Chapter 4 quiz

________ helps support organizations that compete on differentiation or innovation, because flexible responsiveness is central to making this strategy work.

A divisional structure

__________ is the process of getting information about how well each employee is carrying out his or her job-related tasks to reward those who are effective and improve the work of those who are ineffective

Performance appraisal

Bill Peterson, an HR specialist at a major insurance company, was conducting a job analysis for a new business sustainability specialist. Part of this process focused on identifying the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics that an individual must have to perform this job. This is an example of creating a job:

specification.

In which of the following circumstances will a functional structure be more appropriate for an organization?

when demand for the resources can be well anticipated

The _________ section in a position analysis questionnaire (PAQ) focuses on the physical activities, tools, and devices used by the worker to perform the job

work output

Which of the following is true of how job design and job analysis have functioned in the past?

Job design has focused on making existing jobs more motivating.

The _________ consists of 194 items that cover work behaviors, work conditions, and job characteristics that can be generalized across a wide variety of jobs

Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ)

A manager has decided to improve the physical work environment in his office to ensure that incumbents have fewer physical ailments. Which job design approach would be most helpful to him?

biological approach

Which of the following led to problems for McDonald's when corporate management continued to make decisions about new items added to the menu at its restaurants?

complex work processes

Samantha Roberts was hired as a customer service representative by the Elevenore Corporation almost 20 years ago. Since then, she has moved around in the company and taken on additional responsibilities as part of her job duties. At one point, 80 percent of her job duties and responsibilities were things that she did not do when she first started. This was a cause of concern for her because Samantha felt that her job was no longer what she expected when she started, and her current salary was not in alignment with her current job responsibilities. The problems that occurred in this situation could have been prevented if management or HR had conducted a(n)

job analysis.

When Bees & Bones, a startup company, was bought by Cali Pharma, the HR department was tasked with assessing the dollar value of each job and creating equitable pay structures. HR completed a:

job evaluation.

The _________ approach to job design has its roots in classical industrial engineering.

mechanistic

In a large, multinational company, several of the tasks are split out across several states and countries. Each location has a specific component of the overall product. An employee survey recently revealed that employees had a weak conceptualization of the company's overall mission. This company has a

functional structure.

Unlike the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT), the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) relies on

generalizing across jobs to broadly describe abilities, work styles and activities.

Jim Wong, a production manager, decides to design jobs based entirely on the principles of the motivational approach, emphasizing the achievement of positive psychological outcomes for workers. One potential drawback to taking this approach to job design is that there may not be a positive impact on worker:

productivity.

Which of the following is the primary role of an efficiency expert?

removing every bit of waste in production operations

WMZ Manufacturing Corporation employs 2,000 production workers who help to assemble consumer electronics products. To maximize efficiency and minimize costs, the company has designed the production jobs so there is one best way to perform those jobs. This is an example of which approach to job design?

scientific management approach

One of the earliest and best-known statements of the mechanistic approach is:

scientific management.

The XPT Corporation, a computer peripherals manufacturer, is restructuring the company by removing middle layers of management and giving more autonomy to front-line workers who have direct contact with production and customer issues. The workers are thrilled that they have been empowered to do their jobs without managers who would closely monitor their activities. Despite this positive outcome, what is one issue that management needs to be cautious about after implementing the new organizational structure?

The empowered workers could make decisions that are not aligned with organizational goals.

When it comes to analyzing skill levels, _________ who have more experience rating a wide range of jobs may be the best source.

external job analysts

When it comes to examining and understanding skill levels for a particular job, _________ may be the best source

external job analysts

Management at Royalty Toys and Games wants to create a culture and work environment in which people can thrive and derive personal satisfaction and gratification from the products they develop working for the company. The company does this by giving workers a great deal of freedom to explore new and innovative ideas on a daily basis. This is an example of which approach to job design?

motivational approach

The most common source of error in the job analysis process results from job descriptions being

outdated.

Which of the following approaches to job design has roots in human-factors literature?

perceptual-motor approach

Caregivers at an eldercare facility perceive that the job they perform in caring for elderly residents is extremely important because they support the quality of life for their clients. Based on the Job Characteristics Model, the caregiver job possesses high

task significance.

When Claire's team started to fall behind on their deadlines, she realized that Adam was clearly overwhelmed by his assignment. When there is a single point of failure, companies can correct the problem by having

team members share work when any member becomes overloaded.