Deck 14: Jobs and the Design of Work

Question 1

Why was the concept of job enlargement developed?

A) a need to reengineer jobs due to an increase in the utilization of technology
B) a disappointing effect of job rotation
C) a need to overcome the limitations of overspecialized work
D) a decrease in productivity

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which of the following best summarizes the meaning of a job?

A) a sequence of experiences
B) a set of specific work and task activities
C) an effortful,productive activity
D) an activity where value comes from performance

Answer 2

B

Question 3

What research is job enrichment based on?

A) Maslow's need for esteem
B) Herzberg's two-factor motivation theory
C) Vroom's expectancy model of motivation
D) McClelland's power motive

Answer 3

B

Question 4

What would you use if you wanted to apply variations of job enlargement?

A) job enrichment and job rotation
B) work specialization and job enrichment
C) specialization and cross-training
D) job rotation and cross-training

Question 5

Which of the following is synonymous with basic building blocks of an organization?

A) power and influence
B) authority-responsibility relationships
C) integration and differentiation
D) jobs

Question 6

According to Frederick Taylor,what best summarizes the role of management and the industrial engineer in scientific management?

A) ensuring the organization adds economic value
B) calibrating and defining each task carefully
C) setting appropriate strategic and financial goals
D) providing the strategic direction

Question 7

What is an outcome of scientific management?

A) work simplification
B) standard-hour wage payment systems
C) worker training for increased job responsibilities
D) definition of management authority

Question 8

What is the term for the process of connecting jobs and departments into a coordinated,cohesive whole?

A) integration
B) ingratiation
C) structuring
D) differentiation

Question 9

What is a shortcoming of scientific management?

A) It works only in manufacturing settings.
B) It empowers employees too much.
C) It undervalues the human capacity for thought and creativity.
D) It removes or reduces managerial authority of supervisors.

Question 10

What is a limitation of job simplification?

A) ambiguity
B) complexity
C) lack of motivation
D) boredom

Question 11

What approach was developed to incorporate motivational factors into the design of the job?

A) scientific management
B) job enrichment
C) job characteristics
D) robotics

Question 12

What is the term for standardization and the narrow,explicit specification of task activities for workers?

A) job enlargement
B) production efficiency
C) work simplification
D) job description

Question 13

You are an office manager and are trying to find ways to enlarge or expand several clerical jobs that you supervise.What is your best approach?

A) rotate employees among several positions
B) reschedule work into a flextime arrangements
C) more effectively match worker skills to job requirements
D) increase the number and variety of tasks or duties performed by each individual

Question 14

What is the term for effortful,productive activity that results in a product or a service?

A) a job
B) work
C) role outcomes
D) role expectations

Question 15

Which of the following addresses the problem of overspecialization?

A) increasing the emphasis on integration
B) increasing authority at lower levels
C) increasing the variety in jobs
D) increasing participation

Question 16

What is a principle differentiation?

A) process of differentiating and appointing authority of the work for the organization
B) process of subdividing and departmentalizing the work of the organization
C) process of job design and performance of the work in the organization
D) process of organizing and controlling of the work in the organization

Question 17

What is a significant difference between job enlargement and job enrichment?

A) Enlargement empowers employees whereas enrichment does not.
B) Enrichment can be successful only with supervisory retraining.
C) Enlargement has a minimal impact on employee motivation.
D) Enrichment vertically loads a job whereas enlargement horizontally loads a job.

Question 18

What is a documented result of involuntary job loss?

A) re-establishment of goal-setting
B) risk of stroke
C) improved life balance
D) integration of activities

Question 19

Your text describes differences in the dimensions of work among countries.Conversely,in which areas are there similarities?

A) work content and job content
B) job enrichment and satisfaction
C) determinants of job involvement
D) positive feedback and valued rewards

Question 20

What is an organizational position?

A) a job in relation to other parts of the organization
B) the title given to a certain level within an organization
C) an employee's specific work and task activities in an organization
D) the specific role and expectations with respect to a given job

Question 21

What core job dimension in the job characteristics model is linked to the psychological state of experiencing responsibility for work outcomes?

A) feedback
B) autonomy
C) task significance
D) task identity

Question 22

What is an example of how task significance of a job can be enhanced for an individual?

A) the employee receives rewards for their task completion
B) the fundraiser obtains increasing level of supports for students
C) the radiologist develops the photographs of patients
D) the individual who collects food meets a person who requires the food for his family

Question 23

Which of the following indicates factors that result in the Motivating Potential Score of a job?

