Chapter 01
What Is Organizational Behaviour?

Multiple Choice Questions
 
1. _______ is a field of study devoted to understanding, explaining, and ultimately improving the attitudes and behaviours of individuals and groups in organizations. 
A. Sociology
B. Organizational behaviour
C. Strategic management
D. Social psychology
E. Economics

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Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 01-01 What is the definition of "organizational behaviour" (OB)?
Topic: 01-01 Organizational Behaviour Defined
 
2. Which of these takes the theories and principles studied in OB and explores the "nuts-and-bolts" applications of those principles in organizations? 
A. Human resource management
B. Economics
C. Social psychology
D. Sociology
E. Strategic management

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Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 01-01 What is the definition of "organizational behaviour" (OB)?
Topic: 01-01 Organizational Behaviour Defined

3. An OB study might explore the relationship between pay and motivation, whereas a(n) _______ study might examine the best way to structure compensation programs and employee learning programs. 
A. strategic management
B. anthropology
C. organizational development
D. economics
E. human resource management

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Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-01 What is the definition of "organizational behaviour" (OB)?
Topic: 01-01 Organizational Behaviour Defined
 
4. Which discipline focuses on the product choices and industry characteristics that affect the organization's profitability? 
A. Organizational behaviour
B. Economics
C. Social psychology
D. Strategic management
E. Human resource management

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Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-01 What is the definition of "organizational behaviour" (OB)?
Topic: 01-01 Organizational Behaviour Defined

5. Canada Drinks International is a soft drink manufacturer in the carbonated soda industry. The firm is commissioning a study to explore how the company's expansion into the new product segment of tropical fruit flavoured soda would affect its profitability. Such a study is addressed in which of these areas? 
A. Industrial and organizational psychology
B. Human resource management
C. Strategic management
D. Social psychology
E. Organizational behaviour

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Difficulty: Hard
Learning Objective: 01-01 What is the definition of "organizational behaviour" (OB)?
Topic: 01-01 Organizational Behaviour Defined
 
6. OB research on job performance and individual characteristics draws primarily from studies in: 
A. industrial and organizational psychology.
B. economics.
C. strategic management.
D. sociology.
E. marketing.

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Difficulty: Hard
Learning Objective: 01-01 What is the definition of "organizational behaviour" (OB)?
Topic: 01-01 Organizational Behaviour Defined
 
7. Research on satisfaction, emotions, and team processes found in OB draws heavily from studies in: 
A. sociology.
B. economics.
C. strategic management.
D. social psychology.
E. marketing.

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Difficulty: Hard
Learning Objective: 01-01 What is the definition of "organizational behaviour" (OB)?
Topic: 01-01 Organizational Behaviour Defined

8. Models from _______ are used to understand motivation, learning, and decision making in OB. 
A. marketing
B. economics
C. sociology
D. strategic management
E. anthropology

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Difficulty: Hard
Learning Objective: 01-01 What is the definition of "organizational behaviour" (OB)?
Topic: 01-02 The Role of Management Theory
 
9. Who is considered the father of scientific management? 
A. Jeffery Pfeffer
B. Frederick Taylor
C. Charles Darwin
D. Francis Bacon
E. Robert Hogan

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Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 01-01 What is the definition of "organizational behaviour" (OB)?
Topic: 01-02 The Role of Management Theory
 
10. Frederick Taylor and his colleagues were studying: 
A. how to minimize production costs
B. how to optimize performance of any task
C. how to condition workers to work long hours
D. how to teach endurance to factory workers
E. how working conditions impact scientific research

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Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-01 What is the definition of "organizational behaviour" (OB)?
Topic: 01-02 The Role of Management Theory

11. Max Weber is a contributor to which management approach? 
A. Contemporary
B. Classical
C. Traditional
D. Structural
E. Hierarchical

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Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-01 What is the definition of "organizational behaviour" (OB)?
Topic: 01-02 The Role of Management Theory
 
12. Max Weber is most often associated with the term: 
A. Efficiency
B. Effectiveness
C. Specialization
D. Diversification
E. Bureaucracy

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Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 01-01 What is the definition of "organizational behaviour" (OB)?
Topic: 01-02 The Role of Management Theory
 
13. All of the following are considered characteristics of bureaucracy, except? 
A. The division of labour with a high level of technical specialization.
B. A system of formal rules and procedures that ensured consistency, impartiality, and impersonality throughout the organization.
C. Bottom-up decision-making.
D. A horizontal chain of command.
E. A hierarchical chain of command.

