WGU C715 Organizational Behavior questions For OA_ Answered SEPT 2024.

WGU C715 Organizational Behavior questions For OA_ Answered SEPT 2024. 1. Esther Lugo has gone for an interview at an advertising firm in Manhattan and has been asked to complete a self-report survey to help interviewers understand if she is the right candidate for the job. From the interview, they have found that she is extroverted, empathic, scrupulous, and cooperative in nature, which are key characteristics needed for the job. These characteristics about Lugo indicate her ________. A) talent B) skill C) knowledge D) genealogy E) personality 2. Which of the following does the heredity approach state? A) An individual's personality is determined by the social background one is brought up in. B) An individual's personality is determined by molecular structure of the genes. C) An individual's personality is influenced by the economic settings he/she is surrounded by. D) A person's personality traits are created by the company he/she keeps i.e., his/her friends and family. E) A person's personality traits are largely influenced by global trends and characteristics. 3. Elaine Chamberlain works as a research executive at an environmental organization. Though her colleagues are helpful and friendly, because of her shy nature, she often eats her lunch at her desk and has limited interactions with them. She is glad that her nature of work does not require her to interact with her co-workers to a high extent. Which of the following types is Chamberlain most likely to be characterized as according to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) classification? A) social B) introverted C) exhibitionist D) gregarious E) extraverted 4. Which dimension of the Big Five model is a measure of reliability? A) extraversion B) agreeableness C) conscientiousness D) openness to experience E) emotional stability 5. Which of the following statements is true about people with positive core self-evaluations? A) They are committed to their goals and set ambitious goals. B) They view themselves as powerless over their environment. C) They tend to question their capabilities and capacities. D) They lack persistence to achieve goals. E) They tend to be disliked by superiors and co-workers. 6. Individuals scoring ________ have a strong ability to adjust their behavior to external, situational factors and can behave differently in different situations. A) low on openness B) high on narcissism C) low on agreeableness D) high on self-monitoring E) low on conscientiousness 7. Milton Rokeach created the Rokeach Value Survey (RVS), which consists of two sets of values, namely ________ values and ________ values. A) instrumental; terminal B) fluid; stable C) flexible; essential D) unique; general E) flexible; enduring 8. Which of the following is an instrumental value according to the Rokeach Value Survey? A) economic success B) social recognition C) personal discipline D) happiness E) meaning in life 9. ________ is the process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment. A) Sensation B) Impression C) Apprehension D) Attribution E) Perception 10. Alicia Akers works as a marketing executive. She always talks in a high pitch and often draws a lot of attention wherever she is. Which of the following statements best explains the reason behind people noticing Akers? A) Perception of reality depends on the perceiver's past experiences. B) Perception of reality depends on the perceiver's personality. C) Characteristics of the target affect people's perception. D) The time at which we observe behavior affects perception. E) Motives and interests of the perceiver affects perception of behavior. - 11. A manager doing performance appraisals gives more weight to recent employee behaviors than to behaviors of six or nine months earlier. This shows that the manager's perception is affected by ________ bias. A) self-serving B) availability C) impact D) distinction E) hindsight 12. Which of the following is an example of internally (intrinsically) caused behavior? A) An employee was late for a team meeting because of a heavy downpour. B) An employee was laid off because the company was attempting to cut costs by laying off employees. C) An employee was fired from work because he violated a company policy. D) An employee could not attend an interview because of a delayed flight. E) An employee could not come to work because he met with an accident. - 13. Janice Yoder works in an environmental campaigning organization and often needs to interact with a large team for project implementation activities. However, she always finds it difficult to work as a part of a team. She always seems to have major disagreements with team members which lead to antagonistic relations between them. Though she has moved from one team to another, her relations with colleagues always seem to be hostile and cold. How would the attribution theory describe this behavior? A) low on consensus B) high on reliability C) high on adaptability D) high on consistency E) high on distinctiveness 14. Johanna Springer, who works as a sales executive at Pascal's Bank, is