Sample Midterm Questions

T/F: Organizations are increasingly taking over functions that used to be performed by the family or the individual.
1. True
2. False
The status of individuals in industrialized societies tends to be determined in large part by
1. The number of children a person has
2. The amount of land they own
3. Their occupation and position within their company
4. Their family name
5. Inherited titles, such as “prince” or “baron”
T/F: A critical strategic resource for organizations is the set of people that work for it.
1. True
2. False
The field of organizational behavior covers three main topics. They are:
1. Behavior of organizations, behavior of individuals, and the internal structure of organizations
2. Individuals, groups, and societies
3. Behavior, culture, and structure
4. Personality, culture and behavior
5. None of the above
According to the textbook, the diagnostic approach to organizations consists of the following stages:
1. Description, prescription
2. Description, diagnosis, judgement, action
3. Description, diagnosis, prescription, action
4. Description, prescription, action
5. Description, diagnosis, prescription, payment
6. Dereliction, agnosis, prediction
The area of inquiry entitled “behavior of organizations” includes such topics as
1. Position of an organization in the inter-organizational network
2. Adoption of new practices, such as team structures or domestic partner benefits
3. Relations with stakeholders
4. All of the above
5. None of the above
The area of inquiry entitled “structure of organizations” includes such topics as
1. departmentation, division of labor
2. coordination and control mechanisms
3. processes and procedures, such as promotion, hiring policies, compensation
4. All of the above
5. None of the above
The area of inquiry entitled “behavior of people in organizations” includes such topics as
1. perception, cognition, learning
2. personality and motivation
3. leadership, power, conformity, communication and decision making
4. All of the above
5. None of the above
What are the three basic mechanisms of coordination used by standard organizations like bureaucracies?
1. Mutual adjustment, communication, and excommunication
2. Direct supervision, technological buffering, and collective sanctions
3. Standardization, differentiation, and division of labor
4. Unity of command, standardization, and centralization
5. Standardization, direct supervision, and mutual adjustment
What additional mechanisms for coordination are used by network organizations?
1. Decoupling and delimiting
2. Downsizing and departmentation
3. Biological mechanisms
4. Fluid mechanisms
5. Social mechanisms
Each of the following is an important organizational trend except ...
1. Diversity
2. Networked
3. Flat
4. Differentiated
5. Globalization
Mutual adjustment is used in
1. Very small organizations
2. Very complex tasks
3. Medium sized organizations
4. Very large organizations
5. Both (a) and (b)
6. Both (a) and (c)
7. Both (b) and ©
One kind of coordination is achieved "on the drawing board" or "at compile-time" rather than in real time. Which is it?
1. Mutual adjustment
2. Social mechanisms
3. Standardization
4. Direct supervision
5. Differentiation
There are two fundamental bases for departmentation. They are:
1. Business function and time
2. Means and ends
3. Work process and output
4. Place, and knowledge/skill
5. Client and place
A key difference between modern scholars and classical organizational researchers is:
1. Classical scholars focused on people issues while modern scholars concentrate on task/design issues.
2. Classical scholars believed there was one best way to manage, while modern scholars believe that the best way is contingent on size, technology and environmental factors
3. Modern scholars believe there is one best way to manage, while classical scholars believed that the best way is contingent on size, technology and environmental factors
4. All of the above
5. Modern scholars "get" rap.
Differentiation ...
1. Decreases with organizational size
2. Increases with organizational size
3. Increases with size up to a point, then begins to decline
4. Is related to technology, but not to size
5. Is a function of environment, but not size
6. None of the above
There are many reasons why organizations come to have similar internal structures as other organizations. One of these reasons is institutionalization. This refers to:
1. How organizations purposely differentiate to match the complexity of their environments
2. How organizations under conditions of uncertainty copy the structures of other organizations that are perceived to be successful
3. How organizations are declared national treasures by the government, and are bailed out of bankruptcy using taxpayer dollars.
4. How organizations with certain structures are selected against by the environment, and eventually fail, leaving a core group of very similar organizations
5. How organizations are coerced by their powerful stakeholders to adopt certain mechanisms and forms
Some of the developments of the late 20th century that are driving organizational change include:
1. The entrance of the laid-back 'X' generation into the workplace
2. The global spread of McDonald’s and the American Way
3. The consolidation of the world economy into a giant virtual organization (known as Gaia, Inc.) in which the industrialized nations serve as managers, the 2nd world nations serve as middle managers, and the 3rd world nations serve as laborers.
