Chapter 01 - Communicating in the Workplace
Chapter 01
Communicating in the Workplace
True / False Questions
1.Communication skills are a plus, but you can succeed as well with or without them as long as you are expert in your chosen business area.
TrueFalse
2.The higher you go in an organization, the less important communication skills become.
TrueFalse
3.NFI Research, a private organization that regularly surveys over 2,000 executives and senior managers, found that 94 percent of the members rank mathematical skill as the most important skill for them to succeed today and tomorrow.
TrueFalse
4.Business's need for employees with good communication skills is all too often not fulfilled.
TrueFalse
5.Succeeding in the "information age" requires businesses—and their employees—to be more flexible and adaptive than they used to be.
TrueFalse
6.People need to learn to ignore their cultural, ethnic, social, an/or age differences when doing business together.
TrueFalse
7.The ability to learn and use computer applications, as well as to understand their strengths and limitations is known as the information literacy.
TrueFalse
8.The ability to find, evaluate, select, and use information is known as the information literacy.
TrueFalse
9.Widespread use of the Internet is one reason for companies' increased attention to social responsibility.
TrueFalse
10.All the communication that occurs in conducting work within a business falls into the category of external operational communication.
TrueFalse
11.The communication that takes place among the business's employees so as to create, implement, and track the success of the business's operating plan is known as the internal operational communication.
TrueFalse
12.Oral exchanges among employees about work matters is an example of external-operational communication.
TrueFalse
13.Microblogging and viral videos are examples of internal-operational communication.
TrueFalse
14.All the communication that occurs in business is operational.
TrueFalse
15.Because personal communication interferes with work, it should be prohibited in the workplace.
TrueFalse
16.A workplace that is too rollicking or jovial can undermine business goals.
TrueFalse
17.Organizations have two communication networks, the formal network and the informal network and both these networks are critical for the success of the business.
TrueFalse
18.The communication flowing through the informal network follows no set pattern.
TrueFalse
19.The communication that flows through the formal network is known as the grapevine.
TrueFalse
20.Most of the communication that takes place through formal network consists of gossip and rumor.
TrueFalse
21.As a rule, simple organizations require more communication than do complex ones.
TrueFalse
22.Whatever the nature of their businesses, all organizations use the same genres, or forms, of communication.
TrueFalse
23.Businesses in a dynamic environment will tend to improvise less in terms of their communication and company structure than businesses in a comparatively stable environment.
TrueFalse
24.The culture of the organization has a strong effect upon and is strongly affected by the company's communication.
TrueFalse
25.The content and quality of the company's communication has a great deal to do with employees' attitudes and behavior.
TrueFalse
26.You can learn the true culture of an organization by reading its published mission statement.
TrueFalse
27.Imagination, creativity, and judgment are for the creative disciplines. Business communication should use only logic and analysis.
TrueFalse
28.Since most business communication problems are ill-defined problems without clearly prescribed solutions, all communication solutions are equally valid.
TrueFalse
29.A problem is always something negative.
TrueFalse
30.The communicators' larger contexts exert stronger influence on the act of communication than the particular context.
TrueFalse
31.Priorities of the communicator's organization will be included in the larger context of the communication.
TrueFalse
32.Two people might ascribe completely different meanings to the same words.
TrueFalse
33.No two people have identical contexts and mental "filters."
TrueFalse
Multiple Choice Questions
34.NFI Research, a private organization that regularly surveys over 2,000 executives and senior managers, found that 94 percent of the members rank _____ as the most important skill for them to succeed today and tomorrow.
A.analytical skill
B.communication skill
C.logical ability
D.data interpretation ability
E.mathematical skill
35.The companies included in BusinessWeek's 2009 list of "best places to launch a career" cited _____ skills as the "most desirable trait" in a job candidate—more desirable than any other trait besides "college major".
A.analytical
B.mathematical
C.logical
D.data interpretation
E.communication
36.According to the employers surveyed for the National Association of Colleges and Employers' Job Outlook 2009, which of the following is one of the highly prized qualities in job applicants?
A.Speed of work
B.Negotiation skills
C.Mathematical ability
D.A strong work ethic
E.Logical skills
37.The ability to meaningfully, accurately, and efficiently include pictures and other graphics to supplement your messages is an example of:
A.cross-cultural literacy.
