CPM Organizational Behavior & Workplace Culture 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A manager notices that team members avoid disagreeing with the most senior person in the room, even when they have valid concerns. This pattern is best described as:
- Groupthink
- Authority bias (Correct answer)
- Social loafing
- Conformity pressure
Correct answer: Authority bias
Authority bias occurs when people defer to those with perceived power or status, suppressing their own judgment.
Question 2: Which organizational culture type, per Cameron and Quinn's Competing Values Framework, prioritizes flexibility and external focus, emphasizing innovation and growth?
- Hierarchy culture
- Market culture
- Adhocracy culture (Correct answer)
- Clan culture
Correct answer: Adhocracy culture
Adhocracy culture values creativity, risk-taking, and adaptability, with an external orientation toward growth and change.
Question 3: An employee who performs well when working alone but contributes less in group projects may be experiencing:
- Role ambiguity
- Social loafing (Correct answer)
- Groupthink
- Diffusion of innovation
Correct answer: Social loafing
Social loafing is the tendency to exert less effort when working in a group than when working individually.
Question 4: A company's unwritten rules about how employees should behave — often more influential than official policies — are known as:
- Organizational policies
- Informal norms (Correct answer)
- Strategic objectives
- Compliance guidelines
Correct answer: Informal norms
Informal norms are unspoken behavioral expectations that shape day-to-day conduct, often more powerfully than written rules.
Question 5: When a manager uses punishment to decrease an undesirable behavior, this is an application of which reinforcement concept?
- Positive reinforcement
- Negative reinforcement
- Extinction
- Punishment (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Punishment
Punishment involves applying an unpleasant consequence to reduce the frequency of an undesired behavior.
Question 6: A team that has developed strong cohesion but consistently avoids critical evaluation of ideas is at risk of:
- Storming phase regression
- Groupthink (Correct answer)
- Social facilitation failure
- Task conflict escalation
Correct answer: Groupthink
Groupthink occurs in highly cohesive groups where the desire for harmony overrides realistic appraisal of alternatives.
Question 7: Which concept explains why individuals in large organizations may feel that their personal actions have little impact on overall outcomes?
- Locus of control
- Diffusion of responsibility (Correct answer)
- Role overload
- Organizational inertia
Correct answer: Diffusion of responsibility
Diffusion of responsibility occurs when individuals feel less personally accountable because responsibility is shared across many people.
CPM Organizational Behavior & Workplace Culture 2
A manager notices that team members avoid disagreeing with the most senior person in the room, even when they have valid concerns.
This pattern is best described as: