intergroup conflict can have negative
results.
19. (p. 11) Very few people in U.S. society are uncomfortable with the concept of power.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Many people in U.S. society are uncomfortable with the concept of power.
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Chapter 01 - The Study of Organizations, Organizations
20. (p. 11) Managers derive their power from organizational sources only.
FALSE
Difficulty: Easy
Rationale: Managers derive their power from both organizational and individual sources.
21. (p. 11) Leaders exist within all organizations, regardless of its location or size.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
22. (p. 11) Without effective leadership practices, instilling concern about quality is difficult, if
not impossible.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
23. (p. 12) Two important aspects of organizational structure are job design and organizational
design.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
24. (p. 12) Job design refers to the process by which managers specify the contents, methods
and relationships of jobs to satisfy both organizational and individual requirements.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
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Chapter 01 - The Study of Organizations, Organizations
25. (p. 13) Ethics play a major role in decision making because managerial decisions affect
people's lives and well-being.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
26. (p. 13) Managers seldom, if ever, get to make decisions involving the allocation of limited
resources.
FALSE
Difficulty: Easy
Rationale: Managers must often make decisions involving the allocation of limited resources.
27. (p. 14) If successfully achieving results, a group of chemists working alone on unrelated
projects could be considered an effective group.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
28. (p. 15) Writers of the Classical School proposed that managerial work consists of distinct yet
interrelated functions, which taken together constitute the managerial process.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
29. (p. 15) Decisional role activities can include the manager making decisions about
negotiations with the organization's constituencies.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
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Chapter 01 - The Study of Organizations, Organizations
30. (p. 16) The planning function is used to determine who'll do what and with whom, in order
to achieve the desired end results.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: The planning function is used to determine the "what" and "how" of a project; the organizing function is used to determine who'll
do what with whom.
31. (p. 16) Planning focuses on a single activity: specifying where the organization is going.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Planning involves specifying not only where the organization is going, but how it will get there.
32. (p. 18) Effectiveness means essentially the same thing to all people.
FALSE
Difficulty: Easy
Rationale: Effectiveness means different things to different people, whether in a theoretical or practical sense.
33. (p. 18) The degree of commitment indicates the degree of effectiveness.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: The degree of accomplishment indicates the degree of effectiveness.
34. (p. 19) Goal achievement isn't readily measurable for organizations that don't produce
tangible outputs.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
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Chapter 01 - The Study of Organizations, Organizations
35. (p. 19) Obtaining consensus among managers as to their organization's specific goals is often
the easiest part of the goal-setting process.
FALSE
Difficulty: Easy
Rationale: Various researchers have noted the difficulty of obtaining consensus among managers as to their organization's specific goals.
36. (p. 20) All organizations acquire resources from the larger environment of which they're a
part.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
37. (p. 20) In the context of systems theory, the organization is one element of a number of
elements acting independently.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: In the context of systems theory, the organization is one element of a number of elements interacting interdependently.
38. (p. 20) Systems theory can be used to describe the behavior of both individuals and groups.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
39. (p. 21) Organizations, such as universities, do not need to worry about output to survive.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Like a business, a university must provide the right output (graduates) at the right price in order to survive.
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Chapter 01 - The Study of Organizations, Organizations
40. (p. 21) Systems theory emphasizes two important considerations: (1) an organization must
be able to adapt to the demands of its environment to survive and (2) the organization must
meet those demands.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
41. (p. 22) Each stakeholder or group of stakeholders expects the organization to behave in ways
that benefit them.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
42. (p. 22) An organization is considered effective to the extent that it satisfies the interests of
the group controlling the least important resource.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: An organization is considered effective to the extent that it satisfies the interests of the group controlling the most important
resource.
43. (p. 22) Managers of an organization achieve effectiveness by identifying the more influential
members of the most powerful coalitions and satisfying their needs.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
44. (p. 23) The purpose of managers in organizations is to coordinate activities in order to
achieve effectiveness.
FALSE
Difficulty: Hard
Rationale: The purpose of managers in organizations is to coordinate behavior in order to achieve effectiveness.