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Difficulty: Hard
Learning Objective: 01-01 What is the definition of "organizational behaviour" (OB)?
Topic: 01-02 The Role of Management Theory

14. The classical approaches to management stressed the importance of: 
A. Informal organizations
B. The psychological attributes of workers
C. Employees needs and desires
D. The formal organization and its functioning
E. Social and group behaviour

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Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-01 What is the definition of "organizational behaviour" (OB)?
Topic: 01-02 The Role of Management Theory
 
15. In contrast to the classical approach to management, the human relations movement emerged as management scholars began to understand: 
A. Hierarchical reporting structures
B. Informal communication networks including the grapevine
C. psychological attributes of individual workers
D. The structure of the informal organization
E. The structure of the formal organization

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Difficulty: Hard
Learning Objective: 01-01 What is the definition of "organizational behaviour" (OB)?
Topic: 01-02 The Role of Management Theory
 
16. OB can be contrasted with two other courses commonly offered in management departments: _____ and strategic management. 
A. project management
B. business management
C. human resource management
D. operations management
E. financial management

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Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-01 What is the definition of "organizational behaviour" (OB)?
Topic: 01-01 Organizational Behaviour Defined

17. _____ research is vital to research on team characteristics and organizational structure. 
A. Social psychology
B. Industrial and organizational psychology
C. Anthropology
D. Economics
E. Sociology

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Difficulty: Hard
Learning Objective: 01-01 What is the definition of "organizational behaviour" (OB)?
Topic: 01-01 Organizational Behaviour Defined
 
18. _____ research helps inform the study of organizational culture. 
A. Social psychology
B. Industrial and organizational psychology
C. Anthropology
D. Sociology
E. Economics

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Difficulty: Hard
Learning Objective: 01-01 What is the definition of "organizational behaviour" (OB)?
Topic: 01-01 Organizational Behaviour Defined
 
19. The primary outcomes of interest to organizational behaviour researchers are: 
A. job performance and organizational commitment
B. organizational culture and organizational structure
C. team processes and team characteristics
D. personality and ability
E. stress and motivation

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Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-02 What are the two primary outcomes in studies of OB?
Topic: 01-04 Individual Outcomes

20. According to the integrative model of organizational behaviour, which of the following is an individual outcome? 
A. Job satisfaction
B. Ability
C. Personality
D. Organizational commitment
E. Motivation

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Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-02 What are the two primary outcomes in studies of OB?
Topic: 01-04 Individual Outcomes
 
21. According to the integrative model of organizational behaviour, the two organizational-level variables that impact individual-level attitudes and behaviours are: 
A. job performance and organizational commitment
B. organizational culture and organizational structure
C. team processes and team characteristics
D. personality and ability
E. stress and motivation

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Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-03 What factors affect the two primary OB outcomes?
Topic: 01-07 Organizational Mechanisms
 
22. According to the integrative model of organizational behaviour, the two types of group-level variables that impact individual-level attitudes and behaviours are: 
A. job performance and organizational commitment
B. learning and decision making
C. leadership styles and team characteristics
D. personality and ability
E. stress and motivation

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Hard
Learning Objective: 01-03 What factors affect the two primary OB outcomes?
Topic: 01-06 Relational Mechanisms

23. According to the integrative model of organizational behaviour, two of the individual characteristics that impact individual attitudes and behaviours include: 
A. job performance and organizational commitment
B. organizational culture and organizational structure
C. team processes and team characteristics
D. personality and ability
E. stress and motivation

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-03 What factors affect the two primary OB outcomes?
Topic: 01-04 Individual Outcomes
 
