Deck 6: Motivation in Practice

Question 1

When workers are paid according to the performance of their work group, the relationship between individual pay and productivity decreases as the group gets bigger.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Piece rate pay systems

A)usually increase cooperation among workers on peripheral, nonproduction tasks (for example, keeping the shop clean).
B)have generally been supported by unions.
C)are especially useful when few objective performance criteria exist.
D)generally lead to increased productivity unless restriction occurs.
E)are most effective when applied to white-collar jobs.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Employees and managers seriously underestimate the importance of ________ as a motivator.

Answer 3

pay

Question 4

Restriction of productivity is a phenomenon associated with

A)piece rate pay.
B)hourly pay.
C)MBO.
D)job enrichment.
E)merit pay.

Question 5

Tanya's work group restricts its productivity.According to the text, this is a pretty good sign that the group members are paid an hourly wage.

Question 6

When a portion of employees' pay is based on a measure of performance it is called variable pay.

Question 7

Raoul is searching for a new job because he wants to earn more money.He is especially interested in a job in which a portion of his pay is based on a measure of his performance.What kind of pay is Raoul interested in getting?

A)Performance pay
B)Incentive pay
C)Variable pay
D)Motivational pay
E)Bonus pay

Question 8

________ pay plans can stimulate productivity, but they can also lead to restriction of productivity.

Question 9

As the size of the team ________, the relationship between any individual's productivity and his or her pay ________.

A)increases; increases
B)decreases; decreases;
C)increases; decreases
D)decreases; will approach zero
E)increases; becomes stable

Question 10

When a portion of employees' pay is based on seniority it is called variable pay.

Question 11

Which of the following is most accurate about the importance of pay as a motivator?

A)Employees overestimate the importance of pay as a motivator.
B)Employees and managers overestimate the importance of pay as a motivator.
C)Employees and managers underestimate the importance of pay as a motivator.
D)Employees overestimate and managers underestimate the importance of pay as a motivator.
E)Employees underestimate and managers overestimate the importance of pay as a motivator.

Question 12

Restriction of productivity has been a problem with wage incentive plans.

Question 13

Joe, Margaret, and Denise are co-workers.Joe produces five widgets and is paid $5.Margaret produces twenty widgets and is paid $20.Denise produces fifty widgets and is paid $50.These workers are being paid according to a(n)________ pay plan.

A)merit
B)hourly
C)Scanlon
D)piece rate
E)lump sum

Question 14

When a portion of employees' pay is based on a measure of performance, it is called ________.

A)performance pay
B)incentive pay
C)variable pay
D)motivational pay
E)bonus pay

Question 15

Pay is one of the most important and effective motivators of performance.

Question 16

Financial incentives and pay-for-performance have no effect on turnover.

Question 17

Research on financial incentives and pay-for-performance plans have found that they

A)increase performance but have no effect on turnover.
B)increase performance and lower turnover.
C)lower performance and lower turnover.
D)lower performance and increase turnover.
E)have no effect on performance or turnover.

Question 18

Wage incentive plans have become one of the most common forms of motivation in Canadian organizations.

Question 19

Financial incentives and pay-for-performance plans have been found to increase performance and lower ________.

Question 20

What is variable pay?

A)Pay that some employees receive but not others
B)Pay that an organization will give employees when they are profitable
C)Pay that changes throughout the year
D)A portion of employees' pay that is based on a measure of performance
E)A portion of employees' pay that is based on their seniority

Question 21

Employees, but not managers, underestimate the importance of pay as a motivator.

Question 22

Generally, managers underestimate the pay of their employees and peers and overestimate the pay of their superiors.

Question 23

________ may well be the most important and effective motivator of performance.

Question 24

Which statement is most accurate about the effects of pay on job performance?

A)Bonus pay has a stronger effect than conventional merit pay.
B)Conventional merit pay has a stronger effect than bonus pay.
C)Piece-rate pay has a stronger effect than bonus pay.
D)Bonus pay has a stronger effect than piece-rate pay.
E)Piece-rate pay has a stronger effect than conventional merit pay.

Question 25

Wage incentive plans are employed with much greater frequency than merit pay plans.

Question 26

Whole Foods is noted in the text for its approach to

A)job design.
B)profit sharing.
C)pay secrecy.
D)management by objectives.
E)flexible work arrangements.

Question 27

Managers are more supportive than blue-collar employees of the idea that pay should be closely tied to performance.

Question 28

Discuss some of the potential problems of wage incentive plans.

