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Questions
Q:
Janet, a production manager, thinks management by objectives is a good way to measure performance results of employees in an organization. However, her colleague, Ferdinand, disagrees with her. Whose argument is correct and why?
A. Ferdinand is right because the goals in this strategy are subjective.
B. Janet is right because managers and employees have to set their own goals independently.
C. Ferdinand is right because management by objectives can have negative consequences on productivity.
D. Janet is right because results-oriented performance measurement is relatively easy to link to the organization's goals.
E. Ferdinand is right because management by objectives focuses only on individual goals.
Q:
In the context of methods for measuring performance, alternation ranking is a variation of _____ ranking.
A. simple
B. distributed
C. paired
D. attribute
E. scalar
Q:
Payne Corp. wants to assess the performance of its employees. It uses a questionnaire that has a high fit with strategy, high validity, high reliability, moderate acceptability, and very high specificity. Which of the following approaches to employee performance is being focused on by this questionnaire?
A. Results
B. Quality
C. Behavioral
D. Comparative
E. Attribute
Q:
Joseph, a supervisor at H2O Chemicals Inc., needs to assess the behavior of 25 people, who constitute a large group of his subordinates. Which of the following must Joseph ideally do to assess the behavior of his subordinates and why?
A. Joseph must use a behavioral observation scale because it is relatively easier than other methods of assessing behavior and providing feedback.
B. Joseph must use an organizational behavior modification approach because it is often preferred by managers for its simplicity.
C. Joseph must use a behaviorally anchored rating scale because it is good for large groups.
D. Joseph must use a critical-incident method to individually assess each employee because this method requires less documentation.
E. Joseph must use behaviorism because it helps in predicting behavior of an employee based on his past experiences.
Q:
Margaret, a production manager at Falcon Inc., needs to measure the performance of 12 of her subordinates. She divides the number of employees into categories like exceptional, above average, average, and below average. She assigns a certain percentage of employees to each category to determine the quality of their performances. In the context of methods for measuring performance, Margaret is using the _____ method.
A. alternation ranking
B. rating attribute
C. mixed-standard
D. paired-comparison
E. forced-distribution
Q:
Salman, a production manager at Telecal Inc., needs to measure the performance of 10 subordinates. He writes their names on a paper and circles Karim's name as the best-performing employee of the group. He then circles Dillon's name as the worst employee of the group. He rates the remaining employees as second best, second worst, and so on. In the context of methods of performance measurement, Salman is using the _____ method.
A. forced-distribution
B. alternation ranking
C. graphic rating
D. mixed-standard
E. critical-incident
Q:
Donna, a supervisor at Cenate Inc., wants to compare her subordinate John's performance with other employees to assess their effectiveness. Which of the following methods for measuring performance is best suited for this task?
A. Simple ranking
B. Mixed-standards scale
C. Critical-incident method
D. Graphic rating scale
E. Organizational behavior modification
Q:
Bill and Nancy, managers at Sanzen Inc., want to the check the consistency of results for an employee on a scale of 1 to 10. This will help them evaluate his performance. In the context of criteria for effective performance management, Bill and Nancy are testing the _____.
A. validity
B. test-retest reliability
C. specificity
D. interrater reliability
E. accountability
Q:
Which of the following helps performance management meet the goals of supporting strategy and developing employees?
A. Strategic fit
B. Specific feedback
C. Overall opinion
D. Employee orientation
E. Generalized instruction
Q:
In the context of performance management, which of the following terms refers to a measure that obtains consistency of results over time?
A. Validity
B. Interrater reliability
C. Acceptability
D. Test-retest reliability
E. Specificity
Q:
Charles, the HR manager at Telcare Inc., establishes a performance management system for his company. He wants to check the consistency of results over time. In the context of criteria for determining the effectiveness of performance measures, Charles is trying to check the _____ of the performance management system.
