Organizational MGMT121: Behavior L9 Fall 2010 Professor Prithviraj CHATTOPADHYAY Sample Midterm Version A Instructions * * * * * Choose the one BEST answer and mark it on the bubble sheet with a PENCIL. Write the version (A) of your exam paper on the top right hand corner of your bubble sheet. You must hand in BOTH the bubble sheet and the exam when you are done. No re-entrance once you leave the exam hall. You have 2 hours to complete the exam. Complete the following information:
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For the following multiple choice questions, choose the one answer that is the best answer to the question. (all questions weighted equally) 1. Which of the following statements is FALSE?
A: The workforce is becoming more diverse. B: Generation-X employees bring somewhat different values and needs to the workplace than those of baby boomers. C: Employment relationships are shifting towards the idea that companies must provide employees a high degree of job security, possibly even a job for life. D: Successful firms increasingly rely on values alignment rather than direct supervision to guide employee decisions and behavior. E: Information technologies are changing the way people perform their tasks and work with each other.
2. Which of these statements about globalization and organizational behavior is TRUE?
A: Globalization did not have any effects on organizational behavior. B: Organizational behavior researchers studied only large multinational companies as a result of globalization. C: Globalization has forced organizational behavior textbooks to study only companies with headquarters in North America. D: Contingencies of effective organizational behavior practices across various cultures are highlighted as a result of globalization. E: Both C and D are true. 3. According to the multiple levels of analysis anchor: A: organizational behavior is mainly the study of how all levels of the organizational hierarchy interact with the external environment. B: OB topics typically relate to the individual, team and organizational levels of analysis. C: there are eight levels of analysis that scholars should recognize when conducting OB research. D: organizational events can be studied from only one level of analysis. E: corporate executives need to understand business ethics from various levels and perspectives.
4. A computer maintenance company wants to capture the networks of people that employees know by creating a database where employees document their relationships to these individuals and their job titles. This practice tries to:
A: B: C: D: E: transform intellectual capital into knowledge management. transfer human capital into structural capital. prevent relationship capital from interfering with human capital. reduce the amount of relationship capital. transfer relationship capital into structural capital.
5. You have just hired several new employees who are motivated, able to perform their jobs, and have adequate resources. However, they arent sure what tasks are included in their job. According to the MARS model, these new employees will likely:
A: B: C: D: E: emphasize the utilitarianism principle in their decision making. have lower job performance due to poor role perceptions. have high job performance because they are motivated and able to perform the work. have above average organizational citizenship. have a high degree of differentiation according to Hollands classification of occupations.
6. Employees from cultures with a high power distance are more likely to:
A: B: C: D: E: use their existing power to gain more power. encourage consensus-oriented decision making. avoid people in positions of power. readily accept the high status of other people in the organization. give their power to others as a sign of friendship.
7. By observing Dr. K.C. Chan (Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury), we can observe his ___________. However, if we talk to him about an issue, for example, environmentalism, he will express to us his __________, which may or may not be the same. A: B: C: D: personal values; thought values enacted values; espoused values personal values; organizational values espoused values; enacted values
8. Senior executives at CyberForm must make a decision that will affect many people and where the decision may produce good or bad consequences for those affected. This decision:
A: B: C: D: E: has a high degree of ethical sensitivity. is one in which decision makers should rely only on the utilitarianism rule of ethics. has a low degree of ethical sensitivity. has a high degree of moral intensity. requires a low duty to care.
9. Most sales employees in the department stores in Hong Kong have frequent interaction with customers who differ in their cultural background. Which of the following personality characteristics is best suited to employees working in these jobs?
A: B: C: D: E: High extroversion. External locus of control. High introversion. High openness to experience. Both A and D.
10. According to the fundamental attribution error:
A: people seldom make attributions about their own behavior. B: the likelihood of making an error attributing the behavior of another person increases with your familiarity of that other person. C: we tend to believe that other people have the same beliefs and behaviors that we have. D: we tend to believe the behavior of other people is caused more by their motivation and ability than by factors beyond their control. E: we tend to believe that colleagues perform their jobs better than we perform our job.
11. Customers who submitted their films for processing at a drug store chain reported numerous errors. Jasmine, who owns these stores, discovered that the errors seemed to occur when a particular new employee operated the film-processing machine. The new employee claimed that the machine wasnt working properly, so Jasmine investigated further. She learned that these processing errors did not occur while other people operated the machine. Moreover, when the new employee worked one day at another store, the same film-processing errors occurred at that store. What perception will Jasmine likely develop from this information?
A: B: C: D: E: Jasmine will likely make an internal attribution about the new employees performance. Jasmine will likely make a self-fulfilling prophecy error. Jasmine will likely engage in splatter vision. Jasmine will likely change from a sensing-thinking type to an intuitive-feeling type. Jasmine will likely make an external attribution about the new employees performance.
For questions 12 consider the following scenario: When ABC Bank acquired a major investment firm, senior executives noticed hostilities forming between the financial analysts in the investment company and the banks marketing people who provide marketing expertise for the investment firms mutual funds and other investment vehicles. The marketing staff say that the finance types wouldnt know a customer if they stepped on one. They partly attribute this to the poor marketing expertise in the investment firm before ABC bought it. The finance types, many of whom have graduate degrees from top universities, privately complain that the marketing types dont have enough brainpower to turn on a light switch and that they are all con artists.
