BMAL-590 ORGANIZATIONAL
BEHAVIOR EXAM QUESTIONS WITH
CORRECT SOLUTIONS
Contemporary approaches emphasize humility, modesty, and the ability to place the
organization ahead of oneself.
Leadership and Management - Answer- The primary focus of leadership is on the future
- an aspiration to be something at a certain point in time - and the tools required to
achieve that state - innovation, creativity, adaptation, agility, and change.
The primary focus of management is on the present - problem solving, decision making,
structures and mechanisms - how to maintain stability.
The two concepts are complementary. Ideally, leaders should know how to manage and
managers should know how to lead.
The importance of leadership is due to its profound influence to shape individual and
group behavior.
Leaders and Manager qualities: - Answer- Leader:
- Creates
- Inspires
- Courageous
- Imagines
- Experiments
- Initiates change
- Personal Power
Manager:
- Rational
- Persists
- Solves
- Analytical
- Structured
- Stabilizes
- Position Power
Leadership Theories - Answer- Traits
- drive, honesty and integrity, self-confidence, intelligence, and knowledge (traits are
supposed to differentiate leadersfrom non-leaders).
,Behaviors
- two-dimensional models: Ohio State, Blake and Mouton's Leadership Grid, Michigan
Studies.
Contingency
- Fiedler (traits), Hersey and Blanchard (behaviors).
Classical Leadership Theories - Answer- Early trait theories tried to explain leadership
in terms of certain personal characteristics.
The great man approach studied leaders who had achieved greatness and attempted to
determine what made them great and extrapolated the model to explore people with
similar traits.
The physical, social, and personality-oriented traits were posited as universal and
applicable to any situation. Thus, stamina, energy, education, mobility, decisiveness,
judgment, knowledge, and intelligence were considered universal traits of leaders.
Limitation: Traits may indicate potential. They do not guarantee success.
Ohio State model looked at leader behavior along two dimensions: - Answer- initiating
Structure
referred to behavior aimed at accomplishing tasks - directing, controlling, emphasizing
timelines.
Consideration referred to behavior towards people - being mindful, establishing trust,
having open communication, and nurturing teamwork.
The 2 x 2 model gives rise to four quadrants of behavior.
Blake and Mouton's leadership grid also looked at two dimensions: - Answer- Concern
for results (similar to task) and Concern for people.
Specific names were given to the leadership styles. For instance, a high concern for
people along with a high concern for results is called Team Management.
Besides the four extremes, a middle-of-the-road category was included to suggest that
one could be "average" along both dimensions.
Michigan Studies placed leadership on a continuum - Answer- with job-centered
leadersat one end and employee-centered leaders at the other.
These two were considered either / or. In other words, the model argued that a leader
could not be both job-centered and employee-centered.
Today, we know that the either / or proposition is not valid.
,Fiedler's Contingency Model - Answer- identified situational variables - leader-member
relations, task structure, and position power - and tried to posit traits or styles
appropriate for each.
Thus, we see that no style is appropriate for all situations.
A task-oriented style works well in octants 1, 6, 7, and 8.
A relation-oriented styleworks well in octants 2, 3, 4, and 5.
Hersey and Blanchard's situational leadership model - Answer- looks at situational
variables as the followers' readiness / maturity being due to ability and willingness.
Leader's behavior is termed as task behavior (high or low) and relationship behavior
(high or low).
The corresponding styles correspond to telling, selling, participating, and delegating.
Contemporary Approaches - Answer- Transactional leader
- articulates subordinates' roles and responsibilities, develops an appropriate structure,
designs a reward and punishment system, displays empathy and consideration for
subordinates. This is an extension of having a high task orientation with a medium
people orientation.
Charismatic leader
- one whose personality motivates and inspires subordinates to perform beyond
expectations.
Visionary leader
- one who imagines a bright future and creates a passion among followers to work for
that dream future.
Transformational leader
- characterized by the twin qualities of creativity (innovation) and change (adaptation
and agility) and is able to inspire followers without coercion or force.
