MHA Leadership and Organizational Behavior 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A healthcare administrator wants to reduce turnover among registered nurses. According to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, which intervention should be addressed FIRST if safety needs are unmet?
- Implementing a peer recognition program
- Offering tuition reimbursement for advanced degrees
- Addressing staffing ratios to reduce physical risk and workplace injuries (Correct answer)
- Creating opportunities for career advancement and leadership roles
Correct answer: Addressing staffing ratios to reduce physical risk and workplace injuries
Maslow's hierarchy requires lower-level needs (safety) to be met before higher-level needs like esteem or self-actualization can motivate behavior.
Question 2: In organizational behavior, which term describes the tendency for employees to model their behavior after what they perceive to be acceptable in their unit, regardless of formal policy?
- Organizational commitment
- Descriptive norms (Correct answer)
- Role conflict
- Job enrichment
Correct answer: Descriptive norms
Descriptive norms reflect what people actually do in a given setting, which often shapes behavior more powerfully than written policies.
Question 3: A healthcare system undergoes a merger. Which leadership competency is MOST critical for the new executive team to demonstrate during integration?
- Technical clinical expertise
- Change management and cultural integration skills (Correct answer)
- Financial modeling and budget forecasting
- Marketing and community outreach
Correct answer: Change management and cultural integration skills
Mergers create cultural clashes and uncertainty; effective change management and cultural integration are essential to prevent talent loss and service disruption.
Question 4: Which motivational theory suggests that employees are motivated by the belief that effort leads to performance, and performance leads to valued outcomes?
- Equity Theory
- ERG Theory
- Expectancy Theory (Correct answer)
- Goal-Setting Theory
Correct answer: Expectancy Theory
Vroom's Expectancy Theory holds that motivation depends on expectancy (effort → performance), instrumentality (performance → reward), and valence (reward value).
Question 5: A department manager at a community health center delegates a quality improvement project to a senior staff member. What is the MOST important element of effective delegation?
- Retaining all decision-making authority throughout the project
- Clearly communicating expectations, authority boundaries, and accountability (Correct answer)
- Delegating only tasks the manager finds unpleasant
- Checking in multiple times daily to ensure compliance
Correct answer: Clearly communicating expectations, authority boundaries, and accountability
Effective delegation requires clarity about what is expected, what authority is granted, and how success will be measured.
Question 6: An MHA student reads about 'organizational ambidexterity.' This concept refers to an organization's ability to:
- Operate across two geographic markets simultaneously
- Simultaneously exploit existing capabilities and explore new innovations (Correct answer)
- Manage both inpatient and outpatient services effectively
- Comply with dual federal and state regulatory requirements
Correct answer: Simultaneously exploit existing capabilities and explore new innovations
Organizational ambidexterity is the capacity to simultaneously optimize current operations (exploitation) while pursuing new opportunities (exploration).
Question 7: Which of the following leadership behaviors is MOST associated with building a high-reliability organization (HRO) in healthcare?
- Rewarding staff who identify errors and near-misses without punishment (Correct answer)
- Minimizing staff involvement in safety reporting to reduce administrative burden
- Focusing exclusively on outcome metrics rather than process adherence
- Centralizing all safety decisions at the executive level
Correct answer: Rewarding staff who identify errors and near-misses without punishment
HROs cultivate psychological safety and just culture, rewarding error reporting so organizations can learn and prevent future failures.
MHA Leadership and Organizational Behavior 5
A healthcare administrator wants to reduce turnover among registered nurses.
According to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, which intervention should be addressed FIRST if safety needs are unmet?