Managing People Exam 2

Jason's team recently did a great job on their project, and Jason offered each of his team members a lot of praise for their hard work. This is an example of _______________. A. Positive reinforcement B. Negative reinforcement C. Positive punishment D. Extinction

A. Positive reinforcement

Which of the following is recommended for improving the utility of the selection interview? A. Reliability is a necessary but not sufficient condition for validity. B. Reliability and validity are directly proportional to each other. C. Reliability and validity are independent of each other. D. Reliability of a measure is essential for it to have any validity.

A. Reliability is a necessary but not sufficient condition for validity.

Dmitri is a high school teacher. Recently, it was time for his annual performance evaluation. He received performance ratings from the other teachers at his school, the principal of his school, and his students. This is an example of... A. 360 degree feedback B. performance feedback C. performance appraisal D. performance management

A. 360 degree feedback

The Board of Directors (i.e. the principal) just hired a new CEO (i.e. the agent) and wants to ensure that agency costs are reduced. Which of the following should the Board of Directors do? A. Align the CEO's interests with the interests of the Board of Directors B. Encourage information asymmetry C. Encourage the CEO to maximize his or her benefits D. Discourage the CEO from pursuing projects with the potential for high payoffs

A. Align the CEO's interests with the interests of the Board of Directors

Using the ____________ approach to performance, management focuses on the extent to which employees possess certain characteristics or traits that the firm has identified as necessary for achieving strategic competitive advantage. A. Attribute B. Behavioral C. Comparative D. Detailed

A. Attribute

Melissa is tasked with ensuring her organization has external pay equity and wants to compare her organization's compensation practices against those of the competition. This is called... A. Benchmarking B. Job evaluation C. Forecasting D. Offshoring

A. Benchmarking

_____________ is the collapse of many traditional salary grades into a few wide salary bands. For instance, instead of having a structure with Engineer 1, Engineer 2, and Senior Engineer, a company might collapse Engineer 1 and 2 into the same job band. A. Broadbanding B. Job-based pay structure C. Skill-based pay structure D. Competency-based pay structure

A. Broadbanding

In skill-based pay systems, employees are compensated primarily based on... A. Employees' competency acquisition B. A supervisor's appraisal C. Company profits D. Individual productivity

A. Employees' competency acquisition

Delicia is a manager who wants to improve her performance feedback giving skills. Which of the following would you suggest to Delicia? A. Give your employees feedback frequently, encourage employees to participate, and focus on solving problems while minimizing criticism. B. Give employees feedback once a year, during their annual performance review, and don't worry about damaging relationships C. It doesn't matter what the context is. If you see something you don't like, make sure to give performance feedback immediately. D. Performance feedback isn't that useful because employees tend not to accept it, so focus your energy on other things instead

A. Give your employees feedback frequently, encourage employees to participate, and focus on solving problems while minimizing criticism.

E. L. Thorndike's Law of Effect states that a response followed by a reward is more likely to recur in the future. What is the implication for compensation management? A. High employee performance followed by a monetary reward will make future high performance likely B. The main influence of compensation is on instrumentality C. Managers should compensate employees regardless of their performance D. Poor performers should be punished

A. High employee performance followed by a monetary reward will make future high performance likely

Which of the following is true of the pay grade approach to developing a pay structure? A. It permits greater flexibility in moving employees from job to job. B. It increases the administrative burden of setting up rates of pay. C. It has a range spread that is smaller at higher levels. D. It tends to contribute to reduced labor costs.

A. It permits greater flexibility in moving employees from job to job.

Rachel has been asked to conduct an administrative procedure to measure internal job worth. She determines the compensable factors for each job, deciding how many levels are appropriate for each, then assigns points to the levels of compensable factors. Then, she rates the job based on these factors and groups the jobs into different job grades. This procedure is referred to as... A. Job evaluation B. Job design C. Job analysis D Job specification

A. Job evaluation

Which of the following appraisal sources is the best for evaluating leadership effectiveness? A. Subordinates B. Peers C. Managers D. Customers

