Deck 5: Foundations of Employee Motivation

Question 1

Goal setting tends to be more effective when the goals are specific rather than general.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Maslow's needs hierarchy theory takes a holistic approach by condensing the long list of needs into a hierarchy of five basic categories.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Expectancy theory identifies emotions as a key component of employee motivation.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

According to needs hierarchy theory,the satisfaction-progression process does not apply to the fulfilment of self-actualisation needs.

Question 5

According to learned needs theory,people with a high personalised need for power enjoy power for its own sake and use it to advance their career rather than to benefit others.

Question 6

Needs hierarchy theory explains how people develop perceptions of fairness in the distribution and exchange of resources.

Question 7

In four-drive theory,the drive to bond does not produce any emotional markers.

Question 8

Motivating employees today is much easier than 30 or so years ago.

Question 9

David McClelland's research on need for achievement concluded that all needs are instinctive and fixed for life.

Question 10

People with a high need for achievement make better entrepreneurs.

Question 11

Feedback can be more frequent when employees perform short rather than long job cycles.

Question 12

Two drives identified in four-drive theory are the drive to acquire and the drive to bond.

Question 13

Goal setting is more effective when employees can easily complete the goals assigned to them.

Question 14

Expectancy theory of motivation states that people naturally direct their effort towards desired outcomes.

Question 15

Feedback is a source of motivation as well as learning.

Question 16

One way to increase an employee's E-to-P expectancy regarding a specific task is to increase the person's self-confidence through counselling and coaching.

Question 17

Employee motivation is explained reasonably well by the expectancy theory model.

Question 18

A person's hierarchy of needs is influenced by his or her values.

Question 19

According to four-drive theory,organisations maximise motivation by focusing employees on opportunities to fulfil only one of the four drives.

Question 20

One disadvantage of other need theories over Maslow's needs hierarchy theory is that they assume that everyone has the same needs hierarchy.

Question 21

Employees consider feedback from non-social sources to be more accurate than feedback from social sources.

Question 22

Which of the following basic needs is explicitly stated in needs hierarchy theory and theory of learned needs?

A) Physiological needs
B) Power needs
C) Financial needs
D) None of the options listed here is correct

Question 23

People with a strong need for achievement wish to accomplish:

A) Challenging goals
B) Organisational feedback
C) Unambiguous feedback
D) All of options listed here are correct

Question 24

Which of these theories states that we are motivated by several needs,but the strongest source is the lowest unsatisfied need?

A) Four-drive theory
B) Needs hierarchy theory
C) Equity theory
D) Distributive justice theory

Question 25

Emotions play a significant role in:

A) Employee observation
B) Employee gratification
C) Employee analysis
D) Employee motivation

Question 26

Jane holds a well-paying job with good job security.She also gets along well with colleagues,but has been frustrated in her attempts to receive more challenging assignments.Due to this frustration,Jane now spends more time enjoying social relations with colleagues.Which drive is she now focusing on?

A) Drive to acquire
B) Drive to defend
C) Drive to comprehend
D) Drive to bond

Question 27

In the equity theory model,a 'comparison other' is an individual or group of people against whom the person compares his or her outcome/input ratio.

Question 28

One problem with equity theory is that it incorrectly assumes people are individualistic,rational and selfish.

Question 29

One feature of Maslow's needs hierarchy theory that continues to have support is that:

A) Everyone has the same needs hierarchy
B) No one ever experiences self-actualisation
C) Motivation is caused by the environment,not by internal thoughts or emotions
D) Motivation theories should consider need gratification,not just need deprivation

Question 30

Compared to supervisor-only feedback,360-degree feedback tends to produce more ambiguous and conflicting feedback.

Question 31

Combining goal setting with monetary incentives motivates many employees to set up difficult goals.

Question 32

To determine the fairness of pay or other outcomes,people almost always rely on the equity principle.

Question 33

Motivating employees is a constant challenge for employers because:

A) Employers have difficulty understanding the different needs and expectations that younger generation employees bring to the workplace
B) There are more layers of management today,which makes it more difficult to motivate everyone in management positions
C) Corporate downsizing and reduced job security have damaged the levels of trust employees need to work beyond minimum levels
D) Engaging the workforce involves a range of strategies which take into account its diversity.

Question 34

Balanced scorecards are used mainly to measure performance of production employees.

Question 35

Maslow's needs hierarchy explicitly names the following needs EXCEPT:

A) Power
B) Self-actualisation
C) Safety
D) Esteem

Question 36

The popularity of employee engagement is partly due to preliminary evidence that it improves:

A) Organisational effectiveness
B) Organisational branches
C) Organisational engagement
D) Organisational sales

Question 37

The challenge facing organisational leaders is that most employees aren't very:

A) Defined
B) Honest
C) Engaged
D) Active

Question 38

Over reward inequity occurs whenever other people receive less money than you do.

Question 39

Distributive justice increases directly with the extent that the decision allows voice,can be appealed and has an unbiased decision maker.

Question 40

Needs hierarchy theory fails to explain the dynamics of employee motivation mainly because:

A) No one ever experiences growth or self-actualisation
B) People do not have a needs hierarchy
C) People try to fulfil their physiological or existence needs before they fulfil their relatedness or belongingness needs
D) People have drives,not needs

Question 41

Feedback affects behaviour and job performance by improving which of the following?

A) Motivation
B) Role perceptions
C) Learned ability
D) All of the options listed here are correct

Question 42

Employee motivation tends to increase when people are assigned to jobs for which they are qualified and they receive coaching to improve their self-confidence.Both of these practices improve employee motivation by:

A) Increasing outcome valences
B) Satisfying existence needs
C) Increasing P-to-O expectancies
D) Increasing E-to-P expectancies

Question 43

Which of these occurs when a consequence decreases the frequency or future probability of a behaviour?

