Human Resource Management Final Exam Review

Who among the following has a relatively low-stress job?

A dietician

Under which of the following plans does an organization pay an employee a certain amount of money for every unit he or she produces?

A piece-rate incentive plan

Which of the following is a set of expected behaviors associated with a position in a group or organization?

A role

Which of the following factors is associated with high levels of intrinsic motivation at work?

A sense of self-determination

Which of the following is a group-based incentive system?

A stock-purchase plan

In the context of agency theory, which of the following is a difference between agents and principals?

Agents often have more information about the day-to-day business than do principals.

In the context of the consequences of stress at work, which of the following is a general feeling of exhaustion that develops when an individual simultaneously experiences too much pressure and too few sources of satisfaction?

Burnout

In the context of the causes of stress at work, which of the following is a physical demand stressor?

Office design

Which of the following statements is true of performance-based rewards?

Performance appraisal has the most meaning to employees if it is subsequently connected with a reward such as a salary increase.

Which of the following statements is true of enhancing organizational performance?

Performance in any organization exists at multiple levels.

In the context of the causes of stress at work, which of the following is a physical demand stressor?

Temperature

Which of the following statements is true of the safety standards created by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)?

They are published and disseminated to employers across the United States.

In the context of personality types, which of the following statements is true of Type A personalities and Type B personalities?

Type B personalities are more patient than Type A personalities.

In the context of reinforcement theory, who among the following writers has his or her work behavior reinforced using a fixed interval schedule?

Walda, who is paid $100 every week irrespective of the number of articles she writes

Which of the following acts was passed in 1970 and is the most comprehensive law regarding worker safety?

The Occupational Safety and Health Act

In the context of the differences in how one experiences stress, which of the following is characterized as being less aggressive and more easygoing?

The Type B personality

Which of the following is an alternative to job specialization that takes into account the work system and employee preferences?

The job characteristics approach

In the context of Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs, which of the following best describes an individual's self-actualization need?

The need to reach one's personal potential

In the context of agency theory, identify a true statement about agents.

They are less likely than principals to take risks when they make decisions.

Goal theory suggests that:

employees will exert the greatest effort when they have specific, difficult goals to work toward.

The typical form of the employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) involves a company:

taking out a loan, which is then used to buy a portion of the company's stock in the open market, with the purpose of gradually giving employees a major stake in the ownership of the company.

Who among the following managers is most likely to be effective at providing performance feedback?

Daniel, who focuses on providing developmental feedback targeted at his subordinates' behavior

Which of the following statements is true of the influence of the physical work environment on individuals?

Employees who perceive their work environment as dark are generally less satisfied with their jobs.

Identify a true statement about expectancy theory.

It is used to estimate the force operating on an employee to increase her or his effort.

Which of the following is the most basic form of incentive compensation?

Merit pay

Identify a true statement about motivation and needs.

Money has the potential to satisfy all the needs proposed by Maslow and Alderfer.

Identify a true statement about motivation.

Motivation at work is a critical determinant of what will occur on the job.

Which of the following statements is true in the context of ERG theory?

Clayton Alderfer allowed for multiple levels of needs being prepotent.

Which of the following statements is true in the context of goal theory?

Difficult goals are preferable to easy goals.

In the context of need-based theories of motivation, which of the following theories identifies motivators and hygiene factors as two sets of conditions at work that can satisfy needs?

Dual factor theory

In the context of need-based theories of motivation, which of the following theories involves two levels of needs and allows for a person to regress from a higher-level need to a lower-level need?

ERG theory

Who among the following individuals is most likely to be susceptible to occupational health hazards?

Edwin, who works for a company that manufactures pesticides

Which of the following is an important ingredient in controlling accidents at work?

Employee training

In the context of goal theory, which of the following is required for goals to be effective?

Employees must accept goals as their own.

Which of the following options refers to a person's perception of the probability that an increase in effort will result in an increase in performance?

Expectancy

In reinforcement theory, identify the schedule in which the number of times a behavior must occur before it is rewarded remains constant over time.

Fixed ratio schedules

In the context of alternative work schedules, which of the following are plans in which employees usually must work 40 hours per week and, typically, 5 days a week in the office but in which they have control over the starting and ending times for work on each day?

Flexible work hour plans

Which of the following is a team- and group-based incentive system that is designed to split the cost savings from productivity improvements with employees?

Gainsharing

Which of the following is a difference between gainsharing and profit-sharing incentive systems?

Gainsharing involves sharing cost savings from productivity improvements with employees, whereas profit sharing involves distributing a portion of a company's gains to all employees.

In the context of evaluating performance-enhancement programs, which of the following is a human resource indicator?

General labor cost

In the context of common workplace hazards, which of the following refers to a shield or other piece of equipment that keeps body parts from contacting moving machine parts such as gears and conveyor belts?

Guarding

Which of the following refers to an individual difference that allows some individuals to experience less stress when dealing with stressful events and that makes them more effective in dealing with the stress they do experience?

Hardiness

In the context of workplace security, which of the following is designed to make sure that an employee can afford the medical services he or she may require?

Health insurance

Which of the following statements is an important aspect of Clayton Alderfer's ERG theory?

