Question 1

The incentive plan is based on which assumption?

Accepted Answer

B)The incentive plan rewards salespeople when the company does well because Macmoo wants employees to act in the best interest of the overall company. But incentives only make sense if there's some connection between the actions of the person with the incentive and the chance that they'll get the reward. This incentive will only work if the salespeople believe that their actions make a difference, and so Choice B must be assumed. If the salespeople don't believe that what they do makes a difference to Macmoo's overall success, then why would they alter their behavior? Choices A and E bring in two irrelevant groups, other Macmoo employees (Choice A)and salespeople in other companies (Choice E). This is about Macmoo salespeople, not those groups. Choice C would strengthen the case for the plan, but doesn't need to be true in order for the plan to work. Choice D goes too far. The plan assumes that incentives work, but not that they're the only thing that works.

Question 2

All of the following are assumed by Peck's argument EXCEPT:

Accepted Answer

C)All of the choices are assumptions in an expectancy-theory based approach except for Choice C, which is something that a supporter of equity theory would want to see. Choice A:If they don't understand what they're supposed to do, they'll be unlikely to do it. Choice B:Asking people to do the impossible won't work. Choice D:Employees won't do what the system calls for if the rewards aren't worth it. Choice E:Incentives don't work when there's no connection between the actions of the individual and the outcome that's rewarded.

Question 3

Which of the following is assumed by the manager?

Accepted Answer

B)The manager wants to change the daily meeting from 3 p.m. to 10 a.m. because at 3 p.m. the employees are in bad moods. But why are they in bad moods? If it's because of the time of day, then the manager's plan might work. But if the bad moods are caused by the meetings themselves, then it doesn't matter what time they are held. So the manager must be assuming that the meetings aren't the cause of the problem, as Choice B indicates. Choice A would undermine the manager's argument, because she wants to hold these meetings every day. Choice C is a distortion of the manager's prediction. She thinks that contributions are necessary for success, not a guarantee of success. Choice D isn't assumed because the manager is not making claims about the success of the organization. She's just talking about her meetings. Choice E goes too far. The workers need to be in positive moods in order for the plan to work, but they don't have to be in more positive moods than they are at any other time of the day.

Question 4

If all of Witt's statements are true,which of the following must also be TRUE?

Accepted Answer

B)Witt says that feeling that you are being treated unfairly guarantees that you will be unmotivated, and feeling that you are paid less for the same work guarantees that you will feel that you are being treated unfairly. The one exception to this is if you receive a persuasive justification. So if you are motivated despite the pay difference, you must have received a persuasive justification, which makes it impossible that you didn't receive such a justification. That's what Choice B says in very complicated language. Choices A, C, and D:The pay gap and feeling that you are being treated unfairly may not be the only things that can destroy motivation. So Robin (or anyone else)could be unmotivated even if she is paid fairly, treated fairly, and/or gets a persuasive justification. Choice E:The persuasive justification is necessary only in the pay gap case. Someone who is unmotivated for other reasons might have received a persuasive justification.

Question 5

Which of the following,if true,would weaken the argument for the company's exercise policy?

Accepted Answer

E)Exercise helps, but if the people who need help the most are least likely to exercise (Choice E), then this voluntary program would not be likely to reach those people. The program could still be valuable, but Choice E makes it sound less valuable. Choice A:Facilities at a local gym are a reasonable option, so there's nothing in Choice A that makes the plan sound worse. Choice B is not a problem because the program isn't designed to get the families exercising, and failing to do so isn't a flaw in the policy. This is about the workers, not everyone. Choice C doesn't matter, because the company has no duty to ensure that ex-employees get enough exercise. But if anything, Choice C would be a strengthener because it suggests that the policy will be effective in getting people to exercise. Choice D would be a problem if the exercise offered was the same for everyone, but there is no reason to believe that this is so.

Question 6

Terry generally likes her job and works hard.However,Terry's level of effort has declined recently.Terry became aware that a new employee,with far less experience,was hired at Terry's current salary.Terry's lack of motivation can best be described by which theory of motivation?

Accepted Answer

A)Equity theory focuses on people evaluating their treatment by the organization relative to the treatment of others.

Question 7

If it were possible to qualify for membership in the "excellence club" by completing a new product deal worth over $1,000,000,then which of the following business developers would have met all of his or her annual goals?