A. validity
B. test-retest reliability
C. specificity
D. interrater reliability
E. acceptability
Q:
Lily, a manager at Pyramid Inc., uses a rating tool to evaluate the performance of her subordinates. However, she finds that the scale she used did not yield consistent results and could not determine if a change had taken place in the performance of the employees. Which of the following was lacking in the rating scale?
A. Validity
B. Acceptability
C. Reliability
D. Transparency
E. Specificity
Q:
Crimson Inc. is conducting their annual performance review process for employees. The company uses a tool that measures entrepreneurial behavior and found there was a lot of irrelevant information that was also gathered. The irrelevant information gathered from the results is termed _____.
A. deficiency
B. validity
C. contamination
D. specificity
E. reliability
Q:
In the context of validity in performance appraisal, information that is gathered but irrelevant is called _____.
A. feedback
B. knowledge
C. concatenation
D. adjunct
E. contamination
Q:
In the context of effectiveness of performance management, _____ means the extent to which a measurement tool actually measures what it is intended to measure.
A. validity
B. dependability
C. acceptability
D. reliability
E. specificity
Q:
"Performance management serves as a basis for improving employees' knowledge and skills." This statement corresponds to which of the following purposes of performance management?
A. Developmental purpose
B. Administrative purpose
C. Investigative purpose
D. Strategic purpose
E. Executive purpose
Q:
Which of the following is the last step in performance management process?
A. Defining performance outcomes for company division and department
B. Identifying improvements needed
C. Developing employee goals, behavior, and actions to achieve outcomes
D. Evaluating performance
E. Providing consequences for performance results
Q:
Which of the following is the first step in performance management process?
A. Evaluating performance
B. Developing employee goals, behavior, and actions to achieve outcomes
C. Providing consequences for performance results
D. Defining performance outcomes for company division and department
E. Identifying improvements needed
Q:
Which of the following statements is true of effective performance management?
A. It can tell top performers they are valued.
B. It can evaluate employees without establishing standards.
C. It averts communication between managers and their employees.
D. It uses just one person as a source of information.
E. It does not affect employees who meet expectations.
Q:
_____ is the process through which managers ensure that employees' activities and outputs contribute to the organization's goals.
A. Quality analysis
B. Administrative planning
C. Project management
D. Strategic planning
E. Performance management
Q:
The requirements for job success are clearly communicated to employees to protect against lawsuits.
Q:
Lawsuits filed against performance management usually involve charges of discrimination or unjust dismissal.
Q:
The improvement of an employee's performance varies according to the employee's ability and level of motivation.
Q:
The content of feedback is more effective when it is directed toward personalities.
Q:
In a "tell-and-sell" approach, managers tell the employees their ratings and then justify those ratings.
Q:
Appraisal politics are most likely to occur when a performance appraisal is directly linked to highly desirable rewards.
Q:
In order to minimize distributional errors, raters should use only one part of the rating scale.
Q:
Self-appraisals are appropriate as the basis for administrative decisions.
Q:
Peer reviews are an excellent source of information about performance in a job where the supervisor does not often observe the employee.
Q:
Using an employee's manager for feedback is very useful because their own success depends so much on their employees' performance.
Q:
Traditional performance management differs from total quality management (TQM) in that it assesses both individual performance and the system within which the individual works.
Q:
Management by objectives (MBO) links employee performance with the organization's strategic goals.
Q:
Behavioral approaches to performance measurement, such as organizational behavior modification and rating scales, tend to be biased.
Q:
Organizational behavior modification (OBM) is a plan for managing the behavior of employees through an informal system of feedback and reinforcement.
Q:
Compared to a behavioral observation scale (BOS), a behaviorally anchored rating scale (BARS) makes it easier for providing feedback, maintaining objectivity, and suggesting training needs.
Q:
A disadvantage of behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARS) is that it can bias a manager's memory.
Q:
The critical-incident method requires managers to keep a record of specific examples of the employee acting in ways that are either effective or ineffective.
Q:
To rate employee behaviors, an organization begins by defining which behaviors are associated with the employee's personality traits.
Q:
While rating attributes of individuals, measurement of attributes is rarely linked to the organization's strategy.
