Q&A Hero

Q: Which of these statements about self-leadership is true? A. Employees with a low degree of conscientiousness have a more natural tendency to apply self-leadership. B. Some elements of self-leadership come from sports psychology. C. Self-leadership is practiced by people with particular personality characteristics and cannot be learned. D. External locus of control helps in applying self-help strategies. E. Self-leadership behaviors are more frequently found in people with lower levels of extroversion.

Q: The process of influencing oneself to establish the self-direction and self-motivation needed to perform a task is known as: A. self-reinforcement. B. self-talk. C. self-leadership. D. self-influence. E. self-steering.

Q: A high degree of autonomy, task identity, and task significance are important conditions for: A. job specialization. B. competency-based pay. C. empowerment. D. scientific management. E. piece rate system.

Q: Which of the following dimensions is possessed by employees, when they feel empowered, care about their work, and believe that what they do is important? A. Meaning B. Self-determination C. Competence D. Impact E. Freedom

Q: Which of the following is a component of empowerment? A. Overconfidence B. Fate C. Mental imagery D. Meaning E. Dependence

Q: When are employees said to be empowered? A. When employees practice job specialization B. When employees experience self-reinforcement C. When employees engage in positive self-talk D. When employees experience freedom and discretion E. When employees engage in mental imagery

Q: Which of the following is a concept that is represented by four dimensions: self-determination, meaning, competence, and impact of the individual's role in the organization? A. Specialization B. Job enlargement C. Empowerment D. Task significance E. Job rotation

Q: A video journalist's job consists of operating the camera, reporting the story, and often editing the work, whereas these three tasks were traditionally performed by three people. Video journalism is an example of: A. self-leadership and job enlargement. B. job enrichment and self-leadership. C. job enlargement and job specialization. D. job specialization and self-leadership. E. job enrichment and job enlargement.

Q: Which of the following is the primary aspect of job enlargement? A. Autonomy B. Affiliation C. Job feedback D. Growth need strength E. Skill variety

Q: Which of these job design actions is a form of job enlargement? A. Increasing the number of tasks within the job. B. Establishing client relationships. C. Empowering employees. D. Forming natural work units. E. Establishing client relationships and forming natural work units.

Q: Employees at CyberTech perform repetitive jobs that have resulted in boredom as well as repetitive strain injury. Technology makes it difficult to combine existing jobs, but the company wants employees to have more skills. Which of the following would best help CyberTech to improve this situation? A. Encourage employees to engage in mental imagery. B. Introduce job specialization. C. Introduce a gainsharing plan for all production employees. D. Introduce job rotation. E. Introduce job enrichment by having each employee produce the entire product rather than a small part of it.

Q: Which of the following minimizes health risks from repetitive strain and heavy lifting because employees use different muscles and physical positions in the various jobs? A. Job feedback B. Job enlargement C. Job rotation D. Job enrichment E. Task identity

Q: The characteristic of a job that refers to how much the job can be performed using known procedures and roles is known as: A. task analyzability. B. task interdependence. C. task responsibility. D. task variability. E. task autonomy.

Q: The characteristic of a job that refers to how predictable job duties are from one day to the next is called: A. task analyzability. B. task interdependence. C. task responsibility. D. task variability. E. task autonomy.

Q: Which of the following directly contributes to a feeling of experienced meaningfulness? A. Job feedback B. Work motivation C. Autonomy D. Task identity E. Knowledge of results

Q: _____ is the degree to which employees can tell how well they are doing on the basis of direct sensory information from the job itself. A. Job feedback B. Job evaluation C. Task identity D. Task significance E. Job rotation

Q: Which core job characteristic(s) affect(s) experienced responsibility for work outcomes? A. Feedback from job and skill variety B. Autonomy C. Skill variety, task identity and task significance D. Task identity E. Task significance

Q: _____ is the degree to which the job affects the organization and/or larger society. A. Skill variety B. Task significance C. Job feedback D. Job rotation E. Task identity

Q: _____ is the degree to which a job requires completion of a whole or identifiable piece of work, such as assembling an entire broadband modem rather than just soldering in the circuitry. A. Skill variety B. Task significance C. Job feedback D. Job rotation E. Task identity

Q: A unique feature of Herzberg's motivator-hygiene theory is that it: A. states that improving motivators increases job satisfaction but does not decrease job dissatisfaction. B. states that employees can be satisfied with their jobs but not motivated to perform their jobs. C. identifies job specialization as the main source of higher need fulfillment. D. views job satisfaction and dissatisfaction as opposites. E. recognizes money as the primary motivator in organizational settings.

