Unit 4: Organisational behaviour - Practice Quiz

1 What is decision-making?

2 Which step usually comes first in the decision-making process?

3 A decision based on established rules and procedures is called a:

4 Which of the following is an important purpose of decision-making in an organisation?

5 What is leadership?

6 A person who guides and directs a group is known as a:

7 Which leadership style allows employees to participate in decisions?

8 Which quality is commonly associated with effective leadership?

9 What is communication?

10 Who initiates a message in the communication process?

11 Which of the following is an example of written communication?

12 What is feedback in communication?

13 What is coordination?

14 The main purpose of coordination is to:

15 Coordination is especially important when organisational tasks are:

16 What is motivation?

17 Which of the following is an example of an extrinsic motivator?

18 Recognition for good work can motivate employees by increasing their:

19 What is employee morale?

20 High morale among employees is usually associated with:

21 A district office must choose between repairing an old water system and constructing a smaller new one. Which approach would best improve the decision?

22 A manager has limited funds and several urgent requests. Which decision-making technique is most appropriate?

23 An officer continues funding a failing program because considerable money has already been spent on it. This behavior illustrates which problem?

24 During a crisis, a department head assigns clear roles, sets short deadlines, and keeps communication channels open. Which leadership behavior is demonstrated?

25 A newly formed project team has capable members but lacks confidence about its responsibilities. Which leadership action is most suitable?

26 A public manager asks employees for solutions before deciding how to reduce service delays. This approach is most likely to improve:

27 A policy memo is misunderstood by field offices because it uses unfamiliar technical terms. Which improvement is most appropriate?

28 A supervisor gives instructions verbally about a complex procurement procedure. Which action would most reduce later misunderstanding?

29 Employees hear different versions of a staffing change from informal conversations. What should the manager do first?

30 A housing program and a health program serve the same neighborhoods but collect overlapping data separately. Which coordination measure would help most?

31 Several agencies must respond to a flood, but their activities overlap and supplies are unevenly distributed. Which mechanism is most suitable?

32 Two departments disagree about responsibility for processing a permit. Which action would best address the problem?

33 A public employee values professional growth but receives only repetitive assignments. Which managerial action is most likely to increase motivation?

34 A department introduces performance bonuses, but employees believe the evaluation process is biased. Why might motivation remain low?

35 A manager wants staff to improve response time without lowering service quality. Which goal is best designed?

36 After repeated policy changes and public criticism, employees become withdrawn and absenteeism rises. Which response would most directly address morale?

37 A unit has adequate salaries but low morale because good work is rarely recognized. Which intervention is most appropriate?

38 A manager notices conflict between two teams is lowering cooperation across the office. Which action would best protect morale?

39 A manager discovers that a popular practice violates procurement rules. Which leadership response is most appropriate?

40 A committee quickly agrees with its chair despite evidence that the preferred project has serious risks. What corrective action is most useful?

41 A department must choose between a proven but expensive program and an innovative but uncertain one. Political leaders demand immediate results, while analysts estimate that the innovative option has higher expected long-term benefits. Which decision rule best addresses the conflict?

42 A committee reaches consensus after members suppress concerns to preserve unity. The chosen policy later fails because a key risk was never examined. Which corrective mechanism most directly addresses this problem?

43 A public agency uses a risk score that gives equal weight to efficiency and equity. The score favors a program serving a large urban population over one serving a smaller disadvantaged community. What is the most defensible response?

44 A newly appointed public manager inherits a team with high technical competence but low trust after repeated reorganizations. Which leadership approach is most likely to restore performance sustainably?

45 A leader publicly promotes innovation but privately penalizes employees whenever experiments produce setbacks. What is the most likely organizational consequence?

46 During a crisis, a director must act quickly but lacks complete information. Which leadership behavior best balances urgency with administrative accountability?

47 A policy memo is technically accurate, yet frontline employees implement it inconsistently. Interviews reveal that staff interpret the same terms differently across units. Which intervention is most appropriate?

48 An agency's dashboard reports excellent service averages, but complaints from remote communities are increasing. Which communication problem does this most clearly illustrate?

49 A senior official asks for honest assessments, but employees communicate only favorable information. Which organizational design change would most directly improve upward communication?

50 Three agencies serve the same clients but use incompatible eligibility databases. Each agency meets its own targets, while citizens repeatedly submit the same documents. Which coordination strategy is strongest?

51 A central ministry imposes uniform procedures on regional offices, reducing duplication but delaying responses to local emergencies. Which arrangement best resolves the tension?

52 A cross-department task force has representatives from every relevant unit but makes little progress because no member controls resources or deadlines. What is the central coordination failure?

53 A performance bonus is introduced for processing more cases. Output rises, but accuracy falls and complex cases are avoided. Which redesign is most appropriate?

54 Employees value meaningful public service, but a new monitoring system treats them as untrusted and gives no discretion. Productivity initially rises, then initiative declines. Which explanation is most plausible?

55 A manager offers identical rewards to all employees despite substantial differences in contribution. High performers become disengaged, while low performers remain unchanged. Which motivational principle is most relevant?

56 After a budget cut, leaders emphasize resilience but provide no explanation of criteria or timeline. Morale deteriorates even among employees whose positions are secure. What is the best interpretation?

57 A unit reports high satisfaction in a survey, yet absenteeism and turnover are rising. Which action would best test whether the survey is masking declining morale?

58 A technically strong manager achieves targets by humiliating employees, causing information sharing and retention to decline. Which evaluation best captures the leadership failure?

59 A committee must decide whether to continue a program after receiving mixed evidence. Supporters cite benefits among participants, while critics cite unchanged population-level outcomes. What is the best next step?

60 During a public emergency, officials release frequent updates that contain changing estimates without explaining the reasons for revision. Public trust declines. Which communication principle was neglected?