Accepted Answer

D)If completing a new product deal worth $1,000,000 or more gets you into the "excellence club," then Shelly in Choice D qualifies by completing that deal and doing better this year. Choice A:Ali might not qualify because we don't know if he placed in the top ten percent. Choices B and C:Yero and Kelly might not qualify if they didn't do better this year than they did last year. Choice E:We know Bobby completed a deal worth over $1,000,000, but we don't know if it was a new product deal. We're also told that he didn't qualify for the "excellence club."

Question 8

Which of the following,if true,would BEST show that a manager's strategy for motivating his team is consistent with "Theory Y" about employee motivation?

Accepted Answer

B)Theory Y says that employees will be most motivated by factors intrinsic to their work itself. If employees see their work as contributing to their own success, this will help. Choice A is about the incentives and not about how employees are motivated to do the work itself. Choices C and E do not tell whether the manager's strategy will reward employees on factors inherent in the job itself. Choice D would show that the manager's strategy is consistent with Theory X, not Theory Y.

Question 9

Which of the following must be true about the business developers at Oak Meteors during any given year?

Accepted Answer

E)Business developers need to be in the top ten percent in order to meet their annual goals, but it's impossible for everyone to be in the top ten percent, so Choice E is true. At least some (ninety percent, actually)have to fail in this regard. Choice A might be true, but it doesn't need to be. If everyone generates less than they did last year, then no one will meet all of their goals. Choice B need not be true, because we're not told anything about the entire organization. Choice C need not be true, because the people who did better in any given year need not be in the top ten percent overall. Choice D could be true, but need not be true. All of them could meet all their goals if they did better than they did last year.

Question 10

In which of the following situations would the interests of the salesperson be MOST likely to conflict with the interests of the overall organization?

Accepted Answer

D)In Choice D, the individual agent would have an interest in making the sale, but the company would not want to be associated with destroying something popular. So Choice D has a conflict. Choice A involves a conflict with a person outside the company. Choice B is an example of what the company wants to happen. Choice C has no conflict at all. Choice E is a conflict between two of the employee's own interests.

Question 11

Which of the following is a point at issue between Gordon and Linda?

Accepted Answer

E)Gordon thinks that the success of the Zen Park Frantic project demonstrates the superiority of the team-focused product development process. Linda thinks that any change would have resulted in improved performance. So Linda believes that the evidence isn't strong enough to support a general move to team-based product development. So the speakers disagree about Choice E. Choice A:Linda agrees that it was a success, but has a different view about the cause. Choice B:Both speakers agree that it would have been worse using normal procedures. Choice C goes too far to be covered by Linda. She is talking about this organization, not all of them. Choice D:Gordon doesn't mention the "Hawthorne effect," so we don't know what he thinks about it in general. He probably thinks that it doesn't apply here, but Choice D makes a much broader claim.

Question 12

Kent wants to motivate the maintenance staff to be more productive.He starts by providing training and assures employees that high productivity will be rewarded.Employees are asked to identify the rewards that would mean the most to them.Kent likely subscribes to which theory of motivation?

Accepted Answer

B)Kent is attempting to convince the maintenance staff that the company's rewards for their work will be worth the increased productivity; expectancy theory suggests that people are motivated when they feel they have a good chance of obtaining the desired rewards.

Question 13

If the manager's beliefs are all true,which of the following must also be TRUE?

Accepted Answer

D)The manager thinks that when the employees are in positive moods, they will make valuable contributions to staff meetings. So positive moods guarantee valuable contributions, but that doesn't mean that they are necessary for valuable contributions, so Choices C and E need not be true. The manager believes that valuable contributions are necessary for successful meetings, but that does not mean that those contributions guarantee a successful meeting, and so Choice A need not be true. Nothing the manager says suggests what would guarantee a successful meeting, and so Choice B need not be true. But Choice D must be true. Since valuable contributions are necessary for successful meetings, if a meeting doesn't have valuable contributions then it cannot be successful.

Question 14

Macmoo's compensation structure is based on which of the following principles?

Accepted Answer

A)The incentive policy rewards people when a goal (overall success)is met. This potential reward gives people a stake in accomplishing that goal and encourages them to act in order to make it happen. So the designers of the compensation structure are following the principle in Choice A. They think that people will act to accomplish a goal (overall success)because they will be rewarded if it happens. Choice B:The structure is more complicated than it could be, so Choice B doesn't fit. Choice C:There's no provision for the benefit of society in general here. Choice D is good advice, but legal requirements have no role here. Choice E doesn't fit because as far as we know, no salespeople were consulted.

