Question 1

Lisa ordered in pizza for her staff that are staying late to finish month end.According to reinforcement theory this is referred to as:

Accepted Answer

Providing pizza as a reward for working late is an example of positive reinforcement, as it is adding a positive consequence (pizza) to increase the likelihood of the behavior (staying late to finish month end) happening again in the future.

Question 2

Kelly,a single mother,recently re-entered the workforce in order to be able to pay for her most basic needs,namely food shelter and clothing for her and her son.According to Maslow,which need level was she trying to fulfill?

Accepted Answer

Kelly is trying to fulfill her physiological needs, which include basic necessities such as food, shelter, and clothing, according to Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

Question 3

Harry was concerned about Karen,of his best employees.She was great at what she did,but she was chronically late for work.To correct this,every time Karen wasn't late for work,he made a point of acknowledging it.Harry was utilizing

Accepted Answer

Harry was using continuous reinforcement by acknowledging Karen every time she was not late, reinforcing her punctual behavior consistently.

Question 4

Often when Roy notices that a customer service agent in his department is successful in helping a difficult client,he makes an effort to acknowledge the agent with a sincere thank you.According to reinforcement theory,Roy is utilizing

Accepted Answer

Roy is utilizing positive reinforcement by acknowledging the agent's successful behavior (providing good customer service) with a thank you. Positive reinforcement is when a desired behavior is rewarded or reinforced with a positive outcome.

Question 5

When Brock was recently deciding between two job offers,his decision came down to which offer reflected the better health insurance,pension plan,and safe working conditions.According to Maslow,which need level is he focusing on in his decision?

Accepted Answer

Brock is focusing on the safety need level, which encompasses things such as job security, safe working conditions, and benefits like health insurance and a pension plan.

Question 6

SCENARIO 4-8 Central Manufacturing Inc.fabricates medium- and large-scale watercraft,primarily for commercial use.They also manufacture accessories for a variety of boats and marine service vessels.Central Manufacturing struggles to keep costs down while maintaining profitability in a highly competitive market.Military and commercial contracts are its main source of business.Employees at Central Manufacturing appear to be dedicated individuals who,through their combined efforts,were able to save the company $1.5 million in energy costs by means of simple efficiency.For this initiative,they did not receive much recognition other than some encouragement and T-shirts recognizing their contribution to the company.Robert West,operations supervisor,believed that if other savings could be realized the company would welcome them.Although supportive of employee efforts,Robert didn't acknowledge the impact on the company's bottom line.Dan White,vice president of operations,recognized that Central Manufacturing needed to change its operations in order to shake its bureaucratic and authoritarian image.Although Robert praised employees and talked about performance,the reward process was limited.Dan undertook the initiative to change things,which meant creating a new process for both managers like Robert West and his employees.The employees had assumed that they were fairly secure in their jobs,since the company had a monopoly on specialized watercraft manufacturing.As with most manufacturing concerns in Canada,however,when a recession occurred,200 employees,representing about one third of the workforce,were suddenly laid off.Although this was a major blow to Central Manufacturing,Dan White and George North,director of human resources,launched a new program to track,monitor,measure,recognize and reward employees for their efforts.Accountability and performance were to be a major focus in these programs.As the program commenced,some employees and their supervisors started to display progress charts.More ideas for operations improvement began to flow once it became evident what was actually going on.Positive feedback was forthcoming from customers and Dan realized that his initiative was starting to pay off.
-Refer to Scenario 4-8.Robert West appeared to be a manager oriented towards traditional ways of doing things.He was convinced that individuals needed to be monitored carefully with respect to their jobs and the tasks they accomplished.It is likely that Robert

Accepted Answer

Robert West's belief in closely monitoring employees and his lack of recognition for their contributions suggests that he is a Theory X manager, who assumes that employees are inherently lazy and need to be closely supervised and motivated through rewards and punishments.

Question 7

When an instructor expects her students to do well so she spends extra time with them in preparing for their exam and they all get above eight percent.

Accepted Answer

This scenario is an example of operant conditioning, where the instructor's expectation and the subsequent extra time spent with students act as a form of reinforcement, encouraging the behavior of studying and leading to improved exam scores.

Question 8

Tonya was confused.In order to motivate Sam,one of her employees,she began to pay him for work that she knew he liked to do and for which he was previously not paid.However,she noticed that his overall level of motivation appeared to decrease.The motivation theory that best explains this change is

Accepted Answer

According to cognitive evaluation theory, providing extrinsic rewards for tasks that individuals already find intrinsically motivating can actually decrease their overall level of motivation. In this case, Sam may have been initially motivated by the enjoyment of the work itself, but by introducing payment for this work, it may have caused him to perceive the activity as now being done primarily for the external reward rather than for his own enjoyment, thus decreasing his overall motivation.

