Question 1

_____ means the extent to which an individual contributes to achieving the goals and objectives of an organization.

Accepted Answer

Performance is the most fitting choice as it directly relates to an individual's contribution towards the goals and objectives of an organization. Motivation, involvement, and engagement can all be factors that contribute to an individual's performance.

Question 2

_____ entails "vertical job loading" in which workers are given more authority,responsibility,and autonomy rather than simply more or different work to do.

Accepted Answer

Job enrichment entails "vertical job loading" in which workers are given more authority, responsibility, and autonomy rather than simply more or different work to do. It involves increasing the level of responsibility and control that an employee has over his or her job. Job enlargement involves adding more tasks to a job to make it more challenging or varied, while job rotation involves moving a worker from one job to another to provide variety and expose the worker to different tasks and skills. Job description, on the other hand, is a written statement that describes the tasks, duties, and responsibilities of a job.

Question 3

_____ indicates the need of workers to be accountable for the quality and quantity of work produced.

Accepted Answer

Experienced responsibility refers to the need for workers to be accountable for the quality and quantity of work produced. It involves a sense of ownership and accountability for one's performance and outcomes. Experienced meaningfulness refers to the need for workers to find their work meaningful and fulfilling. Knowledge of results and experienced motivation are related to the feedback and intrinsic motivation provided by the work itself.

Question 4

_____ employees make up one of the largest segments of the workforce.

Accepted Answer

Customer-contact employees refer to those who directly interact with customers. This includes customer service representatives, salespeople, and retail workers. As these types of jobs are often prevalent in industries such as retail, hospitality, and food service, customer-contact employees make up a significant portion of the workforce.

Question 5

In order to empower employees with the required skills and attitude,significant changes in the work system need to be made.Which of the following is NOT one of them?

Accepted Answer

Giving employees discretion in choosing work-hours and schedules is not necessarily a significant change in the work system. It may be a helpful perk or benefit, but it is not a fundamental shift in the way work is organized or managed. A, B, and C all involve changes in the culture and communication within the organization, which can have a big impact on employee empowerment and engagement.

Question 6

David Geisler suggests that what traditionally passes for empowerment does not allow employees to use their skills and talents to the maximum and promotes the concept of _____ as an extension of empowerment.

Accepted Answer

David Geisler suggests that self-determination is an extension of empowerment, allowing employees to fully utilize their skills and talents.

Question 7

_____ implies that all workers feel the need to know how their work is evaluated and the outcome of their evaluation.

Accepted Answer

Knowledge of results refers to the workers' need to know how their work is being evaluated and what the outcome of their evaluation is. This knowledge enables them to identify areas where improvement is needed and take steps to meet performance expectations. Experienced meaningfulness, responsibility, and motivation are also important for employee engagement but do not specifically address the need for feedback and evaluation.

Question 8

Deming argued that the performance appraisal process was detrimental because it usually fails to account for _____ factors that affect individual performance.

Accepted Answer

Deming believed that performance appraisals often overlook systemic factors, which are the broader organizational and environmental influences that impact individual performance.

Question 9

Herzberg's Two-Factor theory suggests that two types of factors affect job performance.These factors are:

Accepted Answer

Herzberg's Two-Factor theory suggests that there are maintenance factors (such as salary, job security, and work conditions) that must be met in order to prevent job dissatisfaction, and motivational factors (such as recognition, achievement, and growth opportunities) that drive job satisfaction and performance. Therefore, choice D is the best answer as it accurately reflects the two types of factors identified in the theory.

Question 10

_____ is a shift of decision responsibility downward within an organization.

Accepted Answer

Empowerment is the shift of decision-making power from management to employees, allowing them to make decisions about their work without needing to go through a manager. This means that the responsibility for decision-making is shifted downward in the organization, giving employees more control over their work and allowing them to be more efficient and effective in their roles.

Question 11

_____ is the psychological need of workers to have the feeling that their work is a significant contribution to the organization and society.

Accepted Answer

Experienced meaningfulness is the psychological need of workers to have the feeling that their work is a significant contribution to the organization and society. It is one of the three critical psychological states that promote intrinsic motivation according to the Job Characteristics Theory. The other two are experienced responsibility and knowledge of results.

Question 12

________ is a performance appraisal approach in which a group of individuals who interact with the employee on a frequent basis participate in both the goal-setting process and the performance appraisal process.

Accepted Answer

360-degree feedback involves input from a variety of sources, including coworkers, supervisors, and sometimes even customers. This approach allows for a more comprehensive evaluation of an employee's performance and can help identify areas for improvement. It involves both goal-setting and performance appraisal, and the input from multiple perspectives can provide a more well-rounded assessment.

Question 13

The purpose of _____ is to renew interest or motivation of the individual and to increase his or her complement of skills.

Accepted Answer

Job rotation involves periodically moving employees to different positions within the organization in order to expose them to new experiences and develop a wider range of skills. This can help renew their interest and motivation in their work, as well as increase their skill set, making them more valuable to the organization. Job enlargement refers to expanding an employee's current job responsibilities, while job enrichment involves adding more meaningful tasks and decision-making power to a job. Job descriptions are written summaries of a job's duties and requirements.

Question 14

An integrating theory referred to as the Hackman and Oldham model,on how job design impacts motivation,satisfaction,and organizational effectiveness contains four major segments.Which of the following is NOT one of them?

Accepted Answer

The four major segments of the Hackman and Oldham model are critical psychological states, core job characteristics, critical psychological states, and outcomes. Enhancing variables are not a major segment of the model.

Question 15

_____ refers to work approaches used to systematically pursue ever-higher levels of overall organizational and human performance.

Accepted Answer

High-performance work refers to work approaches that aim to achieve higher levels of overall organizational and human performance through strategies such as continuous improvement, employee involvement, and use of technology. Motivational involvement refers to strategies for engaging employees in the work process, excellence management is a vague term and not specific to performance improvement, and performance management is focused on individual employee performance rather than overall organizational performance.

Question 16

All of the following are critical psychological states that drive the Hackman and Oldham model EXCEPT:

Accepted Answer

Task significance is a core job characteristic, not a critical psychological state, in the Hackman and Oldham model.

Question 17

In a research conducted on the top employee needs,managers believed _____ to be the number one factor.

Accepted Answer

Managers believed pay to be the number one factor in employee needs.

Question 18

Herzberg's theory suggests that ignoring _____ factors such as supervision,working conditions,salary,peer relations,status,and security will produce dissatisfaction and negatively impact the work environment,while enhancing the _____ factors will produce a positive effect.

Accepted Answer

Herzberg's theory divides factors that affect job satisfaction and motivation into two categories: maintenance factors (also called hygiene factors), including supervision, working conditions, salary, peer relations, status, and security, which, if absent or inadequate, can cause dissatisfaction among employees; and motivating factors, such as achievement, recognition, growth, and responsibility, which, if present and appropriately addressed, can lead to job satisfaction and motivation. Therefore, the best choice is B, as it reflects Herzberg's theory of maintenance and motivating factors.

Question 19

Job enlargement resulted in all of the following EXCEPT:

Accepted Answer

Job enlargement typically involves adding more variety to a worker's duties, which reduces fragmentation of jobs rather than increasing it.

Question 20

_____ is commonly one of the highest initial costs of a quality initiative.

Accepted Answer

Training is commonly one of the highest initial costs of a quality initiative, as it requires time, resources, and expertise to train employees on new processes and procedures. New equipment and appraisal costs can also be significant, but may not be as high as the costs associated with training. Turnover costs, while important to consider, are not directly related to the initial costs of a quality initiative.

Quiz 6: High Performance Workforce Management