A. Subordinates

Both internal and external factors influence the pay mix, or the compensation package. Which of the following is an example of an external factor that influences the compensation package? A. The current unemployment rate is very high, so organizations currently hiring can make offers below the market rate. B. A job evaluation was conducted to determine the worth of the job C. A small startup does not have the same ability to compensate a new employee as a large corporation like Walmart. D. An employee's relative worth to the organization in terms of the KSAOs they have to offer influences their compensation package

A. The current unemployment rate is very high, so organizations currently hiring can make offers below the market rate.

Your manager has asked you to come up with experience-based interview questions for a new position opening in your department. Which of the following options represents an experience-based interview question you might add to your list of suggestions? A. Think about an instance when you had to motivate an employee to perform a task that he or she disliked but that you needed to have done. How did you handle that situation? B. Suppose you were working with an employee who you knew greatly disliked performing a particular task. You needed to get this task completed, however, and this person was the only one available to do it. What would you do to motivate that person? C. Imagine that you and a coworker disagree about the best way to handle an absenteeism problem with another member of your team. How would you resolve that situation? D. Suppose you have an idea for change in work procedures that would enhance quality, but some members of your work group were hesitant to make the change. What would you do in that situation?

A. Think about an instance when you had to motivate an employee to perform a task that he or she disliked but that you needed to have done. How did you handle that situation?

EOS uses a forced distribution approach for their employees, which means that a certain percentage of employees must be placed in predetermined categories (i.e., only 10% are excellent, 10% are above average, 60% are average, 10% are below average, and 10% are unsatisfactory). Which of the following statements is true regarding this approach? A. This approach is relatively easy to develop and use and can reduce several biases such as leniency central tendency, and strictness. However, it is less likely to be accepted by employees and can be problematic in cases where there are not clear "stars" or "bad apples." B. This approach is difficult to use and develop, and fails to address many of the common performance rating biases. C. This approach is usually tied to the goals of an organization. D. Employees tend to like this approach, and reliability and validity are high.

A. This approach is relatively easy to develop and use and can reduce several biases such as leniency central tendency, and strictness. However, it is less likely to be accepted by employees and can be problematic in cases where there are not clear "stars" or "bad apples."

You just started working in Human Resources at a company with high turnover, and you have been tasked with improving the interview process. Which of the following recommendations would you make to your team? Make sure to choose the best answer. A. We should develop a situational interview with experience-based questions, making sure the interview is structured, standardized, and focuses on KSAOs that are observable and job-related. B. We should develop a situational interview with future-based questions, making sure the interview is structured, standardized, and focuses on KSAOs that are observable and job-related. C. Interviewers should be able to quantitatively rate each interview. D. Interviewers should have a structured note-taking system.

A. We should develop a situational interview with experience-based questions, making sure the interview is structured, standardized, and focuses on KSAOs that are observable and job-related.

____________ is a selection method that has high validity and high reliability because it is highly job-related and is consistent across applicants and across time but has low generalizability because it is so job-specific. Despite its strengths, this method is expensive to create and so utility can also sometimes be negatively impacted. A. Work sample B. Selection interview C. Drug tests D. Integrity tests

A. Work sample

Many supervisors receive the same salary regardless of the number of hours worked or the quality of the work performed. According to the FLSA, these supervisors would be referred to as... A. exempt B. non-exempt C. hourly D. corporate executives

A. exempt

Organizations usually develop a market pay policy line based on the key jobs for which there are both ________ and market pay survey data available. A. job evaluation B. structured reviews C. point factor systems D. compa-ratios

A. job evaluation

It is time for annual performance evaluations. Amber, the marketing manager, rates Jade much higher than her other employees because Jade, like Amber, is from the Bahamas. This is an example of the... A. similar to me B. halo C. horns D. central tendency

A. similar to me

When employees underperform, it may be because they lack ability, because they lack motivation, or because they lack both. There are different ways of managing employee performance depending on what the specific issue is. What is the best way to manage performance for someone who has a lack of ability but high motivation (i.e., misdirected effort)? A. Provide development and rewards B. Focus on training, provide frequent performance feedback, focus on goal setting, or restructure the employee's job assignment C. Focus on interpersonal abilities, provide counseling, use team building and conflict resolution, link rewards to performance outcomes, and manage stress levels. D. Withhold pay increases, demote the employee, or fire the employee

