Essentials of Organizational Behavior, 12e (Robbins/Judge)
Chapter 1 What is Organizational Behavior?
1) Until the late 1980s, business school curricula emphasized the ________ aspects of management.
A) ethical
B) people
C) technical
D) human
E) global
Answer: C
Explanation: C) Until the late 1980s, business school curricula emphasized the technical aspects of management,
focusing on economics, accounting, finance, and quantitative techniques. Course work in human behavior and
people skills received relatively less attention. Over the past three decades, however, business faculty have come to
realize the role that understanding human behavior plays in determining a manager's effectiveness, and required
courses on people skills have been added to many curricula.
2) Which of the following is not a reason why business schools have begun to include classes on organizational
behavior?
A) to increase manager effectiveness in organizations
B) to help organizations attract top quality employees
C) to expand organizations' consulting needs
D) to improve retention of quality workers
E) to help increase organizations' profits
Answer: C
Explanation: C) Understanding human behavior plays an important role in determining a manager's effectiveness.
Developing managers' interpersonal skills helps organizations attract and keep high-performing employees. Positive
social relationships are associated with lower stress at work and lower turnover. Finally, companies with reputations
as good places to work have been found to generate superior financial performance. Expanding a company's
consulting needs is not a positive reason to teach organizational behavior.
3) ________ is the study of the impact that individuals, groups, and structure have on behavior within organizations.
A) Leadership
B) Organizational strategy
C) Performance management
D) Employee relations
E) Organizational behavior
Answer: E
Explanation: E) Organizational behavior is the field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups,
and structure have on behavior within organizations, for the purpose of applying such knowledge toward improving
an organization's effectiveness.
4) Which of the following is not a topic or concern related to OB?
A) turnover
B) leader behavior
C) productivity
D) management
E) family behavior
Answer: E
Explanation: E) OB is concerned specifically with employment-related situations such as jobs, work, absenteeism,
employment turnover, productivity, human performance, and management. OB includes the core topics of
motivation, leader behavior and power, interpersonal communication, group structure and processes, personality,
emotions, values, attitude development, perception, change processes, conflict and negotiation, and work design.
5) Which of the following problems would an OB study be least likely to focus on?
A) an increase in absenteeism at a certain company
B) a fall in productivity in one shift of a manufacturing plant
C) a decrease in sales due to growing foreign competition
D) an increase in theft by employees at a retail store
, E) excessive turnover among volunteer workers at a non-profit organization
Answer: C
Explanation: C) OB is concerned specifically with employment-related situations such as jobs, work, absenteeism,
employment turnover, productivity, human performance, and management. A study of foreign competition would
not be part of an OB research project.
6) What are the three primary determinants of behavior in organizations?
A) profit structure, organizational complexity, and job satisfaction
B) individuals, profit structure, and job satisfaction
C) individuals, groups, and job satisfaction
D) groups, structure, and profit structure
E) individuals, groups, and structure
Answer: E
Explanation: E) OB investigates the impact that individuals, groups, and structure have on behavior within
organizations.
7) Which of the following is not a core topic of organizational behavior?
A) motivation
B) attitude development
C) conflict
D) resource allocation
E) work design
Answer: D
Explanation: D) OB includes the core topics of motivation, leader behavior and power, interpersonal
communication, group structure and processes, personality, emotions, and values, attitude development and
perception, change processes, conflict and negotiation, and work design. It does not include resource allocation.
8) In order to predict human behavior, it is best to supplement your intuitive opinions with information derived in
what fashion?
A) common sense
B) direct observation
C) systematic study
D) speculation
E) organizational theory
Answer: C
Explanation: C) To make good OB decisions it is important to use evidence to supplement intuition and experience.
Evidence should come through systematic study, which involves looking at relationships, attempting to attribute
causes and effects, and basing conclusions on scientific evidence, that is, on data gathered under controlled
conditions and measured and interpreted in a reasonably rigorous manner.
9) Betty believes that it is best to take the casual or common sense approach to reading others. She needs to
remember that ________.
A) the casual approach is nonsensical, and should be avoided as much as possible
B) the systematic approach and the casual approach are one and the same
C) laboratory experiments on human behavior often result in unreliable findings
D) the casual or common sense approach to reading others can often lead to erroneous predictions
E) behavior is unpredictable, hence there is no accurate way to analyze it
Answer: D
Explanation: D) Unfortunately, the casual or common sense approach to reading others can often lead to erroneous
predictions. However, you can improve your predictive ability by supplementing intuition with a more systematic
approach.
10) Which of the following explains the usefulness of the systematic approach to the study of organizational
behavior?
A) Human behavior does not vary a great deal between individuals and situations.
B) Human behavior is not random.
C) Human behavior is not consistent.
