Mgmt 3720 Test 2 Flashcards

According to Gordon Allport, BLANK is defined as the dynamic organization within the individual of those psychophysical systems that determine a person's unique adjustments to his/her environment.

Who defined personality as the dynamic organization within the individual of those psychophysical systems that determine a person's unique adjustments to his/her environment?

BLANK is the sum total of ways in which an individual reacts to and interacts with others.

Esther Lugo has gone for an interview at an advertising firm in Manhattan and has been asked to complete a self-report survey to help interviewers understand if she is the right candidate for the job. From the interview, they have found that she is extroverted, empathic, scrupulous, and cooperative in nature, which are key characteristics needed for the job. These characteristics about Lugo indicate her BLANK .

Which of the following is the most common means of measuring personality?

Which of the following is a drawback of self-report surveys?

In BLANK a co-worker or another observer does an independent assessment of personality, with or without the subject's knowledge.

Tracy Winter works at a publishing firm in London and recently received an e-mail from the human resource department of her company asking her to study the behavior of a colleague, Cindy Camp, including her attention toward her work, without Camp’s knowledge. Winter now needs to scrutinize Camp's behavior and notice if she is free from distractions and pays sufficient attention to her tasks. Which of the following is Winter conducting?

Which of the following terms refers to factors such as one's biological, physiological, and inherent psychological makeup determined at conception?

Which of the following statements is true about personality?

Which of the following does the heredity approach state?

The BLANK is a personality assessment consisting of 100 questions where respondents are classified as extraverted or introverted, sensing or intuitive, thinking or feeling, and judging or perceiving.

According to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) classification, people belonging to the BLANK type are practical and prefer routine and order and focus on details.

According to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) classification, people belonging to the BLANK type are flexible and spontaneous

According to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) classification, people belonging to the judging type BLANK

Which of the following are characteristics of the intuitive type of people according to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) classification?

Ellen Athers works as a communication executive at a travel house. She is known to be friendly with her colleagues and interacts with them regularly to build strong work relationships. She knows that her rapport with her co-workers is a crucial part of her work and invests time in these relationships. In addition, she is assertive in making decisions, and colleagues take her decisions seriously. Which of the following types is Athers most likely to be characterized as according to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) classification?

Elaine Chamberlain works as a research executive at an environmental organization. Though her colleagues are helpful and friendly, because of her shy nature, she often eats her lunch at her desk and has limited interactions with them. She is glad that her nature of work does not require her to interact with her co-workers to a high extent. Which of the following types is Chamberlain most likely to be characterized as according to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) classification?

Valerie Sinclair, a climate campaigner at an environmental organization, invariably uses rationale to make decisions for project implementation. She believes that the right decisions can be made only through scrutiny and analysis. Each time she needs to make a decision, she weighs all options before taking action. Which of the following is a characteristic of Sinclair's personality type according to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) classification?

Amber Downing, a human resource executive, is in charge of the recruitment process in her organization. During the hiring process, she often needs to coordinate with prospective employees. The organizational process does not require her to inform employees who do not get through the selection process. However she believes that it is rude not to give them an update. She thus makes sure that she sends them e-mails informing them about the selection process. Which of the following types is Downing characterized as according to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) classification?

According to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) classification, introverted-intuitive-thinking-judging type of people are BLANK

People with an ESTJ personality type are characterized as BLANK according to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) classification.

According to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) classification, people with an ENTP personality type are most likely to be BLANK

What does the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator classification of "E or I" stand for?

What does the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator classification of S versus N stand for?

What is the major problem with the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator as a measure of personality?

The BLANK is a personality assessment model that taps basic dimensions which encompass most of the significant variation in human personality, namely extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness to experience.

Which dimension of the Big Five model refers to an individual's propensity to defer to others?

Which dimension of the Big Five model is a measure of reliability?

According to the Big Five model, a highly conscientious person is most likely to be BLANK .

According to the Big Five model, a person who scores BLANK is easily distracted, disorganized, and unreliable.

Which of the following dimensions of the Big Five model indicates a person's ability to withstand stress?

According to the Big Five model, the BLANK dimension addresses a range of interests and fascination with novelty.