B. Focus on training, provide frequent performance feedback, focus on goal setting, or restructure the employee's job assignment

A(n) ________ program targets group performance (e.g., department or plant performance) within an organization and does not become part of the employee's base salary. A. Stock option B. Gainsharing C. Merit pay D. Profit-sharing

B. Gainsharing

The degree to which the information provided by selection methods enhances the bottom-line effectiveness of the organization is known as the selection method's... A. Reliability B. Utility C. Generalizability D. Validity

B. Utility

Which performance management evaluation criterion reflects the extent to which a performance measure assesses all of the relevant - and only the relevant - aspects of performance? A. Utility B. Validity C. Reliability D. Specificity

B. Validity

External equity pay comparisons focus on... A. What other employees in the same organization but in a different job are paid B. What employees in other organizations are paid for doing the same general job C. What employees in other organizations are paid for doing other jobs with higher responsibility D. What other employees in the same organization in the same job are paid

B. What employees in other organizations are paid for doing the same general job

Professor Barnes learns that faculty members in another college with the same degree, years of teaching experience, and publication record are making significantly more money than he is. He considers this unfair. He is reacting to ________ justice. A. institutional B. distributive C. procedural D. interactional

B. distributive

Sofia has been putting in a lot of overtime and performs well. Her supervisor keeps telling her that she will be rewarded. To date, Sofia has seen no change in her status or pay. This reflects a _____ A. high valence. B. low instrumentality. C. high expectancy. D. high instrumentality.

B. low instrumentality.

The general function of the job of Human Resource Manager is to ___________ A. interact with customers to provide information in response to inquiries about products and services, and to handle and resolve complaints. B. plan, direct, and coordinate human resource management activities of an organization and maintain functions such as employee compensation, recruitment, etc. C. analyze financial information and prepare financial reports to determine or maintain record of assets, liabilities, profit and loss, tax liability, or other financial activities within an organization. D. supervise and coordinate the activities of clerical and administrative support workers.

B. plan, direct, and coordinate human resource management activities of an organization and maintain functions such as employee compensation, recruitment, etc.

Mary Cohn, director of the board at Super Mega Corp, is preparing to make an offer a candidate for the CEO position. Mary should make sure that executive pay is linked to performance by using stock options as a form of incentive pay. The primary reason for doing so is... A. to avoid shareholder concerns of contingent pay B. to provide an incentive to pursue both short-term and long-term performance goals C. to keep costs under control D. to assert board independence and control over executive pay

B. to provide an incentive to pursue both short-term and long-term performance goals

Star Inc., an accounting firm, has come up with a new technical test to assess the knowledge of interviewees. To assess the validity of the test, it requests that its present employees take the test and match it with their performance in the organization. Which of the following types of validation has Star Inc. used to test the validity of its new technical test? A. Face B. Content C. Concurrent D. Predictive

C. Concurrent

Rollerbeam Inc., a provider of engineering services, is looking to hire several maintenance engineers. Rollerbeam's HR department checks with the company's engineering department to confirm that the scenarios mentioned in the test are plausible real-world scenarios that maintenance engineers might face. Which of the following types of validation is Rollerbeam's HR team performing? A. Criterion B. Concurrent C. Content D. Predictive

C. Content

Which of the following is a criticism of traditional merit pay programs? A. These programs lack emphasis on individual performance and focus too much on teamwork B. Peer and subordinate ratings are frequent, and they tend to receive more weight than supervisory ratings C. Employees are encouraged to focus on personal gains rather than what is good for the organization, and a focus on merit pay discourages teamwork D. The feedback under this system tends to occur too frequently, which may cause average employees to feel more discouraged than appreciated

C. Employees are encouraged to focus on personal gains rather than what is good for the organization, and a focus on merit pay discourages teamwork

A job performance measure is said to be contaminated when it... A. Fails to measure all aspects of job performance B. Is a subjective (as opposed to objective) supervisory measure of job performance C. Evaluates irrelevant aspects of job performance D. Systematically discriminates against a protected group of individuals

