Chapter 8 - Connect

A competent employee receives lower-than-deserved ratings because of a few outstanding colleagues who set very high performance standards. This is an example of a _____ rater error. A) contrast B) distributional C) halo D) similar to me E) horns

A

As the CEO of Blue Corp., Terrell makes it a point to meet new hires at all levels of his organization. He explains the goals of the company and emphasizes the importance of an individual employee's role in the larger picture. This initiative of Terrell focuses on the _____ of performance management. A) strategic purpose B) administrative purpose C) developmental purpose D) statistical purpose E) validity purpose

A

Benito, a psychology student, has had an overall negative impression of his psychology professor. As a consequence, during the end-of-term appraisal, he rates his professor low on all performance criteria. Which of the following rater errors has Benito committed? A) Horns B) Leniency C) Central tendency D) Contrast E) Strictness

A

Elle Inc. is a firm that holds frequent reviews and feedback sessions for its employees. It demands that the same person review the employees of a team to ensure that the performance evaluation is consistent; tests-retests are conducted periodically to make sure the evaluation is consistent. These two steps taken by Elle Inc. focus on the _____ of performance management. A) reliability B) strategic congruence C) specificity D) acceptability E) validity

A

Every year managers are given targets for categorizing their employees' performance at the end of the year. The managers are allowed 5 percent at the top, 80 percent in the middle and then 15 percent at the bottom. This company is using A) forced distribution. B) the high/low ranking system. C) paired comparison. D) alternation ranking. E) simple ranking.

A

The process through which an organization gets information on how closely an employee's actual performance meets his or her performance plan is known as A) performance appraisal B) job analysis. C) performance feedback. D) ability analysis. E) achievement discrepancy.

A

Which of the following is true of peers as the source of performance information? A) Peers have expert knowledge of job requirements and often have the most opportunity to observe an employee in day-to-day activities. B) Peer evaluations give employees power over their managers, thus putting managers in a difficult situation. C) Peers are comfortable providing evaluations for both administrative and developmental purposes. D) Peers have the ability to discard the fact that they may be friends with the ratee in order to provide an unbiased rating. E) Peers give feedback that is strongly related to performance and to employee perceptions of the accuracy of the appraisal.

A

Which of the following is true regarding behavioral approaches to performance measurement? A) They link the company's strategy to the specific behavior necessary to implement that strategy. B) They adopt a very subjective approach to evaluating human behavior at the workplace. C) They result in techniques that have a low degree of validity and acceptability. D) They assume that there are multiple best ways to do the job. E) Despite substantial investments in training, the techniques are not strong enough to be reliable.

A

Which performance management technique initially involves the identification of a large number of critical incidents, followed by the classification of these incidents into performance dimensions, and finally ranking these incidents into levels of performance? A) Behaviorally anchored rating scale B) Graphic rating scale C) Comparative rating scale D) Organizational behavior modification E) A competency model

A

_____, attended by managers, provide a way to help ensure that performance is evaluated consistently across managers and to reduce the influence of rating errors and politics on appraisals. A) Calibration meetings B) Frame-of-reference trainings C) Multidimensional trainings D) Rater accuracy trainings E) Succession planning meetings

A

A performance measure is said to be contaminated when A) it does not measure all aspects of performance. B) it evaluates irrelevant aspects of performance. C) it is a subjective supervisory measure of job performance. D) it is not reliable over time. E) the overlap between actual job performance and the measure of job performance is maximized.

B

A software company assesses its developers more on their client support skills than their development skills. Which of the following would best describe the software company's performance management process? A) Deficient B) Contaminated C) Unreliable D) Inconsistent E) Unspecified

B

At BayPoint Strategies, employees can work on several projects over the course of a year, reporting to different managers and interacting with a variety of team members. Which of the following approaches would be most effective and efficient in assessing employee performance at this consulting firm? A) Upward feedback B) Social performance management C) Productivity Measurement and Evaluation System D) 360-degree appraisal E) Paired comparison method

B

Barrett and Lynn both rated the employees on the sales team. If their ratings are consistent then they have _____ reliability. A) internal consistency B) interrater C) inter-method D) test-retest E) parallel-forms

B

Both the comparative and the attribute approaches to performance measurement are A) high on strategic congruence. B) very low on specificity. C) low on acceptability. D) high on reliability. E) very high on validity.

