HR final

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

A. A sense of self-determination

_____, a process theory developed by J. Stacey Adams, is concerned with a person's perceived inputs to a (work) setting and the outcomes received from that setting.

A. Equity theory

_____ are plans in which employees usually must work 40 hours per week and typically 5 days a week but in which they have control over the starting and ending times for work on each day.

A. Flexible work hour plans

_____ is a team- and group-based incentive system designed to split the cost savings from productivity improvements with employees.

A. Gainsharing

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

A. It determines a company's stock price.

Identify a true statement about the productivity measurement and evaluation system (ProMES).

A. It incorporates ideas from goal setting to feedback, and it includes incentives for improvement.

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

A. Merit pay

Identify a true statement about motivation.

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

In the context of goal theory, who among the following managers is likely to motivate his employees the best?

A. Pedro, who sets difficult and specific goals

_____ is a process theory, usually associated with B. F. Skinner, that proposes that all behavior is a function of its consequences.

A. Reinforcement theory

_____ is a program developed to improve group- or firm-level performance and is based on a model of motivation similar to expectancy theory.

A. The productivity measurement and evaluation system

Which of the following is an advantage of faith-based businesses?

A. They tend to provide reasonable compensation and benefits packages for their employees.

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

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

Under _____, an organization pays an employee a certain amount of money for every unit she or he produces.

A. a piece-rate incentive plan

In the context of reinforcement theory, _____ refers to the situation in which a behavior is followed by no consequences and eventually disappears.

A. extinction

In the context of reinforcement theory, _____ are schedules in which the amount of time that must pass before a reward is given is constant over time.

A. fixed interval schedules

Process theories of motivation:

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

In the context of equity theory, an employee would be said to perceive underpayment inequity if his or her input-outcome ratio:

A. is less favorable than that of a comparison person.

The assembly line workers of Autowon Inc. petitioned the top management to provide basic amenities such as access to potable water and a clean working environment. In the context of Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs, this scenario illustrates the workers' _____.

A. physiological needs

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

A. reduce his or her inputs.

In the context of evaluating performance-enhancement programs, _____ is an explicit financial indicator.

A. return on investment

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

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

_____ is the combination of positive reinforcement with either punishment or extinction.

D. Behavior modification

Which of the following statements is true in the context of trends in HR?

D. Businesses in Silicon Valley are offering increasingly lavish, unusual, and expensive benefits to their employees.

_____ are arrangements in which an employee works the required number of hours but does so in fewer than 5 days.

D. Compressed workweeks

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

D. Creativity

Which of the following statements is true of a stock-purchase plan?

D. 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 expectancy theory?

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

Identify a true statement about expectancy theory.

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

Identify a true statement about performance feedback.

D. It should focus on both effective and ineffective performance.

Identify a true statement about goal theory.

D. It suggests that not all goals are created equal.

James, an employee at a hospital, has different duties for each day in a week. On Mondays, he reviews and files patient charts. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, he collects lab specimens from patients. On Wednesdays, he enters lab results into the computer database. On Fridays, he is in charge of paperwork. In this scenario, which of the following motivational approaches is being implemented?

D. Job rotation

_____ is an alternative work arrangement in which employees may do almost all of their work at home and may even receive assignments electronically.

D. Telecommuting

Which of the following statements is true of dual factor theory?

D. The "motivator" side of dual factor theory provides the basis for much of the work that has been done in the area of job enrichment.

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

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

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

D. They have special problems, since employees' incentives are tied to the price of the stock.

Identify a true statement about faith-based businesses.

D. They tend to be closed on Sunday.

In the context of process theories of motivation, _____ is a fairly complex process theory of motivation that casts the employee in the role of decision maker.

D. VIE theory

The name _____, and some of its basic principles, is derived from the fact that, in most modern organizations, the individuals who own a firm do not actually run it on a daily basis.

D. agency theory

Berta, a kindergarten teacher, ignores her students' bad conduct and rewards them when they are obedient. As a result, they always listen to her and do as she says. In this scenario, Berta is using a(n) _____ technique.

D. behavior modification

Goal theory suggests that:

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

In Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs, _____ include the need to have a positive view of oneself.

D. esteem needs

In the United States, most faith-based businesses incorporate Christian beliefs into their day-to-day management practices.

True

Romero Inc. manufactures paper products. One set of workers at Romero Inc. has the full-time job of sorting scrap as it enters the facility. The quality of sorting is regularly monitored by checking the quality of the paper products, and necessary instructions are given to the scrap sorters. In the context of the core dimensions of the job characteristics approach, Romero Inc. stresses on _____.

D. feedback

The management of Jeremynt Inc., a public relations firm, gives each of its teams the responsibility of increasing its productivity through measures developed by the team members and approved by the respective managers. The company then measures the team-level productivity, and the cost savings resulting from the improvements in productivity are split with its employees. In this scenario, Jeremynt Inc. is most likely using a group incentive system called _____.

D. gainsharing

Don, a sales clerk, believes that if he satisfies his customers' needs based on the methods covered in his company's sales training seminar, his incentives would increase. In the context of VIE theory, Don's belief illustrates _____.

D. instrumentality

In the context of the job characteristics approach, the higher a job rates on skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback, the _____.