Q:
The paired-comparison method involves comparing each employee with each other employee to establish rankings.
Q:
In the simple ranking method of performance measurement, managers rank employees in their group from the highest performer to the poorest performer.
Q:
The paired-comparison method measures the consistency of results over time.
Q:
In a performance appraisal, the term validity refers to whether the appraisal measures all aspects of performance, both relevant and irrelevant.
Q:
Performance management systems are established to meet three broad purposes of the organization: strategic, administrative, and developmental.
Q:
Performance management requires knowing what activities and outputs are desired, observing whether they occur, and providing feedback to help employees meet expectations.
Q:
Which of the following is a valid reason for ethical behavior to be a necessary condition for high performance?
A. It fosters competitiveness.
B. It empowers first-line managers and supervisors.
C. It helps an organization maintain the status quo.
D. It contributes to good long-term relationships with employees, customers, and the public.
E. It encourages people to be highly innovative.
Q:
A learning culture creates the conditions in which managers:
A. encourage experimentation.
B. ensure rigidity.
C. help sustain the status quo.
D. encourage groupthink.
E. demonstrate a high degree of risk aversion.
Q:
Which of the following occurs when organizations encourage employees to see relationships among ideas and to test assumptions and observe the results of their actions?
A. High employee turnover
B. Critical, systematic thinking
C. Disruptive, intermittent learning
D. Organizational change
E. Organizational anarchy
Q:
What is the perception about training in a learning organization?
A. It is treated as a superfluous corporate ritual.
B. It is viewed as an investment in the organization's human resources.
C. It is considered as the only driver of continued growth and sustainability.
D. It is deemed as the primary means of retaining good employees.
E. It is regarded as a tool to minimize organizational anarchy.
Q:
Which of the following is true about continuous learning?
A. The advancement of technology has put little pressure on employees to learn about their work systems.
B. Employees should continuously learn about their work systems to improve performance.
C. Continuous learning may eventually turn out to be a disadvantage because it results in information overload.
D. Despite continuous learning, employees do not put into practice what they have learned.
E. Continuous learning definitely will result in a job transfer or better job opportunities.
Q:
Each employee's and each group's ongoing efforts to gather information and apply the information to their decisions in a learning organization is referred to as:
A. continuous learning.
B. critical thinking.
C. innovation.
D. cognition.
E. groupthink.
Q:
For a learning organization to function well, employees ought to:
A. create short-term learning goals rather than long-term learning goals.
B. identify their own training needs.
C. take part in seminars and conferences at least once every week.
D. share the information that was acquired during the learning process.
E. distribute highly classified information.
Q:
Which of the following statements is true about a learning organization?
A. It actively resists organizational change.
B. It usually considers organizational learning a barrier to the dissemination of corporate culture.
C. It supports lifelong learning by enabling all employees to continually acquire and share knowledge.
D. It places a relatively low importance on innovation.
E. It considers training a superfluous corporate ritual.
Q:
For empowerment to succeed, managers should:
A. micromanage their teams and delegate as much work as possible.
B. ensure that communication flows top down from senior management.
C. help their teams ensure that communication flows in both directions.
D. hold frequent meetings to constantly supervise the progress of the team.
E. ensure that a team shares information only after it receives approval.
Q:
Teamwork and empowerment contribute to high performance when they improve _____.
A. job satisfaction
B. organizational goals
C. organizational ethics
D. job rotation
E. job enlargement
Q:
A work team can be empowered by:
A. reducing the team's interaction with other department or teams.
B. keeping roles independent and separate from one another.
C. authorizing the team to make decisions traditionally made by managers.
D. confining the scope of work done by the team and its members.
E. assigning management of work schedules to the manager.
Q:
The most popular way of empowering employees is by:
A. narrowing the scope of jobs.
B. designing work so that it is performed by teams.
C. adopting a centralized decision-making approach.
D. paying bonuses to all employees regardless of contribution.
E. providing employees with simple, repetitive jobs.
Q:
Which of the following would most likely aid in the formation of a high-performance work system?
