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Business Communication
Q:
Teams that have interpersonal friction
A) are doomed to failure.
B) can excel with effective leadership and team players committed to strong results.
C) can succeed, but only on relatively minor projects.
D) are very rare, and almost never present problems in today's environment.
E) need to learn that teamwork requires happiness and harmony.
Q:
During the ________ phase of group development, the team clarifies and summarizes the agreed-upon solution, and team members receive their assignments for carrying out the group's decision.
A) orientation
B) conflict
C) brainstorming
D) emergence
E) reinforcement
Q:
"Dream teams" composed of multiple superstars
A) always perform better than other teams.
B) often yield disappointing results because members struggle to put team needs above their own.
C) are much easier to lead.
D) are usually so successful that it hurts morale among the organization's other teams.
E) are easier to assemble than other teams.
Q:
The interactions and processes that take place among the members of a team are known as
A) group norms.
B) groupthink.
C) group dynamics.
D) groupware.
E) group functionality.
Q:
The two most common reasons for unsuccessful teamwork are
A) inadequate training and unclear goals.
B) difficult people and overwhelming workloads.
C) unreasonable deadlines and poor leadership.
D) lack of trust and poor communication.
E) poor technology and conflicting schedules.
Q:
Cross-functional teams
A) are rare, and generally less effective than other types of teams in business.
B) are vulnerable to tensions, since the diversity of opinions and experiences they bring together.
C) consist of employees from the same department, tasked with addressing a wide array of issues.
D) are effective only in large organizations.
E) should never contain more than three members, if they are to be effective.
Q:
When it comes to online etiquette,
A) spelling, punctuation, and capitalization are not important.
B) do not assume that people are available to discuss work matters around the clock.
C) avoiding "flames" is really all that matters.
D) you can rest assured that there's almost nothing you can do that will offend your audience.
E) you should expect a prompt response to email messages, even when you send them on the weekend or in the middle of the night.
Q:
Using mobile phones during meetings is
A) routine in today's high-tech workplace.
B) now restricted or prohibited in many organizations.
C) an effective way to show your professionalism.
D) almost always acceptable, as long as your phone is in silent mode.
E) all of the above.
Q:
When introducing yourself to someone in a business context, you should always include a brief description of
A) one of your personal interests or hobbies.
B) your role in the company.
C) your company's history.
D) your greatest accomplishment.
E) all of the above.
Q:
A new co-worker from Russia asks you about North American greeting customs. You should explain that in most business contexts,
A) women are expected to shake hands differently than men.
B) it is not necessary to stand up before shaking hands if you are already seated.
C) shaking hands is now widely regarded as an outdated custom.
D) a firm handshake is expected when two people meet.
E) it is acceptable to shake hands using either the left or right hand.
Q:
When receiving business-related phone calls,
A) you should use frequent verbal responses (such as, "I see") to show that you are listening.
B) it is impolite to say things such as, "I understand" while the other person is speaking.
C) it is perfectly acceptable to put the caller on hold without explanation.
D) your primary goal should be to get off of the phone (and back to work) as quickly as possible.
E) do none of the above.
Q:
Which of the following is not an important consideration related to etiquette in the workplace?
A) The clothing you wear to work
B) Your grooming habits
C) Your telephone skills
D) Your height and weight
E) Your behavior
Q:
Touch
A) is the least important form of nonverbal communication.
B) is the great equalizer, putting people of different status on the same footing.
C) should be completely avoided in all business situations.
D) is governed by cultural customs that establish who can touch whom and when.
E) is a universal language, consistent in meaning from culture to culture.
Q:
In part, poor listening occurs because listeners
A) can think faster than speakers can speak.
B) concentrate on each word the speaker says, rather than the overall point.
C) are unable to think originally.
D) cannot process words and phrases as quickly as speakers can say them.
E) do all of the above.
Q:
Selective listening refers to
A) a highly focused form of listening.
B) letting one's mind wander until something personally relevant is said.
C) a form of defensive listening.
D) listening only long enough to get a word in edgewise.
E) a time-saving technique in which you purposely ignore at least 25% of what a speaker says.
Q:
The first step in the basic listening process is ________ the message.
A) receiving
B) interpreting
C) evaluating
D) encoding
E) decoding
Q:
Within 48 hours, people tend to forget approximately ________ percent of what was said in a 10-minute conversation.
A) 1
B) 10
C) 50
D) 90
E) none of the above
Q:
A reliable employee you supervise has come to speak with you about a leave of absence related to personal issues. To understand her feelings and needs, you should engage in ________ listening.