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Chapter 01 - The Study of Organizations, Organizations
Multiple Choice Questions
45. (p. 3) All of the following are stages that emerge in an effective global account manager
(GAM) system except:
A. Embedded
B. Remote
C. Spring load
D. Beginner
Difficulty: Medium
46. (p. 4) The United States became such a productive nation largely as the result of
____________________.
A. Sound management practices and techniques
B. Trade embargoes
C. Governmental regulation
D. Its vast array of its natural resources
Difficulty: Medium
47. (p. 4) Managing people effectively in organizations is the most essential ingredient for
____________________.
A. Retaining a comfortable standard of living
B. Remaining one of the world's economic leaders
C. Improving the quality of life for all citizens
D. All of the choices are correct
Difficulty: Medium
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Chapter 01 - The Study of Organizations, Organizations
48. (p. 5) A(n) ____________________ is a coordinated unit consisting of at least two people
who function to achieve a common goal.
A. Informal group
B. Formal group
C. Organization
D. Work unit
Difficulty: Medium
49. (p. 6) ____________________ are a resource common to all organizations.
A. People
B. Products
C. Raw materials
D. Customers
Difficulty: Easy
50. (p. 6) The basic idea of the ____________________ approach is that there's no one best
way to manage.
A. Goal
B. Contingency
C. Systems
D. Stakeholder
Difficulty: Easy
51. (p. 7) Organizational processes are ____________________.
A. Basic assumptions used by individuals and groups to deal with the organization and its
environment
B. Appropriate behaviors within an organization
C. Activities that give life to the organization chart
D. The formal patterns of how an organization's people and jobs are grouped
Difficulty: Medium
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Chapter 01 - The Study of Organizations, Organizations
52. (p. 7) The culture of an organization ____________________.
A. Defines appropriate behavior and bonds
B. Motivates individuals
C. Governs the way a company processes information
D. All of the choices are correct
Difficulty: Medium
53. (p. 8) All of the following are the result of a negative culture except:
A. Hindered behavior
B. Increased productivity
C. Disrupted group effectiveness
D. Hampered impact of a well-designed organization
Difficulty: Easy
54. (p. 8) Every organization must respond to ____________________.
A. The needs of its customers or clients
B. Legal and political constraints
C. Economic changes
D. All of the choices are correct
Difficulty: Easy
55. (p. 10) Managers create work groups to ____________________.
A. Make it easier to manage large groups of employees
B. Carry out assigned jobs and tasks
C. Instill a sense of competition
D. Make it easier to document workflow
Difficulty: Medium
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Chapter 01 - The Study of Organizations, Organizations
56. (p. 11) ____________________ is the ability to get someone to do something you want
done.
A. Authority
B. Persuasion
C. Coercion
D. Power
Difficulty: Medium
57. (p. 11) The concepts of ____________________ have been found to be inseparable.
A. Power and quality
B. Competence and leadership
C. Quality and leadership
D. None of the above
Difficulty: Medium
58. (p. 12) An organization's structure is the _______________ pattern of activities and
interrelationships among the various subunits of the organizations.
A. Formal
B. Informal
C. Ad hoc
D. All of the choices are correct
Difficulty: Medium
59. (p. 13) Organizational survival is related to management's ability to ____________________
information.
A. Receive
B. Transmit
C. Act on
D. All of the choices are correct
Difficulty: Easy
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Chapter 01 - The Study of Organizations, Organizations
60. (p. 13) The quality of decision making in an organization depends on selecting proper goals
and identifying a means for ____________________ them.
A. Documenting
B. Regulating
C. Communicating
D. Achieving
Difficulty: Hard
61. (p. 13) When faced with making a choice among several alternatives, decision makers must
consider what is ____________________.
A. Ethical or unethical
B. Good or bad
C. Right or wrong
D. All of the choices are correct
Difficulty: Easy
62. (p. 14) An employee's effectiveness can be impacted by ____________________.
A. Motivation levels
B. Attitude
C. Stress levels
D. Any or All of the choices are correct
Difficulty: Easy
63. (p. 14) All of the following are causes of group effectiveness except:
A. Norms
B. Attitude
C. Cohesiveness
D. Roles
Difficulty: Medium
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Chapter 01 - The Study of Organizations, Organizations
64. (p. 15) Henry Mintzberg's study identified all of the following primary and overlapping
managerial roles except:
A. Interpersonal
B. Decisional
C. Informational
D. Organizational
Difficulty: Medium
65. (p. 16) Planning activities can be ____________________.
A. Complex or simple
B. Implicit or explicit
C. Impersonal or personal
D. All of the choices are correct
Difficulty: Easy
66. (p. 16) The organizing function includes all managerial activities that translate required,
planned activities into a structure of ____________________.