12. The social perception is influenced by three activities in the process of forming and maintaining our social identity which is clearly evident at ABC between the marketing and finance folks. They are: A: B: C: D: E: attribution, acceptance, and modification. perception, personality, and attitude. categorization, homogenization, and differentiation. fundamental attribution, self-serving attribution, and social identity. agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience.
13. Both Jane and Joey believe that their boss makes them stay late to complete work and assigned challenging workloads. Even though they have the same beliefs about their boss, Jane complains to higher management about her bosss behavior whereas Joey does not complain. According to the model of emotions, attitudes, and behavior, Jane and Joey probably engaged in different behavior toward their boss because:
A: they might have different feelings about their bosss characteristics. B: their unique experiences in the past have reinforced different behavior intentions. C: they experience different emotions regarding staying late for work and observing their bosss poor interpersonal skills. D: of all of the above. E: The model of emotions, attitudes, and behavior cannot explain why people with the same beliefs engage in different behaviors.
14. Shawna is dissatisfied with her boss for not supporting her work or recognizing her job performance. In spite of these problems, Shawna does not complain and does not intend to move elsewhere. Instead, she maintains her level of work effort and hopes the company will eventually correct these problems. According to the EVLN model, Shawna is mainly engaging in:
A: B: C: D: E: loyalty. voice. employability. exit. neglect.
15. Providing childcare support and offering employees flexible work hours have what effect on work-related stress?
A: B: C: D: E: They help employees to learn how to cope with the consequences of stress. They help employees to control the consequences of stress. They remove stressors from the workplace. All of the above. They have no known effect on work-related stress.
For questions 16-17 consider the following scenario: Two brothers, Bob and Bill, have been working for about eight years at B & B Equipments. Bob has always focused on the need for relative status and recognition in society. He drives a Lexus and also owns a Twin engine airplane. Bill, on the other hand, has been driven by social relationships and developing mutual caring commitments with others. When faced with danger, however, both develop a fight or flight response, in one protecting his assets and the other protecting his relationships. 16. According to the four-drive theory, which of the following describes Bobs drive?
A: B: C: D: E: Drive to acquire Physiological needs Drive to defend Drive to bond Drive to learn
17. Which drive in the four-drive theory is reactive rather than proactive?
A: B: C: D: E: Drive to acquire Drive to learn Drive to defend Drive to bond Drive for power
18. ABC Corp. introduced a training program that ensured everyone had the required knowledge and skills to perform the work. The company also brought in a performance-based reward system that accurately identified employees who performed better than others. These practices improve employee motivation by:
A: B: C: D: E: increasing employee needs. reducing feelings of inequity. improving E-to-P expectancies. improving P-to-O expectancies. both C and D.
19. The optimal level of goal difficulty:
A: B: C: D: E: occurs where the goal is challenging but not impossible. is the most challenging goal that the company can possibly imagine. occurs only when employees set their own goal. is the point at which the employee does not yet think the goal will stretch them at all. occurs only when both A and C exist.
20. To increase an employees feelings of experienced responsibility, we would:
A: B: C: D: E: increase the amount of job feedback in the persons job. reduce the amount of task identity and task significance in the persons job. increase the amount of task identity and task significance in the persons job. reduce the amount of skill variety in the persons job. increase the amount of autonomy in the persons job.
21. According to the authors of Organizational Behavior, organizational behavior knowledge:
A: B: C: D: E: should never be used to influence the behavior of other people. should be used mostly by managers and senior executives. should never replace your commonsense knowledge about how organizations work. is relevant to everyone who works in organizations. both A and B.
22. Which of the following would NOT be a contingent worker?
A: A full-time, permanent employee whose future promotions are contingent on good performance in the current job. B: An information systems professional contracted for a fixed time by the organization to implement a new computer network. C: Maintenance people who work for a maintenance service company and are assigned to a specific client. D: A nurse who is employed part-time by a hospital and works on-call that is, works only when called in. E: A salesperson hired by a department store only for the four weeks around Christmas.
23. Eastern University performs a daily computer search through newspaper articles to identify any articles about the university or its faculty members. University administrators use this information to receive feedback about how the public reacts to university activities. In knowledge management, searching for newspaper articles and other external writing is mainly a form of:
A: B: C: D: E: knowledge acquisition grafting organizational unlearning knowledge sharing documentation
For questions 24-25 consider the following scenario: As an owner and manager of Tricky Toys, Bob Baldwin has been fascinated by all the changes occurring and transforming the workplace. Bob is concerned about the important OB trends that he can understand and take advantage of in developing and positioning his company in the marketplace.
24. If Bob wants to introduce contingent work at Tricky Toys, he should know that contingent work is any job in which: A: the size of the employees paycheck is contingent on the number of units produced. B: the likelihood of long-term employment with the organization depends on the employees job performance. C: the individual does not have an explicit or implicit contract for long-term employment. D: the minimum hours of work can vary in a non-systematic way, such as on-call part-time employment. E: both C and D.
