Leadership, 6e Test Bank

Test bank for Leadership Theory and Practice

6th Edition Northouse 1452203407
9781452203409
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practice-6th-edition-northouse-1452203407-9781452203409/

1. According to Fiedler, if a leader's style does not match a situation, the leader can
A) Adapt her or his leadership behavior to the situation
B) Change her or his personality
C) Engage in situational engineering
D) Modify the characteristics of the followers
E) Determine the cause

2. Who developed the Least Preferred Coworker (LPC) scale?

A) Blake and McCanse
B) Katz
C) Hersey and Blanchard
D) Fiedler
E) Goleman

3. Contingency theory is best characterized as

A) Predictive
B) Descriptive
C) Exhaustive
D) Relative
E) Creative

4. Using contingency theory, in a highly unstructured task,

A) Rules would be clear.
B) There would usually be several ways to do something.
C) Your boss would verify that you did it correctly.
D) Completion is obvious.
E) There would be a structure in place.

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5. Using contingency theory, in a highly structured task,

A) There would be less control by a leader and more by followers.
B) There would be room for some experimentation.
C) There is no single best way to accomplish the task.
D) Both high and low LPC leaders could perform effectively.
E) Leaders need to have strong power to perform effectively.

6. A low LPC leader would perform best in which situation?

A) Good leader-member relations, high structure, strong power
B) Good leader-member relations, low structure, weak power
C) Poor leader-member relations, high structure, strong power
D) Poor leader-member relations, high structure, weak power
E) Poor leader-member relations, low structure, strong power

7. Contingency theory can be used by an organization to

A) Tell whether a follower would work well in a situation
B) Suggest changes to make in a lower-level position for a good manager-worker
fit
C) Explain how a leader can be equally effective in any work situation
D) Determine reasons for follower-leader mismatch
E) Modify traits to match situations

8. This theory argues that leaders should not expect to be effective in every situation.
A) Situational leadership theory
B) Contingency theory
C) Path-goal theory
D) Style approach
E) Skills approach

9. Which best explains a lead-match theory?

A) The change of leadership style to match the situation
B) Matching a leader to appropriate situations
C) Your third answer option goes here
D) Your fourth answer option goes here
E) Your fifth answer option goes here

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10. Contingency theory is concerned with ______ and _______.

A) Leaders; followers
B) Traits; situations
C) Styles; situations
D) Leadership; situations
E) Traits; styles

11. During a speech given by your department director, he repeatedly emphasizes the
importance of reaching goals set by the organization. He then goes on to lay out the
framework to accomplish the goals. According to contingency theory, which best
describes your director?
A) Relationship motivated
B) Task motivated
C) Position power
D) High LPC score
E) Contingent

12. Which best explains leader-member relations as stated within the contingency
theory?
A) The amount of authority a leader has to reward or to punish followers
B) Matching the leader's styles with that of the group and organization
C) Atmosphere of the group and the degree of confidence and loyalty felt toward
the leader
D) The traits of the leader as they directly relate to those of the followers
E) The degree in which the requirements of a task are clear and spelled out

13. A leader with a low LPC score would be most effective in

A) Very favorable situations and very unfavorable situations.
B) Very favorable situations.
C) Very unfavorable situations.
D) Moderately favorable situations.
E) Very favorable situations and moderately favorable situations.

14. A leader with a high LPC score would be most effective in:
A) Very favorable situations and very unfavorable situations.
B) Very favorable situations.
C) Very unfavorable situations.
D) Moderately favorable situations.
E) Very favorable situations and moderately favorable situations.

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15. Contingency theory has many strengths. Which of the following is not considered
one of them?
A) Its validity is not present initially.
B) It fails to correlate well with other leadership measures.
C) It lacks clear instructions or explanations on the actual scale.
D) It is not clear up-front how perceptions of others reflect personal leadership
behaviors.
E) It lacks predictive applications when determining leadership effectiveness in
certain situations.

16. Position power is strong if

A) The leader has the authority to hire and fire followers.
B) The leader's position is equal to that of her or his followers.
C) Approval must be gained for follower-related actions to be taken.
D) The leader volunteered for his or her current position.
E) Followers have say in leadership power.

17. Having the oil changed in your car is an example of

A) Positional power
B) A high structure task
C) A low structure task
D) An undefined task
E) Leader-member relations

18. According to Fiedler, a “black box problem” occurs because:

A) Leaders are not effective in all situations.
B) Task-motivated leaders are good in moderately favorable settings.
C) There is no explanation why some leadership styles are more effective than
others in situations.
D) Relationship-motivated leaders are good in extreme settings.
E) Followers have an unknown role within situational leadership.

19. Middle LPCs are:

A) Group oriented.
B) Relationship motivated.
C) Task motivated.
D) Socioindependent.
E) Follower oriented.

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T F 20. From the framework of contingency theory, cleaning the milkshake machine at
McDonald's is not a good example of a structured task.

T F 21. Contingency theory is a leader-match theory.

T F 22. One problem with contingency theory is the lack of research to support it.

T F 23. People with low scores on the LPC work better in categories 1 and 2 than in
categories 4 and 5.

T F 24. Fiedler's LPC measure has been criticized with regard to its validity and lack of
correlation with other leadership measures.

T F 25. Low LPCs have a primary need to relate to people and a secondary need to get the
job done.

T F 26. Fiedler contends that it makes sense to try to train leaders to adapt their leadership
styles.

T F 27. Contingency theory suggests that a leader's style is far more important than the
leadership context.

T F 28. According to contingency theory, no leader can be expected to perform well in

every situation.

T F 29. High LPCs are more motivated by tasks.

30. What should organizations do when there is a mismatch between the leader and the
situation in the workplace?

31. Use contingency theory to explain how a person who has worked well in one
position in an organization can be ineffective if moved into a different position in
the same company.

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32. Why has the Least Preferred Coworker (LPC) scale often been criticized?

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Answer Key
1. C
2. D
3. A
4. B
5. D
6. A
7. B
8. B
9. B
10. C
11. B
12. C
13. A
14. D
15. E
16. A
17. B
18. C
19. D
20. False
21. True
22. False
23. True
24. True
25. False
26. False
27. False
28. True
29. False
30. Contingency theory is a leader-match theory, which means rather than adjusting
one's leadership style (as in the situational leadership model) a leader (or
organization) should adjust the task structure, position power, or relationship with
team members to increase effectiveness. Or, the organization should transfer the
leader to a situation that better fits his or her style. Either action could create
other problems for the organization.
31. Contingency theory focuses on contexts and the match between the leader and the
situation. There is strong research evidence to substantiate contingency theory. It
provides a predictive model for explaining leadership effectiveness. Contingency
theory matches the leader and situations but does not demand that leaders be
effective in all situations.
32. On the surface it does not seem valid because projection is involved in the measure.
To measure one's style by assessing another person's style does not make sense.
The instructions on how to complete the questionnaire are unclear. It is not clear
who one is to select as his or her least preferred coworker.

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