Marina Lyon works as a reservation executive at a travel and tourism company. Though her job requires her only to efficiently book flight tickets for customers, she has also opted to undergo training to learn the process of hotel reservations. In addition, every evening she reads travelogues to be aware of upcoming travel destinations and trends. She loves the industry she works in and is eager to learn as much as she can. Considering the information given in this case, which dimension of the Big Five model best describes Lyon's personality?

BLANK has been found to be more important than other traits in the success of CEOs of private equity companies.

Which of the following is most likely to be a drawback of highly conscientious people according to the Big Five model?

Among the Big Five model traits, BLANK is most strongly related to life satisfaction, job satisfaction, and low stress levels.

With reference to the Big Five Model, which of the following is a difference between highly agreeable and less agreeable people?

Which of the following differentiates introverts from extraverts?

) People scoring high on the BLANK dimension of the Big Five model are more likely to be absent from work and engage in risky behavior than those who score low.

BLANK refers to bottom-line conclusions individuals have about their capabilities, competence, and worth as a person.

Which of the following statements is true about people with positive core self-evaluations?

Which of the following personality traits indicates the degree to which a person is unemotional and pragmatic and believes that ends can justify means?

A high Mach would be most productive in which of the following positions?

BLANK refers to the tendency to be arrogant, have a grandiose sense of self-importance, require excessive admiration, and have a sense of entitlement.

During an annual review, Michel Godfrey made the following assertion: "When I look at myself and my performance, I see that what I have achieved is outstanding and something no one in the organization has the capacity to undertake. Surprisingly, it has not won me the admiration of my colleagues like it should have. I also believe that I do not just deserve a raise, but need one, since without me, let's face it, the place would simply fall apart." Which of the following personality traits best describes Michel's personality?

Which of the following is true about narcissists?

Individuals scoring BLANK have a strong ability to adjust their behavior to external, situational factors and can behave differently in different situations

Individuals low in self-monitoring BLANK

As compared to high self-monitors, low self-monitors BLANK

Which of the following, if true, would most weaken Kate's chances of being selected?

Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen Kate's chances of being selected?

John Hardley recently joined as marketing director of H2O, a water sports gear company. Though in the last five years the company has had a drastic dip in sales, ever since Hardley has joined he has turned the figures around. In addition to revamping the look of the brand, he has initiated several marketing campaigns through broadcast media to increase customer base for the company. Over the past 6 months, Hardley has managed to get the company to an all-time high peak of sales. Which of the following statements best describes Hardley?

Those with a BLANK personality identify opportunities, show initiative, take action, and persevere until meaningful change occurs, compared to others who passively react to situations.

Which of the following statements is most likely to be true regarding people with proactive personalities?

Which of the following, if true, would reduce the likelihood that Bryan will be selected?

Which of the following, if true, would increase the likelihood that Bryan will be selected?

Which of the following terms describes basic convictions that "a specific mode of conduct or end-state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite mode of conduct"?

When we rank an individual's values in order of their BLANK we obtain the person's value system.

Which of the following is true regarding values?

Milton Rokeach created the Rokeach Value Survey (RVS), which consists of two sets of values, namely BLANK values and BLANK values.

According to the Rokeach Value Survey, BLANK values refer to desirable end-states.

According to the Rokeach Value Survey, BLANK values refer to preferable modes of behavior

Which of the following is a terminal value according to the Rokeach Value Survey?

Which of the following is an instrumental value according to the Rokeach Value Survey?

Which of the following is true regarding the baby boomer generation?

John Holland's personality-job fit theory presents six personality types. Which of the following is one of these six types?

With reference to John Holland's personality-job fit theory, people belonging to the realistic type will be most suitable for the job of a(n) BLANK

Help Aid, a non-profit organization in Indonesia, works at providing education in underdeveloped countries. They are now looking to hire a teacher who can educate children in Namibia and prepare them for jobs which will enable them to sustain themselves. According to Holland's personality-job fit theory, people belonging to which of the following personality types will best suit Help Aid's requirement?

With reference to John Holland's personality-job fit theory, people belonging to the BLANK type prefer verbal activities in which there are opportunities to influence others and attain powers.