D) Human behavior is rarely predictable.
Chapter 1 What is Organizational Behavior?
1) Until the late 1980s, business school curricula emphasized the ________ aspects of management.
A) ethical
B) people
C) technical
D) human
E) global
Answer: C
Explanation: C) Until the late 1980s, business school curricula emphasized the technical aspects of management,
focusing on economics, accounting, finance, and quantitative techniques. Course work in human behavior and
people skills received relatively less attention. Over the past three decades, however, business faculty have come to
realize the role that understanding human behavior plays in determining a manager's effectiveness, and required
courses on people skills have been added to many curricula.
2) Which of the following is not a reason why business schools have begun to include classes on organizational
behavior?
A) to increase manager effectiveness in organizations
B) to help organizations attract top quality employees
C) to expand organizations' consulting needs
D) to improve retention of quality workers
E) to help increase organizations' profits
Answer: C
Explanation: C) Understanding human behavior plays an important role in determining a manager's effectiveness.
Developing managers' interpersonal skills helps organizations attract and keep high-performing employees. Positive
social relationships are associated with lower stress at work and lower turnover. Finally, companies with reputations
as good places to work have been found to generate superior financial performance. Expanding a company's
consulting needs is not a positive reason to teach organizational behavior.
3) ________ is the study of the impact that individuals, groups, and structure have on behavior within organizations.
A) Leadership
B) Organizational strategy
C) Performance management
D) Employee relations
E) Organizational behavior
Answer: E
Explanation: E) Organizational behavior is the field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups,
and structure have on behavior within organizations, for the purpose of applying such knowledge toward improving
an organization's effectiveness.
4) Which of the following is not a topic or concern related to OB?
A) turnover
B) leader behavior
C) productivity
D) management
E) family behavior
Answer: E
Explanation: E) OB is concerned specifically with employment-related situations such as jobs, work, absenteeism,
employment turnover, productivity, human performance, and management. OB includes the core topics of
motivation, leader behavior and power, interpersonal communication, group structure and processes, personality,
emotions, values, attitude development, perception, change processes, conflict and negotiation, and work design.
5) Which of the following problems would an OB study be least likely to focus on?
A) an increase in absenteeism at a certain company
B) a fall in productivity in one shift of a manufacturing plant
C) a decrease in sales due to growing foreign competition
D) an increase in theft by employees at a retail store
, E) excessive turnover among volunteer workers at a non-profit organization
Answer: C
Explanation: C) OB is concerned specifically with employment-related situations such as jobs, work, absenteeism,
employment turnover, productivity, human performance, and management. A study of foreign competition would
not be part of an OB research project.
6) What are the three primary determinants of behavior in organizations?
A) profit structure, organizational complexity, and job satisfaction
B) individuals, profit structure, and job satisfaction
C) individuals, groups, and job satisfaction
D) groups, structure, and profit structure
E) individuals, groups, and structure
Answer: E
Explanation: E) OB investigates the impact that individuals, groups, and structure have on behavior within
organizations.
7) Which of the following is not a core topic of organizational behavior?
A) motivation
B) attitude development
C) conflict
D) resource allocation
E) work design
Answer: D
Explanation: D) OB includes the core topics of motivation, leader behavior and power, interpersonal
communication, group structure and processes, personality, emotions, and values, attitude development and
perception, change processes, conflict and negotiation, and work design. It does not include resource allocation.
8) In order to predict human behavior, it is best to supplement your intuitive opinions with information derived in
what fashion?
A) common sense
B) direct observation
C) systematic study
D) speculation
E) organizational theory
Answer: C
Explanation: C) To make good OB decisions it is important to use evidence to supplement intuition and experience.
Evidence should come through systematic study, which involves looking at relationships, attempting to attribute
causes and effects, and basing conclusions on scientific evidence, that is, on data gathered under controlled
conditions and measured and interpreted in a reasonably rigorous manner.
9) Betty believes that it is best to take the casual or common sense approach to reading others. She needs to
remember that ________.
A) the casual approach is nonsensical, and should be avoided as much as possible
B) the systematic approach and the casual approach are one and the same
C) laboratory experiments on human behavior often result in unreliable findings
D) the casual or common sense approach to reading others can often lead to erroneous predictions
E) behavior is unpredictable, hence there is no accurate way to analyze it
Answer: D
Explanation: D) Unfortunately, the casual or common sense approach to reading others can often lead to erroneous
predictions. However, you can improve your predictive ability by supplementing intuition with a more systematic
approach.
10) Which of the following explains the usefulness of the systematic approach to the study of organizational
behavior?
A) Human behavior does not vary a great deal between individuals and situations.
B) Human behavior is not random.
C) Human behavior is not consistent.
D) Human behavior is rarely predictable.
