Q&A Hero

Q: One difficulty of profit sharing is that employees must wait for their reward, and this lengthy delay diminishes its impact.

Q: Work sharing is one of the options that can be used for avoiding labor shortage.

Q: The system that distributes to employees some portion of the profits of business, either immediately or deferred to a later date is called rate setting.

Q: Downsizing can be used as an option for reducing surplus labor as it yields fast results.

Q: The main reason for the use of wage incentives is to increase employee loyalty.

Q: In a piece rate incentive, pay is determined by the amount of output.

Q: The goals an organization sets in its human resource planning process should come directly from the analysis of its labor supply and demand.

Q: The basic idea of an economic incentive system is to induce a high level of individual, group, or organizational performance.

Q: The second step in human resource planning is performance evaluation.

Q: A formal appraisal system encourages managers to do more analytical and constructive thinking about their employees.

Q: A transitional matrix is a chart that lists job categories held in one period and shows the proportion of employees in each of those job categories in a future period.

Q: The perceptual set states that people tend to perceive what they expect to perceive.

Q: Leading indicators are objective measures that accurately predict future labor demand.

Q: Ability and effort are situational attributions.

Q: Statistical models are used for forecasting labor demands because they are good at capturing once-in-a-lifetime changes.

Q: The appraisal process can be emotional because the managers role calls for critical perspective, while the employees desire to save face easily leads to defensiveness.

Q: In human resource planning, forecasting is an intermediary step.

Q: The process of systematically gathering data on a persons skills, abilities, and behaviors from a variety of sources is known as self-appraisal.

Q: Describe some ways in which organizations can simplify the mental demands of a job.

Q: During self-appraisals, some poor performers tend to attribute their problems to situational factors around them, and a few will rate themselves too leniently.

Q: How does The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) encourage organizations to adopt ergonomic job design?

Q: Behaviorally anchored rating scale help reduce a managers tendency to focus on attitudes, personality, and quirks of an employee and shift the emphasis toward productive behaviors.

Q: Describe self-managing work teams. Also suggest steps to make such teams more effective.

Q: Appraisal systems are necessary for proper management and for employee development.

Q: What method can an organization employ to design jobs with a view of maximizing efficiency?

Q: Summarize recent trends in job analysis.

Q: In addition to the complexities involved in applying various motivational models, compensation management is also complicated by the need to comply with a wide range of federal and state laws.

Q: Job analysis is so important to HR managers that it has been called the building block of everything that personnel do. Describe the instances that demonstrate the use of job analysis information in various HR activities.

Q: Intrinsic job rewards tend to be less immediately satisfying than pay.

Q: The break-even point is the point at which costs and rewards are equal for a certain level of expected performance.

Q: Briefly describe the Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ). What the advantages and disadvantages of using the PAQ as source of job information?

Q: With regard to instrumentality, employees are sure that additional performance will lead to additional pay.

Q: Contrast and compare KSOAs and TDRs as they relate to different processes of job analysis.

Q: In the Herzberg model, pay is viewed primarily as a hygiene factor.

Q: Describe the relationship between work flow design and an organization's structure.

Q: Base pay, performance rewards, and profit sharing are the incentive foundation of a complete pay program.

Q: Outline the steps in a work flow analysis. Work flow analysis has three major steps: analyzing work outputs, analyzing work processes, and analyzing work inputs.

Q: Chapter 6 Appraising and Rewarding Performance True/False Questions

Q: Which of the following is a way to simplify a jobs mental demands? A. Enforcing stringent quality control standards B. Training employees to multi-task between different job duties C. Providing social-media tools to simplify information sharing D. Providing comfortably designed office chairs E. Enhancing the information processing functions of the job

Q: According to Alderfers E-R-G model, pay, physical working conditions, and job security can all address growth needs.

Q: It can be most beneficial to simplify jobs where _____. A. the employees seek challenges and new demands B. the costs of errors are severe C. the scope for errors is minimal D. the employees do not engage in multi-tasking E. the information-processing requirements of the job are minimal

Q: Herzbergs theory of motivation is universally applicable.

Q: Designing jobs that meet mental capabilities and limitations generally involves _____. A. allowing employees to opt for a compressed workweek schedule B. curbing autonomy and emphasizing error-free work C. increasing the amount of reporting requirements and documentation D. training employees to multi-task and self manage teams E. reducing the information-processing requirements of a job

Q: According to Maslows hierarchy of needs, the lower-order needs do not have to be satisfied for employees to move on to the high-order needs.

Q: Which of the following is NOT a strategy used by OSHA to increase ergonomic job design? A. Issuing regulations and guidelines for industries B. Directing ergonomic research along specific lines C. Providing licenses to new companies only when they ensure the highest levels of ergonomically designed jobs D. Enforcing violations of its requirement that employers protect employees from work-related hazards E. Performing advisory functions in the area of ergonomic designing of occupational environments

Q: The manager of a local grocery store places a short conveyor belt that allows customers to place items on it prior to billing. This saves the cashier from the physical strain of bending forward and reaching into carts to retrieve the items. This change is congruent with the _____ approach to job design. A. telecommuting B. job enrichment C. ergonomics D. flextime E. job sharing

Q: Giving more of the same reward can have a diminishing impact on motivation.

Q: The theories of Maslow, Herzberg, and Alderfer build on the distinction between primary and secondary needs.