upset at the way her manager, Emma Womack, always calls her in for one-on-one meetings to discuss her underperformance. Though Springer makes a higher number of sales calls and works longer hours than last year, her sales figures are still low. She knows that the main reason behind her underperformance is the recent economic meltdown in the country. However, her manager feels that Springer's underperformance is the result of her laid-back attitude and has nothing to do with external factors. In this situation, Womack's behavior is characterized by a(n) ________. A) anchoring bias B) contrast effect C) fundamental attribution error D) self-fulfilling prophecy E) Pygmalion effect 15. Jane Allen, a campaign manager at a non-profit organization, often takes full credit for project successes even when her team members' contributions play a big role in achieving milestones. However, when projects receive setbacks, she blames her team members and sometimes states that the situation was beyond her control. Allen's behavior is an example of ________ bias. A) impact B) anchoring C) confirmation D) distinction E) self-serving 16. You are more likely to notice a car like your own due to ________. A) stereotyping B) self-serving bias C) halo effect D) selective perception E) contrast effect 17. A process of making decisions by constructing simplified models that extract the essential features from problems without capturing all their complexity is known as ________. A) optimal decision making B) intuitive decision making C) bounded rationality D) rational decision making E) incremental decision making 18. Sarah Covington, a sales manager at Synergy Corporation Bank, often keeps low expectations of her team. She feels that they are underqualified for their job and do not have substantial experience to sell a large number of accounts. Covington's team does not feel motivated enough and invariably underperforms and misses targets on a regular basis. Which of the following concepts best explains Covington's team's poor performance? A) hindsight bias B) self-fulfilling prophecy C) confirmation bias D) contrast effect E) bandwagon effect 19. ________ is defined as the processes that account for an individual's intensity, direction, and persistence of effort toward attaining a goal. A) Leadership B) Management C) Learning D) Emotional labor E) Motivation 20. According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, which of the following is a lower level need? A) social-belongingness B) safety-security C) esteem D) self-actualization E) recognition 21. Which of the following is a motivational factor according to Herzberg's two-factor theory? A) quality of supervision B) recognition C) pay D) relationships with others E) company policies 22. Which of the following statements is true according to McClelland's theory of needs? A) People with a high achievement need prefer tasks that have a high level of risk. B) People with a high achievement need are interested in motivating others to do well. C) People with a high need for power and affiliation often make good managers in large firms. D) People with a high achievement need experience great satisfaction from success that comes by luck. E) People with a high need for power and a low need for affiliation often make the best managers. 23. Which of the following theories proposes that people prefer to feel they have control over their actions, so anything that makes a previously enjoyed task feel more like an obligation than a freely chosen activity will undermine motivation? A) self-serving theory B) motivation-hygiene theory C) two-factor theory D) self-determination theory E) goal setting theory 24. According to goal-setting theory, goals are more likely to have a stronger impact on performance when ________. A) goals are kept private B) where feedback on the tasks is not given C) when the individual has an external locus of control D) goals are easy rather than difficult E) goals are specific as opposed to general 25. ________ refers to an individual's belief that he or she is capable of performing a task. A) Emotional contagion B) Affect intensity C) Self-efficacy D) Self-determination E) Reinforcement 26. Which of the following ways of increasing self-efficacy is generally used by motivational speakers? A) arousal B) enactive mastery C) focused training D) vicarious modeling E) verbal persuasión 27. To get the best results while using reinforcement theory, rewards should be ________. A) small and given only once B) large and given at irregular intervals C) given prior to the desired behavior response D) given immediately following the desired behavior E) presented publicly with a large number of witnesses 28. In equity theory, individuals assess the ________. A) cost-benefit ratio B) efficiency-effectiveness trade-off C) quantity-quality trade-off D) outcome-input ratio E) quality of outcome 29. Oscar is looking for a new job. He used to be the company's top sales representative and was eagerly expecting to be promoted. However, one of the regional manager's friends was promoted to district manager instead. According to the expectancy theory, Oscar's dissatisfaction with his current job stems from a breakdown in the ________ relationship. A) performance-reward B) effort-performance C) reward-personal goal D) satisfaction-effort E) personal goal-self actualization 30. Which of the following is true regarding formal groups? A) They are natural formations that arise in response to the need for social contact. B) They lack clearly defined structures and roles for their members. C) They have negligible impact on employee performance and behavior. D) A group of people who come together to protest against a new law make up a formal group. E) They are marked by stipulated behaviors in pursuit of organizational goals. 