Test bank for organizational behavior 14th edition

Test Bank for Organizational Behavior 14th Edition
Test Bank for Organizational Behavior 14th Edition by
Newstrom Multiple Choice Questions
Which of the following statements is a fundamental element of the
systems approach to organizational behavior?
1.

A) Systems generally require inputs and produce outputs.

2.

B) Systems produce both intended and unintended consequences.

3.

4.

C) The consequences of systems should be examined on both a short-term and
long-term basis.
D) All of the above.

When an organization’s goals and actions are ethical, _____ objectives are
more likely to be met.
1.

A) individual

2.

B) organizational

3.

C) social

4.

D) all of the above

Which of the following challenges confronting organizational behavior
addresses the issues of shrinking demand, scarce resources, and more
intense competition?
1.

A) Varying environments

2.

B) Managerial practice

3.

C) Definitional confusion

4.

D) Seeking quick fixes


A cost-benefit analysis:
1.

A) determines whether potential actions will have a net positive or net negative
effect.

2.

B) forces managers to merely look at the immediate implications of their actions.

3.

C) is done to arrive at a point where costs and revenues become equal.

4.

D) is a statistical process that helps determine relationships among several
variables.

_____ means that people tend to pay attention to those features of their
work environment that are consistent with or reinforce their own
expectations.
1.

A) Selective perception

2.

B) Bandwagon effect

3.

C) Subjective validation

4.

D) Behavioral bias

_____ asks managers to set aside some of the things they think they know
and become totally committed to a rigorous collection of facts and
combine these with relevant research.
1.

A) Evidence-based management

2.

B) Selective perception

3.

C) Law of individual differences

4.

D) Cost-benefit analysis

According to the _____, all parts of an organization interact in a complex
relationship.
1.

A) systems approach

2.

B) results-oriented approach

3.

C) human resources approach

4.

D) contingency approach

Which of the following statements is true of the external environment?
1.

A) It provides competition for resources and power.

2.

B) It influences the attitudes of people.

3.

C) It affects working conditions.

4.

D) All of the above.

Holistic organizational behavior interprets people-organizational
relationships in terms of the _____.
1.

A) whole person

2.

B) whole group

3.

C) whole social system

4.

D) all of the above

Which of the following terms represents a continuing challenge to
organizational behavior and talks about managers embracing the newest
fad to address the symptoms while neglecting underlying problems, or
fragmenting their efforts within the firm?
1.

A) Varying environment

2.

B) Managerial practice

3.

C) Definitional confusion

4.

D) Seeking quick fixes


Organizations need people, and people need organizations. This
relationship is formed and maintained on the basis of some _____ among
the participants.
1.

A) selective perceptions

2.

B) individual differences

3.

C) mutuality of interest

4.

D) behavioral biases

Which of the following concepts regarding the nature of people deals with

people’s unique ways of seeing and interpreting things around them?
1.

A) Acculturation

2.

B) Motivated behavior

3.

C) Desire for involvement

4.

D) Perception

_____ is the process of gathering and interpreting relevant evidence that
will either support a behavioral theory or help change it.
1.

A) Selective perception

2.

B) Documentation

3.

C) Research

4.

D) Testing

Which of the following concepts implies that for any situation there is an
optimum amount of a desirable practice, such as recognition or
participation?
1.

A) Focalism


2.

B) Behavioral bias

3.

C) The law of diminishing returns

4.

D) The law of individual differences

The first objective of organizational behavior is to:
1.

A) understand why people behave as they do.

2.

B) predict future employee behavior.

3.

C) describe, systematically, how people behave under a variety of conditions.

4.

D) control, at least partially, and develop some human activity at work.

The _____ can help managers know under what conditions they should
choose one behavioral approach over another.
1.

A) human resources approach

2.

B) contingency approach

3.

C) results-oriented approach

4.

D) systems approach

_____ defines the formal relationship and use of people in organizations.
1.

A) Scheme

2.

B) Structure

3.

C) Hierarchy

4.

D) Both A and C

The two basic ways for management to motivate people include:
1.
2.

A) showing how certain actions will increase their need fulfillment.
B) threatening decreased need fulfillment if they follow an undesirable course of
action.


3.

C) ensuring needs are being fulfilled regardless of organizational constraints.

4.

D) A and B only.

