Exam 9: Foundations of Group Behavior

At Milton farms, where a large part of the management comes from the same sociocultural background, many employees of diverse ethical or cultural origins are hired only to ensure legal compliance with laws relating to diversity at the workplace. The company's day-to-day functioning leaves much to be desired in terms of promoting diversity. Recently, the owner's cousin was promoted to the post of a branch manager while three suitable candidates hailing from different cultures were blatantly overlooked. This is an example of ________.

Which of the following statements is true regarding brainstorming?

When faced with a number of tight deadlines, Mandy Moore often delegates work collectively. Recently she chose some fairly experienced employees to work on a high-priority project. She was heartened to see that the selected group of employees was having numerous meetings and working hard. However, when she went to check on their progress at the halfway mark in the project schedule, she was shocked to see how little the team had done in the past three weeks. This scenario reflects ________.

Like many other marketing strategy specialists, Mark Fritz relies heavily on creativity and originality. Members of his team are selected on the basis of their ability to think divergently, and Mark often conducts activities to ensure that this ability is developed. For instance, before any new project, Mark invites his team to sit together and churn out possible ideas about the new product, its theme, and ways in which it can be projected best in the market. These sessions usually provide him with a bank of potential ideas from which the team selects some strong concepts and develops them into a campaign. To encourage freedom in these sessions, Mark has a no-evaluation policy. This is an example of ________.

Groups lead to increased acceptance of a solution.

Positive norms always portend positive outcomes in a company.

Which of the following differentiates between formal and informal groups?

Groupthink is a phenomenon that relates to the consensus norms.

Which of the following statements is true regarding the effect of group cohesiveness and performance norms on group productivity?

Which of the following is true regarding formal groups?

Setting up a group's direction is often the first activity of temporary groups.

Which of the following represents the first action in the group development process of a temporary group?

Which of the following is true with regard to deviant workplace behavior?

Sonia Soans is a corporate trainer. One of her favorite ways to start a training program is to present a case study and encourage members to think of the case in depth and discuss it amongst each other. Using the results of the activity, she understands the baseline measures of the group's functioning. During one of her recent sessions, she observed that the group came to a consensus very quickly. However, when asked to present their views, the team members were not too confident and appeared to be under an illusion of unanimity. From this scenario, we can say that this group experienced ________.

Surface-level diversity refers to attitudes, values, and opinions which are different in diverse groups.

Which of the following represents the acceptable standards of behavior within a group that are shared by the group's members?

As a member of a group, you typically desire acceptance by the group and are susceptible to ________ to group norms.

________ is defined as a phenomenon in which the norm for consensus overrides the realistic appraisal of alternative courses of action.

Which of the following statements is true regarding the effect that size of the group has on the group's overall behavior?

Which of the following represents the major determinants of group development and functioning as depicted by the punctuated-equilibrium model?