Q: What is the goal of ergonomics? A. Empowering the employees by giving them decision-making authority B. Reducing the physical strain on employees performing the job C. Reducing the number of reporting relationships in the job D. Enlarging jobs by moving employees among several different jobs E. Increasing the jobs mental demands

Q: Which of the following best describes ergonomics? A. The study of the interface between individuals physiology and the characteristics of the physical work environment. B. The study of jobs to find the simplest way to structure work in order to maximize efficiency. C. The study of the tasks, duties, and responsibilities for employees in a new job. D. The study of the knowledge, skills, and abilities of the job. E. The study of the relationship between intrinsic rewards and employee motivation in the context of human resource management.

Q: Power-motivated people make excellent managers if their drives are for personal power rather than institutional power.

Q: A telework arrangement is generally difficult to set up for _____. A. editors B. software programmers C. manufacturing workers D. graphic designers E. accountants

Q: Managers with strong needs for affiliation are always the most effective.

Q: People with power motives work better when they are complimented for their favorable attitudes and cooperation.

Q: Which of the following is true about telework? A. Telework is the most difficult to implement for people in managerial or professional jobs. B. A telework arrangement is the easiest to set up for manufacturing workers. C. Telecommuting supports the strategy of corporate social responsibility by reducing the employees need to commute by vehicles. D. Telework arrangements are mandatorily restricted to employees who are disabled or need to be available for children or elderly relatives. E. Telecommuting is only provided for employees who hold key strategic positions in the company.

Q: _____ refers to the option given to employees to work away from a centrally located office. A. Zero-hour contract B. Telework C. Retroactive overtime D. Flextime E. Compressed workweek

Q: High expectations sometimes make it difficult for achievement-oriented managers to delegate effectively.

Q: Which of the following would qualify as a compressed workweek? A. Employees are required to be at work from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and can choose additional hours before/after this period. B. Two part-time employees work in different shifts and share the tasks of a specific job. C. Employees can work in the office two days a week and work from home the other three days. D. Employees can choose to work away from a centrally located work area. E. Employees are permitted to work 10 hours a day, Monday through Thursday.

Q: Motivation originates from within an individual.

Q: Chapter 5 Motivation True/False Questions

Q: Helen Taylor works 10 hours a day for 4 days a week, while her colleagues work 8 hours a day for 5 days a week. Helen is utilizing a flexible work schedule option known as _____. A. the zero-hour contract B. the compressed workweek C. the flexible workweek D. retroactive overtime E. telework

Q: What kinds of actions might underrewarded employees seek to reduce their feelings of inequity?

Q: Which of the following best describes job sharing? A. A work option in which two part-time employees carry out the tasks associated with a single job. B. Allowing full-time employees to choose start and end times within the guidelines specified by the organization. C. Empowering individual workers by adding more opportunities for specialization in their current job duties. D. Enlarging jobs by combining several relatively simple jobs to form a job with a wider range of tasks. E. Enlarging jobs by moving employees among several different jobs.

Q: Employees who feel overrewarded will feel an imbalance in their relationship with their employer. What kinds of actions might they take to restore balance?

Q: Tech-Marketing Inc., an advertising firm located in Ohio, requires its employees to be at work between the hours of 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. This work rule allows employees to work additional hours before or after the time period in order to work the full day. Identify the job design method implemented at Tech-Marketing. A. Zero-hour contract B. Flextime C. Compressed workweek D. Telework E. Retroactive overtime

Q: What is the difference between the implications of need-based models of motivation and the idea of valence in the expectancy model?

Q: Which of the following is true of self-managing work teams? A. Team members job duties are narrowly defined. B. Team members usually share work assignments. C. Team members joint responsibilities are minimal. D. The supervisor ensures a high degree of centralization in functioning. E. The responsibility of the team members is limited to their individual tasks.

Q: Identify at least five tips for building employee self-efficacy.

Q: Carl Borden, the manager of an electronics store in California, gives his staff the authority to resolve customer complaints. He lets the staff decide whether to issue refunds or replace merchandise in case of consumer grievances. Which of the following job design techniques does Carl implement in his store? A. Job sharing B. Cross training C. Job rotation D. Job enrichment E. Job evaluation

Q: What is shaping and what is its importance?

Q: Explain the law of effect on which OB Mod is heavily based.

Q: Which of the following steps can an organization take to enrich manufacturing jobs for its employees? A. Divide tasks among employees in great detail. B. Carry out time-and-motion studies to identify one best way to perform a job. C. Make the tasks repetitive and simple to avoid errors. D. Give employees more authority to manage the production process. E. Encourage job specialization and division of labor.

Q: According to Herzbergs two-factor theory, which of the following factors would motivate individuals the most? A. Meaningfulness of a job B. Fringe benefits in the job C. Share in company stock D. Salary and allowances E. Periodic bonuses

Q: What is the major difficulty with content models of motivation?

Q: What are the important differences between Maslows, Herzbergs, and Alderfers models?

Q: Job enrichment differs from job rotation in that job enrichment: A. empowers workers by adding more decision-making authority to their jobs. B. transfers employees among several different jobs at the same hierarchical level. C. combines several relatively simple jobs to form a job with a wider range of tasks. D. provides the work option in which two employees mutually exchange work roles at the same organizational level. E. assesses of the relative dollar value of each job to the organization.

Q: Which of the following job design techniques involving the addition of decision-making authorities to a job is credited to Frederick Herzberg? A. Job extension B. Job rotation C. Job enrichment D. Job enlargement E. Job sharing

Q: What are intrinsic and extrinsic motivators? Provide an example of each.

Q: How does achievement motivation influence behavior?

Q: Which of the following arrangements would qualify as job rotation? A. A receptionist is required to perform the jobs of file clerk and typist. B. Training housekeeping staff in front office functions through periods of alternating work arrangements. C. Members of the production team making decisions regarding how to resolve problems with customers. D. A manager participating in a meeting while on vacation with his family. E. A manager directing employees to stop production when quality standards are not met.