31. Our tendency to take personal pride or offense for the accomplishments of a group we are a part of is the territory of the ________ theory. A) social exchange B) expectancy C) social identity D) reinforcement E) equity 32. Most people assume that police officers should behave in a lawful manner, refrain from demonstrating favoritism to any particular group, and do their best to uphold the law. Which of the following terms best represents these beliefs? A) diversity B) similarity C) role expectation D) uncertainty reduction E) dispersion of responsibility 33. Michael is devout and very active in his church. He is also a very dedicated employee. His manager offers him a promotion, but the new role will require him to work Sundays. Michael would like the promotion but realizes that it would force him to miss some church activities. In this situation, Michael is most likely to experience ________. A) role conflict B) social loafing C) groupthink D) role fuzziness E) groupshift 34. ________ refers to the adjustment of one's behavior to align with the norms of the group. A) Deviance B) Conflict C) Divergence D) Conformity E) Appearance 35. According to status characteristics theory, which of the following factors does not determine status? A) control over the resources needed by the group B) contribution to goals C) ability to conform to group norms D) personality E) talent 36. Which of the following is an effective means of countering social loafing? A) increasing the rewards the group is given if it succeeds B) increasing the amount by which the group's progress is monitored C) ensuring that individual contributions to the group's outcome are identified D) increasing the size of the group E) increasing the group's workload 37. ________ refers to the degree to which members are attracted to each other and motivated to stay in the group. A) Assertiveness B) Social dominance C) Authoritativeness D) Cohesiveness E) Diversity 38. When compared to individual decision making, group decision making has a disadvantage in the area of ________. A) diversity B) creativity C) acceptance of final solutions D) speed E) accuracy 39. Which of the following steps can be taken by a manager to minimize groupthink? A) increase the group size B) encourage group leaders to develop a stronger sense of group identity C) prevent all team members from engaging in a critical evaluation of ideas at the beginning D) ask the group members to first focus on the positives of an alternative rather than the negatives E) seek input from employees before the group leader presents his or her opinions 40. In discussing a given set of alternatives and arriving at a solution, group members tend to exaggerate the initial positions they hold. This phenomenon is called ________. A) social desirability bias B) groupshift C) halo effect D) social loafing E) ingroup favoritism 41. According to the traditional view of conflict, all conflict is ________. A) harmful and must be avoided B) natural and helps generate discussion C) necessary and improves creativity of a group D) healthy and improves productivity E) rational and cannot be avoided 42. Studies demonstrate that ________ conflicts are almost always ________. A) relationship; formal B) relationship; informal C) relationship; dysfunctional D) relationship; functional E) task; reactive 43. A party who seeks to appease an opponent may be willing to place the opponent's interests above his or her own, sacrificing to maintain the relationship. We refer to this conflict-handling intention as ________. A) collaborating B) avoiding C) compromising D) competing E) accommodating 44. Conflict is dysfunctional when it ________. A) provides a medium to release tension B) reduces group cohesiveness C) fosters an environment of self-evaluation D) provides a means for expressing frustration E) leads to change 45. What is the primary purpose of a workgroup? A) to generate positive synergy B) to improve collective performance C) to inculcate a climate of trust D) to share relevant information E) to enhance team efficacy - 46. A work team is characterized by ________. A) the goal of sharing information B) the presence of neutral to negative synergy C) the availability of complementary skills among members D) the individual accountability for outcomes and results E) the mere accumulation of individual efforts 47. A team consists of employees from the same department who meet for a few hours each week to discuss