IIA IIA Certifications IIA-CIA-PART4 Questions & Answers

• Question 141:

  The biggest advantage of oral communication overwritten communication is that oral communication

  A. Tends to be more accurate.

  B. Promotes feedback.

  C. Is less time-consuming.

  D. Does not provide a permanent record.

  Correct Answer: B

  Oral communication promotes immediate feedback so that the sender knows that the message has been clearly received by the receiver.

• Question 142:

  Which of the following is least appropriate with regard to management's approach to informal group or grapevine communication? Management should:

  A. Use informal group information to supplement communication channels of the formal organization.

  B. Try to suppress informal group information as a possible source of conflicting information.

  C. Take advantage of informal group information as a device to correct misinformation.

  D. Make use of informal group information as a means of transmitting information not appropriate for formal communication channels.

  Correct Answer: B

  Suppressing grapevine networks is difficult, if not impossible. Recognizing that the grapevine exists and can be used effectively for several kinds of messages makes better managerial sense.

• Question 143:

  Which of the following statements is false according to communications theory?

  A. The process has three elements:sender, medium, receiver.

  B. Two-directional communication is usually most effective.

  C. Communication is the message actually received, not the message that is transmitted.

  D. Informal communications are used by effective managers.

  Correct Answer: A

  The communication process has five elements:the sender, the symbols in which the message is encoded, the medium through which the message is sent, the receiver, and feedback.

• Question 144:

  Which of the following terms does not apply to noise in communication?

  A. Encoding.

  B. Sending.

  C. Interpretation.

  D. Decoding.

  Correct Answer: C

  Interpretation is a subprocess of perception. Noise is a disruption that impedes the communication process.

• Question 145:

  Communication plays an important role in the successful operation of all organizations. Which of the following statements concerning organizational communications is false?

  A. Communication involves at least two people:a sender and a receiver.

  B. Communication is what the sender says, not what the receiver understands.

  C. Every act of communication influences the organization in some way.

  D. Management spends the majority of its time communicating with other members of the organization.

  Correct Answer: B

  The communication process has five elements:the sender, the symbols in which the message is encoded, the medium through which the message flows, the receiver, and feedback. Because the effectiveness of communication can be known only by its impact on the receiver and the perceived change in the receiver's behavior, the received message must govern the definition. The sent message may be garbled in encoding, in transmission, or in the receiver's decoding.

• Question 146:

  Which one of the following is not an example of formal internal communication?

  A. Input for the yearly budget provided by the Purchasing Department to the director of budgeting.

  B. Environmental impact statements.

  C. Expense account reports.

  D. Safety bulletins.

  Correct Answer: B

  A formal communication is conducted through the formal structure of the organization. Informal communication operates outside of officially established channels. An internal communication is one that is both generated and received within the organization. An environmental impact statement is generated within the organization, but the recipient a governmental body) is outside the organization.

• Question 147:

  The basic purposes of an organization's internal communications network include all of the following except:

  A. Obtaining a common focus among employees.

  B. Informing potential investors about company operations and financial results.

  C. Aiding high-quality decision making.

  D. Integrating the efforts of specialists.

  Correct Answer: B

  Because all managerial functions require communication, it is the secret to the success of any manager. A manager's ability to understand other people, and their ability to understand the manager, are crucial to accomplishing organizational objectives. Communication is the link that ties an organization together and transforms a diverse group of people into a cohesive whole. An organization's internal communications network is designed to facilitate decision making among managers, to promote goal congruence among employees, integrate the efforts of all employees, and build high morale and mutual trust. Informing potential investors about company operations is a purpose of the external, not internal, communications network.

• Question 148:

  Which of the following conditions would motivate employees to improve performance under a merit pay system?

  A. Ideal goals are stressed.

  B. The company's culture emphasizes outstanding performance.

  C. Different levels of performance have minimal differences in pay.

  D. Job descriptions are invariably set with the required tasks clearly outlined.

  Correct Answer: B

  A merit pay system rewards good conduct or behavior with salary increases. To motivate employees under this system, management should be visibly committed to the system, develop a culture that emphasizes above-average performance, implement a policy of following up on unacceptable performance reviews, and establish an employee appeal process for unfavorable reviews.

• Question 149:

  Victor Vroom's expectancy theory is based on the intuitively appealing idea that people have expectations of rewards derived from their unique personal motive structure, from their beliefs as to what are important rewards to them, and from their expectations of getting these incentives if they exert effort. The perceived equity of rewards leads to satisfaction or dissatisfaction and thus feeds into the next cycle's expectancies. For example, an employeewho believes s)he is compensated less well than another worker performing the same task with the same degree of skill may become dissatisfied. An important concept in the expectancy theory is:

  A. Theory C and Theory Y.

  B. Motivation = Valence x Expectancy.

  C. The two-factor theory of behavior.

  D. The management grid.

  Correct Answer: B

  Victor Vroom's expectancy theory holds that the force with which an individual is motivated is a function of the valence of a motivator whether it has a positive or negative value to the individual) and the expectancy, which is that individual's estimation of the probability that a particular action will lead to a desired outcome. Thus, motivation equals the valence times the expectancy.

• Question 150:

  Frederick Taylor's scientific approach to motivation concluded that workers are best motivated by:

  A. Psychic income.

  B. Money.

  C. Fear of punishment.

  D. Knowledge of a job well done.

  Correct Answer: B

  Taylor felt that employees responded best to the extrinsic motivator of monetary incentives.