D. more employees will experience various psychological states

Thomas, the manager of an automobile showroom, announces a new scheme wherein the company offers an all-expense-paid trip to the salesperson who sells the most number of cars in the next quarter. This inspires Thomas's subordinates to work harder and improve their performance. In this scenario, Thomas is using a(n) _____ technique.

D. positive reinforcement

A _____ reinforces behavior as a function of how many times it occurs.

D. ratio schedule

In the context of reinforcement theory, _____ are schedules in which the number of times a behavior must occur before it is rewarded changes over time.

D. variable ratio schedules

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

B. Difficult goals are preferable to easy goals.

In the context of need-based theories of motivation, _____ involves three rather than two levels of needs, and also allows for someone to regress from a higher-level need to a lower-level need.

B. ERG theory

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

B. Employees must accept goals as their own.

_____ is a process theory of motivation that suggests that organizations can best influence performance by establishing clear links between increased performance and rewards.

B. Expectancy theory

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

B. 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 equity theory?

B. It suggests that everyone calculates the ratio of inputs to outcomes.

_____ 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.

B. Job rotation

Which of the following is a critical component of a behavior-modification plan?

B. Making sure that desirable conduct is never punished and that undesirable conduct is never rewarded

_____ is awarded to employees on the basis of the relative value of their contributions to the organization.

B. Merit pay

_____ are compensation plans that formally base at least some meaningful portion of compensation on the relative value of an employee's contributions to the organization.

B. Merit-pay plans

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

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

_____ are gainsharing plans in which teams or groups of employees are encouraged to suggest strategies for reducing costs, and the gains are distributed according to who suggested the cost-reduction strategy.

B. Scanlon plans

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

B. Telecommuting

Which of the following is a difference between the job characteristics approach and job specialization?

B. The job characteristics approach takes into account the work system and employee preferences, whereas job specialization does not.

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

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

Which of the following statements is true of skill- and knowledge-based pay?

B. They reward employees for increasing their capacity to perform well in the future.

In almost every organization offering flexible work hour plans, there is a(n) _____ each day during which every employee must be at work.

B. core time

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

B. prepotent needs

In the context of Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs, _____ include anything involving a safe environment, and they are satisfied by things such as an insurance or a pension.

B. security needs

While watching television, Jason comes across an advertisement on a new soft drink brand. This advertisement reminds him that he is thirsty and wants to buy a beverage. In the context of reinforcement theory, the advertisement serves as a(n) _____.

B. stimulus

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

B. taking out a loan, which is then used to buy a portion of the company's stock in the open market.

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

B. variable interval schedules

_____ is an arrangement in which a group is given responsibility for designing a system to be used in performing an interrelated set of jobs.

D. A work team

Mechateron Inc., a mechanical products manufacturing company, pays its employees $1 for every 10 fiberglass pipes they weld. In this scenario, which of the following performance-based reward systems is Mechateron Inc. most likely using?

B. A piece-rate system

In the context of Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs, who among the following individuals exhibits security needs?

B. Ali, who expects his organization to provide him a pension plan to help him after his retirement

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

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

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

C. A stock-option plan

Marcia, a senior accountant in an insurance company, has a two-year-old son who needs her frequent attention. In order to spend more time with him, she takes her office work home with her and completes it on her personal computer. She returns to office for important meetings or to collect more work. In this scenario, which of the following alternative work arrangements is Marcia using?

C. An electronic cottage

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

C. Clayton Alderfer allowed for multiple levels of needs being prepotent.

_____ is a person's perception of the probability that an increase in effort will result in an increase in performance.

C. Expectancy

The employees of Starknoah Inc. are required to work a full 40 hours for 5 days a week. However, the employees have the flexibility to choose their starting and ending times for work each day. The only constraint in this arrangement is that all the employees are required to be at work between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. In this scenario, which of the following alternative work arrangements is Starknoah Inc. using?

C. Flexible work hour plans

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

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

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

C. It is the need to reach one's personal potential.

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

C. Performance in any organization exists at multiple levels.

_____ is an alternative to job specialization that takes into account the work system and employee preferences.

C. The job characteristics approach

Identify a true statement about compressed workweeks.

C. 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?

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

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

C. They result in the highest productivity.

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

C. 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, _____.

C. all rewards must be based on team performance

Home work programs include arrangements that are often referred to as _____, which manufacture small and not very complex items.

C. cottage industries

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

C. dual factor theory

In the context of the job characteristics approach, feedback is the:

C. extent to which a worker knows how well a job is being performed.

In the context of reinforcement theory, _____ are schedules in which the number of times a behavior must occur before it is rewarded remains constant over time.

C. fixed ratio schedules

In the context of evaluating performance-enhancement programs, _____ is a human resource indicator.

C. general labor cost

Equity theory is useful to human resource managers because it:

C. makes it clear that any rewards associated with effort or performance will be evaluated.

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

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

Punishment and positive reinforcement work best when:

C. there is a strong link between behavior and consequences.

In the context of VIE theory, _____ refers to how attractive or unattractive an outcome is for a person.

C. valence

Sean, the owner of a hardware store, pays incentives to the members of his sales team based on their ability to sell products to industrial buyers. Each salesperson receives 20 percent of the amount earned from his or her total sales. In this scenario, which of the following incentive systems is Sean most likely using to reward his employees?

D. A commission

Which of the following is one of the most common alternatives to the traditional workweek?

D. A flexible work hour plan