Exam 10: Understanding Work Teams

You are the manager of a software design firm that develops software programs for clients using teams of specialists. One of your most successful teams has been together for nearly 5 years. In the past, this team has performed effectively, and you have been very satisfied with the team's output. Recently, however, you have noticed a marked decrease in the team's performance. You investigate to determine the problem. -After interviewing all 7 team members, you determine that one of the team members performs routine administrative tasks that are rarely visible to any of the other team members. You suspect that this team member may be loafing off and lagging in his duties. You could most likely improve that team member's output by ________.

Which of the following is not a difference between work groups and work teams? Work groups ________, and work teams ________.

Teams composed of highly agreeable people are more creative and innovative.

For creating good team players, an organization's reward system must be reworked to encourage competitive efforts rather than cooperative ones.

In the case of a work team, individual efforts result in a level of performance greater than the sum of those individual inputs.

Which of the following statements is true regarding a work group?

Compared to traditional departments, teams tend to be less flexible and less responsive to changing events.

Virtual teams tend to be less task oriented than face-to-face teams.

What is a cross-functional team?

Work groups typically generate more positive synergy than do work teams.

Which of the following terms indicates the degree to which members of a work unit (group, team, or department) share a common attribute, such as age, sex, race, or educational level?

A high-ability team is composed of mostly intelligent members. Which of the following statements is true regarding a high-ability team?

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of team diversity. Discuss diversity in a global context. How does cultural diversity affect team-building?

________ suggests that attributes such as age or the date of joining should help us predict turnover.

Araceli is a team member in a large corporation. She never speaks in team meetings because she has seen members talk behind each other's back after the meetings. Members are constantly monitoring the other members' work, looking for mistakes to point out in a meeting. According to the information provided, which contextual factor is most likely hindering the success of Araceli's team?

With reference to the team effectiveness model, which of the following is one of the key components of an effective team, included under the category of contextual factors?

The Boeing Company created a team made up of employees from production, planning, quality control, tooling, design engineering, and information systems to automate shims on the company's C-17 program. This team is most likely to be an example of a ________ team.

As a result of self-managed teams, supervisory positions may be eliminated.

Teams that are composed of people who score high on ________ are more creative and innovative.

Which of the following statements best defines a work group?