With reference to John Holland's personality-job fit theory, people belonging to the investigating type prefer BLANK

With reference to the Hofstede's framework, a class or caste system that discourages upward mobility is more likely to exist in a nation that scores BLANK

Alex was sent to Beijing to help local managers solve the problem of growing worker dissatisfaction at their manufacturing facility located in the city. As part of his visit, he decided to have a town hall meeting with the workers to understand the problems that they were facing and the reasons for their discontent. The turnout at the meeting was substantial; however, when asked for their opinions and suggestions, the crowd fell silent. As a result, Alex was unable to determine the reason for employee dissatisfaction. Which of the following, if true, best explains this situation?

With reference to the Hofstede's Framework for Assessing Cultures, BLANK emphasizes a tight social framework in which people expect others in groups of which they are a part to look after them and protect them.

According to Hofstede's framework, BLANK indicates the degree to which people in a country prefer structured over unstructured situations.

A drawback of self-report surveys is the level of accuracy.

As compared to observer-ratings surveys, self-reporting surveys are a better predictor of success on the job.

According to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) classification, people belonging to the judging type prefer control and like their world to be ordered and structured.

According to the Big Five model, the agreeableness dimension refers to an individual's propensity to defer to others.

The conscientiousness dimension of the Big Five model captures a person's comfort level with relationships.

According to the Big Five model, a drawback of introverts is that they tend to be more impulsive than extraverts and engage in risky behavior.

People with positive core self-evaluations feel that they are powerless over their environment.

High Machs do exceptionally well in jobs which are administrative in nature and do not involve face-to-face communication.

High Mach employees win in the short term, but lose the gains in the long term because they are not well liked.

The degree to which norms, cues, or standards dictate appropriate behavior is known as consistency.

Research suggests that personality traits better predict behavior in weak situations than in strong ones.

An organization in a dynamic and changing environment that needs employees who can easily change tasks and teams should seek individuals with personalities that fit with the organization's overall culture rather than with a specific task.

Values contain a judgmental element in which they carry an individual's ideas as to what is right, good, or desirable.

An individual's value system is obtained by ranking the person's values in terms of their intensity.

Millennials have high expectations, seek meaning in their work, and have life goals oriented toward becoming rich and famous.

According to John Holland's personality-job fit theory, individuals belonging to the realistic type are disorderly, impractical, and emotional.

According to John Holland's personality-job fit theory, individuals belonging to the conventional type prefer ambiguous activities that allow creative expression.

According to Hofstede's framework, individualism describes the degree to which people in a country accept that power in institutions and organizations is distributed unequally.

According to Hofstede's five value dimensions of national culture, people in a culture with long-term orientation look to the future and value thrift, persistence, and tradition.

BLANK is the process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment

Which of the following statements is true regarding perception?

When two people witness something at the same time and in the same situation yet interpret it differently, factors that operate to shape their perceptions reside in the BLANK

David Myers is of the opinion that people who drive SUVs are rash drivers. He feels that people driving SUVs do not respect road rules and always violate traffic regulations. What personal factor is most likely to be affecting Myers' perception of SUV drivers?

Extremely attractive or unattractive individuals are most likely to be noticed in a group. Which of the following statements best describes the reason behind this?

During team meetings Amber Downing always notices that Rhona Law tends to ask innumerable questions and suggest ideas at each discussion. However, Law stands out in the meetings only because she is the only one making suggestions. If both of them were part of team meetings where almost all members made suggestions and asked questions, Law would not have drawn as much attention from Downing. Which of the following factors has most likely influenced Downing's perception of Law?

Monica Walden feels that people who use plastic bags are insensitive toward the environment. She believes that people have a certain obligation toward their environment and should take it upon themselves to protect and preserve it. Which of the following factors has most likely influenced Walden's perception of plastic bag users?

Which of the following is a factor present in a target which may affect a person's perception?

Which of the following is a factor present in a situation which may affect a person's perception?

Which of the following is a factor present in a perceiver which may affect perception?

Alicia Akers works as a marketing executive. She always talks in a high pitch and often draws a lot of attention wherever she is. Which of the following statements best explains the reason behind people noticing Akers?

