The Marshall Code of
Professional and Academic Integrity
By signing below, I certify that I have not violated the MBA Code of Professional and
Academic Integrity during this exam or during my preparation for this exam. (You are
responsible for knowing the Code; additional, specific points are presented below.)
In adhering to the Honor Code, I have not given myself an unfair advantage over my
colleagues. I would be comfortable that my conduct has been fully ethical, even if it were
described on the front page of the Wall Street Journal.
Print Name
Signature
Professor’s expectations about acceptable behavior during this exam:
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No “cheat sheets” or any other outside notes may be used.
Each person’s work must be entirely their own.
Prior collaborative studying is fine.
Use of paper dictionaries and non-programmable electronic dictionaries that
provide translations and word meanings only is allowed for international students
or others who received prior authorization. NO phones or multipurpose devices.
You may ask clarifying questions if you don’t understand something on the exam.
GSBA 533 – Organizational Behavior & Leadership
Final Exam Fall 2011
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Instructions – please read carefully
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Some of the questions may describe real-world events or organizations. Information
sufficient to answer each question is provided here, and generally you should stick to the
provided information for your responses. If you have relevant outside knowledge, you
may use it, but you should note that you are doing so and clarify how that information
affects your response.
Similarly, many of these questions will ask you to make judgments of how you think
situations will unfold, how to manage events, or how dynamics interrelate. In these
instances, please stay cognizant of the differences between judgment and opinion. You
are welcome to offer your personal opinions, if you feel you can spare the time; but
please indicate when you are doing so, and be sure that you emphasize analytic answers
in which you use course material and course principles to derive your responses.
Be sure to read all instructions carefully. Words have meanings and those meanings
matter. Words have been chosen deliberately for the exam (not to be tricky, but to be
precise), so please respond accordingly.
More words do not equal a higher-quality answer! Be succinct, but complete. You have
been given a lot of space for each question, but you are NOT expected to use it all—in
fact, that would make us unhappy.
Please write normally. Do not cram tiny text into the provided space to lengthen your
answer. Answers that are very difficult to read because of this kind of cramming may not
be read carefully, which could have negative grading consequences.
Bullet points are generally acceptable for getting across discrete concepts or points.
Your grade will be higher if your responses are reasoned, rather than simply factual datadumps. Unless the question clearly does not call for it, your response should include
argumentation (that is, logic and reasoning) and the use of some evidence (e.g.,
examples to illustrate your points).
Don’t assume that we know what you are trying to say. Say it clearly so that we don’t
have to guess.
Please don’t assume information that is not actually part of the question.
GSBA 533 – Organizational Behavior & Leadership
Final Exam Fall 2011
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Part 1. Short answer
1. Imagine that you are working for a company that has been very successful for the
past several years and has used performance-based bonuses to reward employees.
Bonuses have been quite large and the workload has been manageable; in general,
everyone has been very happy and productive. The company is sold to a new owner
who wants access to a particular technology. Much of the workforce is redundant
with the acquiring company, and so layoffs are announced. After the first round of
layoffs, changes to the compensation system are announced: The performance-based
bonuses will only be available to the top few performers; everyone else will receive
no bonuses at all. Shortly after this change is announced, there are rumors that a
second round of layoffs is coming, as well.
Using the concepts of Maslow’s hierarchy, Hygiene (Two-Factor) Theory, and the EP-O Model, describe how motivation is likely to be affected by these events. (10
points)
GSBA 533 – Organizational Behavior & Leadership
Final Exam Fall 2011
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2. A. Please describe three benefits attributable to organizational culture. (6 points)
B. Please describe at least four ways managers can make new employees more likely
to embrace the organizational culture. (4 points)
GSBA 533 – Organizational Behavior & Leadership
Final Exam Fall 2011
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3. Please list and define each of the five bases of power. (10 points)
4. Use the job characteristics model to explain how companies can use job design to
foster intrinsic motivation. (10 points)
GSBA 533 – Organizational Behavior & Leadership
Final Exam Fall 2011
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Part 2. Multiple Choice. (2 points each)
1. Which of the following network features do people tend to invest too little time developing?
A.)
B.)
C.)
D.)
Expressive ties
Weak ties
Strong ties
Covalent ties
2. Which of the following biases is reduced in bilingual people?
A.)
B.)
C.)
D.)
Anchoring
Confirmation
Framing
Availability
3. Which of the following best describes the similar-to-me bias?
A.)
We view other people more favorably the more similar they are to us
B.)
We believe that other people hold views that are similar to our own
C.)
We interpret others’ behavior in ways we would like our own behavior to be interpreted
D.)
We assume that people understand our meanings more often than they actually
understand
4. When people are induced to perform an unpleasant act for a little or no external justification,
which of the following generally occurs:
A.)
B.)
C.)
D.)
They start to experience overly sufficient justification
They decide that they are extrinsically motivated
They increase their effort
They decide that they are intrinsically motivated
5. We watched a video in which a company instituted a “Swear Jar” policy wherein people were
fined for swearing in the office. Which of the following parts of the E-P-O model could be used
to explain why the swear jar did not work?
A.
B.
C.
The “E” component
The “P” component
The “O” component
6. Which of the following is true:
A.)