B

Darla is planning to rank her employees again this year. She has put Aaliyah at the top of the list and then proceeds to cross her off. Which comparative approach is she using? A) Simple ranking B) Alternation ranking C) Reverse ranking D) Elimination by aspect E) Forced distribution

B

Globo Analytics Inc., a data analysis company, has modified its performance management system. Apart from training employees on their specific tasks, the trainers and managers help the employees become more aware of the overall goals of the company and how their individual performances influence the broader goals of the company. As a result of this, employees' performances have become more consistent with the organization's strategies, goals, and culture. This initiative of Globo focuses on the _____ criterion of performance management. A) consistency B) strategic congruence C) social D) acceptability E) risk avoidance

B

La'Keisha wants to understand data that HR has given her. She plots the points and evaluates the variance between the outcomes and the expected value. She most likely creates a A) control chart. B) histogram. C) cause-and-effect diagram. D) process-flow analysis. E) Pareto chart.

B

Olivia is writing her goals for her team for the next year. She looks back over the goals from the last year and the company's goals for this year to craft the goals. This first step of performance management is A) developing employee goals, behavior, and actions to achieve outcomes. B) identifying performance outcomes for company divisions and departments. C) providing consequences for performance results. D) identifying the improvements needed. E) providing support and ongoing performance discussions.

B

Prometheus Corp. is a large-scale manufacturer of consumer electronic gadgets. As part of its performance management system, Prometheus measures the amount each employee contributes to the profits of the company, and the employees are either held accountable or rewarded based on their contributions. With regard to performance measurement, under which of the following would contribution to profits be categorized? A) Key risk indicators (KRIs) B) Critical success factors (CSFs) C) Non-performing assets (NPAs) D) Key performance indicators (KPIs) E) Behavioral Observation Scales (BOSs)

B

The _____ approach assumes that subjectivity can be eliminated from the measurement process and that outcomes are the closest indicators of one's contribution to organizational effectiveness. A) behavior B) results C) attribute D) quality E) comparative

B

When gathering information on performance, HR relies on ________ more frequently than any other group, because they will have the most accurate information. A) peers B) managers C) subordinates D) employees themselves E) customers

B

Which of the following is a means of measuring and feeding back productivity information to personnel with the main goal of motivating employees to higher levels of productivity? A) Projective tests B) Productivity Measurement and Evaluation System C) Assessment centers D) Critical incidents E) Multicriteria decision analysis

B

Zoe would like to terminate an employee. She claims that the employee is always on her cell phone and not focusing on her work. You recommend she use a ________ to track the frequency of the behavior, so she can share that information with the employee. A) simple ranking method B) behavioral observation scale C) graphic rating scale D) organizational behavior modification method E) forced distribution scale

B

_____ rating error occurs when a rater gives an employee high ratings on all aspects of performance because of the rater's overall positive impression of the employee. A) Contrast B) Halo C) Leniency D) Similar to me E) Central tendency

B

A _____ is a quality control technique that lists the causes of a problem in decreasing order of importance. A) cause-and-effect diagram B) control chart C) Pareto chart D) process-flow analysis E) histogram

C

A _____ rater error is one in which a rater gives middle or average ratings to all employees despite their performance. A) horns B) leniency C) central tendency D) strictness E) contrast

C

In the graphic rating scale, the rater A) defines performance dimensions by developing behavioral anchors associated with different levels of performance. B) defines the relevant performance dimensions and then develops statements representing good, average, and poor performances along each dimension. C) considers one employee at a time, circling the number that signifies how much of that trait the individual has. D) identifies and describes competencies that are common for an entire occupation, organization, or job family or for a specific job. E) compares every employee with every other employee in the work group, giving an employee a score of 1 every time he or she is considered the higher performer.

C

Roundel Inc. is a company that sells automobile tires. The company is projecting an increase in sales in the next 12 months and is looking to fill the senior positions through internal recruiting to meet this demand. The company is evaluating the individual performances and seeking to develop some ranking of the individuals within a work group to identify the best performer. Which of the following approaches is the company using? A) The results approach B) The attribute approach C) The comparative approach D) The behavioral approach E) The quality approach

C

The _____ technique consists of having multiple raters above, equal to, and below the manager providing input into a manager's evaluation. A) gamification B) background check C) 360-degree appraisal D) upward feedback E) performance appraisal

C

The extent to which a performance measure gives guidance to employees about what is expected of them is called A) reliability. B) validity. C) specificity. D) acceptability. E) strategic congruence.