Q: According to Herzberg, which of the following is a hygiene factor? A. Autonomy B. Job security C. Responsibility D. Personal growth E. Esteem need

Q: In repetitive jobs, the positive effect of higher proficiency is easily offset by the negative effect of lower attentiveness and motivation caused by: A. poor management. B. inefficient reward systems. C. tedious work patterns. D. disassociated job incumbents. E. competition between co-workers for status.

Q: Which of these contemporary organizational behavior practices was popularized by Fredrick Taylor in his work on scientific management? A. Goal setting B. Job enrichment C. Membership-based reward system D. Seniority-based reward system E. Competency-based reward system

Q: Which of the following is an advantage of job specialization? A. The quality of work increases. B. Jobs can be mastered quickly. C. Employees are more involved with their jobs. D. The work is less repetitive. E. Task specialization has no clear advantages to the organization.

Q: Which of the following does scientific management include? A. Assigning employees to fixed hourly wages. B. Systematically dividing a job into its smallest possible elements and assigning these divided tasks to employees who are best qualified to perform them. C. Combining tasks so employees perform an entire work process from beginning to end. D. Encouraging employees to set their own goals and have positive thoughts about their work performance. E. Encouraging employees to complete an entire task single handedly.

Q: Which of the following refers to the result of the division of labor in which work is subdivided into separate jobs assigned to different people? A. Piece rate system B. Job rotation C. Job specialization D. Profit-sharing bonus E. Gainsharing plan

Q: Team rewards are better than individual rewards when employees work in highly interdependent jobs because: A. the United States has a low-collectivism culture. B. employees prefer rewards based on team performance. C. it is difficult to measure individual performance in these situations. D. they support employee preferences for individual-based work. E. they encourage both high and low performers to stay with the organization.

Q: When applied to non-management employees, which of the following has a weak connection between the reward and individual effort? A. Piece rate pay B. Commission C. Profit-sharing bonus D. Gainsharing plan E. Job evaluation

Q: Which of the following tend to create an ownership culture and align employee behaviors more closely to organizational objectives? A. Job evaluations B. Commissions C. Piece rate plans D. Employee share ownership plans E. Stock option plans and employee stock ownership plans

Q: Which of the following is true about stock option plans? A. They refer to bonuses from the work unit's cost savings and productivity improvement. B. They give employees the right to purchase company stock at a predetermined price up to a fixed expiration date. C. They directly award bonuses to employees based on cost savings and increased labor productivity. D. They tend to weaken employee commitment to the organization. E. They encourage employees to buy company stock, usually at a discounted price or through a no-interest loan.

Q: Gainsharing plans tend to: A. increase efficiency without paying employees any financial reward. B. distribute a portion of company profits to employees in the form of company stock. C. create a reasonably strong effort-to-performance expectancy. D. reward individuals for their own personal performance rather than team or organizational performance. E. increase efficiency without paying employees any financial reward creating a reasonably strong effort-to-performance expectancy.

