ABA, A CLEAN CUT OF LEADERSHIP COMPREHENSIVE PRACTICE
2026/2027 EDITION
Leadership Theories and Practice — Leadership Styles, Organizational Behavior, Ethical Leadership, and Applied
Case Analysis
Course: LDR 320T (University of Phoenix) | Week 4 Apply: ABA, A Clean Cut of Leadership | Format: 50 Multiple-Choice
Questions (4 options, one best answer) | Suggested Time: 75 Minutes
PRACTICE EXAMINATION INSTRUCTIONS
1. This comprehensive practice set contains 50 questions in five sections: Leadership Styles & Approaches
(Q1–Q10); Organizational Behavior & Leadership (Q11–Q20); Ethical Leadership & Decision-Making (Q21–Q30);
Applied Leadership Case – ABA, A Clean Cut of Leadership (Q31–Q40); and Integrated Leadership Applications
(Q41–Q50).
2. Each question has four options (A–D) with exactly one correct answer. Select the single best response.
3. In this study edition, the correct option is marked [CORRECT], and the answer with a full rationale appears
immediately below each question for self-assessment. Applied-case items are self-contained: all case facts needed
to answer appear within each question stem.
4. Cognitive coverage: 30% recall, 50% application, 20% analysis — approximately 75% of items are
scenario-based leadership situations.
Independently prepared study material aligned to the LDR 320T Week 4 topic area. This is a practice set and is not an official University of
Phoenix assignment or exam paper.
Section 1: Leadership Styles & Approaches - Transformational, Transactional, Servant,
Situational (10 Questions)
Q1. Which set of behaviors best characterizes transformational leadership?
A. Monitoring results closely and rewarding each unit of output against a set quota.
B. Maintaining distance from followers so authority stays unambiguous.
C. Letting subordinates set their own goals without direction or feedback.
D. Articulating a compelling vision, acting as a role model, challenging followers to grow, and
attending to each individual's developmental needs. [CORRECT]
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: Transformational leadership comprises idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual
stimulation, and individualized consideration - raising followers to perform beyond expectations. Quota-and-reward
monitoring is transactional, and distance or abdication describes neither style.
LDR 320T | Week 4 Apply: ABA, A Clean Cut of Leadership | 2026/2027 Edition Page 1 of 17
, Q2. A supervisor tells her crew: "Finish the inventory count accurately by six and the team gets a bonus; miss
it and the overtime request is denied." This exchange is an example of:
A. Transactional leadership - contingent reward and management by exception. [CORRECT]
B. Transformational leadership through inspirational motivation.
C. Servant leadership through empowerment.
D. Situational leadership through delegating.
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: Transactional leadership motivates through explicit exchanges - rewards and penalties tied to
performance - which is precisely the supervisor's offer. No vision, service, or developmental-matching element is
present in the exchange.
Q3. Which question would a servant leader most naturally ask first when taking over a struggling team?
A. "How do I make these people follow my plan?"
B. "What do my people need in order to grow and do their best work, and how can I remove what
stands in their way?" [CORRECT]
C. "Which metrics will prove my value to senior management?"
D. "Who can be replaced most cheaply?"
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Servant leadership inverts the pyramid: the leader's first question is what the team needs to flourish,
with the leader's success measured by follower growth. The other questions center the leader's control, image, or
cost logic instead.
Q4. In Hersey and Blanchard's situational leadership, a leader provides specific instructions and close
supervision for a team member who is enthusiastic but new and unskilled at the task. Which style is being
used, and for which development level?
A. Delegating, for the high-competence, high-commitment follower.
B. Supporting, for the moderately competent follower who lacks confidence.
C. Directing (telling), for the low-competence but high-commitment beginner. [CORRECT]
D. Coaching, for someone who has both the skill and the will to perform.
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Situational leadership matches style to follower development: an eager beginner (D1) needs directing -
clear instruction and close supervision - while supporting suits the hesitant-but-able, and delegating suits the
able-and-willing expert.
Q5. A project director uses a completely hands-off style with her senior analysts, a coaching style with
mid-level staff, and explicit checklists for new hires. What is she practicing?
A. A single preferred leadership style applied inconsistently.
B. Pure transactional leadership.
C. Laissez-faire leadership by default.
D. Situational leadership - adapting style to the competence and commitment of each
follower. [CORRECT]
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: Varying directive and supportive behavior to match follower readiness is the core of situational
leadership. Far from inconsistency, the adaptation is the method itself; transactional exchange and laissez-faire
absence describe different practices.
LDR 320T | Week 4 Apply: ABA, A Clean Cut of Leadership | 2026/2027 Edition Page 2 of 17
, Q6. Which statement about the relationship between transformational and transactional leadership is most
accurate?
A. They are not mutually exclusive - effective leaders often build a transactional base of clear
expectations and rewards while adding transformational behaviors that elevate motivation
beyond the exchange. [CORRECT]
B. The two styles are opposites, and a leader must permanently choose one.
C. Research shows transformational leadership is always superior in every situation, without exception.
D. Transactional leadership is an unethical practice that should be eliminated.
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: The evidence positions the styles as complementary layers: transactional clarity provides the floor, and
transformational behavior raises performance and commitment above it. Neither exclusivity nor unconditional
superiority is supported, and contingent reward is a legitimate, ethical practice.
Q7. A CEO is described as trusted, admired, and emulated - employees say they "would not want to let her
down." In the full range of leadership model, this reflects:
A. Management by exception - correcting deviations from standards.
B. Laissez-faire leadership - the absence of leadership.
C. Idealized influence - the charismatic, ethical role-modeling dimension of transformational
leadership. [CORRECT]
D. Individualized consideration - attending to each follower's needs.
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Being a referent figure whom followers admire and emulate is idealized influence (charisma with
ethics). Management by exception and laissez-faire are the passive end of the model, and individualized
consideration describes developmental attention, not role modeling.
Q8. A manager encourages his software team to question long-standing design assumptions and rethinks "the
way we've always done it." Which transformational dimension is he expressing?
A. Inspirational motivation.
B. Intellectual stimulation. [CORRECT]
C. Contingent reward.
D. Idealized influence.
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Challenging assumptions and inviting creative problem-solving is intellectual stimulation. Inspirational
motivation is the compelling vision, idealized influence is role modeling, and contingent reward belongs to
transactional leadership.
LDR 320T | Week 4 Apply: ABA, A Clean Cut of Leadership | 2026/2027 Edition Page 3 of 17