Deck 3: A Behavioural Framework for Compensation

Question 1

An employee survey at a particular company indicated very strong employee job satisfaction levels. Management was elated with the outcome of the survey. What is a likely consequence of having satisfied employees?

A) decreased grievances
B) employees who are more innovative
C) increased job effort
D) improved interdepartmental integration and communication

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Which of the following statements would NOT be consistent when looking at the relationship between rewards and behaviour?

A) Generating membership behaviour depends on job satisfaction.
B) Task behaviour can be generated through organizational identification.
C) If employees are motivated, it will generally drive citizenship behaviour.
D) Organizational identification can have a positive impact on job satisfaction and motivation.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

The first step in designing a reward system that will produce the behaviour the organization needs is to develop rewards that address salient employee needs.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

When a potential employee joins an organization, there is often an implied contract between the employee and the organization, based on expectations of rewards and contributions. Which of the following best describes this contract?

A) provincial labour code
B) deprivation contract
C) psychological contract
D) perceived equity

Question 5

You have been asked to explain to a client the notion of work motivation. Which of the following would best characterize an employee's work motivation?

A) someone that is happy with his job
B) someone that puts forward great effort to perform a task well
C) someone that shares the organization's goals and aspirations
D) someone that is happy and satisfied with the job content and his/her performance

Question 6

The three key employee behaviours that may be desired by employers are membership, task, and citizenship.

Question 7

Which of the following short scenarios best describes organizational citizenship behaviour?

A) Joe, a shop mechanic, approaches management with an initiative that will improve customer service.
B) Duane, a faculty member, starts and finishes his lectures on time as per his syllabus.
C) Mary, a university graduate, was so impressed with company ABC that she decided to join the company. Ten years later she was still working for ABC.
D) Carlos "volunteers" for special community events on behalf of his company only when he is paid overtime.

Question 8

You operate an inbound call centre serving the various needs of your customers. Over the last several months, you notice that customers are waiting on hold for several minutes before being served. To motivate operators, you introduce an incentive program that rewards those operators that answer over 200 calls per 8-hour shift. Shortly thereafter, wait times drop but service complaints escalate. What kind of reward problem does this vignette describe?

A) failure to produce desired behaviour
B) production of desired behaviour and undesirable consequences
C) production of reward dissatisfaction
D) unfair compensation practices

Question 9

Equity theory partially explains the basic notion of perceived inequity between one's view of his or her contribution and the contribution of others in similar contexts.

Question 10

What is the definition of membership behaviour?

A) paying ones dues on time
B) being polite with others
C) a decision to join and stay with a firm
D) the attitude one holds toward one's job and the workplace

Question 11

You are extremely happy with your job and would not hesitate to recommend your company as a good place to work. Which key employee attitude are you expressing?

A) organizational identification
B) motivation
C) job satisfaction
D) commitment

Question 12

Which of the following does job satisfaction create?

A) increased job effort
B) lower employee turnover
C) higher training costs
D) job security

Question 13

A sales organization rewards employees for the number of client contacts made via telephone. A review of client contact quality determines that most of these contacts will never convert into sales. As it relates to reward problems, this exemplifies a lack of congruency between rewards and behaviour.

Question 14

One of two key determinants of membership behaviour is organizational identification.

Question 15

The textbook identifies two main types of commitments: affective and group or team commitment.

Question 16

A behavioural framework provides a conceptual toolkit for understanding which aspect of compensation?

A) the organizational context within which compensation management takes place
B) the managerial strategy that best fits an organization
C) how the structural variables interact to produce employee behaviour
D) the behaviour that various compensation plans will likely produce

Question 17

The key employee attitudes are flexibility, citizenship, and individual goal commitment.

Question 18

Classical management strategies generally require a reward system that focuses on task behaviour.

Question 19

Reward dissatisfaction can result from any of the following: violation of psychological contract, perceived inequity, lack of organizational justice, and relative deprivation.

Question 20

One of the keys for generating citizenship behaviour is motivation.

Question 21

Your employer has not kept his promises in relation to pay, benefits, and ongoing training and development opportunities. Which of the following best describes your situation?

A) unethical behaviour
B) lack of organizational justice
C) perceived inequity
D) violation of the psychological contract

Question 22

Which of the following terms is used to describe the degree of urgency an individual attaches to the satisfaction of a particular need?

A) hierarchy of needs
B) need deprivation
C) needs analysis
D) need salience

Question 23

According to expectancy theory, which of the following would be an example of negative instrumentality?

A) You believe that no matter how hard you work your performance will not be recognized.
B) You do not have confidence in your ability to perform the required task.
C) You do not value the reward.
D) You are not motivated to exert any effort.

Question 24

According to reinforcement theory, what happens when organization-controlled rewards stop?

A) Employees feel manipulated.
B) Intrinsic motivation disappears.
C) Desired behaviours eventually disappear.
D) There is no change in behaviour.

Question 25

You think your salary is unfair compared to others in your department, and you threaten to quit your job. Which of the following concepts best explains your actions?

A) psychological contract
B) expectancy theory
C) procedural justice
D) equity theory

Question 26

Economic theory of motivation is closely aligned with which management strategy?

A) differentiation management strategy
B) high-involvement management strategy
C) human relations management strategy
D) classical management strategy

Question 27

Which of the following scenarios best describes the notion of expectancy, according to the expectancy theory of motivation?