24. The integrative model of organizational behaviour includes a number of individual mechanisms that directly impact job performance and organizational commitment. Those mechanisms include: 
A. leader styles and behaviour
B. organizational culture and organizational structure
C. team processes and team characteristics
D. personality and ability
E. stress and motivation

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-03 What factors affect the two primary OB outcomes?
Topic: 01-04 Individual Outcomes
 
25. All of these are individual mechanisms as reflected in the integrative model of organizational behavior, except? 
A. stress
B. motivation
C. job satisfaction
D. learning
E. job performance

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Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-03 What factors affect the two primary OB outcomes?
Topic: 01-04 Individual Outcomes

26. What Suzie feels when thinking about her job and doing her day-to-day work is captured in her: 
A. ability
B. job satisfaction
C. personality
D. organizational culture
E. leadership style

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Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-03 What factors affect the two primary OB outcomes?
Topic: 01-04 Individual Outcomes
 
27. Which of these individual mechanisms reflects employees' psychological responses to job demand that tax or exceed their capacities? 
A. Job satisfaction
B. Ability
C. Job performance
D. Leadership style
E. Stress

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-03 What factors affect the two primary OB outcomes?
Topic: 01-04 Individual Outcomes
 
28. Which of these individual mechanisms captures the energetic forces that drive employees' work efforts? 
A. Motivation
B. Ability
C. Job performance
D. Personality
E. Stress

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-03 What factors affect the two primary OB outcomes?
Topic: 01-04 Individual Outcomes

29. Personal attributes such as _______ influence how we behave at work and the kinds of tasks that interest us. 
A. leadership, stress, and job performance
B. stress, cultural values, and job performance
C. job performance, organizational structure, and ability
D. personality, cultural values, and ability
E. organizational structure, cultural values, and ability

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-03 What factors affect the two primary OB outcomes?
Topic: 01-04 Individual Outcomes
 
30. Which of these mechanisms dictates how the units within the firm link to other units? 
A. Organizational culture
B. Organizational ability
C. Job performance
D. Organizational structure
E. Organizational leadership

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-03 What factors affect the two primary OB outcomes?
Topic: 01-04 Individual Outcomes
 
31. Which of these mechanisms captures shared knowledge about the rules, norms, and values that shape employee attitudes and behaviours? 
A. Organizational structure
B. Organizational ability
C. Organizational culture
D. Job performance
E. Organizational leadership

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-03 What factors affect the two primary OB outcomes?
Topic: 01-04 Individual Outcomes

 As a student, you have been attending the local university majoring in business. You have signed up for this course on organizational behaviour. You are also working as an assistant manager at a local restaurant where Ben Barrack is the manager. When Ben finds that you are enrolled in an OB course, he laughs and says OB is common sense, you don't need a course on it and that if you take strategic management, it gives you the same information. Ben comments that the only thing he needs to worry about is the job performance of his employees. Having just studied this chapter, respond to the following questions and Ben's comments and beliefs.
 
32. Which of the following two concepts represent individual mechanisms that have a direct impact on job performance? 
A. Stress and motivation
B. Personality and ability
C. Team processes and team characteristics
D. Leadership styles and behaviours
E. Organizational culture and organizational structure

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-03 What factors affect the two primary OB outcomes?
Topic: 01-05 Individual Characteristics and Mechanisms
 
 You have just been hired as an assistant to a leading partner at "Consultants-R-Us" International. The firm specializes in employee personality. A recent client made this comment to your boss: "Because people come and go in an organization, financial resources are the only resources that matter." Your boss gives you the assignment to show the client how and why people matter in an organization.