When organizations _____, stress and conflict increase.
1.

A) stagnate

2.

B) decline

3.

C) have their survival threatened

4.

D) all of the above

Which of the following statements is NOT true about good theories?
1.

A) They contribute to individuals’ understanding of organizational behavior.

2.

B) They seldom identify variables.

3.

C) They provide guidelines for managerial action.

4.

D) They address significant behavioral issues.

Which of the following is NOT a fundamental element of the systems
approach to organizational behavior?
1.

A) The parts of a system are independent of each other.

2.

B) There are many subsystems contained within larger systems.

3.

C) Systems may produce both positive and negative results.

4.

D) The consequences of systems should be examined on both a short-term and
long-term basis.

Which of the following statements is true of the human resources
approach to organizational behavior?
1.

A) It assumes that different managerial behaviors are required by different
environments for effectiveness.


2.

B) It ensures that management is directive and controlling.

3.

C) It requires managers to decide what should be done and then closely control
employees to ensure task performance.

4.

D) It tries to create a climate in which employees may contribute to the limits of
their improved abilities.

The interaction of motivation and ability determines a person’s _____ in
any activity.
1.

A) knowledge

2.

B) skill

3.

C) potential performance

4.

D) all of the above

Knowledge × skill = _____.
1.

A) ability

2.

B) motivation

3.

C) potential human performance

4.

D) organizational results

Which of the following limitations of organizational behavior states that
concern for employees can be so greatly overdone that the original
purpose of bringing people together—productive organizational outputs
for society—is lost?
1.

A) Behavioral targeting

2.

B) Behavioral bias

3.

C) Law of diminishing returns

4.

D) Law of individual differences


Theory and research form a natural foundation for _____, which is the
conscious application of conceptual models and research results in order
to improve individual and organizational performance at work.
1.

A) speculation

2.

B) morale

3.

C) attitude

4.

D) practice

The _____ toward organizational behavior means that different situations
require different behavioral practices for greatest effectiveness.
1.

A) human resources approach

2.

B) contingency approach

3.

C) results-oriented approach

4.

D) systems approach

_____ is the capacity of a system to endure across time and this presents
a difficult challenge to organizations, which must balance environmental,
social, and economic demands.
1.

A) Flexibility

2.

B) Sustainability

3.

C) Contingency

4.

D) Productivity

The potential for human performance has to be combined with _____ and
opportunity to get organizational results.
1.

A) resources


2.

B) behavior

3.

C) ability

4.

D) perception

_____ helps us better understand how the major ideas in organizational
behavior evolved over time.
1.

A) Selective perception

2.

B) Research

3.

C) Practice

4.

D) None of the above

20 Free Test Bank for Organizational Behavior 14th
Edition by Newstrom True - False Questions
According to the results-oriented approach, if fewer inputs are used to
produce the same amount of outputs, productivity decreases.
1.

True

2.

False

Technology’s greatest benefits are that it allows people to do more and
better work, and it does not restrict people.
1.

True

2.

False

Organizations can be viewed and managed as whole systems that have
interorganizational relationships.
1.

True

2.

False


The human relations approach to organizational behavior discourages the
practice of making universal assumptions about people.
1.

True

2.

False

Theories identify important variables and link them to form tentative
propositions that can be tested through research.
1.

True

2.

False

The automatic acceptance of authority by employees has increased over
the last few years.
1.

True

2.

False

Workforce diversity does not present any challenges for managers in an
organization.
1.

True

2.

False

Organizations need to treat employees in an ethical manner in order to
attract and retain valuable employees.
1.

True

2.

False

Many companies are urging their managers to deal with diversity by
demonstrating openness, confidence, compassion, and vulnerability.
1.

True


2.

False

Theories consist of processes to gather and interpret relevant evidence
that will either support a behavioral theory or help change it.
1.

True

2.

False

When perceiving things, people use an organized framework that they
have built out of a lifetime of experiences and accumulated values.
1.

True

2.

False

The role of managers is to use organizational behavior to help achieve
individual, organizational, and societal goals.
1.

True

2.

False

In the human resources approach, managers decide what should be done
and then closely control employees to ensure task performance.
1.

True

2.

False

According to the law of diminishing returns, organizational effectiveness
can be achieved by maximizing just one human variable.
1.