BLANK explains the ways in which we judge people differently, depending on the meaning we assign to a given behavior.

Attribution theory suggests that when we observe an individual's behavior, we attempt to determine whether it was internally or externally caused. That determination, however, depends largely on three factors. Which of the following is one of these three factors?

Which of the following is an example of internally caused behavior?

Which of the following is an example of externally caused behavior?

According to the attribution theory, BLANK is one the three main factors which attempt to determine an individual's behavior.

When individuals observe another person's behavior, they attempt to determine whether it is internally or externally caused. Which of the following attempts to explain this phenomenon?

With reference to the attribution theory, which of the following terms indicates the extent to which an individual displays different behaviors in different situations?

If a person responds to a particular situation in the same way over a long time period, then the attribution theory states that the behavior demonstrates BLANK

According to the attribution theory, if a behavior scores BLANK we tend to attribute it to external causes.

Janice Yoder works in an environmental campaigning organization and often needs to interact with a large team for project implementation activities. However, she always finds it difficult to work as a part of a team. She always seems to have major disagreements with team members which lead to antagonistic relations between them. Though she has moved from one team to another, her relations with colleagues always seem to be hostile and cold. How would the attribution theory describe this behavior?

According to the attribution theory, if everyone who faces a similar situation responds in the same way, we can say the behavior shows BLANK

Janice is late for work each day by about ten minutes. How would attribution theory describe this behavior?

According to the attribution theory, which of the following behaviors is most likely to be attributed to an external cause?

Samantha is never late for work, but last Monday she arrived an hour late because of heavy traffic. According to the attribution theory, Samantha's behavior on that day scores BLANK

Megan Cardova, who works as a sales executive at Orbit Bank, has been failing to meet her sales targets for the last 10 months. Recently, she had a face-to-face discussion with her manager where she said that the unrealistic targets were the reason for her underperformance. The manager, however, noticed that all the other team members were achieving their targets and sometimes were even achieving more than the set numbers. Which of the following is Cardova's behavior most likely to be characterized as according to the attribution theory?

According to the attribution theory, if a behavior scores BLANK we tend to attribute it to internal causes

Which of the following terms best describes the tendency to underestimate the influence of external factors and overestimate the influence of internal factors when making judgments about the behavior of others?

Naomi Fisher, a sales manager at Pure, a water purifier company, had a new member, Leah Marshall, join her team. Though during Leah's interview, Naomi felt she would be a productive sales executive, her performance has often been below the mark. Consistently in the past three months, Leah has been unable to reach her targets and is falling substantially behind on her annual targets. Naomi assumes that Leah is not determined and motivated enough to do what it takes. Which of the following, if true, weakens Naomi's assumption?

Johanna Murray, a climate campaigner at The National Footprint Foundation, is known in her organization to be a campaigner of caliber and high performance. She recently worked on a campaign against global warming during which she worked extremely hard to achieve project milestones. However, the campaign failed as it could not achieve the desired objective. Due to this, her manager, Brenda Owens, gave her a poor performance appraisal. In the appraisal, Brenda said that Johanna was not motivated and failed to reach out to 25,000 people through Internet media to spread awareness about climate change. Which of the following, if true, weakens Brenda's statement?

Johanna Springer, who works as a sales executive at Pascal's Bank, is upset at the way her manager, Emma Womack, always calls her in for one-on-one meetings to discuss her underperformance. Though Springer makes a higher number of sales calls and works longer hours than last year, her sales figures are still low. She knows that the main reason behind her underperformance is the recent economic meltdown in the country. However, her manager feels that Springer's underperformance is the result of her laid-back attitude and has nothing to do with external factors. In this situation, Womack's behavior is characterized by a(n) ________.

BLANK bias indicates the tendency of an individual to attribute his or her own successes to internal factors while putting the blame for failures on external factors.

Jane Allen, a campaign manager at a non-profit organization, often takes full credit for project successes even when her team members' contributions play a big role in achieving milestones. However, when projects receive setbacks, she blames her team members and sometimes states that the situation was beyond her control. Allen's behavior is an example of a(n) ________ bias.