C

Which of the following approaches to measuring performance uses some overall assessment of an individual's performance or worth and seeks to develop a ranking of the individuals within a work group? A) The results approach B) The attribute approach C) The comparative approach D) The consequential approach E) The behavioral approach

C

Which of the following approaches to performance measurement minimizes contamination and deficiency? A) The comparative approach B) The attribute approach C) The behavioral approach D) The results approach E) The quality approach

C

Which of the following is an example of frame-of-reference training? A) Evan focuses primarily on making managers aware of rating errors and how to reduce them effectively. B) Christine makes managers aware of how errors influence ratings. C) Demita emphasizes using the same idea of high, medium, and low performances when making evaluations. D) Hassan stresses having consistent standards of evaluation. E) Lorena focuses on eliminating politics through discussion among managers.

C

Which of the following is an example of using performance management to fulfill an administrative purpose? A) Define the results, behaviors, and, to some extent, employee characteristics that are necessary. B) Develop employees who are effective at their jobs. C) Use performance appraisal to make decisions such as pay raises, promotions, retention-termination, layoffs, and recognition of individual performance. D) Identify employees' strengths and weaknesses and link employees to appropriate training and development activities. E) Confront employees with their performance weaknesses.

C

Which of the following is the first step in the Productivity Measurement and Evaluation System (ProMES)? A) The staff defines indicators of the products to measure how well the products are being generated. B) The management develops a feedback system that provides employees and work groups with information about their specific level of performance. C) People in the organization identify the set of activities or objectives the organization expects to accomplish. D) The employee and manager identify what the employee can do to capitalize on performance strengths. E) The staff establishes the contingencies between the amount of the indicators and the level of evaluation associated with that amount.

C

Which of the following is true regarding the attribute approach to performance management? A) There is usually a high congruence between the techniques used in this approach and the company's strategy. B) The methods usually have clearer performance standards due to which different raters provide similar ratings and rankings. C) It is easy to develop and is generalizable across organizations and strategies. D) It provides specific guidance and feedback to employees. E) The ratings from this approach are easily accepted by employees during feedback.

C

Which of the following observations is true about scattergrams? A) They help in identifying the most important cause of a problem. B) They are useful for understanding the amount of variance between an outcome and the expected value or average outcome. C) They help employees determine whether the relationship between two variables or events is positive, negative, or zero. D) They assume that the majority of problems are the result of a small number of causes. E) They are useful for identifying redundancy in processes that increases manufacturing or service time.

C

_____ consists of practices participated in by employees from all levels of the company that focus on continuous improvement of business processes. A) Quality circle B) Muda C) Kaizen D) Root cause analysis E) Business process reengineering

C

_____ is the means through which managers ensure that employees' activities and outputs are congruent with the organization's goals. A) Performance standardization B) Performance budgeting C) Performance management D) Performance indicator E) Performance dampener

C

A measure that results in drastically different ratings over time lacks _____ reliability. A) internal consistency B) interrater C) parallel-forms D) test-retest E) inter-method

D

A performance management system designed with a strong quality orientation can be expected to A) emphasize an assessment of system factors, but not person factors, in the measurement system. B) emphasize managers and employees working separately to solve performance problems. C) involve only the external customers in setting standards and measuring performances. D) use multiple sources to evaluate person and system factors. E) emphasize an assessment of person factors, but not system factors, in the measurement system.

D

A situation in which evaluators purposefully distort a rating to achieve personal or company goals is referred to as A) Bayesian inference. B) group dynamics. C) 360-degree feedback. D) appraisal politics. E) the similar to me error.

D

As a new strategy this year, HighLo Company is having its managers evaluated by the members of their teams. This decision was made to give employees an opportunity to anonymously share information about how they are being managed. HighLo most likely has not considered that this type of performance evaluation has which disadvantage? A) Subordinates tend to focus only on aspects of their manager's performance that are measured, neglecting those that are not. B) Subordinates do not have adequate opportunity to observe a manager's interactions and behavior. C) Friendship has the potential to bias ratings. D) Subordinates have power over their managers, thus putting the managers in a difficult situation. E) Subordinates find the situation of being both rater and ratee uncomfortable when the evaluations are made for administrative decisions.