Servant leader
- a leader who perceives leadership as an opportunity to serve - not to be served; a
servant leader fulfills subordinates' aspirations and in the process also realizes the
organization's mission.
Level 5 leader
- builds enduring greatness through a paradoxical blend of personal humility and
professional resolve. (Jim Collins).
, Interactive leader
- focused on consensus-building, open and inclusive, encourages participation.
Authentic leader
- authenticity is the ultimate test of a leader. An authentic leader is genuine (does not
put on an act), ethical, highly people-oriented, committed to the organizational mission
and vision, and exhibits a high level of emotional intelligence.
Leaders need to understand and recognize their: - Answer- Preferred style.
Followers
Mission to be accomplished.
Environment in which the organization operates.
Next, leaders need to fit their style to meet the requirements of the followers, the
mission, and the environment.
Leaders need to constantly enhance their expert and referent powers.
Leaders need to look at the future with hope and optimism, and inspire followers to do
the same.
Leadership Substitutes and Neutralizers - Answer- Substitutes - organizational,
functional, or individual characteristics that outweigh the leader's ability to affect
subordinates' performance and satisfaction.
For example, when individuals, due to a combination of upbringing, values, education,
and experience are professional, self-motivated, and are indifferent to rewards, the
leader's ability to affect their performance is redundant.
Similarly when the tasks involve highly automated or structured routines (software
testing), are intrinsically satisfying (designing new products), or those that have
embedded feedback systems (artificial intelligence, machine learning) the leader's role
is marginalized.
Neutralizers are factors that render ineffective a leader's ability to display a variety of
leadership behaviors.
A young leader asked to lead a team of highly experienced professionals may be
rendered ineffective either because the team is already achieving superior performance
or because the team may decide to turn in the minimum acceptable level of
performance and the leader may be powerless to do anything.
Similarly, a person who is used to performance-linked incentives may find the method
completely useless when confronted with a strong union used to negotiations and
bargaining.
BEHAVIOR EXAM QUESTIONS WITH
CORRECT SOLUTIONS
Contemporary approaches emphasize humility, modesty, and the ability to place the
organization ahead of oneself.
Leadership and Management - Answer- The primary focus of leadership is on the future
- an aspiration to be something at a certain point in time - and the tools required to
achieve that state - innovation, creativity, adaptation, agility, and change.
The primary focus of management is on the present - problem solving, decision making,
structures and mechanisms - how to maintain stability.
The two concepts are complementary. Ideally, leaders should know how to manage and
managers should know how to lead.
The importance of leadership is due to its profound influence to shape individual and
group behavior.
Leaders and Manager qualities: - Answer- Leader:
- Creates
- Inspires
- Courageous
- Imagines
- Experiments
- Initiates change
- Personal Power
Manager:
- Rational
- Persists
- Solves
- Analytical
- Structured
- Stabilizes
- Position Power
Leadership Theories - Answer- Traits
- drive, honesty and integrity, self-confidence, intelligence, and knowledge (traits are
supposed to differentiate leadersfrom non-leaders).
,Behaviors
- two-dimensional models: Ohio State, Blake and Mouton's Leadership Grid, Michigan
Studies.
Contingency
- Fiedler (traits), Hersey and Blanchard (behaviors).
Classical Leadership Theories - Answer- Early trait theories tried to explain leadership
in terms of certain personal characteristics.
The great man approach studied leaders who had achieved greatness and attempted to
determine what made them great and extrapolated the model to explore people with
similar traits.
The physical, social, and personality-oriented traits were posited as universal and
applicable to any situation. Thus, stamina, energy, education, mobility, decisiveness,
judgment, knowledge, and intelligence were considered universal traits of leaders.
Limitation: Traits may indicate potential. They do not guarantee success.
Ohio State model looked at leader behavior along two dimensions: - Answer- initiating
Structure
referred to behavior aimed at accomplishing tasks - directing, controlling, emphasizing
timelines.