Q: A mid-sized city introduced a reward system whereby employees would find ways to reduce costs and increase work efficiency. Every employee would receive a portion of the surplus budget resulting from these cost savings. Which of the following reward systems is this city using? A. Gainsharing plan B. Commission system C. Piece rate plan D. Share option plan E. Commission plan

Q: Which of these performance-based rewards tends to create a connection between the employee's work effort and the reward received? A. Profit-sharing plan B. Employee stock ownership plan C. Gainsharing plan D. Employee stock option plan E. Stock option

Q: Which of the following is an individual incentive? A. Gainsharing plan B. Piece rate plan C. Share option D. Share ownership E. Employee stock ownership plan

Q: According to the survey reported in the text, what percentage of Americans say their pay is "variable, such that a portion is dependent upon your individual performance/productivity" targets? A. 25% B. 32% C. 43% D. 51% E. 67%

Q: Which of the following is true about skill-based pay plans? A. They discourage employees from learning new jobs. B. They create a psychological distance between employees and managers. C. They discourage poor performers from leaving the organization. D. They can be expensive because they motivate employees to spend more time learning new jobs. E. They motivate employees to compete for promotions.

Q: Which of the following is most consistent with employabilitynamely, that employees are expected to continuously learn skills that will keep them employed? A. Job evaluation systems B. Job status rewards C. Competency-based rewards D. Individual performance-based rewards E. Membership-based rewards

Q: Which of the following rewards motivate employees to compete for promotions? A. Performance-based rewards B. Competency-based rewards C. Team-based rewards D. Job status-based rewards E. Membership- or seniority-based rewards

Q: Which of the following type of reward systems uses job evaluations? A. Competency-based reward systems B. Job status-based reward systems C. Individual performance reward systems D. Seniority-based reward systems E. Task performance-based reward systems

Q: Which of the following are "golden handcuffs" that potentially increase continuance commitment? A. Performance-based rewards B. Job status-based rewards C. Team-based rewards D. Competency-based rewards E. Membership/seniority-based rewards

Q: The problem with membership and seniority-based rewards is that they: A. discourage people from remaining with the organization. B. are difficult to use in organizational settings. C. do not directly motivate job performance. D. increase turnover. E. discourage people from remaining with the organization and they do not directly motivate job performance.

Q: Which reward system tends to discourage poor performers from voluntarily leaving the organization? A. Performance-based pay B. Skill-based pay C. Piece-rate rewards D. Competency-based pay E. Membership and seniority-based pay

Q: Which of the following rewards represent the largest part of most paychecks? A. Membership-based rewards B. Job status-based rewards C. Individual job performance-based rewards D. Competency-based rewards E. Team performance-based rewards

Q: Which of the following is an advantage of using competency based financial rewards? A. It minimizes the stress of insecurity. B. It motivates employees to compete for promotions. C. It improves workforce flexibility. D. It motivates task performance. E. It minimizes pay discrimination.

Q: Which of the following is a disadvantage of financial rewards based on membership or seniority? A. It encourages hierarchy. B. It doesn't directly motivate performance. C. It reinforces status differences. D. It relies on subjective measurement of competencies. E. It may weaken job content motivation.

Q: Employees are more likely to engage in self-monitoring in companies that emphasize infrequent measurement of performance.

Q: People with a high level of conscientiousness have difficulty applying self-leadership strategies.

Q: An element of self-leadership involves keeping track of our progress toward goals.

Q: Mental imagery helps us to anticipate and work out solutions to potential obstacles in our work.

Q: Self-leadership suggests that goals should be set by the employee's supervisor with or without the employee's involvement.

Q: Self-leadership borrows ideas from social learning theory and research in sports psychology on constructive thought processes.

Q: Employees experience more meaningfulness when working in jobs that allow them to receive feedback about their performance and accomplishments.

Q: Employees are more likely to feel empowered in jobs with a high degree of autonomy, task identity, and task significance.

Q: The dimension of "meaning" in discussing empowerment is when employees view themselves as active participants in the organization; that is, their decisions and actions have an influence on the company's success.

Q: People are empowered when they feel self-determination, meaning, competence, and impact regarding their role in the organization.