D

Bridget has an employee who is struggling with meeting quotas and attendance. You offer her advice by telling her to not use the ____ as it will not provide guidance on improving employee behavior. A) quality approach B) comparative approach C) behavioral approach D) attribute approach E) results approach

D

Harriet wants all of her team members to receive a raise, so she gives them all a high rating. Which of the following errors is she falling prey to? A) Halo B) Contrast C) Central tendency D) Leniency E) Similar to me

D

In what legal suit would the plaintiff allege that the performance measurement system varied according to individuals? A) Harassment suit B) Statutory tort C) Unjust dismissal suit D) Discrimination suit E) Custody action

D

Jian is a manager at Zobos Corp. He needs to perform an evaluation of his subordinates. He does this by pairing each of his subordinates with every other subordinate in the same group, then selects the higher performer between the two. At the end of the process, he calculates the number of times a subordinate has been the higher performer in a match-up. Which type of performance management system does Jian employ to perform the evaluation? A) Probability distribution B) Simple ranking C) Forced distribution D) Paired comparison E) Scanlon plans

D

Rick is the vice president of the human resources team. He designs a new performance management process. He completes the first step and moves on to the next step of developing employee goals and actions to achieve the outcomes. Which of the following is he likely to do next to create an effective performance management process? A) He will define performance outcomes for divisions and departments. B) He will evaluate performance. C) He will identify improvements needed. D) He will provide support and ongoing performance discussions. E) He will provide consequences for performance results.

D

Tami meets with each employee to go over their performance review. She knows that ______ is important if she wants the employees to improve. A) performance appraisal B) achievement discrepancy C) job rotation D) ability analysis E) performance feedback

D

The _____ method requires managers to compare every employee with every other employee in a work group, giving an employee a score of 1 every time he or she is considered the higher performer. A) partner measurement B) probability distribution C) forced distribution D) paired comparison E) alternation ranking

D

Which of the following attribute approaches to performance management is most commonly used? A) Behaviorally anchored rating scales B) Mixed standard scales C) Behavior observation scales D) Graphic rating scales E) Simple ranking scales

D

Which of the following is true about the quality approach to performance measurement? A) The quality approach techniques usually have very little strategic congruence. B) The quality approach has very low acceptability. C) The quality approach does not advocate the evaluation of personal traits. D) The quality approach adopts a systems-oriented focus. E) The quality approach relies primarily on a combination of the comparative and results approaches to performance measurement.

D

Which of the following statistical process quality control techniques help identify the redundancies in procedures that increase manufacturing or service time? A) Cause-and-effect diagrams B) Control charts C) Pareto charts D) Process-flow analyses E) Histograms

D

_____ attempts to emphasize the multidimensional nature of performance and thoroughly familiarize the raters with the actual content of various performance dimensions. A) Social performance measurement B) Sensitivity training C) Multidimensional training D) Rater accuracy training E) Process-flow analysis

D

_____ is the extent to which the performance management system elicits job performance that is consistent with an organization's strategy, goals, and culture. A) Specificity B) Reliability C) Validity D) Strategic congruence E) Acceptability

D

Appraisals that involve collecting subordinates' evaluations of a manager's behavior or skills are known as A) 360-degree feedback. B) screening interviews. C) peer review. D) social performance. E) upward feedback.

E

CobWeb Inc., a software firm, assesses managers based on how well they understand their subordinates, as well as the factors involved in their poor performance. Which of the following examples is the most appropriate evaluation of the input factors involved in analyzing poor performance? A) Lin considers if her subordinate has the technical skills required for the task. B) Rocio checks if his subordinate is emotionally able to perform at the expected level. C) Aliya looks into whether her subordinate has been given information about his performance. D) Will analyzes if performance consequences are given in a timely manner. E) DeShaun checks if the job flow and procedures are logical.

E

In which performance technique are managers given three statements of performance per dimension and asked to indicate whether an employee's performance is above (+), at (0), or below (−) the statements? A) Behaviorally anchored rating scale B) Forced distribution scale C) Behavior observation scale D) Graphic rating scale E) Mixed-standard scale

E

Teknikal Inc. decides to implement a new performance management system. It consists of a list of five traits used to evaluate all the employees. The manager considers one employee at a time and, on a continuum with different points, circles the number that signifies how much of a particular trait the individual has. Which type of performance management system is Teknikal Inc. using? A) Probability distribution B) Simple ranking C) Forced distribution D) Paired comparison E) Graphic rating scale

E

The _____ approach to performance management focuses on the extent to which individuals have certain characteristics or traits believed desirable for the company's success. A) results B) quality C) behavioral D) comparative E) attribute

E

Which of the following is true about the results approach to performance management? A) The results approach relies primarily on a combination of the attribute and results approaches to performance measurement. B) The results approach virtually eliminates problems of leniency, central tendency, and strictness. C) The techniques of the results approach usually have very little congruence with the company's strategy. D) The results approach is usually highly unacceptable to both managers and employees. E) The results approach minimizes subjectivity, relying on objective, quantifiable indicators of performance.