B.information literacy.
C.verbal literacy.
D.technological literacy.
E.visual literacy.
38.Which of the following sentences best describes the term ‘information age?'
A.Technology is changing rapidly.
B.Almost all the companies in the world use computers for their day-to-day operations.
C.Information about any topic can be obtained quickly.
D.Information has become the hottest commodity there is.
E.Vast amount of information is now available.
39.As more means of acquiring, storing, retrieving, transmitting, and using information develop, people's jobs become increasingly information related and according to a term coined by a renowned management thinker Peter Drucker, such workers are called _____ workers.
A.data
B.global
C.modern
D.information
E.knowledge
40.Which of the following is best represented by the term ‘information literacy?'
A.The ability to summarize data in the tabular form
B.The ability to communicate with colleagues
C.The ability to find, evaluate, select, and use information
D.The ability to learn and use computer applications, as well as to understand their strengths and limitations
E.The ability to interpret and assess visuals
41.The ability to learn and use computer applications, as well as to understand their strengths and limitations is known as the _____ literacy.
A.information
B.technological
C.modern
D.new age
E.visual
42.Which of the following is NOT a major trend in business in the 21st century?
A.Increasingly hierarchical company structures
B.Growing diversity of employees in the workplace
C.Increased focus on corporate social responsibility
D.Need to stay abreast of changing information technologies
E.Increasing globalization
43.A memorandum reporting a shortage of certain goods written by the warehouse supervisor of a company to its purchasing department is classified as a(n) _____.
A.internal-operational communication
B.external-operational communication
C.personal communication
D.cross-cultural communication
E.internal-external communication
44.All the communication that occurs in conducting work within a business falls into the category of _____ communication.
A.vertical
B.grapevine
C.horizontal
D.internal-operational
E.personal
45.The communication that takes place among the business's employees so as to create, implement, and track the success of the business's operating plan is known as the _____ communication.
A.vertical
B.grapevine
C.horizontal
D.internal-operational
E.personal
46.John has received some instructions from his supervisor regarding a new project. This communication is an example of _____ communication.
A.internal-external
B.horizontal
C.grapevine
D.personal
E.internal-operational
47.Which of the following is an example of internal-operational communication?
A.Microblogging and viral videos
B.An instruction given by a supervisor to his employees
C.Newspaper and magazine advertising
D.Coordinating with contractors
E.Public-relations messages
48.The work-related communicating that a business does with people and groups outside the business is known as _____ communication.
A.external-operational
B.horizontal
C.grapevine
D.personal
E.internal-operational
49.The business's communication with its publics—suppliers, service companies, customers, government agencies, the general public, and others falls into the category of _____ communication.
A.external-operational
B.horizontal
C.grapevine
D.personal
E.internal-operational
50.All that a business does to improve its public relations falls into the category of _____ communication.
A.external-operational
B.horizontal
C.grapevine
D.personal
E.internal-operational
51.An angry customer calls the public relations department of Company X to complain about the company's product. Such communication can be classified as:
A.internal-operational communication.
B.external-operational communication.
C.personal communication.
D.cross-cultural communication.
E.internal-external communication.
52.Which of the following is an example of external-operational communication?
A.Instructions given by the supervisor to his employees.
B.Point-of-purchase display material.
C.Oral exchanges among employees about work matters.
D.Sales reports produced by employees.
E.Ongoing discussions that senior management undertakes to determine the goals and processes of the business
53.Communication that takes place in business environment without apparent purpose, as far as the operating plan of the business is concerned, can be classified as _____ communication.
A.external-operational
B.horizontal
C.vertical
D.personal
E.internal-operational
54.All of the following communications will definitely flow through a formal network EXCEPT:
A.Upward movement of a report
B.Downward movement of a memo
C.Grapevine
D.Downward movement of policies
E.Correspondence with suppliers
55.Which of the following statements is true regarding a formal network?
A.It has an ever-changing structure and follows no set pattern.
B.It generally carries gossips and rumors.
C.The communication flowing through a formal network is known as the grapevine.
D.Downward movement of a memo will take place through the formal network.
