MGT 341 Chapter 8

Adam Sears is an assembly line employee with Swenson Motors. Though Adam is popular among his supervisors and colleagues, Adam experiences low morale and lack of motivation. He feels frustrated that his job is restricted to fixing nuts and bolts on the car parts. He fears that he has no chances of advancing in his career as he cannot completely assemble a car. Which of the following is true with regard to Adam?

Adam's job has low task identity

Which of the following represents a pay plan that rewards employees for recent performance rather than historical performance?

Bonus

________ is not a benefit of flextime.

Decreased work/life balance

Which of the following statements is true regarding flexible benefits?

Flexible benefits can be altered to meet employee needs based on age, marital status, and number and age of dependents.

Which of the following statements is true regarding job sharing?

It allows two or more individuals to split a traditional 40-hour-a-week job

Which of the following statements is true regarding job rotation?

It decreases productivity in the short run.

Managers at Flavors, a restaurant chain, train their employees such that in the absence of employees, someone trained in the same skills can step in and do the job equally well. Thus, many modules in training are extensive as they provide employees with details of the skill sets required for different jobs. In practice, this lengthy training program does help the company as a well-trained and flexible workforce is at their disposal at all times. The managers at Flavors use ________.

Job rotation

The periodic shifting of an employee from one task to another with similar skill requirements at the same organizational level is defined as ________

Job rotation

Which of the following is not supported by studies in regard to profit-sharing plans?

Profit-sharing plans create advanced levels of employee decision making.

has a focus on prosocial motivation and is especially salient for organizations with corporate social responsibility

Relational job design

Which of the following is true about telecommuting in regard to different cultures?

Telecommuting is viewed differently in different cultures.

Which of the following, if true, would strengthen the argument in favor of adopting job rotation?

The company can enhance productivity of existing employees in various areas for different projects.

Which of the following, if true, would weaken the argument of adopting job rotation?

The company is now entering its busiest business season with multiple project deadlines.

Which of the following statements is true regarding the job characteristics model?

The operation of the model is relatively individualistic in nature.

Which of the following statements is true regarding an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP)?

Under this plan, employees acquire company shares, often at below-market prices.

_______ bases a portion of an employee's pay on some individual and/or organizational measure of performance.

Variable-pay program

According to the job characteristics model, task significance is the degree to which ________.

a job bears an impact on the lives or work of other people

According to the job characteristics model, autonomy is defined as the degree to which

a job provides the worker freedom, independence, and discretion

Telecommuting is an option that suits professionals like ________.

analysts

________ is a participative process that uses employees' input to increase their commitment to the organization's success.

employee involvement

Which of the following is an example of an intrinsic reward?

employee recognition

At Esco Retail, all employees are constantly driven to work hard. The company places maximum emphasis on stocking high quality goods and providing high quality service to retain the edge they have in the retail industry. To promote organizational commitment further, the company incentivizes employees by enabling them to purchase company shares at below-market prices as a part of their benefits. This mode of providing incentives represents the use of ________.

employee stock ownership plans

The external competitiveness of an organization's pay relative to elsewhere in the industry is measured by its ________.

external equity

According to the job characteristics model, ________ indicates the degree to which carrying out work activities generates direct and clear information about your own performance.

feedback

Individualized rewards that allow each employee to choose the compensation package that best satisfies his or her current needs and situation are called ________.

flexible benefits plan

Beyond redesigning the nature of the work itself and involving employees in decisions, another approach to making the work environment more motivating is to alter work arrangements to meet employee needs. Which of the following is designed to give employees greater control of their schedule?

flextime

An arrangement that allows two or more individuals to split a traditional 40-hour-a-week job is called ________.

job sharing

Janice and Shane are both senior software analysts. They have worked together on projects for six years and get along very well. Janice is anticipating the arrival of her first child and will not be able to work on a full-time basis in the future. Shane is contemplating opening his own business as a home media installation consultant and does not want to continue to work full time. They both need some income. Which of the following alternative job structures would be best for Janice and Shane?

job sharing

Which of the following is the distinct characteristic of participative management programs?

joint decision making

For management, the major downside of telecommuting is ________.

less direct supervision of employees

A(n) ________ pay plan pays for individual performance based on performance appraisal ratings.

merit-based

Daichi Inc. is a Japanese software development firm known for its high quality products. Recently, the company held its annual conference and awarded all those employees who were in the top five percent with substantial monetary rewards. Their performance was evaluated on the basis of target achievement, client feedback, and quality ratings. Employees whose performance had not changed drastically were given a minor raise and those who fared badly received no incentives. Many employees blamed the company for creating differences among employees because they felt that it would harm the company in the long run, but Daichi Inc. truly believes that to retain and motivate its best performers, a large incentive is a good step. Daichi Inc. is using a(n) ________ here.

merit-based plan

The core dimensions of the job characteristics model can be combined into a single predictive index called ________.

motivating potential score

The ________ pay plan has long been popular as a means of compensating production workers by paying a fixed sum for each unit of production completed.

piece-rate

A prerequisite condition for job rotation is the ________.

presence of employees with similar skill sets and requirements

A ________ plan distributes compensation based on some established formula designed around revenue of the company.

profit sharing

One way to possibly make jobs more ________ would be to connect employees with the beneficiaries of their work or service that they provide.

prosocially motivating

Jack Holmes is a middle-aged, lower-level employee at an automobile service center. Though he is not paid very well, he loves his job. His supervisor speaks to him with respect, and he is the favored candidate for mentoring new employees because of the vast experience he holds in the job. Based on this information, which of the following is most likely to be the reason Jack likes his job?

recognition

Representative participation is characterized by ________.

redistribution of power within an organization

The two major forms of employee involvement are participative management and ________.

representative participation

Samantha Barnes is an emergency medical technician. Recently, during an emergency call, she was able to resuscitate a man who had a cardiac arrest. Subsequently, she spent some time calming the 12-year-old daughter of the patient and looked after her until the rest of the patient's family arrived at the hospital. Based on this description, it can be concluded that Samantha's job is high in ________.

task significance

Amanda McPherson is a working mother with one child and an ailing parent to look after in addition to her duties as a wife and job responsibilities as a legal consultant. Since Amanda always feels pressed for time, the news that the consultancy she works for would allow her to work from home two days a week came as a great relief to her. She now feels more motivated to work for the company, as the company has taken into account her personal and professional needs. The company has allowed Amanda to use the option of ________.

telecommuting

An MNC in a developing country is operating amidst severe space constraints, and the infrastructural conditions in the city are bad, causing a lot of lost man-hours. Anticipating rapid growth in the months to come, the company has created a recruitment plan based on its revenue expectations. However, it wants to manage this expansion without undertaking an expensive physical expansion. Which of the following could be a solution for the company?

telecommuting

The option of working at home at least two days a week on a computer linked to the employer's office is termed as ________.

telecommuting

With reference to the job characteristics model, which of the following defines skill variety?

the degree to which a job requires a variety of different activities tapping different abilities

With reference to the job characteristics model, which of the following defines task identity?

the degree to which a job requires completion of a whole and identifiable piece of work

Internal equity refers to the ________.

the worth of the job to the organization

The two most common forms of representative participation are ________ and board representatives

work councils

________ are groups of nominated or elected employees who must be consulted when management makes decisions about employees.

work councils

Employees who use the flextime option have to ________.

work from the office during the common core period and put in the extra hours per their convenience