33. Consultants-R-Us specializes in employee personality. The firm is specializing in: 
A. an individual outcome
B. an organizational mechanism
C. a group mechanism
D. an individual characteristic
E. group characteristics

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Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 01-03 What factors affect the two primary OB outcomes?
Topic: 01-05 Individual Characteristics and Mechanisms
 
34. Using the _______, you should be able to show the client that people are rare and inimitable. 
A. method of intuition
B. resource-based view of the organization
C. method of authority
D. rule of one-eighth
E. cost-based approach

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Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-03 What factors affect the two primary OB outcomes?
Topic: 01-06 Relational Mechanisms
 
35. When explaining to the client, you should explain the inimitability of people by drawing on all of the following concepts, except? 
A. History
B. Numerous small decisions
C. One big decision
D. Socially complex resources
E. All of these concepts should be drawn upon

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Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-03 What factors affect the two primary OB outcomes?
Topic: 01-06 Relational Mechanisms

36. According to the integrative model of organizational behaviour, trust, justice, and ethics are: 
A. individual mechanisms.
B. organizational mechanisms.
C. group mechanisms.
D. individual outcomes.
E. group outcomes.

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Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-03 What factors affect the two primary OB outcomes?
Topic: 01-05 Individual Characteristics and Mechanisms
 
37. Which of the following reflects the degree to which employees feel that their company does business with fairness, honesty, and integrity? 
A. Job satisfaction
B. Trust, justice, and ethics
C. Team processes
D. Personality and ability
E. Motivation

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-03 What factors affect the two primary OB outcomes?
Topic: 01-05 Individual Characteristics and Mechanisms
 
38. Which of the following deals with how employees gain job knowledge and how they use that knowledge to make accurate judgments on the job? 
A. Team processes
B. Trust, justice, and ethics
C. Learning and decision making
D. Personality and ability
E. Motivation

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 01-03 What factors affect the two primary OB outcomes?
Topic: 01-05 Individual Characteristics and Mechanisms

39. Which of the following affects the way people behave at work, the kinds of tasks they are interested in, and how they react to events that happen on the job? 
A. Ability
B. Trust, justice, and ethics
C. Learning and decision making
D. Team characteristics
E. Personality and cultural values

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-03 What factors affect the two primary OB outcomes?
Topic: 01-04 Individual Outcomes
 
40. Which of the following describes the cognitive abilities, emotional skills, and physical abilities that employees bring to a job? 
A. Ability
B. Personality and cultural values
C. Trust, justice, and ethics
D. Learning and decision making
E. Team characteristics

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-03 What factors affect the two primary OB outcomes?
Topic: 01-05 Individual Characteristics and Mechanisms
 
41. Which of the following influences the kinds of tasks an employee is good at and those with which an employee may struggle? 
A. Personality
B. Ability
C. Trust, justice, and ethics
D. Learning and decision making
E. Cultural values

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-03 What factors affect the two primary OB outcomes?
Topic: 01-05 Individual Characteristics and Mechanisms

42. A resource is more valuable if it is: 
A. Rare
B. Imitable
C. Transparent
D. Simple
E. common

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-03 What factors affect the two primary OB outcomes?
Topic: 01-10 Building a Conceptual Argument
 
43. People are inimitable for all of the following reasons, except? 
A. They create a history.
B. They purchase new technology.
C. They make numerous small decisions.
D. They create socially complex resources.
E. Unfortunately, people are not inimitable.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-03 What factors affect the two primary OB outcomes?
Topic: 01-09 Does Organizational Behaviour Matter?
 
44. Which of the following summarizes the qualities that teams possess, such as their norms, their roles, and the way members depend on one another? 
A. Team processes
B. Team innovation
C. Team characteristics
D. Team problem solving
E. Team responsibilities

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-03 What factors affect the two primary OB outcomes?
Topic: 01-09 Does Organizational Behaviour Matter?

45. Which of the following captures the specific actions that leaders take to influence others at work? 
A. Leadership styles and behaviours
B. Team processes
C. Team characteristics
D. Team responsibilities
E. Leader power and influence

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-03 What factors affect the two primary OB outcomes?
Topic: 01-06 Relational Mechanisms
 
46. Which of the following mechanism captures "the way things are" in an organization? 
A. Organizational structure
B. Organizational ability
C. Organizational leadership
D. Job performance
E. Organizational culture

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-03 What factors affect the two primary OB outcomes?
Topic: 01-06 Relational Mechanisms
 
