2023: WK 06

One surprising aspect of Zimbardo's prison experiment was that:

• The 'guards' came to see the 'prisoners' as a negative outgroup

• The 'prisoners' quickly accepted the authority positions of the 'guards'

• The 'prisoners' did not speak out against the experiment conditions

• The 'guards' did not need to be trained in their roles

Answer explanation

The experiment showed that even mentally healthy individuals can display pathological behaviours, due to role expectations.

A manager would like to increase the cohesiveness and productivity of her project teams. What should she do for the groups?

• Create high performance norms for quality, output and cooperation with outsiders.

• Encourage team members to spend more time together.

• Create high performance norms with team members across departments.

• Make sure the team is as diverse as possible.

Answer explanation

To increase group cohesiveness and productivity, team members can be encouraged to spend more time together.

Social identity threat:

• Is concerned with when and why individuals consider themselves to be members of groups

• Refers to individuals' uncertainty about who they are and what they should do

• Refers to the belief that we will be personally negatively evaluated because of our association with a devalued group

• Is a perspective in which we see members of our ingroup as better than other people, and members of the outgroup as all the same

Answer explanation

Social identity threat is sometimes referred to as stereotype threat.

Leaving work early, intentionally working slowly and wasting resources is a type of:

• Antisocial behaviour

• Workplace norm confusion

• Production deviant workplace behaviour

• Incivility

Answer explanation

Workplace deviance can be categorised as production, property, political and personal aggression.

Which of the following can result when teams have members with surface-level differences?

• Adjourning

• Groupthink

• Social loafing

• Faultlines

Answer explanation

Faultlines are perceived divisions that split groups into two or more subgroups based on gender, race, age or work experience.

Why are work teams popular in organisations today?

• Organisations have restructured themselves to compete globally.

• Companies with work teams produce faster and more efficiently.

• Teams can respond to events in a clear and calm manner.

• Organisations have turned to teams to replace management.

Answer explanation

Organisations have found that a key benefit of teams is the added competitive advantage in the world.

The Dayton Company has recently implemented some large work teams and is finding that the teams' performances are not as high as expected. Which of the following could be the reason for this low performance?

• The teams are not diverse enough.

• Large work groups are not effective or productive.

• There is not enough focus on common goals and team rewards.

• The leaders of the company are more focused on research and marketing than teams.

Answer explanation

Large teams may not perform well when there is not enough focus on common goals and individuals can engage in social loafing.

A project manager is challenged with three individuals in a team who continue to have conflict issues. This is leading to large delays in deliverables. What could the project manager do to improve the situation?

• Re-assign the team members to different projects

• Provide teamwork skills workshops to help the individua

• Provide technical training to help employees

• Hire individuals who already possess the interpersonal skills to be effective team players

Answer explanation

The project manager can send the individuals to additional training so they can be more effective team players.

Kate is in charge of designing a new model of patient care in hospitals. She considers patients who are hospitalised before and after surgery. Their care would be best entrusted to:

• Individuals, because they will address problems faster

• A computer-assisted team, because they need technological support

• A virtual team, because expertise is rare in local communities

• An interacting team, because various perspectives are needed

Answer explanation

Patient care requires the interaction of various roles: doctors, nurses, physiotherapists and home-carers.

A team of mostly white, male editors are discussing a big project with a fast-approaching deadline. The consensus on the cover art presented by the head of the graphic design team just concluded a presentation. Everyone in the room seems to agree that the image is acceptable so the editor-in-chief decides to go with that image. A female intern raises a hand to voice a concern, but is silenced by the majority because of seemingly more pressing concerns. What should the editor-in-chief do?

• Use the position of authority to make the final decision after the meeting

• Rely on the overwhelming consensus to accept the cover art as-is

• Let the team sort it out on their own without managerial obstruction

• Remind the staff that the value of diversity is receiving multiple perspectives

Answer explanation

There is a real value in hearing different perspectives.