MGMT 3300 Test 3

Key Features of a Learning Organization

- Continuous learning - Knowledge is shared - Critical, systematic thinking is widespread - Learning culture - Employees are valued

Conditions that contribute to high performance

- Teamwork and Empowerment - Knowledge Sharing - Job Satisfaction and Employee Engagement - Ethics

Basic Approaches to Performance Measurement

1. Comparative 2. Attribute 3. Behavioral 4. Results 5. Quality

Steps in the Career Management Process

1. Data gathering (Focus on competencies needed for career success; Include a variety of measures) 2. Feedback (Maintain confidentiality; Focus on specific success factors, strengths, and improvement areas) 3. Goal Setting (Involve management and coaches/mentors; Specify competencies and knowledge to be developed; Specify developmental methods) 4. Action planning & Follow-up (Involve management and coaches/mentors; Measure success and adjust plans as needed; Verify that pace of development is realistic)

OBM Components

1. Define a set of key behaviors necessary for job performance 2. Use a measurement system to assess whether the employee exhibits the key behaviors. 3. Inform employees of the key behaviors, perhaps in terms of goals for how often to exhibit behavior. 4. Provide feedback and reinforce based on employees' behavior.

Steps in the Performance Management Process

1. Define performance outcomes for company division and department 2. Develop employee goals, behavior, and actions to achieve outcomes 3. Provide support and ongoing performance discussions 4. Evaluate performance 5. Identify improvements needed 6. Provide consequences for performance results

Criteria for Measuring the Effectiveness of a Performance Management System

1. Fit with Strategy 2. Validity 3. Reliability 4. Acceptability 5. Specific Feedback

MBO Components

1. Goals are specific, difficult, and objective. 2. Managers and their employees work together to set the goals. 3. The manager gives objective feedback through the rating period to monitor progress toward the goals.

Process for Developing a Succession Plan

1. Identify positions to plan for 2. Identify employees to include 3. Define job requirements 4. Measure employee potential 5. Review & plan to meet development needs 6. Link succession planning with other HR systems 7. Provide feedback to employees 8. Measure the plan's effectiveness

Stages of an effective program for developing high-potential employees

1. Selection of high-potential employees 2. Developmental experience 3. Active involvement with the CEO

The Purposes of Performance Management Systems

1. Strategic Purpose 2. Administrative Purpose 3. Developmental Purpose

Management by Objectives (MBO)

A system in which people at each level of the organization set goals in a process that flows from top to bottom, so employees at all levels are contributing to the organization's overall goals; these goals become the standards for evaluating each employee's performance.

Behavioral Observation Scale (BOS)

A variation of a BARS which uses all behaviors necessary for effective performance to rate performance at a task.

Assessment Center

A wide variety of specific selection programs that use multiple selection methods to rate applicants or job incumbents on their management potential.

Leaderless Group Discussion

An assessment center exercise in which a team of five to seven employees is assigned a problem and must work together to solve it within a certain time period.

Mentor

An experienced, productive senior employee who helps develop a less experienced employee.

High-performance work system

An organization in which technology, organizational structure, people, and processes work together seamlessly to give an organization an advantage in the competitive environment.

Learning Organization

An organization that supports lifelong learning by enabling all employees to acquire and share knowledge.

Transfer

Assignment of an employee to a position in a different area of the company, usually in a lateral move.

Promotion

Assignment of an employee to a position with greater challenges, more responsibility, and more authority than in the previous job, usually accompanied by a pay increase.

Downward Move

Assignment of an employee to a position with less responsibility and authority.

DiSC

Brand of assessment tool that identifies individuals' behavioral patterns in terms of dominance, influence, steadiness, and conscientiousness.

Glass Ceiling

Circumstances resembling an invisible barrier that keep most women and minorities from attaining the top jobs in organizations.

Assessment

Collecting information and providing feedback to employees about their behavior, communication style, or skills.

Transaction Processing

Computations and calculations involved in reviewing and documenting HRM decisions and practices.

Decision Support System

Computer software systems designed to help managers solve problems by showing how results vary when the manager alters assumptions or data.