A. Employees' rewards and compensation that relate to the company's financial performance
B. Work design that allows employees to use a single skill
C. Technology that is used to discourage flexibility
D. Employees that receive little formal performance feedback
E. Training that is discouraged because of increasing costs
Q:
An automobile manufacturing firm hires employees with different backgrounds and varying years of experience. The new employees and the experienced employees struggle to cope with each other as they share different views about the bonus system and the work activities. The new employees feel left out of critical decision-making processes; whereas the experienced employees feel they are undertrained. Which of the following conditions, if true, would strengthen the formation of a high-performance work system?
A. The experienced employees should be encouraged to focus on the work rather than being involved in the selection process.
B. The management should allow new employees to participate in changes made to work systems, equipment, and layout.
C. The ongoing training for experienced employees should be minimized.
D. The employees' rewards and compensation should be distinct and independent of the company's financial performance.
E. The work design of the firm should be such that it discourages flexibility.
Q:
_____ is a necessary condition of high performance because it contributes to good long-term relationships with employees, customers, and the public.
A. Emotional behavior
B. Ethical behavior
C. Physical behavior
D. Mental behavior
E. Cognitive behavior
Q:
Which of the following is a condition that contributes to high performance?
A. Teams perform work only if employees are interested in a project.
B. Work design gives employees the opportunity to utilize a variety of skills.
C. Ongoing training is not emphasized, but it is implemented when necessary.
D. Managers understand how their jobs contribute to a finished product or service.
E. Employees' rewards and compensation relate to their own performance.
Q:
Which of the following statements is true of an organizational structure in a high-performance work system?
A. It promotes high employee turnover.
B. It promotes cooperation and learning.
C. It discourages competition.
D. It helps the organization select the right people with the required qualifications.
E. It encourages people to strive for objectives that support the organization's overall goals.
Q:
Cell-O World Inc. has increased doubled its profits since last year just by reducing employee absenteeism. Increased productivity is the reason for the surge in the company's profits. The employees have also improved customer satisfaction due to their increased productivity. In this scenario, which of the following aspects of a high-performance work system is contributing to the high productivity and efficiency?
A. Outcomes
B. Problems
C. Situations
D. Taskforce
E. Infrastructure
Q:
Which of the following statements is true about the outcomes of high-performance work systems?
A. The outcomes of high-performance work systems include high employee turnover.
B. Sales revenues increase the outcomes of high-performance work systems.
C. Clients are the main force that drives the outcomes of a high-performance work system.
D. The outcomes of each employee contribute to a system's overall high performance.
E. Incentives provided to each employee play a big part in contributing to outcomes.
Q:
Outcomes of a high-performance work system include higher productivity and _____.
A. efficiency
B. maintenance
C. manpower
D. equipment
E. resources
Q:
High-performance work systems result in _____.
A. simple, repetitive jobs
B. high employee turnover
C. high production costs
D. high product quality
E. centralized decision making
Q:
In a high-performance work system, task design makes jobs _____.
A. narrow in scope
B. high in task significance but low in autonomy
C. highly specialized
D. efficient while encouraging high quality
E. simple and repetitive
Q:
Nicole is a new recruit at a leading IT firm. She keeps records of important client data and is given special access to certain confidential data, which is available only to her and not to others in the organization. Given the nature of her work, which of the following elements of a high-performance work system is illustrated in this scenario?
A. Organizational structure
B. Staffing
C. Reward systems
D. Task design
E. Information systems
Q:
Which of the following is true of an information system?
A. It acts as a gateway to the reservoir of knowledge available across the Internet.
B. It is a physical server in which all the data that belongs to a company is stored and managed.
C. Managers must decide who has access to what type of information and its availability.
D. Managers post their problems on an information system and receive solutions for these problems.
E. Any information system used in an organization allows access to all of the organization's databases.
Q:
Ryan is an experienced employee at an organization. The latest policy implemented by the firm's management provides only new employees with bonuses and other perks for exemplary performance. Ryan has raised concerns regarding the revised policy, but management stands firm on its revised policy. Which of the following elements of a high-performance work system would most likely weaken the organization's performance?
