Jasmine Dimm is a call centre manager for Tostra, a mobile phone company. Call centre operators at her call centre are responsible for making sales calls to customers to promote Tostra's new products. Jasmine sets two performance targets for her operators: sales and average call duration. Every 6 months, any call centre operator who can achieve both targets goes into a random draw with a one-in-ten chance of winning a $50 supermarket giftcard.
All her call centre operators agree that these two targets are clearly specified, objectively measured and achievable with hard work. However, the call centre operators are still unhappy with the new incentive system. According to the expectancy theory, this is because:
A) the incentive system lacks valence and instrumentality.
B) the incentive system lacks expectancy.
C) the incentive system lacks expectancy and valence.
D) the incentive system lacks expectancy and instrumentality.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The incentive system lacks valence and instrumentality because the reward (a $50 supermarket giftcard) may not be valued highly by all employees (valence), and the link between achieving the targets and receiving a meaningful reward (instrumentality) is weakened by the random draw, making it uncertain if effort will lead to the desired reward.

Jasmine Dimm Is a Call Centre Manager for Tostra, a Mobile