Expert Systems

Computer systems that support decision making by incorporating the decision rules used by people who are considered to have expertise in a certain area.

Reward Systems

Contribute to high performance by encouraging people to strive for objectives that support the organization's overall goals.

Task Design

Determines how the details of the organization's necessary activities will be grouped. (Jobs or Team responsibilities).

Continuous Learning

Each employee's and each group's ongoing efforts to gather information and apply the information to their decisions in a learning organization.

Externship

Employee development through a full-time temporary position at another organization.

Assessment centers are primarily used to identify employees' technical skills.

False

Compensation usually discourages high-performance organizations when it is linked in part to performance measures.

False

Creating a high-performance work system is similar to traditional management practices because both treat decision making about technology, organization structure, and human resources as unrelated.

False

High-performance work systems are characterized by high employee turnover.

False

Mentoring programs tend to be very successful when they are compulsory.

False

Most employee development occurs through formal education programs.

False

The paired-comparison method measures the consistency of results over time.

False

Four Approaches to Employee Development

Formal Education Assessment Job Experience Interpersonal Relationships

Outcomes of a High-Performance Work System

Higher productivity, Efficiency, Higher product quality, Greater customer satisfaction, Lower employee turnover -> Higher Profits

Feedback

Information employers give employees about their skills and knowledge and where these assets fit into the organization's plans.

People

Key element of high-performance work systems.

Calibration Meeting

Meeting at which managers discuss employee performance ratings and provide evidence supporting their ratings with the goal of eliminating the influence of rating errors.

Critical-Incident Method

Method of performance measurement based on managers' records of specific examples of the employee acting in ways that are either effective or ineffective.

Forced-Distribution Method

Method of performance measurement that assigns a certain percentage of employees to each category in a set of categories.

Paired-Comparison Method

Method of performance measurement that compares each employee with each other employee to establish rankings.

Graphic Rating Scale

Method of performance measurement that lists traits and provides a rating scale for each trait; the employer uses the scale to indicate the extent to which an employee displays each trait.

Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale (BARS)

Method of performance measurement that rates behavior in terms of a scale showing specific statements of behavior that describe different levels of performance.

Simple Ranking

Method of performance measurement that requires managers to rank employees in their group from the highest performer to the poorest performer.

Mixed-Standard Scales

Method of performance measurement that uses several statements describing each trait to produce a final score for that trait.

Elements of a High-Performance Work System

Organization's goals --> Organizational Structure, Information Systems, Reward Systems, People (Selection, Training, and Development), Task Design --> Performance

Employee Performance as a Process

Organization's goals -> Individuals' skills and abilities; Individuals' behaviors; Objective results <- Situation (organizational culture, economy, etc.)

360-Degree Performance Appraisal

Performance measurement that combines information from the employee's managers, peers, subordinates, self, and customers.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

Psychological inventory that identifies individuals' preferences for source of energy, means of information gathering, way of decision making, and lifestyle, providing information for team building and leadership development.

Employee Development

The combination of formal education, job experiences, relationships, and assessment of personality and abilities to help employees prepare for the future of their careers.

Job Experience

The combination of relationships, problems, demands, tasks, and other features of an employee's jobs.

Employee Engagement

The degree to which employees are fully involved in their work and the strength of their job and company commitment.

Cloud Computing

The practice of using a network of remote servers hosted on the Internet to store, manage, and process data.

Brand Alignment

The process of ensuring that HR policies, practices, and programs support or are congruent with an organization's overall culture (or brand), products, and services.

Performance Management

The process through which managers ensure that employees' activities and outputs contribute to the organization's goals.

Self-assessment

The use of information by employees to determine their career interests, values, aptitudes, and behavioral tendencies.

Organizational Structure

The way the organization groups its people into useful divisions, departments, and reporting relationships.

A standard feature of a modern Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS) is the use of relational databases, which store data in separate files that can be linked by common elements.

True

Development implies learning that is not necessarily related to an employee's current job.

True

In the simple ranking method of performance measurement, managers rank employees in their group from the highest performer to the poorest performer.