A. Organizational structure
B. Staffing
C. Reward systems
D. Task design
E. Information systems
Q:
Which of the following elements in a high-performance work system contributes to high performance by encouraging people to strive for objectives that support the organization's overall goals and includes the performance measures by which employees are judged?
A. Organizational goals
B. Task design
C. Reward systems
D. Information systems
E. Training systems
Q:
Isabel is a new hire at an IT firm. She experiences trouble performing the job assigned to her even though she has the necessary skill set to complete the job. She has little clarity about team responsibilities and details of her work activities and has a difficult time comprehending the work activities. In this case, which of the following elements of the high-performance work systems has been implemented ineffectively by the organization?
A. Organizational structure.
B. Staffing.
C. Reward systems.
D. Task design.
E. Information systems.
Q:
David believes that for a company to run smoothly, it must adopt an organizational structure in which the employees clearly know who their reporting managers are and which departments they belong to. David claims that this will give the employees clarity about their roles and functions and will help them contribute efficiently toward the organization's overall success. Which of the following statements strengthens David's claims?
A. Roles can be better understood when managers provide examples that will help employees understand their roles better.
B. Clarity depends on how well a manager describes job functions.
C. Departmentalization may create a feeling of superiority among managers, which will help them work better.
D. An organizational structure creates a positive environment without hindering the learning process.
E. An efficient structure depends on an efficient taskforce that is willing to learn and adapt.
Q:
Gibson United is a new firm located in Chicago. The firm has to hire qualified individuals, compartmentalize them into different departments, and hire a set of managers who will be able to instruct, monitor, and guide these employees to ensure smooth functioning of the organization. In this scenario, Gibson United is engaging in creating a(n) _____.
A. information system
B. task-design procedure
C. reward system
D. organizational structure
E. staffing solution
Q:
Which of the following statements is true about task design?
A. It determines what type of information to gather to reduce errors in planning.
B. It empowers people to perform better and create goals that match an organization's goals.
C. It allows the recruitment of prospective candidates to occur in an easier manner.
D. It involves dividing a task or assignment into smaller tasks or assignments so that short-term goals can be met.
E. It involves the clustering of details pertaining to an organization's required activities.
Q:
Which of the following elements of a high-performance work system determines how the details of the organization's necessary activities will be grouped, whether into jobs or team responsibilities?
A. Information systems
B. Reward systems
C. Performance
D. Organizational structure
E. Task design
Q:
Which of the following in an organization usually makes most of the decisions about organizational structure?
A. Top management
B. HR department
C. Supervisors
D. Middle-level managers
E. Technical analysts
Q:
Identify the term that refers to the way in which an organization groups its people into useful divisions, departments, and reporting relationships.
A. Job structure
B. Organizational structure
C. Value chain
D. Corporate design
E. Relationship management
Q:
Which of the following statements is true of high-performance work systems?
A. Creating a high-performance work system is akin to using traditional management practices.
B. To function as a high-performance work system, people, technology, and organizational structure must be completely independent of one another.
C. To develop a high-performance work system, organizations need to determine what kinds of people fit their needs and then locate, train, and motivate those special people.
D. A high-performance work system usually excludes reward systems.
E. Integrated high-performance work practices usually have little impact on productivity and long-term financial performance.
Q:
Identify the statement that best defines a high-performance work system.
A. It is an arrangement of machinery and equipment that streamlines the workflow and results in maximum efficiency and cost savings.
B. It refers to the right combination of people, technology, and organizational structure that makes full use of the organization's resources and opportunities in achieving its goals.
C. It is a computer software system that is designed to help managers solve problems by showing how results vary when the manager alters assumptions or data.
D. It is a system that is used to collect, record, store, analyze, and retrieve data concerning an organization's human resources.
E. It refers to a performance management system that measures customer satisfaction.