In ERG theory, Clayton Alderfer allowed for multiple levels of needs being prepotent.

Which of the following statements is true of turnover as an organizational consequence of stress?

It adds to the costs of an organization, especially when replacing productive workers.

In the context of cybersecurity, which of the following statements is true of Planning Tool for Resource Integration, Synchronization and Management (PRISM)?

It can access information about American citizens when information is collected incidentally as part of a sweep of information about a foreign operative.

Which of the following statements is true of firm-level performance?

It determines a firm's stock price.

Which of the following statements is true of the stock-purchase plans offered by a company?

It is applicable to employees only if they remain with the company for a specified period of time.

Which of the following statements is true of the productivity measurement and evaluation system (ProMES)?

It is based on a model of motivation similar to expectancy theory.

Which of the following statements is true of expectancy theory?

It is concerned with three components and the links among them.

Which of the following statements is true of turnover in an organization?

It is likely to be caused by a poor person-job fit.

Which of the following statements is true of information technology being a cause of stress at work?

It results in information overload.

Identify a true statement about performance feedback.

It should focus on both effective and ineffective performance.

Which of the following was developed to increase the total number of tasks workers perform based on the assumption that doing the same basic task over and over is the primary cause of worker dissatisfaction?

Job enlargement

Which of the following poses a workplace hazard that may cause accidents?

Loose clothing of employees

In Maslow's theory, identify the specific needs that are capable of motivating behavior at any given point in time.

Prepotent needs

Which of the following options reinforces behavior as a function of how many times it occurs?

Ratio schedule

Which of the following process theories, usually associated with B. F. Skinner, proposes that all behavior is a function of its consequences?

Reinforcement theory

In the context of evaluating performance-enhancement programs, which of the following is an explicit financial indicator?

Return on investment

In the context of the causes of stress at work, which of the following is a task demand that can cause stress?

Security

Which of the following is a person's adaptive response to a stimulus that places excessive psychological or physical demands on him or her?

Stress

Which of the following arrangements allows organizations to use the services of individuals who may not be able to work at a given site?

Telecommuting

Which of the following is an alternative work site arrangement in which employees may do almost all of their work at home and may receive assignments electronically?

Telecommuting

Which of the following statements is true of people who work in rotational shifts?

They can never establish a new biological rhythm for sleep.

Which of the following statements is true of stock-based incentive programs?

They have special problems because employees' incentives are tied to the price of their organization's stock.

Identify a true statement about compressed workweeks.

They may affect some social aspects of a job.

In the context of reinforcement theory, which of the following statements is true of fixed ratio schedules?

They produce less consistent levels of behavior than do variable ratio schedules.

Which of the following statements defines health hazards?

They refer to the elements of the work environment that more slowly and systematically, and perhaps cumulatively, result in damage to an employee's health.

In the context of reinforcement theory, which of the following statements is true of ratio schedules?

They result in higher levels of behavior than do interval schedules.

In the context of reinforcement theory, which of the following statements is true of variable ratio schedules?

They result in the highest productivity.

Identify a true statement about faith-based businesses.

They tend to be closed on Sunday.

Which of the following statements is true of the differences in how employees experience stress?

Women are more likely to experience stress at work than men.

The process of generating new and useful ideas concerning new products, services, manufacturing methods, and administrative processes is characterized as _____.

creativity

In the context of agency theory, agents are more likely than principals to focus on:

a short time horizon because it is usually easier to affect firm performance in the short run.

In the context of work teams, if work is designed to be done by teams, then _____.

all rewards must be based on team performance

Unlike stock-option plans, stock-purchase plans:

are typically offered to all the employees of a firm.

In the context of stress, the opposite of overload is undesirable because it results in _____.

boredom

In almost every organization offering flexible work hour plans, the time of the day during which every employee must be at work is called _____.

core time

Home work programs include arrangements that are often referred to as _____.

cottage industries

Process theories of motivation _____.

focus on how people become motivated and what they are motivated to do

In the context of the causes of stress at work, group pressures, leadership style, and conflicting personalities are categorized as _____.

interpersonal demands

Many experts believe that the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) is not effective because:

its standards are too comprehensive.

In the context of performance-based rewards, the most general form of a merit-pay plan is to:

provide annual salary increases to employees based on the relative value of their contributions to their organization.

When underpayment inequity is perceived, an employee will most likely:

reduce his or her inputs.

One important approach to controlling accidents at work is to design more security into the workplace through a process called _____.

safety engineering

A minor explosion occurs at the chemical processing plant of Clement Inc. In order to study the situation and make recommendations for improvements in the plant design to avoid such accidents in future, the company sends a team of experts from its headquarters. These experts analyze the reasons for the accident, identify potential hazards, and suggest measures that the firm can take to protect its employees. In the given scenario, the experts sent to the chemical processing plant are known as _____.

safety engineers

If a person experiences psychological consequences of stress, he or she is most likely to:

sleep too much or not sleep enough.

Punishment and positive reinforcement work best when:

there is a strong link between behavior and consequences.

In the context of VIE theory, which of the following components refers to how attractive or unattractive an outcome is for a person?

valence

In the context of reinforcement theory, schedules in which the amount of time that must pass before a reward is given can change from one reward period to another are termed:

variable interval schedules.