True

People experience occupational intimacy when they love their work, when they and their co-workers care about one another, and when they find their work meaningful.

True

Performance management requires knowing what activities and outputs are desired, observing whether they occur, and providing feedback to help employees meet expectations.

True

HR Analytics

Type of assessment of HRM effectiveness that involves determining the impact of, or the financial cost and benefits of, a program or practice.

Information Systems

Types of information to gather and the source of information.

Which of the following processes involves ensuring that HR policies, practices, and programs support or are congruent with an organization's overall culture or brand, including its products and services? a. Brand alignment b. Brand dilution c. Crowdsourcing d. Corporate social responsibility e. Brand reinforcement

a. Brand alignment

Which of the following is an HRM practice that helps organizations achieve high performance? a. Performance management system measures customer satisfaction and quality. b. Organization discourages continuous learning. c. Work is performed by individuals. d. Pay systems primarily reward loyalty to the company. e. Technology increases costs.

a. Performance management system measures customer satisfaction and quality.

Barry, a supervisor at Yenzen Hotels Inc., thinks self-appraisal is a valid measure of performance appraisal. However, his colleague Vincent disagrees. Whose argument is most likely to be correct and why? a. Vincent is right because employees have a tendency to inflate their self-assessments. b. Vincent is right because there are no disagreements between a manager and an employee when self-appraisal is used. c. Barry is right because self-appraisals serve as an ideal basis for administrative decisions. d. Vincent is right because self-appraisals are important for a 360-degree performance appraisal. e. Barry is right because self-rating is the most preferred source of performance appraisal information.

a. Vincent is right because employees have a tendency to inflate their self-assessments.

The four general approaches that companies use for employee development include: a. formal education, assessment, job experiences, and interpersonal relationships. b. total quality management, Six Sigma, lean manufacturing, and quality function deployment. c. job rotation, promotion, transfer, and job sharing. d. business games, formal courses, team building, and assessment. e. psychological tests, assessment centers, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, and performance feedback.

a. formal education, assessment, job experiences, and interpersonal relationships.

High-performance work systems result in _____. a. high product quality b. centralized decision making c. simple, repetitive jobs d. high employee turnover e. high production costs

a. high product quality

Name the rating error that leads employees to believe that no aspect of their performance needs improvement. a. Horn error b. Halo error c. Contrast error d. Strictness error e. Central tendency error

b. Halo error

Which of the following statements is true of effective performance management? a. It uses just one person as a source of information. b. It can tell top performers they are valued. c. It does not affect employees who meet expectations. d. It averts communication between managers and their employees. e. It can evaluate employees without establishing standards.

b. It can tell top performers they are valued.

Identify the term that refers to the way in which an organization groups its people into useful divisions, departments, and reporting relationships. a. Corporate design b. Organizational structure c. Value chain d. Relationship management e. Job structure

b. Organizational structure

The process of collecting information and providing feedback to employees about their behavior, communication style, or skills is known as _____. a. data mining b. assessment c. counseling d. quality check e. requirements analysis

b. assessment

Zoom Motors pays a lot of attention to improving employee skills on the job. Its training centers and mentors are open to one-on-one sessions, group discussions, and workshops. The organization boasts a world-class resource center that offers the latest editions of many books and journals related to the automotive industry. All employees have free access to the knowledge pool in the organization and are welcome to initiate discussions on topics of interest. In this scenario, Zoom Motors has created a _____. a. cultural organization b. learning organization c. technology-based organization d. smart organization e. static organization

b. learning organization

The _____ method of performance measurement uses several statements describing each trait to produce a final score for that trait. a. graphic rating scale b. mixed-standard scale c. behaviorally anchored rating scale d. behavioral observation scale e. behavior-response scale

b. mixed-standard scale

Roxanne, a new employee at Fenz Pharmaceuticals, has demonstrated low productivity for a long period. Her manager evaluates her performance and finds that she requires more training to improve her productivity. In the context of improving employee's performance, Roxanne lacks _____. a. accountability b. necessary abilities c. ethical values d. integrity e. required motivation