E

Which of the following statements best defines the acceptability of a performance measure? A) It is the extent to which the performance management system elicits job performance that is consistent with the organization's strategy, goals, and culture. B) It is the extent to which a performance measure gives detailed guidance to employees about what is expected of them and in what ways they are unsuitable for the job. C) It is the extent to which a performance measure assesses all the relevant—and only the relevant—aspects of job performance. D) It is the extent to which a performance measure is free from random error. E) It is the extent to which a performance measure is deemed to be satisfactory or adequate by those who use it.

E

Which performance management evaluation criterion reflects the extent to which a performance measure assesses all the relevant—and only the relevant—aspects of performance? A) Reliability B) Strategic congruence C) Acceptability D) Specificity E) Validity

E

Whittaker Publishing Corp. is a publishing company that wants to hire more technical experts to handle the software requirements in the publishing process. However, the test given to the programmers assesses not only their technical knowledge but also their communication skills, language abilities, and understanding of client services. The test conducted by Whittaker Publishing Corp. is A) high on reliability. B) low on strategic congruence. C) high on specificity. D) high on acceptability. E) low on validity.

E

Attribute-based performance methods have strong congruence between the techniques and the company's strategy.

F

Older employees tend to have more confidence in the fairness of social performance management than younger employees do.

F

One of the advantages of the results approach to performance measurement is that it disassociates an individual's results from the organization's strategies and goals.

F

Output is a factor to be considered in analyzing poor performance.

F

Productivity measurement and evaluation system (ProMES) is designed to specifically define performance dimensions by developing behavioral anchors associated with different levels of performance.

F

Quality-based performance methods are quite easy to develop and are generalizable across a variety of jobs, strategies, and organizations.

F

Sanjeev looks forward to completing his self-rating. He always gives himself a high rating showing that the company will be lost without him. He does not know that the self-rating is used for administrative purposes only.

F

Scott has ranked his employees from the highest performer to the lowest performer demonstrating his understanding of alternation ranking.

F

Since Jose has started using the comparative approach, he has increased his leniency with some employees and become stricter with others. He is using the comparative approach correctly.

F

The extent to which a performance measure is deemed to be satisfactory or adequate by those who use it is known as its reliability.

F

The initial steps of the performance management cycle involve an employee and a manager identifying what the employee can do to capitalize on performance strengths.

F

Validity is the consistency of a performance measure.

F

A behaviorally anchored rating scale is designed to specifically define performance dimensions by developing behavioral anchors associated with different levels of performance.

T

A performance management system should link employee activities with an organization's goals.

T

An advantage of behaviorally anchored rating scales is an increased interrater reliability.

T

Desiree and Jack were sharing their thoughts on the upcoming performance reviews. Desiree shares that she feels the system is fair. She has accepted the performance management system.

T

Marian is worried that her unit will be the lowest performing unit again this year and she might lose her job. She looks at each person's evaluation and gives them an increase by an entire percentage point raising the overall total of her unit. Marian is engaged in appraisal politics.

T

Once the expected performance has been defined and employees' performances have been measured, it is necessary to feed that performance information back to the employees so that they can correct any deficiencies.

T

Result-based approaches to performance measurement assume that subjectivity can be eliminated from the measurement process.

T

The assumption of Pareto analysis is that the majority of problems are the result of a small number of causes.

T

The major advantage of the 360-degree appraisal technique is that it provides a means for minimizing bias in an otherwise subjective evaluation technique.

T

The quality approach relies primarily on a combination of the attribute and results approaches to performance measurement.

T

Thinking strategically, motivating others, and fostering teamwork are all competencies.

T

Visible support of the performance management process by the CEO and senior management ensures that the system is consistently used across the company.

T

When evaluating employees, the most frequently used source is the manager of the unit.

T