ways of improving the work environment, but they do not have the authority to unilaterally implement any of their suggestions. This is most likely to be a(n) ________ team. A) cross-functional B) virtual C) self-managed work D) problem-solving E) independent 48. Which of the following statements is true regarding self-managed work teams? A) Self-managed work teams typically consist of forty to fifty employees. B) Self-managed work teams typically manage conflicts well. C) Members of self-managed work teams typically report lower job satisfaction. D) Self-managed work teams are typically composed of employees from different departments who work independent of each other. E) In the case of self-managed work teams, supervisory positions take on decreased importance. 49. GoAir, a low-cost airline, has created a team made up of employees from production, planning, quality control, tooling, design engineering, and information systems to automate the company's C-17 program. This team is most likely to be an example of a ________ team. A) command B) cross-functional C) self-managed work D) problem-solving E) task 50. Which of the following types of teams allows for collaboration between team members who are physically dispersed? A) problem-solving teams B) self-managed work teams C) task teams D) virtual teams E) command teams 51. The team effectiveness model classifies the key components of effective teams into three general categories: context, composition, and process. Which of the following variables belongs to the composition category? A) adequate resources B) conflict level C) team efficacy D) performance evaluation system E) personality of team members 52. Which of the following statements is true regarding team composition? A) A team's performance is merely the summation of its individual members' abilities. B) High-ability teams find it hard to adapt to changing situations. C) Agreeableness is the only personality dimension that aids the ability to work in groups. D) In successful teams, members should be selected to ensure all the various roles are filled. E) A high-ability team will function well irrespective of the deficits in the abilities of the leader. 53. Which of the following is true with regard to the impact of diversity on team effectiveness? A) High levels of diversity among team members benefit the group immediately B) Diversity has no impact on team performance. C) Leadership has a negligible role to play in diverse teams because the members manage themselves autonomously. D) Elements of diversity are undesirable as they interfere with team processes in the long run. E) Cultural diversity serves as an asset for tasks that call for a variety of viewpoints once the team has worked out its differences.. 54. Which of the following statements represents a strategy that is desirable for making effective teams? A) Combining people with extremely high and extremely low abilities helps make a balanced team. B) Individuals should ideally have one role in a team as multiple roles reduce their effectiveness and efficiency. C) Diversity should be avoided as diverse teams involve a lot of conflict in day-to-day functioning. D) If a natural work unit is larger, its size must be maintained for the nature of the job requires large teams. E) The preference of individual members to work as a part of groups must be considered when forming teams. 55. Which of the following is not a common characteristic of an effective team? A) The team has adequate resources. B) The team has effective leadership. C) The team has a climate of trust. D) The team has a performance and evaluation system that reflects team contributions. E) The team is the right size for the task—about 15-20 people. 56. When individuals engage in ________, they coast on the group's effort because their particular contributions cannot be identified. A) task conflicts B) gainsharing C) retaliating D) process gains E) social loafing 57. A software development firm has witnessed substantial growth and seeks to expand and reorganize its structure to meet the demands from clients in a better manner. HR has been given a clear directive that one of the major criteria for selection of recruits would be the candidate's ability to function as a team player. This is because the company is revamping all its major functions from the traditional departmental model to an arrangement of flexible teams. Joe Sanchez, one of the firm's oldest and most experienced employees, has demonstrated considerable ability in developing the best programs, but he prefers to work alone. Which of the following strategies will help rectify this problem? A) encouraging the formation of more diverse teams B) informing C) increasing D) applying E) encouraging employees 58. Work should be performed by an individual if ________. A) the work is complex and requires different perspectives B) the work creates a common purpose or set of goals for the people in the group that is more than the aggregate of individual goals C) the work is simple and does not require diverse input D) several tasks that are interdependent are to be performed for completing the