25. Bob has never liked the idea of telecommuting for employees of Tricky Toys. According to research, telecommuting offers all of these benefits EXCEPT: A: reduce employee stress. B: enhance employee recognition. C: improve job satisfaction. D: make employees feel more empowered. E: increase employee productivity.
26. To reduce the amount of non-recyclable waste that employees throw out each day, a major computer company removed containers for non-recyclable rubbish from each office and workstation. This altered employee behavior mainly by:
A: B: C: D: E: increasing employee motivation to be less wasteful. helping employees to learn how to be less wasteful. altering situational factors so that employees have more difficulty practicing wasteful behavior. increasing aptitudes that make employees less wasteful. increasing organizational citizenship so that employees will be less wasteful.
27. The chief executive of a start-up high-technology company recently made several public announcements about the companys values. She emphasized that, although the company is less than one year old, its employees already have adopted a strong set of values around sharing, freedom and achievement. However, you personally know two employees at the company who say that employees dont really have a common set of values, and they are certainly not unanimous about the three values stated by the CEO. The CEO is likely describing the companys:
A: B: C: D: E: espoused values. ethical values. professional values. organizational values. enacted values.
28. People with a high ______ value assertiveness, competitiveness, and materialism.
A: B: C: D: E: individualism collectivism power distance uncertainty avoidance achievement orientation
29. One problem with the utilitarian principle of ethical decision making is that:
A: B: C: D: E: not all utilitarian rights are protected by law. there is no agreement on what activities are the greatest benefit to the least well off. it is difficult to predict the trickle down benefits to the least well off in society. it is almost impossible to evaluate the benefits or costs of many decisions. the utilitarian principle is not really a valid ethical principle at all.
30. The process of stereotyping includes:
A: identifying with people who belong to the groups that you dont belong to. B: believing that other people have the same beliefs and behaviors that you have. C: determining whether a persons behavior is due either to his or her motivation or factors beyond his or her control. D: assigning the cluster of traits from a social category to a person identified with that social category. E: all of the above.
31. How might self-serving bias be observed in a corporate annual report?
A: The report would say more about the companys problems and less about its successes. B: The report would emphasize the role of competition, inflationary pressures and other external causes of problems in the organizations performance. C: The report would exclude any bad news about the organizations performance. D: The report would acknowledge that competition, the economy and other external factors should be credited for some of the companys recent success. E: The report would acknowledge some of managements mistakes, but suggest that management in other companies have been making the same mistakes.
32. The A-B-C model of behavior modification helps us to:
A: B: C: D: E: teach language skills to employees more effectively. determine which contingency of reinforcement is best in a particular situation. understand how experiential learning differs from social learning. determine which schedule of reinforcement is best in a particular situation. understand how environmental factors influence learning and behavior.
33. The difference between emotions and attitudes is comparable to the difference between:
A: B: C: D: E: eating something versus drinking something. experiencing something versus judging something. perceiving something versus behaving toward something. knowing about something versus doing something. there is no difference between emotions and attitudes; they are the same thing.
34. In the model of emotions, attitudes, and behavior, feelings are directly influenced by:
A: B: C: D: E: behavioral intentions. emotions. beliefs. all of the above. only B and C.
35. Inspiring others, managing conflict, and developing others capabilities are:
A: B: C: D: E: required in all psychological contracts. competencies representing the highest level of emotional intelligence. elements of the affect circumplex model. three of the main causes of continuance commitment. three categories in the exit-voice-loyalty-neglect (EVLN) model.
36. The video on smiling in Japan suggests that A: Smiling is part of the effect of globalization in Japan B: Smiling results in a positive effect associated with diverse teams in Japan C: Smiling is easy for Japanese D: Smiling is difficult for Japanese E: Both A & D
37. The process whereby people become increasingly motivated to fulfill a higher need as a lower need is satisfied is called:
A: B: C: D: E: P-to-O expectancy. satisfaction-progression. motivation. equity expectation. frustration-regression.
38. Employees who believe that accomplishing a particular task will almost certainly result in a day off with pay would have:
A: B: C: D: E: an E-to-P expectancy above 100. a P-to-O expectancy close to 1. an outcome valence above 0. an E-to-P expectancy close to minus 100. a P-to-O expectancy close to 100.
39. West Indies Yacht Club Resort employees needed to be shown how to do jobs by their expatriate managers rather than simply told what to do. This is an example of A: Behavioral modification B: Behavioral modeling C: Social learning D: Experiential learning E: Both B & C. 40. We identify with high status groups to A: Verify our self-concepts B: Enhance our self-concepts C: Enhance our status D: Both B & C E: None of the above
-End of Midterm-
Answer sheet 1. C 2. D 3. B 4. E 5. B 6. D 7. B 8. D 9. E 10. D 11. A 12. C 13. D 14. A 15. C 16. A 17. C 18. E 19. A 20. E 21. D 22. A 23. A 24. E 25. B 26. C 27. A 28. E 29. D 30. D 31. B 32. E 33. B 34. E 35. B 36. E 37. B 38. B 39. E 40. D