47. Which of the following statements about the resource-based view of organizations is false? 
A. It describes what exactly makes resources valuable.
B. It describes what makes resources capable of creating long-term profits for the firm.
C. A firm's resources include financial and physical resources.
D. A firm's resources include resources related to organizational behaviour.
E. It suggests that the value of resources depend on a single factor.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-03 What factors affect the two primary OB outcomes?
Topic: 01-10 Building a Conceptual Argument

48. According to resource-based view, a resource is more valuable when it is rare and: 
A. regular
B. simple
C. inimitable
D. transparent
E. common

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-03 What factors affect the two primary OB outcomes?
Topic: 01-10 Building a Conceptual Argument
 
49. Which concept captures the idea that people make many small decisions day in and day out, week in and week out? 
A. Numerous small decisions
B. Resource-based view
C. Meta-analysis
D. Rule of one-eighth
E. Socially complex resources

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Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-03 What factors affect the two primary OB outcomes?
Topic: 01-12 Numerous Small Decisions
 
50. In exploring the importance of OB to company performance, the survey of executives of 968 publicly held firms included of all of these outcomes, except? 
A. turnover
B. productivity
C. firm survival
D. profitability
E. market value

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Difficulty: Hard
Learning Objective: 01-04 Why might firms that are good at OB tend to be more profitable?
Topic: 01-14 Research Evidence

51. According to the study focused on initial public offerings, firms who valued OB had a _______ percent higher survival rate than firms who did not value OB. 
A. 71
B. 19
C. 47
D. 50
E. 3

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Difficulty: Hard
Learning Objective: 01-04 Why might firms that are good at OB tend to be more profitable?
Topic: 01-14 Research Evidence
 
52. According to the rule of one-eighth: 
A. At least 88 percent of organizations will do everything necessary to put people first and thereby build profits.
B. At best 12 percent of organizations will actually do what is required to build profits by putting people first.
C. 75 percent of organizations won't believe the connection between how they manage their people and the profits they earn.
D. 38 percent of the organizations try to make a single change to solve their problems.
E. One in eight organizations miserably fail at making the people to profit connection.

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Difficulty: Hard
Learning Objective: 01-04 Why might firms that are good at OB tend to be more profitable?
Topic: 01-15 So What's So Hard?
 
53. Scientific studies are based on the scientific method originated by: 
A. Sir Jeffery Pfeffer
B. Frederick Taylor
C. Charles Darwin
D. Sir Francis Bacon
E. Robert Hogan

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-05 What is the role of theory in the scientific method?
Topic: 01-16 How Do We "Know" What We Know About Organizational Behaviour?

54. Which of the following terms describes a collection of assertions that specify how and why variables are related, as well as the conditions in which they should (and should not) be related? 
A. Hypothesis
B. Verification
C. Theory
D. Data
E. Construct

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Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 01-05 What is the role of theory in the scientific method?
Topic: 01-16 How Do We "Know" What We Know About Organizational Behaviour?
 
55. _______ are written predictions that specify relations between variables. 
A. Hypotheses
B. Verifications
C. Theories
D. Data
E. Construct

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 01-05 What is the role of theory in the scientific method?
Topic: 01-16 How Do We "Know" What We Know About Organizational Behaviour?
 
56. _______ summarize the statistical relationships between variables. 
A. Data
B. Correlations
C. Observations
D. Collections
E. Methods of knowing

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Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-06 How are correlations interpreted?
Topic: 01-17 Moving Forward in This Book

57. Which of these abbreviations represent the correlation? 
A. c
B. x
C. r
D. h
E. d

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Hard
Learning Objective: 01-06 How are correlations interpreted?
Topic: 01-17 Moving Forward in This Book
 
58. Correlation can be positive or negative and can range from: 
A. -1 to +1
B. -5 to +0.5
C. -1 to +10
D. 1 to 1
E. 0 to 1

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-06 How are correlations interpreted?
Topic: 01-17 Moving Forward in This Book
 
59. In organizational behaviour research, a correlation of .50 is considered: 
A. Weak
B. Strong
C. Moderate
D. Useless
E. Perfect

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Hard
Learning Objective: 01-06 How are correlations interpreted?
Topic: 01-17 Moving Forward in This Book