E.The formal channel of communication usually carries far more information than the grapevine.
56.Which is good advice to a manager concerning how to deal with the grapevine?
A.Control it with strict rules
B.Eliminate it
C.Keep in touch with it and use it
D.Ignore it
E.Feed it with gossip and rumors
57.Which of the following is true regarding communication in a business that is operating in a comparatively stable environment?
A.Most of the communication takes place through an informal channel.
B.A business in a stable environment requires far more communication than a business in a dynamic environment.
C.Businesses in a stable environment will tend to improvise more in terms of their communications and company structure than businesses in a comparatively dynamic environment.
D.The bulk of the communication that the business needs to operate flows through the informal communication channel.
E.Businesses in a dynamic environment will tend to improvise more in terms of their communications and company structure than businesses in a comparatively stable environment.
58.Which of the following statements is true regarding the kind of communication needed in a particular type of business?
A.The culture of the organization strongly affects the communication in the organization.
B.The kind of communication needed in a business is independent of the nature of the business.
C.Relatively simple businesses require far more communication than complex businesses.
D.Businesses a comparatively stable environment depends less on established types of formal communication in a set organizational hierarchy.
E.Businesses in a dynamic environment, will tend to improvise less in terms of their communications and company structure than the businesses in a stable environment.
59.All of the following statements are true regarding the culture of an organization EXCEPT:
A.The culture of an organization has a strong effect upon the company's communication.
B.An organization's actual culture is the same as its official culture.
C.The culture of an organization is strongly affected by the company's communication.
D.The content and quality of the company's communication affects employees' attitudes and behavior.
E.Management tries to promote certain official culture through formal communication such as mission statements and mottos.
60.Sam is communicating with one of his clients. With reference to the context of communication, which of the following will be included in Sam's larger context?
A.Culture of his organization
B.Business-economic climate at the time of communication
C.Sam's upbringing and his life experiences
D.Priorities of Sam's organization
E.Professional role of Sam
61.Samantha is communicating some information to a client organization. The business-economic climate at the time of communication will be considered as a part of the _____ context of the communicators.
A.ethical
B.personal
C.professional
D.organizational
E.larger
62.John is sending an invoice to a client organization. With reference to the communication context, which of the following will be included in client organization's particular context?
A.Customs in the surrounding culture
B.Economic climate
C.Current circumstances of the organization
D.Sociocultural context
E.Historical context
63.Which of the following will be included in the professional context?
A.Priorities of the communicator's organization
B.Life experiences of the communicator
C.Communicator's family background
D.Communicator's occupational background
E.Organization's current situation
64.Which of the following will be included in the personal context of the communicator?
A.Current situation of the communicator's organization
B.Communicator's family background
C.Professional role of the communicator
D.Priorities of the communicator's organization
E.Business-economic climate
65.William has received a complaint from a customer and he is trying to find out the problem and any further information that might be needed to understand the situation. William is most likely engaged in which of the following stages of business communication?
A.Defining the situation
B.Considering possible communication strategies
C.Selecting a course of action
D.Composing the message
E.Receiving the message
66.Anna wants to inform her suppliers about some changes in the product specifications. She wants to ensure that her message projects a good image of her organization. Identify the stage of the business communication in which this concern is most likely to be included.
A.Defining the situation
B.Considering possible communication strategies
C.Interpreting the message
D.Composing the message
E.Receiving the message
67.Emma wants to send a message to a client organization. She has selected a communication strategy and a course of action and she is now composing the message. Which of the following questions is most likely to be considered by her while composing the message?
A.What exactly is the problem?
B.Does the customer have a legitimate point?
C.What further information might you need to understand the situation?
D.What kind of communication event should you initiate?
E.What should be the structure of the message?
68.Your message is prepared or carefully planned, you are ready to deliver it to your intended recipients in the channel you have chosen and you choose a good time to deliver it. Identify the stage of business communication in discussion.
A.Defining the situation
B.Considering possible communication strategies
C.Interpreting the message
D.Sending the message
E.Receiving the message
69.During which of the following stages of business communication does extracting information from the message take place?
A.Defining the situation
B.Considering possible communication strategies
C.Interpreting the message
D.Sending the message
E.Receiving the message