work E) performing the work requires learning a new technology or understanding a new system 59. The work of your group would be better done in teams if the members of the team are ________. A) independent B) autonomous C) individualistic D) interdependent E) reflexive 60. Which of the following statements is true regarding an organization's culture? A) Organizational culture is evaluative rather than descriptive. B) Large organizations rarely have subcultures. C) A dominant culture expresses the core values shared by a majority of the organization's members. D) A strong culture reduces employee satisfaction and increases employee turnover. E) Subcultures and dominant cultures do not share any common values. - 61. A culture that expresses the core values that are shared by a majority of the organization's members is known as a(n) ________ culture. A) dominant B) primary C) fundamental D) unique E) subculture 62. When formal authority and control systems are reduced, the ________ provided by a strong culture ensure(s) that everyone is pointed in the same direction. A) rules and regulations B) shared meaning C) rituals D) socialization E) rigid hierarchy 63. ________ refers to the shared perceptions organizational members have about their organization and work environment. A) Organizational climate B) Institutionalization C) Microcosm D) Groupthink E) Organizational apprehension 64. Culture is most likely to be a liability when ________. A) the employees of the organization are highly skilled B) the organization's environment is dynamic C) the organization's management is highly efficient D) the organization is highly centralized E) the organization scores low on the degree of formalization 65. The ultimate source of an organization's culture is ________. A) its top management B) its environment C) the country in which the organization operates D) its founders E) the sociocultural backgrounds of its employees 66. The process of socialization consists of three stages. Which of the following is one of these three stages? A) metamorphosis B) pre-encounter C) evaluation D) post-arrival E) post-encounter 67. When you begin to notice things that are not as you expected, you are in the ________ stage of socialization. A) orientation B) prearrival C) encounter D) metamorphosis E) post-arrival 68. ________ typically contain narratives about the organization's founders, rule breaking, and reactions to past mistakes. A) Stories B) Material symbols C) Rituals D) Organizational charts E) Corporate chants 69. A positive organizational culture emphasizes ________. A) the use of negative reinforcement and punishment B) the use of rituals in transmitting organizational culture C) individual vitality and growth D) the significance of highly centralized management E) organizational standardization and institutionalization 70. Organizations that promote a spiritual culture ________. A) use stories for transmitting the organizational culture to the employees B) use wide spans of control C) recognize that people seek to find meaning and purpose in their work D) de-emphasize community differences within the organization E) tend to downplay the importance of employee satisfaction 71. Which of the following Big Five personality traits has been identified as the most important trait in effective leaders? A) conscientiousness B) openness C) extraversion D) agreeableness E) emotional stability 72. Nellie Fritz, the head of client support services at Olson Inc., is very popular among her subordinates. Many believe that Nellie has a knack for getting the work done without making the employees feel pushed into a corner. She is often seen speaking to her subordinates and support staff about their families, helping them with any personal problems they have, and praising employees for their good work. In light of the Ohio State Studies, this indicates that Nellie, as a leader, is ________. A) task oriented B) high in consideration C) low in trust propensity D) low in relationship orientation E) production oriented 73. According to the Fiedler contingency model, high managerial control is characterized by ________. A) high task structure, good leader-member relations, and strong position power B) limited position power, good leader-member relations, and low task structure C) less structured jobs, strong position power, and moderate leader-member relations D) broad employee responsibilities, low position power, and moderate leader-member relations E) good leader-member relations, low position power, unstructured jobs - 74. According to the LMX (leader member exchange) theory, a leader implicitly categorizes followers as "in" or "out" ________. A) after careful performance analysis B) on a temporary basis C) early in the interaction D) because of political pressure E) only after several months of working together - 75. Which theory of leadership proposes that followers attribute heroic or extraordinary leadership abilities when they observe certain behaviors? A) situational leadership theory B) path-goal leadership theory C) transactional leadership theory D) behavioral leadership theory E) charismatic leadership