BU.142.601 Leadership & Organizational
Behavior – Comprehensive Final Exam
1. Transformational leadership focuses primarily on:
A) Task completion and performance metrics
B) Inspiring followers to transcend self-interest for the organization
C) Enforcing strict rules and procedures
D) Monitoring employee performance closely
Rationale: Transformational leaders motivate followers through vision, idealized
influence, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration, encouraging
them to prioritize collective goals over personal gain.
2. Which leadership style is most consistent with McGregor’s Theory X?
A) Participative and empowering
B) Authoritarian and controlling, assuming employees are inherently lazy
C) Laissez-faire with minimal oversight
D) Servant leadership focused on employee growth
Rationale: Theory X assumes workers are unmotivated and avoid responsibility,
requiring close supervision and external rewards/punishments. Theory Y assumes
self-direction and creativity.
3. According to Fiedler’s Contingency Model, a leader’s effectiveness depends on:
A) Their emotional intelligence only
B) The match between leadership style (task vs. relationship) and situational
favorability
C) The size of the organization
D) The leader’s gender and age
Rationale: Fiedler’s model uses the Least Preferred Co-worker (LPC) scale to
classify leaders as task-motivated or relationship-motivated, then matches them to
situational control (leader-member relations, task structure, position power).
,4. In Path-Goal Theory, a leader who sets challenging goals and expects high
performance is using which style?
A) Supportive leadership
B) Participative leadership
C) Achievement-oriented leadership
D) Directive leadership
Rationale: Achievement-oriented leadership involves setting high standards,
showing confidence in followers’ abilities, and encouraging excellence. Supportive
leadership focuses on well-being; participative involves input; directive gives clear
instructions.
5. A leader with high emotional intelligence is most likely to:
A) Ignore team emotions to remain objective
B) Recognize their own emotions and those of others to guide behavior
C) Rely exclusively on rational analysis
D) Avoid conflict at all costs
Rationale: Emotional intelligence (Goleman) comprises self-awareness,
self-regulation, empathy, social skill, and motivation, all of which enhance
leadership effectiveness.
6. Which leadership model argues that leaders cannot change their style and that
organizations should fit the leader to the situation?
A) Situational Leadership II (Hersey-Blanchard)
B) Fiedler’s Contingency Model
C) Transformational leadership
D) Authentic leadership
Rationale: Fiedler believed leadership style is fixed; therefore, the situation must
be engineered to match the leader’s style, or the leader should be replaced.
7. A CEO publicly praises an employee for taking a creative risk that failed. This
best exemplifies:
A) Transactional leadership (management by exception)
B) Psychological safety and learning orientation
,C) Bureaucratic leadership
D) Laissez-faire leadership
Rationale: Praising risk-taking despite failure fosters psychological safety
(Edmondson), encouraging innovation and learning, which is characteristic of
transformational or learning-oriented cultures.
8. According to Lewin’s leadership styles, which style leads to the highest
productivity but lower satisfaction when the leader is absent?
A) Laissez-faire
B) Autocratic
C) Democratic
D) Bureaucratic
Rationale: Autocratic leadership produces high productivity under direct
supervision but drops when the leader is absent; democratic yields higher
satisfaction and sustained productivity.
9. Servant leadership, as articulated by Greenleaf, prioritizes:
A) Organizational profits above all
B) Serving followers’ needs first, enabling them to grow and perform
C) Maintaining a strict hierarchy
D) Rapid decision-making without consultation
Rationale: Servant leaders focus on empowering and developing employees,
which ultimately benefits the organization. The leader’s primary role is to serve.
10. A leader who uses management-by-exception (active) will:
A) Wait until problems become severe to intervene
B) Closely monitor deviations from standards and take corrective action
immediately
C) Never provide feedback
D) Inspire followers with a vision
Rationale: Transactional leadership includes management-by-exception (active) –
constant vigilance to prevent errors. Passive MBE waits for mistakes to occur.
, 11. Which leadership behavior in the Ohio State studies is most associated with
employee satisfaction?
A) Initiating structure
B) Consideration
C) Production orientation
D) Achievement orientation
Rationale: Consideration (showing respect, trust, warmth) consistently correlates
with follower satisfaction; initiating structure (task focus) correlates with
performance.
12. According to the Leadership Grid (Blake & Mouton), a leader with high
concern for people and low concern for production is the:
A) Team leader (9,9)
B) Country club leader (1,9)
C) Country club leader (1,9)
D) Impoverished leader (1,1)
Rationale: The grid axes are concern for production and concern for people. (1,9)
is “country club” – high people, low task. (9,9) is team leader (high both). (9,1) is
task manager.
13. Which theory proposes that leaders are born, not made?
A) Contingency theory
B) Trait theory
C) Behavioral theory
D) Transformational theory
Rationale: Early trait theory attempted to identify innate characteristics
(intelligence, dominance, self-confidence) that distinguish leaders; later research
showed traits can be developed.
14. A manager who gives employees a voice in decisions and uses their input to set
goals is using which Path-Goal style?