Question 15

A manager criticizes the "excellence club" because she believes that it encourages negative behavior that would not happen otherwise.She believes instead that business developers should be rewarded based on the revenue they bring in.Which of the following,if true,would MOST strongly support this conclusion?

Accepted Answer

E)The "excellence club" rewards people in the top ten percent. That could encourage people to try to earn more in order to qualify. But it could also encourage people to destroy other people's deals in an attempt to bring those rivals out of the top ten percent. Choice E, if true, would be an example of negative behavior that most likely would not occur under the "revenue only" approach. The "excellence club" gives people an incentive to destroy their rivals' deals, but that incentive would disappear if others' performances were irrelevant. Choices A, B, and C are bad things, but they would be encouraged by either approach. Choice D is an example of what the company wants to happen.

Question 16

If,instead of offering incentives for sales goals,a manager were to get ideas on increasing sales revenue from his sales team to implement,which of the following would MOST likely result?

Accepted Answer

A)Letting the sales team engineer their own solution from their own ideas is likely to motivate them much more than merely being given incentives. Choice B describes what may be true in some situations, but being able to engineer their own solutions will be much more motivating. Choices C and D are possible outcomes, but not particularly likely, given the information. Choice E does not apply, since the plan described is not primarily focused on earning more money as the primary motivation.

Question 17

The reasoning behind the company's exercise policy assumes which of the following?

Accepted Answer

E)The company reaps benefits when the employees exercise during the day only if those employees are otherwise couch potatoes. If employees are already exercising during non-work hours, displacing that exercise into the work day has no additional effect, so Choice E is the company's assumption. Choice A:The company doesn't assume that exercise is the most effective way to improve workers' moods, only that it is an effective way. There is no mention in the policy about how strenuous the workers will exercise (Choice B)or whether space or equipment is necessary (Choice D). Choice C:The company is not forcing employees to exercise; it's merely providing the opportunity.

Question 18

Witt's claim that Robin must be dissatisfied assumes which of the following?

Accepted Answer

E)Jonaki is paid more than Robin, and Witt says that will be a barrier to motivation unless there's some kind of persuasive justification. Since Witt concludes that Robin must be dissatisfied, but never mentions anything about any justification, Witt must assume that no persuasive justification was offered. If it were, then the fact that Jonaki is paid more than Robin would not guarantee that Robin is not motivated. Choice A:The argument does assume that Robin is aware of Jonaki's salary, but not the reverse. Choice B:The argument does assume that Robin thinks that the work is comparable, but it does not assume that most people agree. This is about Robin's perspective only. Choice C might be part of a persuasive justification for the difference, which could only weaken the argument. Choice D sounds like something Peck would say, but Witt says that these fairness considerations apply no matter what else is going on. So nothing about the incentive program need be assumed.

Question 19

All of the following questions are relevant to the company's decision with respect to its exercise policy EXCEPT:

Accepted Answer

C)All of the choices are relevant except Choice C. The policy is designed to help the workers as they are now. The company can't go back in time and change the patterns they formed in the past.

Question 20

Suppose that Oak Meteors institutes a "Super Bonus" program that provides a large cash award for the business developer with the greatest year-to-year increase in revenue.A manager claims that this would encourage business developers to do poorly in one year in order to make it easier to do much better in the subsequent year.All of the following would help address this concern EXCEPT:

Accepted Answer

B)Giving a bonus for a big increase can give people an incentive to underperform in one year, making it easier to get that big increase in the second year. To stop this, Oak Meteors could use its judgment to disqualify people who seem to be doing this, as Choices D and E suggest. Oak Meteors could also use a clear rule such as the one in Choice A. Choice C also addresses the problem, because the business developers can't go back in time and sabotage last year's performance. If Choice C is true and the award is never offered again, there will be no year in which the employees have an incentive to underperform. The one that doesn't help is Choice B. Switching to a percentage increase gives people even more of an incentive to underperform. If someone earned $1 this year and $100 next year, their revenue would have gone up by only $99, but it would have gone up by a staggering 9900 percent! That's a big percentage increase and a terrible performance.

Quiz 8: Employee Behavior and Motivation