Consideration referred to behavior towards people - being mindful, establishing trust,
having open communication, and nurturing teamwork.
The 2 x 2 model gives rise to four quadrants of behavior.
Blake and Mouton's leadership grid also looked at two dimensions: - Answer- Concern
for results (similar to task) and Concern for people.
Specific names were given to the leadership styles. For instance, a high concern for
people along with a high concern for results is called Team Management.
Besides the four extremes, a middle-of-the-road category was included to suggest that
one could be "average" along both dimensions.
Michigan Studies placed leadership on a continuum - Answer- with job-centered
leadersat one end and employee-centered leaders at the other.
These two were considered either / or. In other words, the model argued that a leader
could not be both job-centered and employee-centered.
Today, we know that the either / or proposition is not valid.
,Fiedler's Contingency Model - Answer- identified situational variables - leader-member
relations, task structure, and position power - and tried to posit traits or styles
appropriate for each.
Thus, we see that no style is appropriate for all situations.
A task-oriented style works well in octants 1, 6, 7, and 8.
A relation-oriented styleworks well in octants 2, 3, 4, and 5.
Hersey and Blanchard's situational leadership model - Answer- looks at situational
variables as the followers' readiness / maturity being due to ability and willingness.
Leader's behavior is termed as task behavior (high or low) and relationship behavior
(high or low).
The corresponding styles correspond to telling, selling, participating, and delegating.
Contemporary Approaches - Answer- Transactional leader
- articulates subordinates' roles and responsibilities, develops an appropriate structure,
designs a reward and punishment system, displays empathy and consideration for
subordinates. This is an extension of having a high task orientation with a medium
people orientation.
Charismatic leader
- one whose personality motivates and inspires subordinates to perform beyond
expectations.
Visionary leader
- one who imagines a bright future and creates a passion among followers to work for
that dream future.
Transformational leader
- characterized by the twin qualities of creativity (innovation) and change (adaptation
and agility) and is able to inspire followers without coercion or force.
Servant leader
- a leader who perceives leadership as an opportunity to serve - not to be served; a
servant leader fulfills subordinates' aspirations and in the process also realizes the
organization's mission.
Level 5 leader
- builds enduring greatness through a paradoxical blend of personal humility and
professional resolve. (Jim Collins).
, Interactive leader
- focused on consensus-building, open and inclusive, encourages participation.
Authentic leader
- authenticity is the ultimate test of a leader. An authentic leader is genuine (does not
put on an act), ethical, highly people-oriented, committed to the organizational mission
and vision, and exhibits a high level of emotional intelligence.
Leaders need to understand and recognize their: - Answer- Preferred style.
Followers
Mission to be accomplished.
Environment in which the organization operates.
Next, leaders need to fit their style to meet the requirements of the followers, the
mission, and the environment.
Leaders need to constantly enhance their expert and referent powers.
Leaders need to look at the future with hope and optimism, and inspire followers to do
the same.
Leadership Substitutes and Neutralizers - Answer- Substitutes - organizational,
functional, or individual characteristics that outweigh the leader's ability to affect
subordinates' performance and satisfaction.
For example, when individuals, due to a combination of upbringing, values, education,
and experience are professional, self-motivated, and are indifferent to rewards, the
leader's ability to affect their performance is redundant.
Similarly when the tasks involve highly automated or structured routines (software
testing), are intrinsically satisfying (designing new products), or those that have
embedded feedback systems (artificial intelligence, machine learning) the leader's role
is marginalized.
Neutralizers are factors that render ineffective a leader's ability to display a variety of
leadership behaviors.
A young leader asked to lead a team of highly experienced professionals may be
rendered ineffective either because the team is already achieving superior performance
or because the team may decide to turn in the minimum acceptable level of
performance and the leader may be powerless to do anything.
Similarly, a person who is used to performance-linked incentives may find the method
completely useless when confronted with a strong union used to negotiations and
bargaining.