A) Negative reinforcement
B) Positive reinforcement
C) Punishment
D) Extinction

Question 44

Which of these motivation theories arranges employee needs in a hierarchy of importance?

A) Maslow's needs theory
B) Four-drive theory
C) Expectancy theory
D) McClelland's learned needs theory

Question 45

In four-drive theory,the drive ______ is most closely associated with social identity theory.

A) To bond
B) For fairness
C) To defend
D) To acquire

Question 46

One of the main implications of needs/drive-based theories of motivation is that:

A) Employers should offer employees a choice of rewards when they perform the job well
B) Employees should be given specific goals with plenty of feedback
C) Employers should give all employees the same employee benefits
D) Employers should select people with the best qualifications for the job

Question 47

According to four-drive theory,the drive ______ is a fundamental ingredient in the success of organisations and development of societies.

A) To defend
B) For fairness
C) To bond
D) To acquire

Question 48

Expectancy theory mainly helps us to predict an individual's:

A) Effort
B) Need for achievement
C) Distributive justice
D) Job satisfaction

Question 49

Effective feedback:
A.
Is general enough that it applies to any employee
B.
Is provided only through social sources
C.
Is provided no more frequently than once every three months
D.
None of the options listed here is correct

Question 50

Which drive in four-drive theory is reactive rather than proactive?

A) Drive to acquire
B) Drive to learn
C) Drive to defend
D) Drive to bond

Question 51

Which of the following employee motivation theories does NOT arrange needs in a hierarchy of importance?

A) Maslow's theory
B) Needs hierarchy theory
C) McClelland's learned needs theory
D) All of the options listed here are correct

Question 52

People with a high need for affiliation:

A) Want to form positive relationships with others and try to project a favourable image of themselves
B) Try to smooth out conflicts that occur in meetings and other social settings
C) Tend to work well in coordinating roles
D) All of the options listed here are correct

Question 53

Which of these is found in the expectancy theory model?

A) P-to-O expectancy
B) E-to-F expectancy
C) V-to-E expectancy
D) P-to-E expectancy

Question 54

One way to increase employee motivation by improving the P-to-O expectancies is to:

A) Measure employee performance accurately
B) Convince employees that they are able to accomplish the task
C) Select employees with the required skills and knowledge
D) Provide sufficient time and resources to perform the task

Question 55

From which source do employees generally prefer to receive feedback that helps to correct performance problems?

A) The employee's supervisor once or twice each year
B) Colleagues
C) Customers
D) A frequent computer printout or other document

Question 56

The main practical implication of four-drive theory is that:

A) Companies should ensure everyone fulfils their social needs before status needs
B) Companies should avoid offering rewards with a high valence
C) People experience a sense of fairness in the process,not just the outcomes
D) Companies should provide a balanced opportunity for employees to acquire,bond,learn and defend

Question 57

In expectancy theory,valence refers to the:

A) Amount of effort a person puts towards a known goal
B) Individual's perceived probability of performing the task at a particular level
C) Anticipated satisfaction or dissatisfaction that an individual feels towards an outcome
D) Individual's perceived probability that his or her performance will lead to specific outcomes

Question 58

Research has found that entrepreneurs are more likely to succeed if they have:

A) A low need for socialised power
B) A high need for personalised power
C) A high need for affiliation
D) A high need for achievement

Question 59

The desire to seek approval from others,conform to their wishes and expectations,and avoid conflict and confrontations is called:

A) Need for affiliation
B) Need for power
C) Need for achievement
D) Need for safety

Question 60

To increase goal performance,employees should participate in the goal-setting process:

A) When employees would otherwise lack commitment to those goals
B) When employees possess knowledge that would improve goal quality
C) Never; participation weakens the effectiveness of goal setting
D) When employees would otherwise lack commitment to those goals and when employees possess knowledge that would improve goal quality

Question 61

How do drives and needs differ and how do they translate into felt needs and behaviour?

Question 62

What role does effective feedback practice play in employee motivation performance?

Question 63

Define goal setting.How does it improve employee performance in an organisation?

Question 64

It is often difficult to maintain feelings of equity among employees because:

A) Most employees feel inequitably treated no matter how much they receive for their work effort
B) The equity theory model does not apply to non-management employees
C) Most employees don't know about feelings of equity
D) Each employee has different opinions regarding which inputs should be rewarded and which outcomes are more valuable than others

Question 65

How do drives influence employee motivation?

Question 66

Describe McClelland's three needs for achievement.

Question 67

Comment on the accuracy of the following statement: 'According to goal-setting theory,performance increases with the level of goal difficulty.'

Question 68

You want production employees at your company to be more motivated to complete their assignments more efficiently.They are confident that they can perform their jobs more efficiently and the rewards you give employees (pay cheques,paid time off,etc.)are valued by these people.Identify the one element of expectancy theory that requires improvement and identify three possible actions that would increase employee motivation through this element.

Question 69

The behaviour of a supervisor can have important implications for the way staff behave.Explain this using social cognitive theory.

Question 70

To determine the fairness of pay or other outcomes,people usually apply:

A) The equity principle
B) The equality principle
C) The need principle
D) A combination of the above principles in different situations

Question 71

Why is it difficult to maintain feelings of equity among employees?

Question 72

What is employee engagement and how do organisations use it to support job performance?

Question 73

Feedback from social sources is generally better than from non-social sources when:

A) The feedback is negative
B) Employees want accurate information about their job performance
C) Employees perform poorly and are easily offended by negative feedback
D) None of the options listed here is correct

Question 74

How can behaviour modification be used to create healthy working relationships and better performance of employees? Give reasons to support your answer.