4. Improvements in communication, transportation and information technologies
5. The dissolution of traditional agricultural and craft markets
Scientific management was developed by
1. Elton Mayo
2. Walt Disney
3. Max Weber
4. Henri Fayol
5. Frederick Taylor
One of the principles of scientific management was the idea that
1. Workers should be empowered to make decisions
2. Managers should do physical labor as well as other work, in order to keep in touch with the workers
3. Managers should do all the thinking while workers should do all the labor
4. Workers need to apply scientific principles to the organization of their own work
5. All of the above
6. None of the above
The principles laid down by Henri Fayol of the Classical School
1. Are more relevant for bureaucracies
2. Are heavily oriented towards authority and rules as mechanisms for coordination
3. Are management rather than worker oriented
4. All of the above
5. None of the above
T/F: “Weber” rhymes with
1. “Labor”
2. “Never”
Polychronicity (versus monochronicity)
1. Refers to doing many things at the same time
2. Is particularly associated with southern Europeans, such as the French
3. Is associated with interruptibility and complexity
4. All of the above
5. None of the above
In a “high context” culture you should
1. Avoid over-explaining things
2. Make sure to write down explicit, detailed instructions for all tasks you want someone to do
3. Avoid getting closer than 12 inches away from people
4. Avoid “professional distance” — about 6 feet away from person
5. All of the above
Culture is
1. Going to the ballet
2. Taking a shower at least once a week whether you need it or not
3. Something you find in your refrigerator after you come back from vacation
4. The set of norms, beliefs, attitudes and shared meanings of a group of people
5. None of the above
The principle of unity of command is a key element in
1. Contingency theory
2. Systems theory
3. Learning theory
4. The classical school
5. The human relations school
According to contingency theory
1. Organizations must orient to the short-term, because the future is too uncertain
2. Organizations must always make back-up plans instead of relying on a single plan of action
3. Organizations do not optimize — they “satisfice”
4. The best structure for an organization depends on its technology, size and environment
5. All of the above
6. None of the above
Stakeholders are
1. People who work in the vampire extermination industry
2. People who own a part of a company (i.e., partners or shareholders)
3. People with who are affected by (have an interest in) what the organization does
4. Like shareholders, but they can’t vote
5. Huge racks used by the meat packing industry to hold individual-sized portions of beef
The organizational trend toward flat organizations refers to
1. Fewer levels of management
2. Workers empowered to make decisions
3. Fewer differences in responsibility (not in pay) across levels
4. All of the above
5. None of the above
6. Just (a) and (b)
7. Just (a) and (c)
Network organizations are
1. Collections of firms that make the same product (e.g., commercial aircraft manufacturers)
2. Organizations that sell products by recruiting customers to sell to their friends and neighbors
3. Collections of autonomous business units that operate like a single organization
4. Are companies that sell television programs
5. None of the above
Network organizations emerge under conditions of
1. High demand uncertainty
2. Rapid technological change
3. Mechanisms in place for coordination and control across firm boundaries
4. All of the above
5. None of the above
6. Just (b) and (c)
One reason it is important to understand cultural differences is that otherwise
1. There is no way to cheat the other person
2. You might incorrectly conclude that the other person was stupid or dishonest
3. You would miss out on hilarious discussions about how you say “tomto” and I say “tomto”.
4. You might not ever realize just how much better it is to be an American
5. None of the above
The dimension of “power difference” refers to
1. How much differences in power/status affect the way people relate to each other
2. How much inequality of power and wealth there is the society
3. The kind of transmission used in vehicles
4. Differences in voltage used in different countries
5. All of the above
6. None of the above
Americans tend to see time as
1. Linear
2. A limited resource
3. Cyclical
4. Renewable
5. Plentiful
6. Both (a) and (b)
7. Both (a) and (d)
8. Both (b) and (c)
9. Both (a) and (e)
T/F: In the end, Lewie Ranieri becomes head of Salomon Brothers.
1. True
2. False
What seems to be the dominant metaphor used by SB employees to describe the organization?
1. A gymnasium
2. A cybernetic brain
3. A precision machine
4. A jungle
5. A network
Choose the best description of life as a new employee at SB:
1. Fear and trembling
2. The little princess
3. How to win friends and influence people
4. It's a wonderful life
5. A midsummer night's sex comedy
Organizational structures must provide a good fit with their environments along three basic dimensions. These are:
1. Morality, complexity, and potency/activity
2. Dynamism, potency/activity, and heterogeneity
3. Hostility/munificence, morality, and heterogeneity
4. Agency, technology, and differentiation
5. Dynamism, complexity, and hostility/munificence
As organizations get older, they tend to
1. Get larger
2. Get more standardized and formalized
3. Get more differentiated
4. All of the above
5. None of the above
The difference between mechanistic and organic structures is that
1. Mechanistic structures do not have brains whereas organic structures do
2. Mechanistic structures are strong and resistant to outside threats, whereas organic structures are weak and open
3. Mechanistic structures are centralized and standardized, whereas organic structures deemphasize job descriptions and encourage individuals throughout the organization to assume responsibilities
4. All of the above
5. None of the above