A) content
B) empathic
C) critical
D) sustained
E) defensive
Q:
If you are engaging in critical listening, your goal is to
A) understand and retain information.
B) understand the speaker's feelings, needs, and wants.
C) evaluate the logic and validity of the message.
D) appreciate the speaker's point of view.
E) criticize the speaker's ideas as promptly as possible.
Q:
If you are listening mainly to understand the speaker's message, you are engaging in ________ listening.
A) content
B) critical
C) empathic
D) active
E) defensive
Q:
Which of the following meeting technologies would be most effective for negotiations, collaborative problem solving, and other complex discussions?
A) Instant messaging
B) Teleconference
C) Telepresence
D) Wiki
E) None of the above
Q:
When conducting a meeting
A) if some people are too quiet, leave them alone; they probably have nothing to contribute.
B) if some people dominate the conversation, let them do so, since they are probably the most knowledgeable attendees.
C) try to simply act as an observer, and let the meeting "run itself."
D) allow only one comment on each issueotherwise discussion can take too long.
E) do none of the above.
Q:
At the last staff meeting, someone suggested that using parliamentary procedure would help make the meetings more efficient. To learn more about parliamentary procedure, which of the following should you consult?
A) SEC Standards of Ethics
B) Robert's Rules of Order
C) Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
D) Fundamental Meeting Management
E) Congressional Meeting Policies and Procedures
Q:
Use of parliamentary procedure
A) tends to slow meetings down.
B) contributes to dissent among participants.
C) helps meetings run more smoothly.
D) is only useful only for meetings with more than a dozen participants.
E) is a longstanding tradition in Europe, but has not caught on in the U.S.
Q:
A meeting agenda
A) is a formality that most groups skip these days.
B) should be circulated before the meeting, providing participants with enough time to prepare.
C) should be general rather than specific.
D) is only a guideline, and deviations are common and expected.
E) should be distributed no sooner than the start of the meeting.
Q:
The key to a productive meeting is careful planning that addresses
A) its purpose.
B) its participants.
C) its location and agenda.
D) none of the above.
E) all of the above.
Q:
The primary difference between constructive feedback and destructive feedback is
A) constructive feedback is focused on the people involved.
B) destructive feedback is focused on the process and outcomes of communication.
C) constructive feedback can hurt people's feelings.
D) destructive feedback delivers criticism with no guidance for improvement.
E) constructive feedback includes a threat of consequences for failure.
Q:
Social networking technologies are designed to
A) discourage employees from socializing at work.
B) help dissatisfied employees find better jobs.
C) discourage teamwork so individual employees can reach their full potential.
D) help employees respect the distinction between personal time and work.
E) do none of the above.
Q:
"Virtual offices" that give everyone on a team access to the same set of resources and information are called
A) instant messaging software.
B) videoconferencing systems.
C) shared workspaces.
D) extended databases.
E) none of the above.
Q:
When composing collaborative messages, the best strategy is to
A) avoid composing as a group.
B) begin by letting all members "do their own thing" and then seeing what they all produce.
C) let all members use their own preferred software.
D) make the team as large as possible so that every possible area of expertise will be covered.
E) insist that no one is leaving the room until the task is complete.
Q:
When it comes to overcoming resistance in groups, it is a good idea to
A) avoid all conflict in the first place.
B) hold off dealing with minor problems until the conflict becomes major.
C) deal directly with resistance.
D) encourage participants to repress their emotions about the situation.
E) make an example of one team member by expelling him or her from the team.
Q:
Only one sales representative can go to the conference in Hawaii, but both Susan and Sean want to go. After much discussion and arguing, they draw straws and Susan gets the trip. This is an example of
A) a win-lose situation.
B) the five-step decision-making process.
C) the best way to deal with a conflict.
D) a lose-lose situation.
E) all of the above.
Q:
The first phase that a new team typically goes through is
A) conflict.
B) reinforcement.
C) orientation.
D) brainstorming.
E) intensification.
Q:
One member of a task force on which you serve is particularly good at helping other members get along and work through their differences. This individual plays a(n) ________ role.
A) team-maintenance
B) task-oriented
C) self-oriented
D) coordinating
E) empathic
Q:
Group members who are motivated mainly to fulfill personal needs play a(n) ________ role.
A) team-maintenance
B) task-oriented
C) self-oriented
D) coordinating
E) empathic
Q:
________ are informal standards of conduct that team members share.
A) Group maintenance roles
B) Rules of parliamentary procedure
C) Group norms
D) Robert's Rules
E) Group dynamics
Q:
You and several coworkers serve on a task force charged with updating the company personnel policy manual. To proceed effectively, you should concentrate on
A) pointing out as many typos, misspellings, and grammatical errors as possible.
