Cross-Functional Teams Were First Encouraged as a Way to Help

question 59

Multiple Choice

Cross-functional teams were first encouraged as a way to help U.S.companies be more successful in the global economy more than 20 years ago.Since that time, which of the following best describes what researchers have learned about cross-functional teams?

• A)Cross functional teams are almost always beneficial because by increasing the amount of functional diversity on the team, better solutions can be obtained.
• B)Cross functional teams are most beneficial when external communication increases as a result of having members with diverse backgrounds, areas of expertise, and different external networks of information.
• C)Cross functional teams are least beneficial when external communication increases because this distracts members from the primary task of the team.
• D)Cross functional teams were common in the 1990s but their use in organization has fallen as organizations realized that they were not a panacea.
• E)Cross-functional teams are rarely beneficial because the diversity of functional backgrounds and expertise makes it difficult for members to communicate effectively and increases conflict.

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Definitions:

White Contemporaries

Individuals living during the same time period who are identified as white, often used in historical or sociological contexts to discuss racial relations or demographics.

Seneca Falls

The location of the first women's rights convention in 1848 in New York, an event that marked the beginning of the women's suffrage movement in the United States.

Women's "Sphere"

A nineteenth-century ideological belief that women's roles were confined to domestic responsibilities and moral guardianship of the home.

Uncle Tom's Cabin

is a novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe published in 1852, which depicted the harsh realities of slavery in the United States and galvanized anti-slavery sentiments.