A) job enrichment + job enlargement
B) skill variety + task identity + task significance
C) task significance + task identity + task variety
D) individual abilities + team abilities

Question 24

What is an example of a work outcome?

A) skill variety
B) job satisfaction
C) feedback
D) job knowledge

Question 25

A secretarial employee is given the responsibility and signature authority to handle certain types of correspondence.What has occurred?

A) The job has been enlarged.
B) The job has been rotated.
C) The job has been enriched.
D) The job has been horizontally loaded.

Question 26

Which of the following applies to workers as they adjust to job enrichment?

A) no change initially to productivity
B) increase in resignations
C) initial decline in productivity
D) increase in productivity

Question 27

What is the characteristic of the job design method aimed at increasing motivational factors?

A) job rotation
B) job enrichment
C) cross-training
D) job enlargement

Question 28

What are the three types of autonomy included in the Work Design Questionnaire?

A) work feedback,task variety,and decision making
B) work variety,task significance,and decision making
C) work scheduling,task significance,and feedback
D) work scheduling,work methods,and decision making

Question 29

What is a major difference between the job characteristics theory and earlier approaches to job design?

A) Earlier approaches differentiate in the manner in which work was defined.
B) Earlier approaches differentiated among individuals.
C) The job characteristics theory is a universal approach.
D) The job characteristics theory emphasizes the interaction between the individual and attributes of the job.

Question 30

What is a benefit for employees experiencing job enrichment and job enlargement strategies?

A) commitment
B) job satisfaction
C) productivity
D) involvement

Question 31

Which statement summarizes a key problem with job enrichment as a strategy for work design?

A) It is based on an oversimplified motivational theory.
B) It overemphasizes individual differences.
C) Increasing variety has its motivational limits.
D) It is based on a complex motivational theory.

Question 32

As an employee you have full freedom in decision making.What concept does this statement summarize?

A) autonomy
B) skill variety
C) task significance
D) task identity

Question 33

A professor selects a textbook,formulates course objectives,specifies course requirements,determines instructional methods,prepares exams,and evaluates student performance.What does the professor obtain from this process?

A) task specificity
B) autonomy
C) skill heterogeneity
D) feedback

Question 34

What is a job characteristic of an employee who works in finance/payroll?

A) skill variety
B) autonomy
C) task significance
D) task identity

Question 35

What is a key moderating influence in the job characteristics model?

A) employee growth need strength
B) job knowledge
C) esteem and reputation
D) meaningful job-related interaction

Question 36

Which statement best summarizes an international view of job design?

A) The job enrichment approach has been applied the most in international cultures.
B) The biological approach appears to be the most common approach.
C) Asian and Western approaches are very different but within each area there are marked similarities.
D) Each country's perspective is forged within its unique cultural and economic system and is distinct from others.

Question 37

What does JDS stand for in job characteristics theory?

A) job diagnostic survey
B) job design survey
C) job design satisfaction
D) job diagnostic satisfaction

Question 38

A nurse is required to give medication,check heart rate,check blood pressure,update medical charts,and book specialist appointments? Which job characteristic best defines this nurse?

A) skill variety
B) task identity
C) task significance
D) autonomy

Question 39

Moira's job entails completion of a whole task or a very identifiable part.What is this an example of?

A) task significance
B) skill variety
C) autonomy
D) task identity

Question 40

What core job characteristic is most closely associated with job enlargement?

A) job autonomy
B) skill variety
C) task significance
D) task identity

Question 41

What did the research of Oldham and Cummings suggest regarding increasing job enrichment?

A) stress decreases
B) creativity decreases
C) creativity increases
D) compensation increases

Question 42

Which statement is supported by research on the social information-processing view of job design?

A) Group pressure is more important in the definition of task complexity than an objective measure.
B) Daydreaming is more important than objective task complexity as an additional motivator.
C) The subjective feedback of others may be more important to a person's motivation than an objective estimate of the task difficulty.
D) An objective probability estimate is still the best estimate of a task's difficulty and consequently a good indicator of the potential motivational properties of a task.

Question 43

The meaning of work is the way a person interprets and understands the value of work as part of life.

Question 44

What is a characteristic of job crafting?

A) the employee is an active participant in redefining their job
B) the employee acts as an agent for the principal
C) the employee provides the necessary effort
D) the employee supports the organization

Question 45

What is a characteristic of the German approach to job design and work organizations?