Behavior – Comprehensive Final Exam
1. Transformational leadership focuses primarily on:
A) Task completion and performance metrics
B) Inspiring followers to transcend self-interest for the organization
C) Enforcing strict rules and procedures
D) Monitoring employee performance closely
Rationale: Transformational leaders motivate followers through vision, idealized
influence, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration, encouraging
them to prioritize collective goals over personal gain.
2. Which leadership style is most consistent with McGregor’s Theory X?
A) Participative and empowering
B) Authoritarian and controlling, assuming employees are inherently lazy
C) Laissez-faire with minimal oversight
D) Servant leadership focused on employee growth
Rationale: Theory X assumes workers are unmotivated and avoid responsibility,
requiring close supervision and external rewards/punishments. Theory Y assumes
self-direction and creativity.
3. According to Fiedler’s Contingency Model, a leader’s effectiveness depends on:
A) Their emotional intelligence only
B) The match between leadership style (task vs. relationship) and situational
favorability
C) The size of the organization
D) The leader’s gender and age
Rationale: Fiedler’s model uses the Least Preferred Co-worker (LPC) scale to
classify leaders as task-motivated or relationship-motivated, then matches them to
situational control (leader-member relations, task structure, position power).
,4. In Path-Goal Theory, a leader who sets challenging goals and expects high
performance is using which style?
A) Supportive leadership
B) Participative leadership
C) Achievement-oriented leadership
D) Directive leadership
Rationale: Achievement-oriented leadership involves setting high standards,
showing confidence in followers’ abilities, and encouraging excellence. Supportive
leadership focuses on well-being; participative involves input; directive gives clear
instructions.
5. A leader with high emotional intelligence is most likely to:
A) Ignore team emotions to remain objective
B) Recognize their own emotions and those of others to guide behavior
C) Rely exclusively on rational analysis
D) Avoid conflict at all costs
Rationale: Emotional intelligence (Goleman) comprises self-awareness,
self-regulation, empathy, social skill, and motivation, all of which enhance
leadership effectiveness.
6. Which leadership model argues that leaders cannot change their style and that
organizations should fit the leader to the situation?
A) Situational Leadership II (Hersey-Blanchard)
B) Fiedler’s Contingency Model
C) Transformational leadership
D) Authentic leadership
Rationale: Fiedler believed leadership style is fixed; therefore, the situation must
be engineered to match the leader’s style, or the leader should be replaced.
7. A CEO publicly praises an employee for taking a creative risk that failed. This
best exemplifies:
A) Transactional leadership (management by exception)
B) Psychological safety and learning orientation
,C) Bureaucratic leadership
D) Laissez-faire leadership
Rationale: Praising risk-taking despite failure fosters psychological safety
(Edmondson), encouraging innovation and learning, which is characteristic of
transformational or learning-oriented cultures.
8. According to Lewin’s leadership styles, which style leads to the highest
productivity but lower satisfaction when the leader is absent?
A) Laissez-faire
B) Autocratic
C) Democratic
D) Bureaucratic
Rationale: Autocratic leadership produces high productivity under direct
supervision but drops when the leader is absent; democratic yields higher
satisfaction and sustained productivity.
9. Servant leadership, as articulated by Greenleaf, prioritizes:
A) Organizational profits above all
B) Serving followers’ needs first, enabling them to grow and perform
C) Maintaining a strict hierarchy
D) Rapid decision-making without consultation
Rationale: Servant leaders focus on empowering and developing employees,
which ultimately benefits the organization. The leader’s primary role is to serve.
10. A leader who uses management-by-exception (active) will:
A) Wait until problems become severe to intervene
B) Closely monitor deviations from standards and take corrective action
immediately
C) Never provide feedback
D) Inspire followers with a vision
Rationale: Transactional leadership includes management-by-exception (active) –
constant vigilance to prevent errors. Passive MBE waits for mistakes to occur.
, 11. Which leadership behavior in the Ohio State studies is most associated with
employee satisfaction?
A) Initiating structure
B) Consideration
C) Production orientation
D) Achievement orientation
Rationale: Consideration (showing respect, trust, warmth) consistently correlates
with follower satisfaction; initiating structure (task focus) correlates with
performance.
12. According to the Leadership Grid (Blake & Mouton), a leader with high
concern for people and low concern for production is the:
A) Team leader (9,9)
B) Country club leader (1,9)
C) Country club leader (1,9)
D) Impoverished leader (1,1)
Rationale: The grid axes are concern for production and concern for people. (1,9)
is “country club” – high people, low task. (9,9) is team leader (high both). (9,1) is
task manager.
13. Which theory proposes that leaders are born, not made?
A) Contingency theory
B) Trait theory
C) Behavioral theory
D) Transformational theory
Rationale: Early trait theory attempted to identify innate characteristics
(intelligence, dominance, self-confidence) that distinguish leaders; later research
showed traits can be developed.
14. A manager who gives employees a voice in decisions and uses their input to set
goals is using which Path-Goal style?
