Question 1

Donnell is a computer programmer whose job performance rating notes the fact that he often goes out to the parking lot and sits in his car during lunch hour. He is otherwise sociable and never late coming back from lunch; therefore, this is not an appropriate item to include on his job performance rating because it
A) is not a behavior relevant to the accomplishment of organizational goals.
B) demonstrates an undue focus on interpersonal citizenship behavior.
C) relates to his task performance rather than his job performance.
D) implies that he is doing something wrong by sitting in his car.
E) concerns citizenship behavior rather than job performance.

Accepted Answer

The definition of job performance includes behaviors that are within the control of employees, but it places a boundary on which behaviors are (and are not) relevant to job performance. Since Donnell's lunchtime habits do not interfere with his work, it is not a relevant issue.

Question 2

Employee behaviors that are directly involved in the transformation of organizational resources into the goods or services that the organization produces are referred to collectively as
A) behaviorally anchored rating scales.
B) citizenship behavior.
C) task performance.
D) job performance.
E) civic virtue.

Accepted Answer

Task performance refers to employee behaviors that are directly involved in the transformation of organizational resources into the goods or services that the organization produces.

Question 3

An artist, Martel is known for his bright canvases awash in extraordinary color combinations. His pieces bring tens of thousands of dollars at auction, and this allows him to pay the salary of assistants, such as Brendan. An aspiring young painter, Brendan mixes paints, cleans brushes, and maintains the inventory of art supplies in Martel's studio. The difference between their two positions is best described in organizational terms by saying that Martel's work involves ________ task performance.
A) creative task performance, whereas Brendan's is primarily concerned with adaptive
B) adaptive task performance, whereas Brendan's is primarily concerned with creative
C) adaptive task performance, whereas Brendan's is primarily concerned with routine
D) routine task performance, whereas Brendan's is primarily concerned with adaptive
E) creative task performance, whereas Brendan's is primarily concerned with routine

Accepted Answer

Creative task performance is the degree to which individuals develop ideas or physical outcomes that are both novel and useful, whereas routine task performance involves well-known responses to demands that occur in a normal, routine, or otherwise predictable way. Martel has become famous because of his paintings, which are both novel and (because they give people pleasure) useful. Though Brendan aspires to be known as an artist in his own right, at present his job involves little creativity-an example of routine task performance.

Question 4

Remaining composed and cool when faced with difficult circumstances or a highly demanding workload or schedule, and acting as a calming and settling influence to whom others can look for guidance, are all part of ________, one of the behaviors involved in adaptability.
A) dealing with uncertain and unpredictable work situations
B) handling emergencies or crisis situations
C) demonstrating interpersonal adaptability
D) solving problems creatively
E) handling work stress

Accepted Answer

Handling work stress involves remaining composed and cool when faced with difficult circumstances or a highly demanding workload or schedule, and acting as a calming and settling influence to whom others can look for guidance

Question 5

________ is the value of the set of employee behaviors that contribute, either positively or negatively, to organizational goal accomplishment.
A) Citizenship behavior
B) Task performance
C) Job performance
D) Knowledge work
E) Civic virtue

Accepted Answer

Job performance is formally defined as the value of the set of employee behaviors that contribute, either positively or negatively, to organizational goal accomplishment. Job performance includes behaviors that are within the control of employees, but it places a boundary on which behaviors are (and are not) relevant to job performance.

Question 6

Employee responses to job demands that are novel, unusual, or unpredictable are a part of
A) job performance.
B) adaptive task performance.
C) job analysis.
D) routine task performance.
E) citizenship behavior.

Accepted Answer

Adaptive task performance, or more commonly "adaptability," involves employee responses to task demands that are novel, unusual, or, at the very least, unpredictable.

Question 7

Damita finds an advertisement for a bookkeeper position at a small business. The ad mentions handling accounts payable and accounts receivable, payroll, worker's compensation and unemployment insurance, and other financial matters related to the operation of the company. These items in the job description are all examples of
A) job analysis.
B) task performance.
C) job performance.
D) citizenship behavior.
E) forced ranking.

Accepted Answer

Task performance is the set of explicit obligations that an employee must fulfill to receive compensation and continued employment. For an accountant, task performance involves preparing, examining, and analyzing accounting records for accuracy and completeness. These are part of the daily work that an accountant is expected to perform.

Question 8

Today, Jamie, a police officer with a big-city force, apprehended a suspect fleeing the scene of a convenience store robbery. The suspect ran for three blocks before Jamie managed to tackle and handcuff him and read him his rights, by which time other officers had arrived on the scene to take him down to the station for booking. Jamie later described the situation to family and friends as "all in a day's work," but in organizational terms this is an example of
A) job performance.
B) citizenship behavior.
C) routine task performance.
D) creative task performance.
E) adaptive task performance.

Accepted Answer

Adaptive task performance, or more commonly "adaptability," involves employee responses to task demands that are novel, unusual, or, at the very least, unpredictable. It includes such behaviors as handling emergencies and crisis situations.