B) ensuring that all members have a clear and shared sense of purpose.
C) making other team members feel good.
D) making the manual as long as possible (to let everyone know you are serious).
E) doing all of the above.
Q:
A hidden agenda refers to
A) a meeting agenda that is not revealed to others outside the meeting group.
B) individuals' private, counterproductive motives.
C) an agenda that members must look for before they can attend a meeting.
D) an approach to group dynamics that helps facilitate group functioning.
E) an agenda that is not shared until the meeting begins.
Q:
Groupthink refers to
A) the willingness of individual group members to withhold contrary or unpopular opinions, even when those objections are legitimate, and to go along with majority opinion.
B) the four-step decision-making process in groups.
C) software programs that help groups make decisions.
D) the basic rules that underlie a group's behavior.
E) putting others first instead of being selfish.
Q:
Which of the following is not a way teams help organizations to succeed?
A) Increase information and knowledge
B) Increase groupthink among members
C) Increase performance levels
D) Increase diversity of views
E) Increase acceptance of a solution.
Q:
In participative management
A) employees are involved in the company's decision making.
B) all top-level managers participate in profit sharing.
C) teams are discouraged in favor of individual achievement.
D) an authoritarian management model is used.
E) managers have exclusive control.
Q:
Briefly define Business Communication 2.0, and explain how it differs from a more traditional approach to business communication.
Q:
Describe four common types of communication barriers.
Q:
Outline the eight steps of the communication process.
Q:
Explain the increasing dependence on knowledge workers in business, and provide at least two examples that illustrate the value of information in today's economy.
Q:
Describe five characteristics of effective business messages.
Q:
Briefly explain the difference between an ethical dilemma and an ethical lapse.
Q:
How can the overuse or misuse of communication technology become a barrier to effective communication?
Q:
What is the relationship between Web 2.0 and Business Communication 2.0?
Q:
Briefly describe at least one hypothetical or actual example of an organization utilizing the 2.0 approach to business communication.
Q:
Briefly explain how social media have changed the way customers and other groups engage in business communication.
Q:
Briefly explain the nature and importance of the final phase in the communication process.
Q:
What does it mean for an audience to "decode" a message?
Q:
To adopt an audience-centered approach to communication, what do you need to learn about your audience? List at least three specific attributes.
Q:
When does the rumor mill tend to be most active within an organization? Include an example of a situation that might cause the rumor mill to become more active.
Q:
Explain the "information technology paradox."
Q:
What is selective perception?
Q:
Briefly explain the concept of corporate culture.
Q:
What is workforce diversity?
Q:
Briefly define communication.
Q:
How does the primary function of upward-flowing communication differ from that of downward-flowing communication?
Q:
________ are the accepted principles of conduct that govern behavior within a society.
Q:
Above all, the ________ communication model for business communication is more interactive and conversational than a traditional publishing or broadcasting approach.
Q:
In the communication process, ________ is the step in which the audience extracts the idea from a message.
Q:
When a sender puts an idea into a message, the sender is ________ the idea.
Q:
Groups affected in some way by a company's actions are referred to as ________.
Q:
Although intellectual property laws were once a serious concern, the ease of sharing information through social media has decreased the need to be concerned with them.
Q:
When people must choose between alternatives that aren't completely wrong or completely right, they are facing an ethical lapse.
Q:
Plagiarism is only a problem in the classroom. In the business environment, it's just another term for information sharing.
Q:
Ethics can be defined as not doing anything illegal.
Q:
Even if a long report requires no immediate action from recipients, it's best not to mention that fact to ensure that they read the report.
Q:
Using a wiki for employee training purposes is an example of the 2.0 approach to business communication.
Q:
Despite predictions to the contrary, social media tools (such as blogs, social networks, and wikis) have had relatively little influence on the way companies communicate with customers.
Q:
Most organizations that embrace the 2.0 approach to business communication will still follow a more traditional approach for some communications (such as strategic plans and policy documents).
Q:
The only real difference between the "1.0" and "2.0" approaches to Business Communication is that 2.0 involves using more communication technology.
Q:
In business, you can usually count on having your audience's full attention for important messages.
Q:
Filtering messages can occur unintentionally, and lead communicators to miss out on information they need.
Q:
Factors such as poor acoustics and uncomfortable meeting rooms can be annoying but are not really that important when it comes to communication.
Q:
The communication process is a simple one consisting of only two steps: the sender transmits the message and the receiver gets the message.
Q:
As long as employees get the job done, most companies are not concerned with employees meeting expectations of business etiquette.