A) value hierarchy and authority relationships
B) focus on collectivism
C) strongly endorse unionism
D) emphasize personal identity and social benefits of work

Question 46

When might employees experience technostress?

A) when their performance is monitored electronically
B) when job enrichment is successful
C) when their job tasks are certain
D) when their flextime is used

Question 47

Mark works in a job that is open for redefinition,and he is able to adjust communication boundaries as well as job tasks.Which concept does Mark's job design summarize?

A) task variety
B) i-deals
C) autonomy
D) job crafting

Question 48

Sora can conduct work anywhere in the world due to an interconnected platform of computer,telecommunication,and information technology services.What is this an example of?

A) network
B) virtual office
C) flexible technology
D) intranet

Question 49

Job context is determined by the amount of responsibility in the job.

Question 50

Which statement most accurately summarizes the technocentric system?

A) It gives industrial efficiency the greatest weight and is used most often in Scandinavia.
B) It gives technology and engineering the most weight in job design decisions.
C) It gives more attention to technical than engineering considerations in job design.
D) It gives human considerations the most importance in job design decisions.

Question 51

All employees must be present to perform job duties during a required core time but starting and ending work times can vary.What type of work arrangement is occurring?

A) flextime
B) job sharing
C) compressed work week
D) task restructuring

Question 52

Which country established funding to research work-life well-being?

A) Spain
B) Canada
C) Sweden
D) Japan

Question 53

What is a negative outcome of the mechanistic approach to job design?

A) higher absenteeism
B) significantly greater financial resources required
C) greater chance of errors
D) greater chance of mental overload and stress

Question 54

With respect to the number of service jobs,what job skills may be most important given the nature or structure of our economy?

A) interpersonal skills
B) strategic skills
C) conceptual skills
D) technical skills

Question 55

Which statement indicates a characteristic of telecommuting?

A) Many telecommuters have not felt a sense of social isolation as frequently predicted.
B) Telecommuting does not have the potential to create sweatshops of the 21st century.
C) Telecommuting is neither a cure-all nor a universally feasible alternative.
D) Telecommuting is a permanent work arrangement.

Question 56

Which statement explains the anthropocentric job design approach?

A) It places emphasis on union-management cooperation in designing jobs.
B) It places human considerations at the centre of job design decisions.
C) It places emphasis on individual worker skills.
D) It places engineering considerations first in specifying job tasks.

Question 57

Scientific management involves enriching job tasks and demands.

Question 58

Jobs in organizations are interdependent and designed to make a contribution to the organization's overall mission and goals.

Question 59

Which term applies to the type of characteristics in the SIP model?

A) objective
B) pessimistic
C) subjective
D) optimistic

Question 60

Which sector are the majority of the population now working in?

A) service
B) production
C) entrepreneurship
D) education

Question 61

Telecommuting has been around since the 1970s.

Question 62

An increasing number of knowledge workers are emerging in response to competition.

Question 63

The biological approach to job design emphasizes the job incumbent's interaction with physical aspects of work.

Question 64

A fundamental limitation of work simplification is that it undervalues the human capacity for thought and ingenuity.

Question 65

Telecommuting is the most common form of alternative work arrangements.

Question 66

Japanese place greater importance on a work design strategy that encourages worker control rather than manager control of the workplace.

Question 67

The human spirit's response to job characteristics and work design is equally as important as the design of the work.

Question 68

Employees are more engaged and utilized with task variety.

Question 69

Job enlargement proposes to overcome the limitations of overspecialized work,such as boredom.

Question 70

The social information processing model emphasizes objective core job characteristics.

Question 71

The use of electronic bulletin boards may be a source of technostress.

Question 72

Task significance in the job characteristics model is the degree to which one's job requires completion of a whole task.

Question 73

The anthropocentric approach places human considerations at the centre of job design decisions.

Question 74

Herzberg suggested that only certain jobs should be enriched and that the first step is to select the jobs appropriate for job enrichment.

Question 75

Employee growth need strength moderates the relationship between core job dimensions and personal and work outcomes according to the job characteristics model.

Question 76

The job characteristics model generally takes a person-job fit approach to the design of work.

Question 77

Job meaningfulness can be increased by giving feedback,skill variety and task identify.

Question 78

Jobs that exhibit skill variety,task identity and significance,autonomy,and experience feedback are more likely to be satisfying.

Question 79

W.Edwards Deming founded and developed scientific management.

Question 80

Job rotation and cross-training are variations of job enrichment.