Q: Explain the three "learned" needs of the learned needs theory examined by McClelland. McClelland examined three "learned" needs: achievement, power, and affiliation. Need for achievement. People with a strong need for achievement (nAch) want to accomplish reasonably challenging goals through their own effort. They prefer working alone rather than in teams, and they choose tasks with a moderate degree of risk. High-nAch people also desire unambiguous feedback and recognition for their success. Money is a weak motivator, except when it provides feedback and recognition. In contrast, employees with a low nAch perform their work better when money is used as an incentive. Need for affiliation. It refers to a desire to seek approval from others, conform to their wishes and expectations, and avoid conflict and confrontation. People with a strong nAff try to project a favorable image of themselves. They tend to actively support others and try to smooth out workplace conflicts. However, they tend to be less effective at allocating scarce resources and making other decisions that potentially generate conflict. People in decision-making positions must have a relatively low need for affiliation so that their choices and actions are not biased by a personal need for approval. Need for power. People with a high need for power (nPow) want to exercise control over others and are concerned about maintaining their leadership position. They frequently rely on persuasive communication, make more suggestions in meetings, and tend to publicly evaluate situations more frequently. McClelland pointed out that there are two types of nPow. Individuals, who enjoy their power for its own sake, use it to advance personal interests, and wear their power as a status symbol have personalized power. Others mainly have a high need for socialized power because they desire power as a means to help others.

Q: If Jill wanted to increase P-to-O expectancies, what should she do? A. Measure job performance accurately. B. Individualize rewards. C. Assign simpler or fewer tasks until employees can master them. D. Provide sufficient time and resources. E. Minimize the presence of countervailing rewards.

Q: Jill is a manager at a call center which recently received some bad reviews of its performance. Recently her supervisor discussed her need to increase morale among her subordinates because he believed that this would result in better customer service, which in turn would increase repeat business and decrease customer complaints. Jill has decided that following Expectancy theory would be the best way to motivate her subordinates. If Jill wanted to increase E-to-P expectancies, what should she do? A. Measure job performance accurately. B. Distribute rewards that employees value. C. Provide coaching to employees who lack self-confidence. D. Describe how employee's rewards were based on past performance. E. Minimize the presence of countervailing rewards.

Q: Jessie and Paul have worked in the same office at DEF Insurance LLC for 6 years. Jessie has always taken extra care to follow the office norms and ensure that everyone has a happy and harmonious working experience. Paul has been very driven during his years at DEF Insurance, and though he started as an insurance agent, he has since been promoted to the agency manager and proudly displays all of his awards on the wall of his new office. According to four drive theory, Paul most likely has a high: A. drive to acquire. B. drive to comprehend. C. drive to defend. D. drive to accept. E. drive to control.

Q: Jessie and Paul have worked in the same office at DEF Insurance LLC for 6 years. Jessie has always taken extra care to follow the office norms and ensure that everyone has a happy and harmonious working experience. Paul has been very driven during his years at DEF Insurance, and though he started as an insurance agent, he has since been promoted to the agency manager and proudly displays all of his awards on the wall of his new office. According to Learned Needs Theory, Jessie most likely has a high: A. need for achievement. B. need for esteem. C. need for affiliation. D. need for comprehension. E. need for belongingness.

Q: ABC Corporation recently held a "Vision Day" event in which all of their employees formed teams to develop 60-second videos for management around how the company is making lives better. Shortly after, their CEO was quoted as saying "We try to get the best out of everybody." In order to get the "best out of everybody," ABC Corp. must maintain high levels of: A. financial rewards. B. motivation. C. self-efficacy D. international competitiveness. E. employee support.

Q: ABC Corporation recently held a "Vision Day" event in which all of their employees formed teams to develop 60-second videos for management around how the company is making lives better. Shortly after, their CEO was quoted as saying "We try to get the best out of everybody." "Vision Day" was an exercise attempting to increase: A. positive public relations. B. feedback from management. C. employee engagement. D. behavior modification. E. goal setting.

Q: When people experience procedural injustice, they tend to: A. focus on organizational citizenship acts. B. engage in counterproductive work behaviors. C. be more likely to comply with higher authorities in the future. D. change the selection process of comparison others. E. engage in comparative injustice towards others.