A. Tasks and authority
B. Groups and tasks
C. Goals and achievements
D. All of the choices are correct
Difficulty: Hard
67. (p. 16) The organizing function involves designing the responsibility and authority of each
individual job and ____________________.
A. Establishing communication channels
B. Deciding which individuals will be assigned to these jobs
C. Determining which of these jobs will be grouped in specific departments
D. Aligning the jobs within the groups
Difficulty: Hard
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Chapter 01 - The Study of Organizations, Organizations
68. (p. 17) The ____________________ function involves day-to-day interactions between
managers and their subordinates.
A. Planning
B. Organizing
C. Leading
D. Controlling
Difficulty: Medium
69. (p. 18) Managers judge as effective those employees who meet ____________________
standards.
A. Quality
B. Educational
C. Performance
D. All of the choices are correct
Difficulty: Medium
70. (p. 18) The ____________________ function includes activities that managers undertake to
ensure that actual outcomes are consistent with planned outcomes.
A. Planning
B. Organizing
C. Leading
D. Controlling
Difficulty: Easy
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Chapter 01 - The Study of Organizations, Organizations
71. (p. 18) Employee selection and placement, materials inspection, performance evaluation and
financial statement analysis are all activities that fall under the ____________________
function.
A. Planning
B. Organizing
C. Leading
D. Controlling
Difficulty: Medium
72. (p. 18) The ____________________ approach to defining and evaluating effectiveness is the
oldest and most widely used evaluation approach.
A. Goal
B. Contingency
C. Systems
D. Stakeholder
Difficulty: Medium
73. (p. 19) The goal approach reflects all of the following except:
A. Achievement
B. Purposefulness
C. Rationality
D. Consistency
Difficulty: Medium
74. (p. 19) Systems theorists propose that systems can be categorized by all of the following
ways except:
A. Conceptual systems
B. Concrete systems
C. Monetary systems
D. Abstract systems
Difficulty: Medium
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Chapter 01 - The Study of Organizations, Organizations
75. (p. 20) The concept of the organization as a system that's related to a larger system
introduces the importance of ____________________.
A. Dependency
B. Feedback
C. Goal setting
D. Setting priorities
Difficulty: Hard
76. (p. 20) Systems theory stresses that every organizations is part of ____________________.
A. The global system
B. An industry
C. A society
D. All of the choices are correct
Difficulty: Easy
77. (p. 21) The ____________________ approach means achieving balance among the various
parts of the system by satisfying the interests of the organization's constituency.
A. Goal
B. Contingency
C. Systems
D. Stakeholder
Difficulty: Medium
78. (p. 24) Major factors in determining individual and group behavior are task and
_______________ relationships.
A. Occupational
B. Authority
C. Hierarchy
D. External
Difficulty: Medium
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Chapter 01 - The Study of Organizations, Organizations
Fill in the Blank Questions
79. (p. 5) According to the text, there are three levels of behavior: individual,
____________________ and organizational.
group
Difficulty: Easy
80. (p. 7) ____________________ is the pattern of basic assumptions used by individuals and
groups to deal with the organization and its environment.
Culture
Difficulty: Medium
81. (p. 8) A firm's ____________________ results in shared thoughts, feelings and talk about
the organization.
culture
Difficulty: Hard
82. (p. 10) ____________________ groups form around common interests and friendships.
Informal
Difficulty: Medium
83. (p. 10) As groups function and interact with other groups, each develops a unique set of
characteristics, including structure, cohesiveness, roles, norms and processes. In essence, each
group creates its own ____________________.
culture
Difficulty: Medium
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Chapter 01 - The Study of Organizations, Organizations
84. (p. 19) A ____________________ is a grouping of elements that individually establish
relationships with each other and that interact with their environment both as individuals and
as a collective.
system
Difficulty: Medium
85. (p. 21) ____________________ refers to information that reflects the outcome of an act or a
series of acts by an individual, group or organization.
Feedback
Difficulty: Medium
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Chapter 01 - The Study of Organizations, Organizations
Short Answer Questions
86. (p. 5) At the most basic level, why are organizations formed?
Organizations are formed to pursue accomplishments that can't be achieved by individuals
acting alone.
Difficulty: Easy
87. (p. 5) Identify three of the behavioral sciences that contributed to the basic framework and
principles of the field of organizational behavior.