theory 76. A transactional leader is likely to ________. A) reward employees for the work that they have done, thus recognizing accomplishments B) help followers trust the leader and develop a loyalty toward the common vision C) stimulate others in the organization to become thinkers of what the organization is all about D) pay attention to the emotional needs of others and consider individual differences E) avoid authoritarian, command, and control behaviors when dealing with employees 77. ________ leaders inspire followers to transcend their self-interests for the good of the organization and can have an extraordinary effect on their followers. A) Transformational B) Transactional C) Task-oriented D) Laissez-faire E) Production-oriented 78. In terms of the full range of leadership models, which leadership behavior is the least effective? A) management by exception (active) B) contingent reward C) management by exception (passive) D) individualized consideration E) laissez-faire 79. The primary quality produced by authentic leadership is ________. A) efficiency B) reinforcement C) supervision D) trust E) authority 80. According to the attribution theory of leadership, a person aiming to be a leader has to ________. A) gain sufficient experience to be a leader B) possess qualities like charisma and intelligence C) make changes on ground before leading people D) possess many significant actual accomplishments E) shape the perception that he or she could be a leader 81. The top management of Myers Corp are planning a reorganization of their company to cut costs and increase efficiency. The different department heads have been asked to present their departmental strengths, needs, and concerns at a meeting. The various division heads have come to an agreement that clarity of goals and tasks, detailed procedural guidelines like employee manuals, and a cooperative workforce are their main strengths. Additionally, they are of the opinion that cutting managerial positions to reduce costs and reorganizing Myers Corp as a relatively flat organization is a good approach. This scenario reflects the operation of ________ in replacing the support and ability offered by leaders. A) vision B) traits C) attributes D) substitutes E) charisma 82. Which of the following is a neutralizer of leadership? A) indifference to rewards B) experience and training C) explicit formalized rules D) cohesive work groups E) highly structured task 83. Lionel Tucker has been asked to lead a virtual team on a project with a tight time schedule. While allocating the project to him, his manager impressed upon him the need to complete this project successfully and in time so that this client gains enough confidence to use their services in the future. Lionel and his team communicate via e-mail as the team members are located at geographically dispersed locations. They have not had even one face-to-face meeting as yet. In this case, Lionel must have an ability to ________ in addition to all the other desirable abilities of a leader to lead the team successfully. A) generate charisma to inspire the team B) abdicate all responsibility to the members of the team C) micromanage his team members till project completion D) avoid making any decisions for the team E) convey support and trust through electronic means 84. Ellen Ortiz works as a sales manager at a telecom firm. The company has recently launched a new product in the market. Her work in the next few weeks involves sharing knowledge about the product with her team members. She will also need to inspire them to reach their sales targets and clarify any doubts about the new product. Which of the following roles is Ortiz playing? A) leader B) liaison C) disseminator D) spokesperson E) negotiator - 85. Which of the following terms refers to the actions that actively damage the organization, including stealing, behaving aggressively toward co-workers, and being late or absent? A) citizenship B) counterproductivity C) task orientation D) satisficing E) groupthink 86. Performance evaluations are used to ________. A) improve group cohesiveness B) define departmental structure C) help management make HR decisions D) identify how jobs are completed E) decrease conformity within organizations 87. The approach to evaluation that uses feedback from those who have daily contact with an employee (everyone from mailroom personnel to customers to bosses to peers) is termed ________. A) critical incidents B) 360-degree evaluation C) assessment center D) multiperson comparisons E) downward evaluation 88. Which approach to performance evaluation rank-orders employees from best to worst? A) individual ranking B) group order ranking C) paired comparison D) straight ranking E) associative ranking - 89. Political behaviors usually ________. A) lie outside of an individual's specified job requirements B) are counterproductive to individual goals C) are seen only in large organizations D) are sanctioned by organizational leaders E) are expected as part of each job requirement 90. Power is a function of ________. A) goal congruency B) realization C) inheritance D) dependence E) altruism