Question 9

Vincenza is an accountant whose client list includes an array of Fortune 500 companies. She has developed algorithms that have saved her clients millions of dollars, and as many satisfied customers have said, her solutions are often unexpected, but always legal and always effective. Yet Vincenza says that the real star in her family is her younger sister Siena, whose poetry has been published in a number of journals. Siena's poetry does not pay the bills, but it did get her noticed by a major publisher, who employed her to work in their mail room-a job that has given Siena the opportunity to meet a number of famous authors. In terms of organizational behavior, the best way to describe the difference between Vincenza's and Siena's jobs is to say that Vincenza's job ________ than Siena's.
A) is much more involved in creative task performance
B) requires a good deal more education
C) has more to do with routine tasks
D) involves much less creativity
E) pays much more

Accepted Answer

Creative task performance is the degree to which individuals develop ideas or physical outcomes that are both novel and useful. Although you might be tempted to believe that creative task performance is only relevant to jobs such as artist and inventor, its emphasis has been increasing across a wide variety of jobs. The solutions Vincenza offers her clients are both novel and useful, whereas Siena's job-even if it is for a publisher of creative works-most likely involves much more routine tasks. And while Vincenza's job may indeed pay more and require more education, those are not matters related directly to organizational behavior in general or task performance in particular.

Question 10

Selena sells luxury cars for a living, but in recent months her sales have slumped. This is partly due to an economic recession, which has led to a downturn in the market. In addition, Selena has been distracted by the fact that her mother has been in the hospital. As a result of her decline in sales, Selena recently received a bad job performance rating. Why would she have grounds to dispute this rating?
A) Her mother's illness is a factor beyond her control.
B) Results do not tell her how to reverse a "bad year."
C) The economic downturn is a factor beyond her control.
D) Her manager's focus on the bottom line has led to social undermining.
E) She is contributing to the organization in ways that go beyond the bottom line.

Accepted Answer

As sensible as it might seem to use results as the primary indicator of job performance, it creates potential problems. Results are often influenced by factors that are beyond the employees' control-product quality, competition, equipment, technology, budget constraints, coworkers, and supervisors, just to name a few. While her mother's illness is also a factor beyond Selena's control, this is an outside matter not directly related to her work at the luxury car dealership.

Question 11

Cheryl continually boosts morale at the sales office of Monroe Consumer Products, and she has helped a number of her colleagues through difficult situations. Nevertheless, she received a bad job performance rating due to the fact that her sales for the quarter were down. This job performance rating is
A) wrong; Cheryl is contributing to the organization in ways that go beyond the bottom line.
B) wrong; an emphasis on results such as sales would encourage Cheryl to behave unethically.
C) right; even if Cheryl can claim problems that were beyond her control, it is no one's concern but her own.
D) right; if Cheryl is rewarded with a good job performance rating, it will encourage other employees to slack off.
E) right; in spite of her positive qualities, Cheryl has failed to produce, and results are what really matter in the end.

Accepted Answer

Employees contribute to their organization in ways that go beyond bottom-line results, and so evaluating an employee's performance based on results alone might give you an inaccurate picture of which employees are worth more to the organization.

Question 12

As the manager of the local Express Package Services, a retail shipping facility, DeAnna is evaluating the employees who work at the counter. She looks at such factors as positive or negative customer comments about each employee, their sales relative to those of their coworkers, the amount of time they spend with each customer, and so forth. DeAnna is evaluating each of these employees in terms of their
A) task performance.
B) job performance.
C) citizenship behavior.
D) counterproductive behavior.
E) courtesy.

Accepted Answer

Job performance is formally defined as the value of the set of employee behaviors that contribute, either positively or negatively, to organizational goal accomplishment. This includes behaviors that are within the control of employees, but it places a boundary on which behaviors are (and are not) relevant to job performance.

Question 13

In their evaluation of his performance as a trainer in the sales department of Ogilvy Pharmaceuticals, Jeremy's supervisors look at such factors as the amount of time he spends with each of his trainees, his coverage of all key points in training, his success rate in turning out trained salespeople within the amount of time allotted, and so forth. In other words, Jeremy's supervisors are evaluating his
A) task performance.
B) job performance.
C) service work.
D) boosterism.
E) civic virtue.

Accepted Answer

Job performance is formally defined as the value of the set of employee behaviors that contribute, either positively or negatively, to organizational goal accomplishment. Job performance includes behaviors that are within the control of employees, but it places a boundary on which behaviors are (and are not) relevant to job performance.

Question 14

The explicit obligations that an employee must fulfill to receive compensation and continued employment are referred to as
A) job performance.
B) citizenship behavior.
C) knowledge work.
D) task performance.
E) civic virtue.

Accepted Answer

Task performance is the set of explicit obligations that an employee must fulfill to receive compensation and continued employment. Task performance behaviors focus on the tasks, duties, and responsibilities that are a core part of the job.

Question 15

Well-known responses to normal job demands that occur in a predictable way are a part of
A) job performance.
B) adaptive task performance.
C) knowledge work.
D) routine task performance.
E) citizenship behavior.

