Question 1

Which term refers to changing the tasks or the way work is performed in an existing job?

Accepted Answer

Job redesign refers to changing the tasks or the way work is performed in an existing job.

Question 2

The extent to which the job has an important impact on the lives of other people is _____.

Accepted Answer

According to Job Characteristics Model, jobs can be described in terms of five characteristics: Skill variety, Task identity, Autonomy, Feedback and Task significance. Although all five characteristics are important, the belief that the task is significant because performing it well leads to outcomes one values may be the most critical motivational aspect of work.

Question 3

Within the Job Characteristics Model, the degree to which the job allows an individual to make decisions about the way the work is carried out is called _____.

Accepted Answer

According to Job Characteristics Model, jobs can be described in terms of five characteristics: Skill variety, Task identity, Autonomy, Feedback and Task significance. Autonomy is the degree to which the job allows an individual to make decisions.

Question 4

By designing jobs according to the mechanistic approach:

Accepted Answer

By designing jobs according to the mechanistic approach, the organization reduces its need for high-ability individuals and thus becomes less dependent on individual workers. Individuals are easily replaceable-that is, a new employee can be trained to perform the job quickly and inexpensively.

Question 5

Which of the following approaches to job design entails performing time-and-motion studies?

Accepted Answer

Scientific management under mechanistic approach first sought to identify the "one best way" to perform the job. This entailed performing time-and-motion studies to identify the most efficient movements for workers to make.

Question 6

The mechanistic approach entails:

Accepted Answer

The mechanistic approach most often entails reducing the complexity of the work to provide more human resource efficiency-that is, making the work so simple that anyone can be trained quickly and easily to perform it.

Question 7

Which of the following approaches to job design focuses on job satisfaction as the major outcome of interest?

Accepted Answer

According to "Job Characteristics Model.", when the core job characteristics are high, individuals will have a high level of internal work motivation. This is expected to result in higher quantity and quality of work as well as higher levels of job satisfaction.

Question 8

As a manager, you want to redesign a job because your most recent attitude survey indicated that individuals were very bored with the monotony of their jobs. Which job design approach would be most helpful to you?

Accepted Answer

The prescriptions of the motivational approach focus on increasing the meaningfulness of jobs through such interventions as job enlargement, job enrichment, and the construction of jobs around sociotechnical systems.

Question 9

The degree to which a job requires completing a whole piece of work from beginning to end is _____.

Accepted Answer

According to Job Characteristics Model, jobs can be described in terms of five characteristics: Skill variety, Task identity, Autonomy, Feedback and Task significance. Task identity is the degree to which a job requires completing a "whole" piece of work from beginning to end.

Question 10

Which of the following approaches to job design has its roots in the organizational psychology and management literatures?

Accepted Answer

The motivational approach to job design has roots in organizational psychology and management literature. In many ways, motivational approach has emerged as a reaction to mechanistic approaches. It focuses on the job characteristics that affect psychological meaning and motivational potential, and views attitudinal variables as important outcomes of job design.

Question 11

Which of the following is true about O * NET?

Accepted Answer

Instead of relying on fixed job titles and narrow task descriptions, the O * NET uses a common language that generalizes across jobs to describe the abilities, work styles, work activities, and work context required for various occupations that are more broadly defined (e.g., instead of the 12,000 jobs in the DOT, the O * NET describes only 1,000 occupations).

Question 12

The most common source for error in job analysis results from:

Accepted Answer

Although we tend to view jobs as static and stable, in fact, jobs tend to change and evolve over time. Indeed, although there are numerous sources for error in the job analysis process, most inaccuracy is likely to result from job descriptions simply being outdated. Hence in addition to statically defining the job, the job analysis process must also detect changes in the nature of jobs.

Question 13

Which of the following approaches to job design focuses on efficiency as the major outcome of interest?

Accepted Answer

Mechanistic approach most often entails reducing the complexity of the work to provide more human resource efficiency-that is, making the work so simple that anyone can be trained quickly and easily to perform it.

Question 14

Which of the following methods is no longer used for analyzing jobs today?

Accepted Answer

The Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT)was born during the 1930s and served as a vehicle for helping the new public employment system link the demand for skills and the supply of skills in the U.S. workforce. It became clear to officials at the U.S. Department of Labor that jobs in the new economy were so qualitatively different from jobs in the old economy, that the DOT no longer served its purpose.

Question 15

Within the Job Characteristics Model, the extent to which a person receives clear information about his/her performance from the job itself is termed _____.

Accepted Answer

According to Job Characteristics Model, jobs can be described in terms of five characteristics: Skill variety, Task identity, Autonomy, Feedback and Task significance. And Feedback is the extent to which a person receives clear information about performance effectiveness from the work itself.

Question 16

Which of the following is true about outcomes when the core job characteristics are high?

Accepted Answer

According to Job Characteristics Model, when the core job characteristics (and thus the critical psychological states)are high, individuals will have a high level of internal work motivation. This also leads to higher quantity and quality of work as well as higher levels of job satisfaction.

Question 17

Adding more decision-making authority to a job to increase its motivational potential is known as _____.

Accepted Answer

Job design interventions emphasizing the motivational approach tend to focus on increasing the meaningfulness of jobs. Much of the work on job enlargement, job enrichment and self-managing work teams has its roots in the motivational approach to job design. Adding more decision-making authority to a job to increase its motivational potential is known as job enrichment.

Question 18

Which of the following is true about job designs emphasizing the motivational approach?

Accepted Answer

Job design interventions emphasizing the motivational approach tend to focus on increasing the meaningfulness of jobs. Much of the work on job enlargement (broadening the types of tasks performed), job enrichment (empowering workers by adding more decision-making authority to jobs), and self-managing work teams has its roots in the motivational approach to job design. In enriched jobs, leadership is not the sole prerogative of one person, but rather is distributed throughout the team, and research shows that this can enhance group performance. Interventions such as these have been found to have dramatic effects on employee motivation.

Question 19

Which of the following refers to the process of defining the way work will be performed and the tasks that will be required in a given job?

Accepted Answer

Job design is the process of defining how work will be performed and the tasks that will be required in a given job.

Question 20

Which of the following is a psychological state associated with the Job Characteristics Model?

Accepted Answer

The three critical psychological states are "experienced meaningfulness," "responsibility," and "knowledge of results." They determine the motivating potential of a job.

Quiz 4: The Analysis and Design of Work