Question 29

As discussed in the book, the rationale for removing the secrecy surrounding salaries is that

A)we should be honest with employees, and this is a good place to start.
B)they know salaries anyway, via the grapevine, but secrecy reduces confidence in the company.
C)positive motivational consequences may occur if the pay system is well designed.
D)consumers should understand that labour costs contribute greatly to retail prices.
E)a more open pay policy will expose the inadequacy of the merit system.

Question 30

One reason why merit pay plans are employed with a much greater frequency than wage incentive plans is that

A)white-collar workers particularly believe that performance should be an important determinant of pay.
B)blue-collar jobs more often offer objective performance criteria with which pay can be linked.
C)blue-collar workers tend to perceive a strong link between rewards and performance.
D)merit pay plans that are actually in use are very effective.
E)substantial evidence indicates that merit plans are very effective for improving performance.

Question 31

A lump sum bonus is

A)a payment that employees receive as part of the Scanlon plan.
B)a wage incentive that is awarded in a single payment and built into base pay.
C)a wage incentive that is awarded in a single payment and not built into base pay.
D)merit pay that is awarded in a single payment and not built into base pay.
E)merit pay that is awarded in a single payment and built into base pay.

Question 32

Merit pay plans attempt to link pay to performance on blue-collar jobs.

Question 33

Alice, a middle manager in an oil company, makes $35,000 a year.Her boss makes $41,000, her peers average $33,000, and her employees average $29,000.Alice doesn't know the pay of these co-workers, but we ask her to guess.Research suggests that she will say

A)the employees average $28,000.
B)the boss makes $43,000.
C)the peers average $34,000.
D)the boss makes $45,000.
E)the peers average $30,000.

Question 34

When a portion of employees' pay is based on a measure of performance it is called ________ pay.

Question 35

Managers have a tendency to ________ the pay of their boss and ________ the pay of their employees.

A)underestimate; underestimate
B)underestimate; overestimate
C)overestimate; overestimate
D)overestimate; underestimate
E)correctly estimate; underestimate

Question 36

What organization has an open book policy that allows employees to see the compensation of their co-workers?

A)Lincoln Electric Company
B)Whole Foods
C)Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation
D)WestJet Airlines
E)Telus

Question 37

The systematic mis-estimates that managers make of the pay of others in their firm suggests that they will often

A)underestimate the pay of employees.
B)experience equity with regard to peers.
C)underestimate the value of a promotion.
D)overestimate the value of a promotion.
E)experience equity with regard to employees.

Question 38

What type of pay plan has been associated with risky and unethical behaviour?

A)Piece-rate
B)Lump sum bonus
C)Gain-sharing
D)Profit sharing
E)Employee stock ownership plans

Question 39

What is restriction of productivity and why does it occur?

Question 40

Managers habitually underestimate the pay that their bosses receive.

Question 41

Whole Foods is an example of a company that has a strict policy that enforces pay secrecy.

Question 42

The Scanlon Plan is a type of ________ system.

A)job enrichment
B)MBO
C)gain-sharing
D)piece rate pay
E)skill-based

Question 43

Your organization is considering implementing a merit pay plan in the hopes of increasing employee's and manager's motivation and satisfaction.However, you are concerned about this because they want to maintain pay secrecy.You have arranged to meet with management to discuss this with them.What will you tell them about pay secrecy and how it might impact the effectiveness of the merit pay plan?

Question 44

Merit pay plans are believed to be one of the reasons why organizations have engaged in risky and unethical behaviour.

Question 45

The owner of Acme Manufacturing Company is thinking about introducing the Scanlon Plan.This plan will most likely have the greatest impact on his employees'

A)job design.
B)autonomy.
C)working hours.
D)pay.
E)skill level.

Question 46

________ are used to tie pay to performance on white-collar jobs.

Question 47

Bonus pay has a stronger effect on job performance than conventional merit pay.

Question 48

When asked to make estimates of the pay of various organizational members, managers tend to ________ the pay of their superiors.

Question 49

Whole Foods has a(n)________ book policy when it comes to pay secrecy.

Question 50

Conventional merit pay has a stronger effect on job performance than bonus pay.

Question 51

When asked to estimate the pay of their peers and employees, managers tend to ________ the correct figure.

Question 52

Large pay increases are believed to be one of the reasons why organizations have engaged in risky and ________ behaviour.

Question 53

Whole Foods is noted for its policy when it comes to pay ________.

Question 54

Discuss some of the potential problems of merit pay plans.

Question 55

Bonuses are believed to be one of the reasons why organizations have engaged in risky and unethical behaviour.