60. In organizational behaviour research, a correlation of .30 is considered: 
A. Weak
B. Strong
C. Moderate
D. Useless
E. Perfect

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Hard
Learning Objective: 01-06 How are correlations interpreted?
Topic: 01-17 Moving Forward in This Book
 
61. In organizational behaviour research, a correlation of .10 is considered: 
A. weak
B. strong
C. moderate
D. useless
E. perfect

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Hard
Learning Objective: 01-06 How are correlations interpreted?
Topic: 01-17 Moving Forward in This Book
 
62. In organizational behaviour research, a correlation of +1 is considered: 
A. Weak
B. Unimpressive
C. Moderate
D. Useless
E. Perfect

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Hard
Learning Objective: 01-06 How are correlations interpreted?
Topic: 01-17 Moving Forward in This Book

63. Which of the following terms describes a method that brings together all the correlations found in studies of a particular relationship and calculates a weighted average of them? 
A. Human resource management
B. Resource-based view
C. Meta-analysis
D. Strategic management
E. Method of intuition

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-06 How are correlations interpreted?
Topic: 01-17 Moving Forward in This Book
 
64. A meta-analysis conducted on the effects of social recognition and job performance across studies conducted in 96 different organizations in the service industry indicates an average correlation of _______. 
A. 0.66
B. 0.5
C. 0.35
D. 0.21
E. 0.03

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Hard
Learning Objective: 01-06 How are correlations interpreted?
Topic: 01-17 Moving Forward in This Book

True / False Questions
 
65. The theories and concepts found in OB are actually drawn from two disciplines: human resources management and strategic management. 
FALSE

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Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-01 What is the definition of "organizational behaviour" (OB)?
Topic: 01-02 The Role of Management Theory

66. Human resource management focuses on the product choices and industry characteristics that affect an organization's profitability. 
FALSE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-01 What is the definition of "organizational behaviour" (OB)?
Topic: 01-02 The Role of Management Theory
 
67. The text presents five individual mechanisms that directly affect individual outcomes: motivation; learning and decision making; job performance; stress; and trust, justice, and ethics. 
FALSE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-02 What are the two primary outcomes in studies of OB?
Topic: 01-03 An Integrative Model of OB
 
68. Team diversity and communication play an important role in achieving the primary outcomes of job performance and organizational commitment. 
TRUE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-01 What is the definition of "organizational behaviour" (OB)?
Topic: 01-03 An Integrative Model of OB
 
69. The integrative model acknowledges that employees work in one or more work teams led by some formal leader. 
TRUE

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Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-01 What is the definition of "organizational behaviour" (OB)?
Topic: 01-03 An Integrative Model of OB

70. Group mechanisms shape satisfaction, stress, motivation, trust, and learning. 
TRUE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-03 What factors affect the two primary OB outcomes?
Topic: 01-03 An Integrative Model of OB
 
71. Personality and cultural values are two factors that reflect the characteristics of individual employees. 
TRUE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-02 What are the two primary outcomes in studies of OB?
Topic: 01-04 Individual Outcomes
 
72. Personality, cultural values, and ability reflect the various traits and tendencies that describe how people act. 
TRUE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-03 What factors affect the two primary OB outcomes?
Topic: 01-05 Individual Characteristics and Mechanisms
 
73. The resource-based view suggests that a resource is more valuable when it can be imitated. 
FALSE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 01-03 What factors affect the two primary OB outcomes?
Topic: 01-10 Building a Conceptual Argument

74. People create history—a collective pool of experience, wisdom, and knowledge that benefits the organization. 
TRUE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 01-03 What factors affect the two primary OB outcomes?
Topic: 01-11 History
 
75. Resources like culture, teamwork, trust, and reputation are termed "socially complex" because it is not always clear which organizations do (and do not) possess them, though it is clear how they came to develop. 
FALSE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 01-03 What factors affect the two primary OB outcomes?
Topic: 01-06 Relational Mechanisms
 