True

2.

False


Organizational behavior starts with a set of fundamental concepts
revolving around the nature of people and organizations.
1.

True

2.

False

Without ethical leadership, the new knowledge learned about people
becomes a dangerous instrument for possible misuse.
1.

True

2.

False

Organizational behavior avoids matters relating to interpersonal
relationships due to the complexities involved in understanding them.
1.

True

2.

False

Activities within organizations are governed by social as well as
psychological laws.
1.

True

2.

False

A manager who ignores the needs of people as consumers of
organizational outputs while championing employee needs is misapplying
the ideas of organizational behavior.
1.

True

2.

False


Individual differences require that a manager’s approach to employees be
individual, not statistical.
1.

True

2.

False

10 Free Test Bank for Organizational Behavior 14th
Edition by Newstrom Free Text Questions
Explain the concept of perception.
Answer Given

Perception refers to how people look at the world and see things differently. Even
when presented with the same object, two people may view it in two different
ways. Their view of their objective environment is filtered by perception, which is
the unique way in which each person sees, organizes, and interprets things.

What are the principles of ethical leadership?
Answer Given

Ethical leadership recognizes three principles: (a) Social responsibility—
Responsibility to others arises whenever people have power in an organization;

(b) Open communication—The organization will operate as a two-way open
system, with open receipt of inputs from people and open disclosure of its
operations to them; (c) Cost-benefit analysis—In addition to economic costs and
benefits, human and social costs and benefits of an activity will be analyzed in
determining whether to proceed with the activity.

How do ethics help an organization in meeting its goals?
Answer Given

When an organization’s goals and actions are ethical, it is more likely that
individual, organizational, and social objectives will be met. People find more
satisfaction in work when there is cooperation and teamwork. They are learning,
growing, and contributing. The organization is also more successful because it


operates more effectively. Quality is better, service is improved, and costs are
reduced.

Describe why results orientation is a common thread woven through
organization behavior.
Answer Given

All organizations need to achieve some relevant outcomes, or results. A dominant
goal for many is to be productive, so this results orientation is a common thread
woven through organizational behavior.

What are the four goals of organizational behavior?
Answer Given

The first objective of organizational behavior is to describe, systematically, how

people behave under a variety of conditions. The second goal is to understand
why people behave as they do. Predicting future employee behavior is another
goal. And, the final goal of organizational behavior is to control, at least partially,
and develop some human activity at work.

Why do people deserve to be treated differently from other factors of
production, such as land, capital, and technology?
Answer Given

People deserve to be treated differently from other factors of production because
they are of a higher order in the universe. Because of this distinction, they want to
be treated with care, respect, and dignity, and they increasingly demand such
treatment from their employers. They want to be valued for their skills and abilities,
be provided with opportunities to develop themselves, and be given reasonable
chances to make meaningful contributions.

According to the results-oriented approach, what role does organizational
behavior play in creating organizational results?
Answer Given


The role that organizational behavior plays in creating organizational results is
illustrated by a set of factors and the relationships between the factors: (a)
Knowledge × skill = ability; (b) Attitude × situation = motivation; (c) Ability ×
motivation = potential human performance; (d) Potential performance × resources
× opportunity = organizational results

Define the three keys to success in the field of organizational behavior.
Answer Given

The three keys to success in the field of organizational behavior are as follows.
Theories offer explanations of how and why people think, feel, and act as they do.
Theories identify important variables and link them to form tentative propositions
that can be tested through research. Research is the process of gathering and
interpreting relevant evidence that will either support a behavioral theory or help
change it. This is an ongoing process through which valuable behavioral
knowledge is continually uncovered. Practice is the conscious application of
conceptual models and research results in order to improve individual and
organizational performance at work.

Explain the economic law of diminishing returns.
Answer Given

In economics, the law of diminishing returns refers to a declining amount of extra
outputs when more of a desirable input is added to an economic situation. After a
certain point, the output from each unit of added input tends to become smaller.
The added output may reach zero or lower when more units of input are added.

Why is the human resources approach often called the supportive
approach?
Answer Given

The human resources approach is supportive. It helps employees become better,
more responsible people, and then it tries to create a climate in which they may
contribute to the limits of their improved abilities. The manager’s primary role
changes from control of employees to active support of their growth and
performance.