Question 56

Which system is specifically based on cost reduction?

A)Gain-sharing
B)MBO
C)Merit pay
D)Goal setting
E)Skill-based pay

Question 57

Merit pay plans have become one of the most common forms of motivation in Canadian organizations.

Question 58

Your organization is considering implementing a merit pay plan.However, you are concerned about this because many such systems are in fact ineffective.You have arranged to meet with management to discuss this and you need to provide them with some evidence of why merit pay plans are often ineffective and what can be done to make them more effective.What will you tell them?

Question 59

________ pay has a stronger effect on job performance than conventional merit pay.

Question 60

Your boss has just given you merit pay in the form of a one-time payment that will not be built into your base pay.This is known as a(n)________.

Question 61

The Scanlon Plan is a group-oriented rather than an individual-oriented pay plan.

Question 62

In a study in a unionized auto parts manufacturing plant, a Scanlon gain-sharing program had a positive effect on the number of suggestions provided by employees and the number of suggestions implemented was associated with

A)fewer accidents.
B)lower labour costs.
C)lower production costs.
D)fewer errors made by employees.
E)all of the above

Question 63

The effect of team-based financial incentives on performance has been found to be strongest in what kind of teams?

A)Smaller teams
B)Medium size teams
C)Larger teams
D)Formal teams
E)Informal teams

Question 64

What pay plan provides employees with a sense of legal and psychological ownership?

A)Gain-sharing
B)Profit sharing
C)ESOPs
D)Skill-based pay
E)Lump sum bonus

Question 65

Training costs can be high with a skill-based pay system.

Question 66

What pay plan is associated with high training costs?

A)Gain-sharing
B)Scanlon plan
C)Profit-sharing
D)Skill-based pay
E)ESOPs

Question 67

An organization wishes to base pay on objective, measurable performance data, but the performance of individual workers cannot be isolated and measured.Which system should it adopt?

A)Piece rate
B)Gain-sharing
C)Merit pay
D)Hourly pay
E)Skill-based pay

Question 68

Under a skill-based pay plan, people are paid according to

A)their personal productivity.
B)the number of tasks they know how to perform.
C)their contribution to product or service quality.
D)how skillfully they can perform their main job function.
E)the goals which have been established through MBO.

Question 69

Profit sharing seems to work best in larger firms that regularly turn a handsome profit.

Question 70

Rodney has just accepted a job offer and he already feels a sense of legal and psychological ownership in his new organization.What pay plan does Rodney's new organization offer employees?

A)Gain-sharing
B)Profit sharing
C)ESOPs
D)Skill-based pay
E)Lump sum bonus

Question 71

What is another name for skill-based pay plans?

A)Pay-for-skills
B)Skill-based compensation plan
C)Pay-for-what you know
D)Pay-for knowledge
E)Knowledge-based pay plan

Question 72

Which of the following is one of the most commonly used group-oriented incentive systems?

A)Gain-sharing
B)Skill-based pay
C)Lump sum bonus
D)Profit sharing
E)Employee stock ownership plans

Question 73

If an organization wants to create a sense of legal and psychological ownership amongst its employees, it should implement a profit sharing pay system.

Question 74

Sydney works under a gain-sharing plan.In other words, he is paid according to individual piece rate.

Question 75

Team-based pay for performance programs have a positive effect on

A)behavioural, functional, and operational outcomes.
B)behavioural, psychological, and attitudinal outcomes.
C)individual, team, and organization outcomes.
D)behavioural, human resource, and operational outcomes.
E)behavioural, operational, and financial outcomes.

Question 76

Which pay system is intentionally designed to motivate groups of employees rather than individual employees?

A)Gain-sharing
B)Goal setting
C)Piece rate pay
D)Merit pay
E)Skill-based pay

Question 77

What pay plan loses its motivational potential in a weak economy?

A)Gain-sharing
B)Profit sharing
C)ESOPs
D)Skill-based pay
E)Lump sum bonus

Question 78

Skill-based pay is a motivation system whereby people are paid on the basis of how many skills they have mastered.

Question 79

When is profit sharing likely to be most effective?

A)In large organizations that regularly make a profit
B)In medium size organizations that regularly make a profit
C)In small organizations that regularly make a profit
D)In large organizations that make a profit occasionally
E)In small organizations that make a profit occasionally

Question 80

In a study in a unionized auto parts manufacturing plant, a Scanlon gain-sharing program had a positive effect on the

A)scrap and waste reduction.
B)labour required.
C)number of suggestions provided by employees.
D)number of errors made by employees.
E)quality and quantity of parts.