b. necessary abilities

According to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, how do Introverted types (I) gain energy? a. By focusing less on facts and more on possibilities b. By gathering facts and details c. By focusing on inner thoughts d. By focusing on interpersonal relationships e. By trying to be objective in making decisions

c. By focusing on inner thoughts

_____ is the process of identifying and tracking high-potential employees who will be able to fill top management positions when they become vacant. a.Benchmarking b. Data gathering c. Succession planning d. Leaderless group discussion e. Acculturation

c. Succession planning

At a high-performance organization, recruitment and selection aim at obtaining the kinds of employees who can thrive in this type of setting. These employees are _____. a. marily individual contributors b. averse to experimentation c. enthusiastic about knowledge sharing d. averse to risk taking e. averse to taking initiatives

c. enthusiastic about knowledge sharing

A move to a job with a similar level of responsibility within the same organization is called a(n): a. downward move. b. upward move. c. lateral move. d. promotion. e. externship.

c. lateral move.

Jacinta, a production manager at Alphonso Inc., needs to evaluate the performance of her employees. She asks her subordinate, June, to carry out this job. June uses a rating scale, which ranges from 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest rating, to rate 50 employees. She gives a score of 3 to 39 employees. In doing so, June commits the _____ error. a. central tendency b. mean inclination c. strictness d. halo effect e. statistical error

c. strictness

Identify the correct statement regarding protean careers. a. Employees in protean careers take lesser responsibility for managing protean careers than for traditional careers. b. Protean careers are characterized by frequent changes due to changes in a person's desired level of compensation. c. Employees in protean careers look for organizations to provide job security. d. Employees in protean careers look for organizations to provide development opportunities based on the modern psychological contract. e. A protean career is one that does not change frequently.

d. Employees in protean careers look for organizations to provide development opportunities based on the modern psychological contract.

Maridings Inc., an apparel manufacturer, employed a large-scale recruitment drive to hire some of the country's best fashion designers. The company's HR team was responsible for measuring the success of this recruitment drive to quantify its returns. This process is referred to as _____. a. HR statistics b. HR report c. HR audit d. HR analytics e. HR scoping

d. HR analytics

Which of the following refers to the computations and calculations involved in reviewing and documenting HRM decisions and practices? a. Decision support systems b. Expert systems c. Automation d. E-HRM e. Transaction processing

e. Transaction processing

An offsite location in which multiple raters or evaluators evaluate employees' performance on a number of exercises is known as a(n) _____. a. feedback center b. counseling center c. control center d. development center e. assessment center

e. assessment center

In the context of validity in performance appraisal, information that is gathered but irrelevant is called _____. a. knowledge b. concatenation c. feedback d. adjunct e. contamination

e. contamination

Margaret, a production manager at Falcon Inc., needs to measure the performance of 12 of her subordinates. She divides the number of employees into categories like exceptional, above average, average, and below average. She assigns a certain percentage of employees to each category to determine the quality of their performances. In the context of methods for measuring performance, Margaret is using the _____ method. a. mixed-standard b. paired-comparison c. rating attribute d. alternation ranking e. forced-distribution

e. forced-distribution

Ray, the CEO of Textiles Inc., believes the goals of the company must be divided into smaller departmental and individual goals, and the accomplishment of these smaller goals will result in accomplishment of the bigger goals of the company. In the context of measuring performance results, Ray's belief can be best justified using _____. a. total quality management b. statistical quality control c. the critical-incident method d. the behavioral observational scale method e. management by objectives

e. management by objectives

In the context of effectiveness of performance management, _____ means the extent to which a measurement tool actually measures what it is intended to measure. a. acceptability b. specificity c. reliability d. dependability e. validity

e. validity

Succession Planning

the process of identifying and tracking high-potential employees who will be able to fill top management positions when they become vacant.

Protean Career

A career that frequently changes based on changes in the person's interests, abilities, and values and in the work environment.

HR Dashboard

A display of a series of HR measures, showing the measure and progress toward meeting it.

HRM Audit

A formal review of the outcomes of HRM functions, based on identifying key HRM functions and measures of business performance.