Laura Simpson, a campaign manager at a child rights organization in Jakarta, planned a marathon for celebrities to raise money for underprivileged children. Though all arrangements for the event had been made, a few days before the event she realized that on the same day there was a political rally happening in the city which would block access to the route on which the marathon was supposed to be undertaken. In such a situation, what is Simpson, who suffers from a self-serving bias, most likely to say?

Individuals engage in BLANK because it is impossible for them to assimilate everything they see and can take in only certain stimuli.

You are more likely to notice a car like your own due to BLANK

Harriet Kirby, a fund raising manager at a women's rights organization, experienced a bad incident last year with the public relations manager of a banking company who had committed to sponsor a charity event. The bank backed out at the last minute. This year, when a renowned international bank executive showed interest in sponsoring the organization's upcoming annual event, Kirby rejected their participation. She felt that banks have a casual approach toward charity events and it is risky to involve them in the event. Which of the following best characterizes Kirby's decision?

BLANK refers to the tendency of people to draw a general impression about an individual on the basis of a single characteristic.

Amanda Winter worked as a public engagement coordinator at Safe Food Alliance until three months ago when her manager, Laura Morris, promoted her to the position of a sustainable food campaigner. However, soon after this, Laura noticed that Amanda was facing major difficulties in achieving campaign milestones and the project was falling behind schedule due to her lack of performance. Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the argument that Laura was influenced by the halo effect in her decision to promote Amanda?

Which of the following describes the halo effect?

William Davies, a guest relations executive at a five star deluxe hotel, regularly interacts with bureaucrats, politicians, celebrities, and other prosperous individuals. He feels that all rich people are kind, hardworking, and friendly. Which of the following best characterizes Davies' perception?

BLANK refers to the evaluation of a person's characteristics that is affected by comparisons with other people recently encountered who rank higher or lower on the same characteristics.

Which of the following statements is true regarding a contrast effect?

Jessica recently joined a new company and was first introduced to Michelle, her cubicle neighbor. Michelle came across as amiable and cheerful. During lunch she met another colleague, Carrie, who did not come across as friendly as Michelle. In this situation, Jessica's interpretation of Carrie's personality is most likely to be affected by ________.

Judging someone on the basis of one's perception of the group to which the person belongs is called ________.

Which of the following is a shortcut used in judging others by making generalizations

Rose Buffay needs to give a presentation to the board of directors of her organization next week. She knows that her presentation will play an important role in her performance appraisal in the next quarter. However, she knows that two of her colleagues, John Roy and Keith Mathews, will also be giving a presentation on the same issue. She is nervous because she believes that men have a better flair for giving presentations. Buffay's perception of Roy and Mathews is most likely characterized by ________.

A manager believes that he should not hire older workers because they can't learn new skills. This belief is an example of BLANK

Which of the following terms refers to a situation in which a person inaccurately perceives another person and the resulting expectations cause the other person to behave in ways consistent with the original perception?

Sarah Covington, a sales manager at Synergy Corporation Bank, often keeps low expectations of her team. She feels that they are underqualified for their job and do not have substantial experience to sell a large number of accounts. Covington's team does not feel motivated enough and invariably underperforms and misses targets on a regular basis. Which of the following concepts best explains Covington's team's poor performance?

Which of the following terms refers to choices made from among two or more alternatives

A(n) BLANK refers to a discrepancy between the current state of affairs and some desired state.

Which of the following is a decision-making model that describes how individuals should behave in order to maximize some outcome?

Which of the following statements is true regarding the rational decision-making model?

What is the first step in the rational decision-making model?

Anne Warner, a climate campaigner at an environmental organization, is in charge of implementing a campaign activity where she needs to increase the use of renewable energy in the villages of Vietnam. For her project, she uses the rational decision-making model to implement activities. She has just completed identifying an appropriate criteria for decision making and has allocated weights to the criteria. Which of the following is Warner most likely to undertake next according to the model?

With reference to decision making, which of the following does satisficing involve?

Emily Boyce, a project manager at an insurance firm, regularly satisfices while making decisions. She often comes across complicated problems which would take a long time to resolve. Due to the pressing deadlines, she often meets project goals by satisficing a large number of her decisions. Which of the following is Boyce most likely to do?