Any three of the following: psychology, sociology, political science, cultural anthropology.
Difficulty: Medium
88. (p. 6) Why has the contingency approach grown in popularity?
Because research has shown that, given certain characteristics of a job and certain
characteristics of the people doing the job, some management practices work better than
others.
Difficulty: Medium
89. (p. 8) Identify three symptoms of a negative work culture.
Any three of the following: declining profits, declining quality, declining quantity, increased
absenteeism, increased tardiness, negative employee attitudes. Other answers may also be
correct, such as employee turnover.
Difficulty: Medium
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Chapter 01 - The Study of Organizations, Organizations
90. (p. 8) Identify three competencies that a manager must have to be and remain effective.
Any three of the following: intelligence, a systems orientation, interpersonal skills, flexibility,
self-motivation. Other answers may also be correct, such as technical ability.
Difficulty: Medium
91. (p. 15) When does the necessity for managing arise?
The need for managing arises whenever work is specialized and undertaken by two or more
persons.
Difficulty: Medium
92. (p. 15) The nature of managerial work is to coordinate the work of individuals, groups and
organizations by performing four management functions. What are they?
Planning, organizing, leading and controlling.
Difficulty: Medium
93. (p. 16) The planning function includes two major tasks, the first being to define the ends to
be achieved. What is the second task?
Determining the appropriate means to achieve the defined ends.
Difficulty: Medium
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Chapter 01 - The Study of Organizations, Organizations
94. (p. 21) An organization has two major categories of inputs. What are they?
Human and natural resources.
Difficulty: Medium
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Chapter 01 - The Study of Organizations, Organizations
Essay Questions
95. (p. 23) Think about the statement "Satisfied workers produce the highest quality output."
Decide if you believe the statement or not and then present the reasoning behind your
opinion.
Student answers will vary.
Difficulty: Medium
96. (p. 23) Think about the statement "Women are more motivated by the amount of pay they
receive than are men." Now, present arguments both for and against this statement.
Student answers will vary.
Difficulty: Medium
97. (p. NA) Assume that you are the manager of a small, 8-person production team. Seven team
members get along very well, enjoy their work and produce similar quantities of high-quality
product. The eighth team member produces significantly higher numbers of product, but is
difficult to get along with, disrupts harmony in the group and regularly disregards your
suggestions and/or orders. As a team, your effectiveness is judged by number of products
produced. As the manager, what would you do to reorganize the team and/or handle the
situation? Why?
Student answers will vary. There is no right or wrong answer.
Difficulty: Medium
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Chapter 01 - The Study of Organizations, Organizations
98. (p. NA) An educational institution is an organization like any another, with inputs, outputs
and stakeholder expectations. As a stakeholder, what do you expect from your school? Is it
currently meeting your needs? If not, what could it do better?
Student answers will vary.
Difficulty: Easy
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Chapter 01 - The Study of Organizations, Organizations
Matching Questions
99. (p. 7) Match the field of behavioral science to the correct definition.
1. Sociology
2. Social
psychology
3. Anthropology
4. Political
science
5. Psychology
A science that attempts to study, explain and at times
modify behavior.
A behavioral science area that focuses on how
individuals influence each other.
The study of individuals and groups within a political
framework.
The study of societies in order to learn about values,
attitudes and the behavior of people within different
settings, cultures and countries.
The study of group behavior and how people relate to
each other.
5
2
4
3
1
Difficulty: Easy
100. (p. 7) Match the topic, model or technique to the field of behavioral science from which it
came.
1. Anthropology
2. Sociology
3. Social psychology
4. Psychology
5. Political science
Reward systems and individual difference analysis
Group processes and effectiveness
Empowerment and conflict resolution
Values and morals
Work teams, group development
Difficulty: Hard
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4
3
5
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Chapter 01 - The Study of Organizations, Organizations
101. (p. 14) Match the following levels of effectiveness to the underlying causes of the
effectiveness.
1. Individual effectiveness
2. Organizational effectiveness
3. Group effectiveness
4. Group effectiveness
5. Individual effectiveness
6. Group effectiveness
7. Organizational effectiveness
8. Group effectiveness
9. Group effectiveness
10. Organizational effectiveness
Knowledge
Ability
Cohesiveness
Norms
Structure
Roles
Status
Technology
Environment
Strategic choices
Difficulty: Hard
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1
1
3
3
3
3
3
2
2
2