Accepted Answer

Routine task performance involves well-known responses to demands that occur in a normal, routine, or otherwise predictable way. In these cases, employees tend to behave in more or less habitual or programmed ways that vary little from one instance to another.

Question 16

Agnes is an inventor whose work has made people's lives better in a number of ways. As one commentator observed, "It's not just that her work is original-wearing shoes on your head is original-but it's also useful." Agnes's work is an example of
A) organizational citizenship behavior.
B) interpersonal citizenship behavior.
C) adaptive task performance.
D) creative task performance.
E) routine task performance.

Accepted Answer

Creative task performance refers to the degree to which individuals develop ideas or physical outcomes that are both novel and useful.

Question 17

Teresa works in a chemical factory where her job involves inspecting containers of kerosene as they pass down the assembly line. She goes through a five-step process compliant with safety regulations laid down in the company manual, and she seldom has to think about her work. One day, however, a fire broke out on the line, and Teresa, who saw it before anyone else, grabbed an extinguisher just in time. Had she not acted quickly, the fire would have quickly spread, potentially resulting in widespread injuries and even death. In terms of organizational behavior, what is the best way to describe this situation?
A) Teresa's job is usually very routine, but on this occasion it became exciting.
B) Teresa's job demands that she remain vigilant, but this time she needed to be extra-vigilant.
C) Normally, Teresa's job involves routine task performance, but this situation required adaptability.
D) Usually, Teresa's job calls for routine task performance, but in this situation she had to be creative.
E) On a typical day, Teresa's job requires adaptability, but this situation called for creative task performance.

Accepted Answer

Teresa's job primarily involves routine task performance, but the fire required adaptive task performance, or adaptability. Though heroic, her act did not qualify as an example of creative task performance because using a fire extinguisher is an obvious rather than a novel solution to an outbreak of fire.

Question 18

LeAnne is exhausted after another long day of answering the phones at the law firm of Boardman, Holloway, and Shriver. She says those three names several hundred times a day, followed by "How my direct your call?" This is an example of
A) adaptive task performance.
B) routine task performance.
C) citizenship behavior.
D) job performance.
E) knowledge work.

Accepted Answer

Routine task performance involves well-known responses to demands that occur in a normal, routine, or otherwise predictable way. In these cases, employees tend to behave in more or less habitual or programmed ways that vary little from one instance to another.

Question 19

When job performance evaluation time rolls around, Michael always comes out ahead of his coworkers, but his success comes at a price. He has been known to give his supervisors negative (and sometimes unTrue) information about his coworkers, and when it looks as though someone else may be about to get a better job performance evaluation, bad things tend to happen to that person, such as lost paperwork and missed meetings due to deleted calendar appointments. In terms of organizational behavior and the principles of job performance evaluations, it is clear that
A) the organization has failed to create a sense of group cohesion and an attitude of organizational citizenship.
B) unethical behavior on the part of his supervisors has led Michael to seek advancement by any means possible.
C) Michael is showing the kind of resourcefulness that rightly has earned him high job performance ratings in the past.
D) other employees have failed to understand, as Michael clearly has, that personal success equates with organizational success.
E) his supervisors' emphasis on results has created an environment in which an employee might use unethical behavior to get ahead.

Accepted Answer

There is evidence that managers' focus on bottom-line results can create a bottom-line mentality among employees, which in turn, results in social undermining-sabotaging coworkers' reputations or trying to make them look bad. Similarly, the quest to enhance the bottom line may lead employees to violate policies and regulations, which in turn, may result in staggering legal fees, fines, and lost customers.

Question 20

Handling work stress and emergencies, solving problems creatively, and responding to unpredictable demands are all aspects of
A) citizenship behavior.
B) civic virtue.
C) helping.
D) adaptability.
E) service work.

Accepted Answer

Adaptability involves handling work stress, solving problems creatively, handling emergencies, responding to unpredictable demands, and other qualities.

Quiz 2: Job Performance

Employee behaviors that are directly involved in the transformation of organizational resources into the goods or services that the organization produces are referred to collectively as

Remaining composed and cool when faced with difficult circumstances or a highly demanding workload or schedule, and acting as a calming and settling influence to whom others can look for guidance, are all part of ________, one of the behaviors involved in adaptability.

________ is the value of the set of employee behaviors that contribute, either positively or negatively, to organizational goal accomplishment.

Employee responses to job demands that are novel, unusual, or unpredictable are a part of

The explicit obligations that an employee must fulfill to receive compensation and continued employment are referred to as

Well-known responses to normal job demands that occur in a predictable way are a part of

Agnes is an inventor whose work has made people's lives better in a number of ways. As one commentator observed, "It's not just that her work is original-wearing shoes on your head is original-but it's also useful." Agnes's work is an example of

LeAnne is exhausted after another long day of answering the phones at the law firm of Boardman, Holloway, and Shriver. She says those three names several hundred times a day, followed by "How my direct your call?" This is an example of

Handling work stress and emergencies, solving problems creatively, and responding to unpredictable demands are all aspects of