A) Paul believes he can complete the project in five days.
B) Paul is under the impression that even if he finishes the project in five days, the company will not provide him with the promised promotion.
C) Paul does not value the promised promotion.
D) Paul would like to be recognized as a valued employee by being given a large pay increase.

Question 28

A particular company employing a human relations management strategy begins to experience significant decreases in revenue and profits. As a result, it decides to cut back on some indirect pay rewards. What do you believe will be the impact to this organization as a result of their compensation decision?

A) Employees will begin to work hard to make up for the shortfall.
B) Employees will have less trust in management, moving forward.
C) Employees will start to suggest to management ways to reduce expenses.
D) Employees will suggest to management that their management strategy should be modified to reflect a high involvement strategy.

Question 29

Which of the following scenarios is reflective of an organization displaying procedural justice in their reward system?

A) Pay is not similar for employees performing at the same general level.
B) Pay is attached to increases in consumer price indexes regardless of actual performance.
C) Employees are able to appeal pay increase decisions using a transparent appeal process.
D) Employees are not able to articulate when and how pay increases are provided.

Question 30

Which of the following is NOT a problematic issue associated with trying to apply reinforcement theory in a work environment?

A) The notion of reinforcement theory is common sense based.
B) Only a narrow range of desired behaviours is rewarded.
C) Only some of the potential rewards are within the realm of control of an organization.
D) Once committed to providing a particular reward, organizations need to continue providing those rewards on an ongoing basis.

Question 31

Which of the following would be an example of distributive justice?

A) Based on your performance, you believe you were given the pay raise you deserved.
B) You have the opportunity to appeal your pay raise.
C) Your managers openly share the reward decision-making process with all employees.
D) Reward decisions are based on job-related performance and free of bias.

Question 32

What type of behaviour will you likely generate by demonstrating a genuine concern for the welfare of your employees and sharing company profits with them?

A) affective commitment
B) continuance commitment
C) task commitment
D) moral commitment

Question 33

Organizational justice has two key dimensions. Which of the following variables best capture these two dimensions?

A) distributive and integrative justice
B) distributive and procedural justice
C) psychological and tenure-based justice
D) psychological and task justice

Question 34

Which of the following employee behaviours is appropriate for firms using a classical managerial strategy?

A) membership behaviour
B) organizational citizenship behaviour
C) task behaviour
D) all behaviours

Question 35

A particular employee becomes dissatisfied with a decision by an organization to decrease pay. Which of the following could be considered an attempt by the employee to increase rewards?

A) taking longer coffee breaks
B) increased absenteeism
C) padding their expense accounts
D) seeking a less demanding job in a different company

Question 36

In what way is there congruency between Maslow's theory and Herzberg's theory?

A) The higher-order needs correspond to motivators, and lower-order needs correspond to the hygienes factors.
B) Both Maslow and Herzberg assume that a satisfied need no longer motivates.
C) Both Maslow's and Herzberg's theories could be classified as "process theories."
D) Both Maslow and Herzberg explicitly describe the distinction between job satisfaction and work motivation.

Question 37

Which of the following refers to content theories of motivation?

A) theories based on reinforcement theories
B) theories that focus on managerial strategies
C) theories that focus on understanding the means by which people make choices
D) theories that focus on human needs

Question 38

Which of the following terms refers to the individual's perception of how likely it is that the effort they give will lead to the successful performance of the desired behaviour?

A) valence
B) expectancy
C) instrumentality
D) salience

Question 39

In a manner that may be perceived as counterintuitive, John begins to put in more effort at work as a result of a pay decrease. Which of the following may be an explanation for John's behaviour?

A) He perceives his job may be at risk.
B) He sees the extra effort leading to a promotion.
C) His behaviour is most likely a result of his commitment to his customers.
D) His behaviour can be explained by Maslow's self-actualization notion.

Question 40

You the human resource manager for a non-profit organization focusing on cleaning local parks. The vast majority of staff are volunteers from the local community. You are so pleased with their commitment that you approach a consultant looking for advice on what kinds of additional rewards you should provide. Which of the following would be an appropriate recommendation, according to the attribution theory of motivation?

A) Offer to pay the attendance fee to any volunteer willing to attend a conference dealing with the value of green space in cities.
B) Offer to pay $100.00 per month if volunteers show up for all their shifts.
C) Offer to pay volunteers $.50 for every pound of garbage collected from local parks.
D) Offer to pay a nominal fee for members that find other volunteers willing to join the organization.

Question 41

A particular employee is provided with a very aggressive sales goal for next year. Management proposes that if sales double, the employee will receive a 50 percent increase to his/her base pay in addition to his/her sales-based commissions. This represents a substantial increase in compensation, and management is confident the employee will be motivated to increase task behaviour.
Two months into the program, management notices the employee is actually less motivated.
Using expectancy theory, explain possible rationales that may justify the decreased level in motivation and associated task behaviour.
(You may make any additional assumptions)

Question 42

Summarize the consequences of each job attitude.

Question 43

Identify the three key job attitudes and explain their roles in determining employee behaviour.

Question 44

Briefly explain the purpose of the behavioural framework for compensation.

Question 45

Briefly explain the difference between content theories of motivation and process theories of motivation, and provide examples of each.

Question 46

From an employee behavioural perspective, what steps need to be followed to design an effective reward system?