When considering losses, we tend to prefer to gamble
GSBA 533 – Organizational Behavior & Leadership
Final Exam Fall 2011
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B.)
When considering gains, we tend to prefer to gamble
7. How should you begin a negotiation that has integrative potential?
A.)
B.)
C.)
D.)
Strategically disclose information
Insist that nothing is settled until every issue is settled
Discuss the easy issues first
Discuss the difficult issues first
8. Which phenomenon was the Architect (i.e., Henry Fonda’s character) in 12 Angry Men trying
to combat when he offered to abstain from voting during one round of jury voting?
A.)
B.)
C.)
D.)
Dilution of responsibility
Escalation of commitment
Social projection
Coordination neglect
9. Each of the following is a type of overconfidence except:
A.)
B.)
C.)
D.)
Overaccuracy
Overestimation
Overplacement
Overprecision
10. Goals should be all of the following except:
A.)
B.)
C.)
D.)
Reasonable
Generalizable
Time-bound
Measureable
11. Which of the following is not one of the three basic frameworks people use to determine
fairness?
A.)
B.)
C.)
D.)
Equality
Need-based
Reciprocity
Equity
12. Which of the following strategies is mismatched with its structure:
A.)
B.)
C.)
Geographic dispersion – departmental headquarters
Volume expansion – three-dimensional structure
Diversification – multidivisional general office
GSBA 533 – Organizational Behavior & Leadership
Final Exam Fall 2011
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13. Which of the following practices is consistent with the notion of evidence-based
management?
A.) After seeing an inspiring presentation at a conference, you return to your organization and
try to implement the management system that you heard described in the presentation.
B.) In designing a new compensation system, you collect information on your options and
identify the assumptions about people and organizations underlying each option.
C.) When communication is faltering between your company’s headquarters and several field
offices, you hire a consultant who provides a set of best practices for managing
communication.
D.) Your company is having a serious problem with employees not attending scheduled
meetings. You remember that your last company had success with a penalty system for noshows, so you decide to implement that system here.
14. Evidence-based management was designed to combat three basic poor decision
processes. According to Pfeffer and Sutton, which of the following is not one of these three
poor decision processes?
A.)
B.)
C.)
D.)
Casual benchmarking
Escalating commitment
Doing what (seems to have) worked in the past
Following deeply held yet unexamined ideologies
15. Which of the following is most effective in single-issue negotiations:
A.)
B.)
C.)
D.)
Logrolling
Displaying sadness
Anchoring
Integrating
16. Which of the following is not a consequence of self-justification?
A.)
B.)
C.)
D.)
It allows us sleep at night
It increases cognitive dissonance
It prevents us from seeing our errors
It fosters escalation of commitment.
17. Which of the following tends to be least problematic in performance appraisals:
A.)
B.)
C.)
Escalation of commitment
Fundamental attribution error
Halo effect
GSBA 533 – Organizational Behavior & Leadership
Final Exam Fall 2011
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D.)
Similarity-to-me bias
18. The benefits of 360-degree feedback outweigh the negatives when some conditions hold.
Which of the following conditions is not one of those conditions?
A.)
There is an organizational commitment to performance evaluation
B.)
The 360-degree feedback is delivered frequently
C.)
Both the people making and the people interpreting the evaluations have received
adequate training
D.)
The feedback is used in an environment of trust
19. Your boss believes that one of your co-workers is a poor performer and asks you to keep tabs
on his work. After a couple of weeks, your boss asks what you have observed. You say that he
has trouble with a few discrete tasks that he doesn’t appear to have been trained on, but that he
seems hardworking, motivated, and very capable on other tasks. Your boss ignores the last part,
and asks you to document your co-worker’s failures so that she can prepare to fire him. Which
bias or error is reflected in her behavior?
A.)
B.)
C.)
D.)
Hindsight bias.
Confirmation bias.
Fundamental attribution error.
Systematic error.
20. Which of the following is the strongest advantage that domain-general rules for cognitive
repairs have over domain-specific rules?
A.)
B.)
C.)
D.)
It is easier to recognize when a domain-general rule is relevant
It is easier to apply a domain-general rule
Domain-general rules work more successfully when the task environment is in flux
Domain-general rules are developed from a broader base of experiences
21. Which of the following norms can organizational implement in order to promote
implementation?
A.)
B.)
C.)
D.)
Risk Taking
Rewards for Change
Openness
Autonomy
22. Which of the following is not one of the most common organizational forms?
A.)
B.)
C.)
Multidivisional
Star model
Holding company
GSBA 533 – Organizational Behavior & Leadership
Final Exam Fall 2011
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D.)
Functional
23. On average, which of the following instruments predicts job performance most poorly?
A.)
B.)
C.)
D.)
General mental ability
Specific mental ability
Unstructured interviews
Personality tests
24. Which of the following networks maximizes team cooperation and control?
A.)
B.)
C.)
D.)
Clique network
Entrepreneurial network
Bow tie network
Botox network
25. Which of the following networks maximizes loyalty and feelings of reciprocity?
A.)
B.)
C.)
D.)
Clique network
Entrepreneurial network
Bow tie network
Sector network
GSBA 533 – Organizational Behavior & Leadership
Final Exam Fall 2011
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