Sabbatical

A leave of absence from an organization to renew or develop skills.

Coach

A peer or manager who works with an employee to motivate the employee, help him or her develop skills, and provide reinforcement and feedback.

Organizational Behavior Modification (OBM)

A plan for managing the behavior of employees through a formal system of feedback and reinforcement.

Salt Crumbs general manager, Ricardo, believes that the best way to recruit managers for vacant, top-level positions in the organization is through internal assessment. The positions available include senior project manager, executive project director, and chief executive officer. He feels that an assessment can help him identify potential high performers for these positions from within the organization, without having to consult resources from outside the organization. His supervisor, Meghan, argues that it would be good to have fresh faces in the company, who may suggest new ways to perform old functions. Which of the following can weaken Meghan's argument? a. New recruits will bring in fresh ideas and will creatively perform a job that was considered monotonous earlier. b. Ricardo believes that hiring from outside the organization will be beneficial in the long run. c. Supervisors find it monotonous socializing with the same crowd every day. d. Highly efficient workers who are already familiar with a company and its policies are better suited for executive positions than new employees. e. Hiring internal resources will decrease unemployment in the region.

d. Highly efficient workers who are already familiar with a company and its policies are better suited for executive positions than new employees.

Myrtle Flower Company, a retail florist, decides to evaluate its employees after successfully completing one year of business. The method of conducting the assessment includes creating small groups and assigning work to those groups within an allotted time frame. The team members would have to work together in tackling problems that they might face, without a source to whom they can refer any questions. In this scenario, which of the following types of exercises is Myrtle Flower Company conducting? a. Team group discussion b. Time-bound discussion c. Paired-up group discussion d. Leaderless group discussion e. Leader-centered group discussion

d. Leaderless group discussion

Paula, the CEO of Gester Inc., wants to carry out the first company-wide performance appraisal. However, she needs to make sure that the information obtained for performance appraisal is free of bias, and that the managers have provided information about subordinates without any personal needs influencing the information. Which of the following options will be assist Paula in obtaining her objective? a. Paula must focus on obtaining information only from supervisors of employees being appraised because managers have incentives for giving accurate information. b. Paula must occasionally work alongside the employees to ensure that they are working diligently. c. Paula must devise a policy that focuses on confidentiality of appraisal information once it is gathered from different sources because this will ensure security of information. d. Paula must hold calibration meetings because they hold managers accountable for the appraisal information they provide about their subordinates. e. Paula must personally question all the managers who appraise their subordinates in the performance appraisal as this will ensure integrity of information.

d. Paula must hold calibration meetings because they hold managers accountable for the appraisal information they provide about their subordinates.

The combination of relationships, problems, demands, tasks, and other features of an employee's jobs is referred to as _____. a. technical training b. interpersonal relationships c. formal education d. job experiences e. job appraisals

d. job experiences

Which of the following refers to a display of a series of HR measures, showing human resource goals and objectives and the progress toward meeting them? a. An expert system b. A job preview c. A relational database d. A performance review template e. An HR dashboard

e. An HR dashboard

Which of the following is true of job enlargement? a. It aims at greater productivity through reduced application of mental and physical effort. b. It involves moving employees through a series of job assignments in one or more functional areas. c. It attempts to motivate employees by giving them the opportunity to use specific skill sets. d. It is a systematic approach to help an organization modify its core processes to achieve more efficient results. e. It involves adding challenges or new responsibilities to employees' current jobs.

e. It involves adding challenges or new responsibilities to employees' current jobs.

Which of the following approaches to performance feedback is generally most effective? a. Tell-and-train b. Tell-and-sell c. Tell-and-listen d. Listen-and-sell e. Problem-solving

e. Problem-solving

Numerous cases of unethical behavior have been reported in a leading beverage company. Which of the following, if true, would strengthen the reason for the increase in these cases? a. The firm failed to use its cloud computing services. b. The employees at the firm experience occupational intimacy. c. The firm uses a continuous learning culture. d. The firm uses only a written code of ethics. e. The firm excludes ethical behavior in its performance measures.

e. The firm excludes ethical behavior in its performance measures.