76. Big decisions can be copied; they are visible to competitors and observable by industry experts and analysts. 
TRUE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-03 What factors affect the two primary OB outcomes?
Topic: 01-12 Numerous Small Decisions
 
77. Since good people create history and socially complex resources, they are easy to imitate. 
FALSE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-03 What factors affect the two primary OB outcomes?
Topic: 01-11 History

78. The rule of one-eighth suggests that about 88 percent of the companies will actually do what is required to build profits by putting people first. 
FALSE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-04 Why might firms that are good at OB tend to be more profitable?
Topic: 01-14 Research Evidence
 
79. Firms that invest in organizational behaviour typically have higher survival rates. 
TRUE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-04 Why might firms that are good at OB tend to be more profitable?
Topic: 01-14 Research Evidence
 
80. According to research conducted using the prospectus of IPO companies, firms who valued OB had a 19 percent higher survival rate than firms who did not value OB. 
TRUE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Hard
Learning Objective: 01-04 Why might firms that are good at OB tend to be more profitable?
Topic: 01-14 Research Evidence
 
81. Firms that do not undergo an IPO typically have shorter histories and need an infusion of cash to grow or introduce some new technology. 
FALSE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-04 Why might firms that are good at OB tend to be more profitable?
Topic: 01-14 Research Evidence

82. The was designed with the rule of one-eighth in mind. 
TRUE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-04 Why might firms that are good at OB tend to be more profitable?
Topic: 01-15 So What's So Hard?
 
83. It is often easy to "fix" companies that struggle with OB issues. 
FALSE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-04 Why might firms that are good at OB tend to be more profitable?
Topic: 01-14 Research Evidence
 
84. If people hold firmly to some belief because it seems obvious or self-evident, they are using their intuition. 
TRUE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 01-05 What is the role of theory in the scientific method?
Topic: 01-16 How Do We "Know" What We Know About Organizational Behaviour?
 
85. Scientific methods begin with hypotheses and require that these be used to inspire theories. 
FALSE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 01-05 What is the role of theory in the scientific method?
Topic: 01-16 How Do We "Know" What We Know About Organizational Behaviour?

86. If people hold firmly to some belief because scientific studies have tended to replicate results using a series of samples, settings, and methods, then they are using their intuition. 
FALSE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 01-05 What is the role of theory in the scientific method?
Topic: 01-16 How Do We "Know" What We Know About Organizational Behaviour?
 
87. Hypotheses take all the correlations found in studies of a particular relationship and calculate a weighted average. 
FALSE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 01-05 What is the role of theory in the scientific method?
Topic: 01-16 How Do We "Know" What We Know About Organizational Behaviour?
 
88. The best way to get a feel for the correlation between two variables is to look at a scatterplot—a graph made from those two columns of numbers. 
TRUE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-06 How are correlations interpreted?
Topic: 01-16 How Do We "Know" What We Know About Organizational Behaviour?
 
89. Correlation does not imply causation. 
TRUE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-06 How are correlations interpreted?
Topic: 01-16 How Do We "Know" What We Know About Organizational Behaviour?

90. Understanding correlation is important because OB questions are not "yes or no" in nature. 
TRUE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-06 How are correlations interpreted?
Topic: 01-16 How Do We "Know" What We Know About Organizational Behaviour?
 
91. Meta-analysis offers more compelling support for the potential benefits of social recognition than the methods of experience, intuition, or authority could have provided. 
TRUE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-06 How are correlations interpreted?
Topic: 01-16 How Do We "Know" What We Know About Organizational Behaviour?