Question 9

Tina is consistently late for work,so her boss has 'written her up' and reported this behavior to the human resources department.According to reinforcement theory,'writing Tina up' is referred to as:

Accepted Answer

'Writing Tina up' is an example of punishment, as it is an attempt to decrease the likelihood of her being consistently late for work. Punishment involves the application of an aversive stimulus to decrease the frequency of an undesired behavior.

Question 10

Based on her long experience as a manager,Stella was convinced that people exert higher levels of effort when the goals set out for them are challenging and specific.Stella appears to be an advocate of

Accepted Answer

Stella's belief that people work harder when goals are challenging and specific aligns with the principles of goal-setting theory, which states that setting specific and challenging goals leads to higher levels of performance and motivation.

Question 11

ABC Inc.is well known as a company that uses a human relations approach; the company nurtures creativity and self-control in its employees.This company was following

Accepted Answer

Theory Y proposes that employees can enjoy work and that it can be a natural part of human life. This theory assumes that employees want to be productive, creative, and seek self-control. Therefore, ABC Inc. is following Theory Y since it encourages creativity and self-control in its employees.

Question 12

When dealing with his employees,Ted sets aside time to find out what kind of rewards each of his employees prefers and strives to offer these in the work environment He is likely following

Accepted Answer

Ted is following expectancy theory, which suggests that individuals will be motivated to perform at a high level if they believe their efforts will lead to good performance, good performance will lead to rewards, and those rewards will be valuable to them. By finding out what rewards each of his employees prefers and striving to offer these in the work environment, Ted is effectively catering to each employee's individual values and preferences, which is consistent with the principles of expectancy theory.

Question 13

Jason faced an uproar recently after his employees received their annual pay increases.The employees complained that the company didn't follow a fair process in awarding the increases.This is an example of

Accepted Answer

The employees' complaints suggest that the company did not follow a fair process in awarding the pay increases, indicating a lack of procedural justice. Distributive justice refers to the fairness of the actual outcomes, interactional justice applies to the quality of interpersonal treatment during a procedure, operant justice is not a recognized term, and equitable justice is not a commonly used term in this context.

Question 14

Which of the following is a process theory of motivation?

Accepted Answer

Expectancy theory is a process theory of motivation that explains how people make decisions regarding various behavioral alternatives based on the degree to which they believe that their efforts will lead to a particular outcome. It suggests that employees are motivated when they believe that their efforts will lead to high performance and high performance will lead to desired outcomes or rewards. The other options (A, C, D, E) are content theories which explain what motivates people rather than how motivation occurs.

Question 15

Zeke was a manager who believed that,in general,people disliked work; he believed people had to be forced or threatened with punishment to motivate them to work.Zeke believes in which of the following management theories?

Accepted Answer

Zeke's belief that people dislike work and need to be forced or punished to work aligns with Theory X, which assumes that employees are generally lazy, need to be directed and controlled, and will avoid work whenever possible.

Question 16

Lonkar Ltd.issues weekly paychecks and is referred to as what type of schedule of reinforcement?

Accepted Answer

Lonkar Ltd. issues paychecks on a fixed-interval schedule, as they are issued at regular, predetermined intervals (weekly in this case).

Question 17

Employees are required to complete the frustrating task of weekly status reports.However,Jason regularly demonstrates that he can meet deadlines consistently so his supervisor informed Jason that he no longer has to complete a weekly status reports.According to reinforcement theory,removing the task of weekly status reports for Jason is referred to as:

Accepted Answer

Removing the task of weekly status reports for Jason, which is an aversive task, is an example of negative reinforcement. Negative reinforcement involves the removal of a negative or aversive stimulus to increase the likelihood of a desired behavior.

Question 18

Don was a real "people person" so he was glad when his employer began to emphasize working in teams.Don enjoyed working with others as opposed to by himself.According to Maslow,which need level is motivating Don?