A process of making decisions by constructing simplified models that extract the essential features from problems without capturing all their complexity is known as BLANK

BLANK is an unconscious processreated from distilled experience

Which of the following is true about intuitive decision making?

Phyllis Stintson needs to decide whether to start a campaign against deforestation in Indonesia. Though her research team has provided substantial information on the high feasibility of the project, Stintson does not go ahead with the project. If Stintson made her decision by drawing unconscious references from several different experiences in the past, her decision is most likely influenced by which of the following?

The ________ bias is a tendency to fixate on initial information and fail to adequately adjust for subsequent information.

Jeanne Edwards works as a campaign manager at Rainforest Alliance Trust, a forest protection organization in Indonesia. She is currently working on the Palm Oil Campaign, which aims to establish stringent laws against companies which aggravate deforestation by extracting palm oil for commercial use. Her role is to establish allies with other forest protection organizations and companies which use eco-friendly products that set good examples for other companies to follow. Jeanne allied with Griffin and Powell, a large multinational company, which, unknown to Jeanne, also has strong ties with local logging groups in Jakarta. Which of the following, if true, would strengthen the argument that Jeanne had an availability bias while establishing an ally with the company?

Johanna Murray, a climate campaigner at The National Footprint Foundation, is known in her organization to be a campaigner of caliber and high performance. She has strong networks with the Ministry of Environment and allies with several environmental organizations in the country. Over the years, she has gained substantial knowledge on the issue of climate change. However, recently when she prepared a consolidated report on a conference she attended on climate change, it reflected major loopholes and limited information from the conference. Which of the following, if true, substantiates that Johanna had an anchoring bias?

The tendency to seek out information that reaffirms past choices and to discount information that contradicts past judgments is known as a(n) BLANK bias.

________ bias refers to the tendency for people to base their judgments on information that is easily accessible.

Which of the following types of biases is most likely to play a significant role during a negotiation?

A manager doing performance appraisals gives more weight to recent employee behaviors than to behaviors of 6 or 9 months earlier. This shows that the manager's perception is affected by a(n) ________ bias.

________ refers to staying with a decision even when there is clear evidence it's wrong.

The tendency to believe falsely, after an outcome of an event is actually known, that one would have accurately predicted that outcome is known as a(n) ________ bias.

According to the concept of ________, decisions are made solely on the basis of their outcomes, ideally to provide the greatest good for the greatest number.

Individuals who report unethical practices by their employer to outsiders are known as ________.

Which of the following is a component of the three-component model of creativity?

An individual's perception of reality can be substantially different from objective reality.

People's behavior is based on their perception of what reality is, not on reality itself.

The perception of a target is unaffected by the perceiver's personality or past experiences.

According to the attribution theory, if a behavior scores high on consensus and distinctiveness, we tend to consider it as an internally caused behavior.

The tendency for individuals to attribute their own successes to internal factors and put the blame for failures on external factors is known as the confirmation bias.

The tendency to underestimate the influence of external factors and overestimate the influence of internal factors when making judgments about the behavior of others is known as the randomness error

The tendency to draw a general impression about an individual on the basis of a single characteristic is known as the contrast effect.

A candidate is likely to receive a more favorable evaluation if preceded by mediocre applicants and a less favorable evaluation if preceded by strong applicants. This is an example of the halo effect.

Stereotyping helps individuals make quick decision through generalizations.

In an interview, information elicited early from an interviewee carries greater weight than information elicited later.

The rational decision-making model takes into consideration the fact that all information pertaining to a problem might not be available to the decision maker.

Rational decision making is an unconscious process created from distilled experience

Anchoring bias occurs because our mind appears to give a disproportionate amount of emphasis to the first information it receives.

A person's tendency to believe he or she can predict the outcome of random events is known as the self-serving bias.

Escalation of commitment refers to staying with a decision even when there is clear evidence it's wrong.

The tendency to believe falsely, after an outcome of an event is actually known, that one would have accurately predicted that outcome is known as the confirmation bias.

The tendency to believe falsely, after an outcome of an event is actually known, that one would have accurately predicted that outcome is known as the confirmation bias.

A focus on utilitarianism creates an environment that hinders productivity and efficiency