Short Answer Questions
 
92. Define organizational behaviour. How does it differ from human resource management? 
OB is a field of study devoted to understanding, explaining, and ultimately improving the attitudes and behaviours of individuals and groups in organizations. HRM, on the other hand, takes the theories and principles studied in OB and explores the "nuts-and-bolts" applications of those principles in organizations.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 01-01 What is the definition of "organizational behaviour" (OB)?
Topic: 01-02 The Role of Management Theory

93. Illustrate the integrative model of organizational behaviour using a diagram. 
See Figure 1-1 in the text.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-01 What is the definition of "organizational behaviour" (OB)?
Topic: 01-03 An Integrative Model of OB
 
94. Identify the key individual outcomes in the studies of organizational behaviour and describe the factors that affect these key outcomes. 
The key individual outcomes in studies of organizational behaviour are job performance and organizational commitment. The factors that affect these outcomes are individual mechanisms (job satisfaction; stress; motivation; trust, justice & ethics; and learning & decision making). Individual mechanisms, in turn, are driven by organizational mechanisms (organizational culture and structure), group mechanisms (leadership: styles & behaviours, and power & influence; and teams: processes and characteristics), and individual characteristics (personality & cultural values and ability).

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-02 What are the two primary outcomes in studies of OB?
Topic: 01-03 An Integrative Model of OB
 
95. Using the resource-based view of the organization, explain how people are a valuable resource. Provide an example to justify your position. 
People are rare and inimitable. The inimitability of people can be described using the following three reasons: history, numerous small decisions, and socially complex resources. See Figure 1-2 in the text. Student answers will vary for the last part of the question.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-03 What factors affect the two primary OB outcomes?
Topic: 01-10 Building a Conceptual Argument

96. Indicate the four different ways of knowing things. 
Philosophers have argued that there are several different ways of knowing things:

 Method of experience. People hold firmly to some belief because it is consistent with their own experience and observations.
 Method of intuition. People hold firmly to some belief because it "just stands to reason"—it seems obvious or self-evident.
 Method of authority. People hold firmly to some belief because some respected official, agency, or source has said it is so.
 Method of science. People accept some belief because scientific studies have tended to replicate that result using a series of samples, settings, and methods.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-04 Why might firms that are good at OB tend to be more profitable?
Topic: 01-16 How Do We "Know" What We Know About Organizational Behaviour?

97. Scientific studies are based on the scientific method originated by Sir Francis Bacon in the 1600s. Indicate the four components of The Scientific Method and describe the role of each of its components. 
Theory, hypothesis, data, and verification.
The method begins with theory, defined as a collection of assertions—both verbal and symbolic—that specify how and why variables are related, and the conditions in which they should (and should not) be related. More simply, a theory tells a story and supplies the familiar who, what, where, when, and why elements found in any newspaper or magazine article.
The scientific method requires that theories be used to inspire hypotheses. Hypotheses are written predictions that specify relationships between variables. For example, a theory of social recognition might be used to inspire this hypothesis: "Social recognition behaviours on the part of managers will be positively related to the job performance and organizational commitment of their units." This hypothesis states, in black and white, the expected relationship between social recognition and unit performance.
You then would collect data, and compare its results against the hypotheses, and verify its confirmation of the hypotheses. If confirmed, then the hypothesis is upheld. If the data do not confirm the hypotheses, then revisions to the theory occur to generate new/further hypotheses to be tested.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-05 What is the role of theory in the scientific method?
Topic: 01-16 How Do We "Know" What We Know About Organizational Behaviour?

98. Explain the difference between correlation and causal inference. 
A correlation, abbreviated r, describes the statistical relationship between two variables. Correlations can be positive or negative and range from 0 (no statistical relationship) to 1 (a perfect statistical relationship). In organizational behaviour research a correlation of .50 is considered "strong," given the sheer number of things that can affect how employees feel and act. A .30 correlation is considered "moderate," and many studies discussed in this book will have results in this range. Finally, a .10 correlation is considered "weak." It should be noted, however, that even "weak" correlations can be important if they predict costly behaviours such as theft or ethical violations. The .08 correlation between smoking and lung cancer within 25 years is a good example of how important small correlations can be.
"Correlation does not imply causation." It turns out that making a causal inference— establishing that one variable really does cause another—requires establishing three things: first, that the two variables are correlated; second, that the presumed cause precedes the presumed effect in time; third, that no alternative explanation exists for the correlation. The third criterion is often fulfilled in experiments, in which researchers have more control over the setting of the study.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 01-06 How are correlations interpreted?
Topic: 01-16 How Do We "Know" What We Know About Organizational Behaviour?