Accepted Answer

Don's motivation comes from the need for social interaction and connection, which is the focus of the social need level according to Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

Question 19

SCENARIO 4-8 Central Manufacturing Inc.fabricates medium- and large-scale watercraft,primarily for commercial use.They also manufacture accessories for a variety of boats and marine service vessels.Central Manufacturing struggles to keep costs down while maintaining profitability in a highly competitive market.Military and commercial contracts are its main source of business.Employees at Central Manufacturing appear to be dedicated individuals who,through their combined efforts,were able to save the company $1.5 million in energy costs by means of simple efficiency.For this initiative,they did not receive much recognition other than some encouragement and T-shirts recognizing their contribution to the company.Robert West,operations supervisor,believed that if other savings could be realized the company would welcome them.Although supportive of employee efforts,Robert didn't acknowledge the impact on the company's bottom line.Dan White,vice president of operations,recognized that Central Manufacturing needed to change its operations in order to shake its bureaucratic and authoritarian image.Although Robert praised employees and talked about performance,the reward process was limited.Dan undertook the initiative to change things,which meant creating a new process for both managers like Robert West and his employees.The employees had assumed that they were fairly secure in their jobs,since the company had a monopoly on specialized watercraft manufacturing.As with most manufacturing concerns in Canada,however,when a recession occurred,200 employees,representing about one third of the workforce,were suddenly laid off.Although this was a major blow to Central Manufacturing,Dan White and George North,director of human resources,launched a new program to track,monitor,measure,recognize and reward employees for their efforts.Accountability and performance were to be a major focus in these programs.As the program commenced,some employees and their supervisors started to display progress charts.More ideas for operations improvement began to flow once it became evident what was actually going on.Positive feedback was forthcoming from customers and Dan realized that his initiative was starting to pay off.
-Refer to Scenario 4-8.In the long term,White decides that equity theory will provide the best guidance for motivating and providing recognition to the employees.He is also aware that the unions may battle his new initiatives.Equity theory demonstrates that,for most employees,motivation is influenced

Accepted Answer

Equity theory suggests that motivation is significantly influenced by the relative rewards compared to others in similar positions, as well as the absolute rewards received. This means that employees want to feel that they are being fairly rewarded compared to others, and not just receiving a set amount regardless of their efforts. By using this theory, Dan White can ensure that the employees are being recognized and rewarded fairly and equitably, which should motivate and encourage them to continue their efforts. However, there may be resistance from the unions, as they may perceive these initiatives as a threat to their traditional role in negotiating wages and benefits for employees.

Question 20

SCENARIO 4-8 Central Manufacturing Inc.fabricates medium- and large-scale watercraft,primarily for commercial use.They also manufacture accessories for a variety of boats and marine service vessels.Central Manufacturing struggles to keep costs down while maintaining profitability in a highly competitive market.Military and commercial contracts are its main source of business.Employees at Central Manufacturing appear to be dedicated individuals who,through their combined efforts,were able to save the company $1.5 million in energy costs by means of simple efficiency.For this initiative,they did not receive much recognition other than some encouragement and T-shirts recognizing their contribution to the company.Robert West,operations supervisor,believed that if other savings could be realized the company would welcome them.Although supportive of employee efforts,Robert didn't acknowledge the impact on the company's bottom line.Dan White,vice president of operations,recognized that Central Manufacturing needed to change its operations in order to shake its bureaucratic and authoritarian image.Although Robert praised employees and talked about performance,the reward process was limited.Dan undertook the initiative to change things,which meant creating a new process for both managers like Robert West and his employees.The employees had assumed that they were fairly secure in their jobs,since the company had a monopoly on specialized watercraft manufacturing.As with most manufacturing concerns in Canada,however,when a recession occurred,200 employees,representing about one third of the workforce,were suddenly laid off.Although this was a major blow to Central Manufacturing,Dan White and George North,director of human resources,launched a new program to track,monitor,measure,recognize and reward employees for their efforts.Accountability and performance were to be a major focus in these programs.As the program commenced,some employees and their supervisors started to display progress charts.More ideas for operations improvement began to flow once it became evident what was actually going on.Positive feedback was forthcoming from customers and Dan realized that his initiative was starting to pay off.
-Refer to Scenario 4-8.White recognizes that equity theory will play a large role in how he organizes and develops his new program.Individual employees have a tendency to compare themselves with others and have a series of options available to them if they perceive that some sort of inequity exists.Which of the following is a typical employee response to a perceived inequity?

Accepted Answer

According to equity theory, if an employee perceives an inequity, such as feeling underpaid compared to a coworker, they may have a tendency to quit their job in order to seek a more equitable situation. This is known as the "exit" option in the theory. Option A is incorrect, as employees may reduce their effort in the face of perceived inequities. Option B is incorrect, as employees may attempt to change their outcomes by seeking higher pay or better working conditions. Option C is incorrect, as employees may adjust their perceptions of others or the situation in order to reduce the perceived inequity. Option E is also incorrect, as goal setting is not necessarily related to equity theory or employee responses to perceived inequities.

Quiz 4: Theories of Motivation