Q: With respect to procedural justice, the "value-expressive" function that "voice" provides refers to the: A. feeling employees get when they feel valued at work. B. way employees feel after voicing their opinions. C. cathartic benefits of shouting at each other. D. sense of pride employees derive when they are eloquent during presentations. E. the stand-off situation that arises as a consequence of the collective voice of the employees.

Q: According to equity theory: A. all employees of an organization have the same needs over their working lives. B. money should never be used to motivate employees. C. employees should set their own goals and performance standards. D. the selection of comparison other varies from one person to the next. E. improving job security and working conditions will improve job satisfaction and, consequently, employee motivation.

Q: Employees who receive a fixed amount of pay each week and who feel under-rewarded are most likely to: A. reduce their work effort. B. increase their work effort. C. change their comparison other. D. encourage the comparison other to increase his or her work effort. E. use a different measure other than comparison other.

Q: Which of the following statements is true about situations involving equity judgments? A. People avoid having a comparison other. B. People tend to be tolerant of situations where they are under-rewarded. C. People have a low E-to-P expectancy. D. People feel more comfortable in situations where they receive proportionately more than others. E. People believe that their outcome/input ratio should be similar to the outcome/input ratio of the comparison other.

Q: Outcome/input ratio and comparison other are elements of: A. innate drives theory. B. Maslow's needs hierarchy. C. equity theory. D. expectancy theory. E. goal setting theory.

Q: Which of the following theories suggests that employee motivation is influenced by what other people contribute to and receive from the organization? A. Expectancy theory B. Equity theory C. Needs-based theory D. Need theory E. Goal setting theory

Q: The distributive justice rule employs the concept of: A. motivation. B. individual needs. C. equity. D. goal setting. E. performance feedback.

Q: To learn about their progress towards goal accomplishment, employees usually prefer: A. nonsocial feedback sources. B. multisource feedback. C. customer surveys. D. nonverbal communication. E. positive feedback.

Q: Which of the following is the main source of multisource feedback? A. Subordinates B. Peers C. Supervisors D. Customers E. All of these

Q: Which of the following statements portrays the essence of appreciative coaching? A. Managers should provide frequent corrective feedback to employees. B. Organizations should concentrate on maintaining a participative management style. C. Employees should openly discuss their problems with their managers. D. An organization should strike a balance between punishments and rewards. E. Managers should concentrate on the strengths of employees rather than their weaknesses.

Q: Effective feedback: A. is generic in nature and applies to all employees. B. is provided only through social sources. C. should not be very frequent as frequency reduces its value. D. can occur only when employees have weak self-efficacy. E. should always come from a credible source.

Q: To increase goal performance, employees should participate in the goal-setting process: A. when employees would otherwise lack commitment to those goals. B. whenever supervisors have any control over setting goals. C. when employees lack knowledge of what would improve goal quality. D. when they believe that the supervisors are not capable enough to set the goals. E. when there are only a few employees in the organization.

Q: The optimal level difficulty of a goal: A. occurs when the goal is challenging but not impossible. B. is the most challenging goal that the company can possibly imagine. C. occurs only when employees set their own goal. D. is the point at which the employees exert minimal effort to achieve a certain outcome. E. occurs when the employees work using alternate work arrangements.

Q: Goal setting is most effective when: A. goals are measured in quantitative, qualitative, and cost terms. B. the goals do not stretch the employee's abilities and motivation. C. the goal statements are general rather than specific. D. the intensity of employee effort is minimal. E. it does not compel people to increase the persistence of their work effort.

Q: Goal setting influences employee behavior and performance mainly by improving: A. situational contingencies and learned abilities. B. aptitudes and learned abilities. C. motivation and role perceptions. D. role perceptions and learned abilities. E. self-confidence and aptitudes.

Q: _____ states that much learning and motivation occurs by observing and modeling others, as well as by anticipating the consequences of our behavior. A. Equity theory B. Expectancy theory C. Four-drive theory D. Reinforcement theory E. Social cognitive theory

Q: The best reinforcement schedule for motivating employees is _____. A. a continuous reinforcement schedule B. a variable ratio schedule C. a fixed schedule D. extinction E. avoidance of consequence