C. Evaluates irrelevant aspects of job performance

________ attempts to emphasize the multidimensional nature of performance and thoroughly familiarize the raters with the actual content of various performance dimensions. A. Multidimensional training B. Sensitivity training C. Rater accuracy training D. Process-flow analysis

C. Rater accuracy training

Which act states that employers may face claims in situations where a discriminatory decision was made many years earlier but the effect (lower pay) continues into the more current period? A. The Fair Labor Standards Act B. The Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act C. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act D. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act

C. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act

Which of the following describes the administrative purpose of performance management? A. Identifies employees' strengths and weaknesses and links employees to appropriate training and development activities. B. Develops employees who are effective at their jobs. C. Uses performance appraisal to make decisions such as pay raises, promotions, retention-termination, layoffs, and recognition of individual performance. D. Defines the results, behaviors, and, to some extent, employee characteristics that are necessary

C. Uses performance appraisal to make decisions such as pay raises, promotions, retention-termination, layoffs, and recognition of individual performance.

Herb wants all of his team members to receive a raise, so he gives them all a high rating. Which of the following errors is he falling prey to? A. halo B. central tendency C. leniency D. similar to me

C. leniency

Compensable factors are employees' job characteristics that ... A. go unrecognized by the company B. are immeasurable C. the company is willing to pay for D. primarily lead to intrinsic motivation

C. the company is willing to pay for

According to our chapters on Performance Management, rewards can fail for many reasons. Which of the following is a reason why awards may fail? A. Too much emphasis is placed on monetary rewards B. Organizational policies and practices are misaligned C. A lag occurs between performance and reward D. All of the above

D. All of the above

Minh is revamping the performance appraisal process at his company and wants to make sure the new performance appraisal can withstand legal scrutiny. Which of the following should Minh do? A. Train raters to use the system correctly B. Use multiple raters C. Review performance ratings and allow for employee appeal D. All of the above

D. All of the above

Which of the following is considered part of an employee's compensation package? A. Paid vacation B. Base pay C. Health insurance D. All of the above

D. All of the above

Which of the following is recommended for improving the utility of the selection interview? A. Interviewers should be able to quantitatively rate applicants B. There should be many interviewers present C. The format of the interview should be structured D. Both A & C

D. Both A & C

The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938... A. stated that everyone within a particular job must be paid equally B. established a minimum wage C. emphasized that exempt employees were not eligible for overtime pay D. Both B & C

D. Both B & C

Which of the following is an issue with personality testing in a selection context? A. Individual's personality changes over time, so if you use a personality test in a selection context, that applicant's personality might change once they are hired. B. Test takers may not describe themselves accurately (faking) or try to "guess" the answer C. Personality tests are meant to measure personality, not what individual differences are needed to perform a particular job. D. Both B and C are correct

D. Both B and C are correct

If there is a substantial correlation between test scores and job performance scores, ___________ validity has been established. A. Content B. Construct C. Procedural D. Criterion-related

D. Criterion-related

Which of the following statements about outcome-oriented or behavior-oriented contracts is true? A. Information asymmetry is not an issue in behavior-based contracts. B. Outcome-oriented contracts do not transfer risk to the agent. C. Behavior-based contracts increase the agent's risks. D. Outcome-oriented contracts require a compensating wage differential.

D. Outcome-oriented contracts require a compensating wage differential.

In the ________ dimension, employees base their fairness assessments on the processes that were used to decide the amount of compensation. A. Quantitative B. Distributive C. Outcome D. Procedural

D. Procedural

Donald is on the production line for Medical Services Inc. He has been there for five years and has won Employee of the Month more than anyone else. Juan, his coworker, who has only been at Medical Services three years and hasn't even been nominated for Employee of the Month, just received a promotion. Donald perceives a... A. negative expectancy. B. positive inequity. C. positive output. D. negative inequity.

D. negative inequity.

Raul runs into heavy traffic every day while driving to work. Yesterday, he left home earlier than usual and did not run into heavy traffic. Again, today, he left earlier and avoided heavy traffic. His behavior of leaving earlier enabled him to avoid heavy traffic and reach the office on time. In which of the following processes did Raul engage? A. positive reinforcement B. extinction C. punishment D. negative reinforcement

D. negative reinforcement