Q&A Hero

Q: (p. 360) A(n) ________________ requires that a person be a member of the union before he or she can be hired by an employer. A. closed shop B. union shop C. injunction D. yellow-dog contract

Q: (p. 358) Generally, the union philosophy concerning management is that: A. management's interests are identical to those of the employees. B. management fosters inefficiency and reduces profits. C. if employees are to prosper, then management must prosper. D. management has exploited labor in the past and continues to do so.

Q: (p. 359) A yellow-dog contract is: A. a court order to prohibit certain actions. B. an agreement between an employee and management that the employee will not join a union. C. an agreement forcing an employee to join a union once the employee has been hired. D. an agreement with strikers to come back to work temporarily until a contract can be settled upon.

Q: (p. 358) Pregrievance or early settlement of a complaint does NOT mean that: A. minor problems are less likely to become major ones. B. the supervisor should settle every complaint as it arises. C. unusual or broad issues should not be referred to management. D. the human resource department should not be involved.

Q: (p. 355-356) ________________ is a process by which both the union and management agree to abide by the decision of an outside party regarding the grievance. A. Mediation B. Grievance settlement C. Arbitration D. Conciliation

Q: (p. 355) Through the grievance procedure, _______________. A. complaints are aired B. solutions to complaints are found C. ambiguities in the labor agreement are identified for immediate settlement D. organizational policies are changed and rewritten

Q: (p. 355 Fig 17.3) One recommended procedure to be followed by the supervisors when applying discipline is to: A. postpone the application of discipline as long as possible. B. keep the union informed, if a union is present. C. relate the penalty to the person and the offence. D. administer discipline in public, making it obvious to other employees about what is not acceptable.

Q: (p. 354) Which of these situations would NOT justify a supervisor reprimanding an employee in public? A. Serious rule violations B. Gross insubordination C. Excessive tardiness D. The supervisor needing to regain control of the situation

Q: (p. 353) Which of the following is LEAST likely to be reviewed by upper management? A. Formal warning B. Termination C. Suspension without pay D. Suspension with pay

Q: (p. 352) Who is responsible for proving infractions when a decision to discipline an employee is questioned? A. The supervisor B. The employee C. Witnesses D. Upper management

Q: (p. 351) Identify the correct statement about maintaining good discipline and applying the discipline procedure. A. The sole responsibility for employees to become familiar with company rules and regulations lies with the supervisor. B. Applying proper discipline can encourage borderline employees to improve their performance. C. Whenever possible, disciplinary reprimands should precede the use of counseling. D. Supervisory decisions to discipline after a period of lax enforcement generally contribute to increased productivity.

Q: (p. 350) Employment-at-will means the employee: A. is under contract. B. cannot be terminated unless he or she is willing. C. can only be terminated if he or she violates the contract. D. has no control and can be terminated at any time.

Q: (p. 365) Employee complaints against the union can be filed with the National Labor Relations Board.

Q: (p. 364) In a unionized organization, the supervisor's only responsibility is to the employer.

Q: (p. 362) If management has been fair in dealing with its employees, they do not join unions.

Q: (p. 362) An independent local union can join the AFL-CIO without belonging to a national or international union.

Q: (p. 361) The Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act was primarily concerned with the protection of the rights of individual union members.

Q: (p. 360) Right-to-work laws forbid unions from requiring a person to be a union member before being hired, but they allow requiring an employee who has been working for a specified period of time to become a member.

Q: (p. 359) Management feels that unions contribute to inefficiency and reduced profits when present in an organization.

Q: (p. 359) The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 is applicable to businesses only.

Q: (p. 359) A prima facie contract is a court order prohibiting unions from striking.

Q: (p. 358) The supervisor forms the primary link between the union members and the management.

Q: (p. 358) The grievance procedure may act as a safety valve to prevent more costly employee actions.

Q: (p. 358) If necessary, the supervisor should try to interfere with the grievance process in order to save his or her own reputation.

Q: (p. 356) One of the reasons for the occurrence of a grievance is the failure of the union contract to settle some of the unsure or unclear nature of the contract.

Q: (p. 355) Arbitration is usually one of the first steps in the grievance process.

Q: (p. 355) A grievance usually begins with a formal complaint by an employee.

Q: (p. 354) A supervisor should warn employees of the consequences of repeated rule violation.

Q: (p. 354) The supervisor is justified in exercising his or her right to suspend any employee pending a full investigation, in view of the employee's alleged serious offence.

Q: (p. 353) When a supervisor is considering disciplining an employee, he or she should discipline the employee and then look for evidence to support his or her decision.

Q: (p. 351) A formal discipline procedure usually begins with a written warning.

Q: (p. 351) The supervisor does not have the responsibility of informing employees of the organization's rules and regulations.

Q: (p. 337) List eight desirable preconditions that have been identified and generally accepted for successfully implementing a merit pay program.

Q: (p. 331) What are the purposes of communicating the performance appraisal to the employee?

Q: (p. 330-331) List and define three potential errors in performance appraisals.

Q: (p. 329-330) Define 360-degree feedback.

Q: (p. 328) What is the work-standards approach?

Q: (p. 327) What is the critical-incident appraisal?

Q: (p. 325) List four performance appraisal methods.

Q: (p. 323) List the three principal purposes of having a performance appraisal system.

Q: (p. 321) What are the three factors that must be present to some extent if the employee is expected to perform well?

Q: (p. 321) What is a formal performance appraisal and what is an informal performance appraisal? What is the difference between the two?

Q: (p. 336) Identify the correct statement about incentives. A. They are rewards that employees receive because of their employment with the organization. B. They are usually directly related to performance. C. They are the hourly, weekly, or monthly pay employees receive for their work. D. They include paid vacations, health insurance, and retirement plans.

Q: (p. 336) Which of the following statements about intrinsic rewards is true? A. They are more tangible than extrinsic rewards. B. Most intrinsic rewards are directly controlled by the organization. C. They are normally derived from involvement in work activities. D. Formal recognition and social relationships are examples of intrinsic rewards.

Q: (p. 333) Which of the following is NOT one of the preparations that should be undertaken while dealing with a poor performer? A. Terminate the employee. B. Document all steps. C. Work closely with the human resources department. D. Plan for an immediate interview with the employee.

Q: (p. 332) In overcoming performance appraisal errors, the rater should receive training in all of the following areas EXCEPT: A. the use of effective communication skills necessary to provide adequate feedback. B. how to tell the employee off in a nice way. C. the performance appraisal method being used. D. the importance of the rater's role.

Q: (p. 331) This kind of performance appraisal error occurs when the rater allows a single characteristic of an employee to influence his or her judgment. A. Central tendency B. Halo effect C. Leniency D. Strictness

Q: (p. 330) ________________ is the grouping of ratings at the positive end instead of spreading them throughout the performance scale. A. Leniency B. Central tendency C. Recency error D. Halo effect

Q: (p. 329) The supervisor and employee should jointly agree on the worker's objectives and standards of evaluation in which type of performance appraisal method? A. Essay appraisal B. Forced-distribution C. Paired-comparison D. Management by objectives

Q: (p. 329) What is the major problem with the paired-comparison method? A. A different set of questions must be assembled for most job categories. B. It becomes unwieldy when a large number of employees are being compared. C. The group being appraised may not be large enough to generate a bell-shaped distribution. D. It bases the performance appraisal on factors that are generally more objective than those used in other methods.

Q: (p. 329) One problem associated with the use of the forced-distribution method and not with other methods is that: A. it uses factors that are more objective than those used in other methods. B. it can frustrate supervisors. C. the group being appraised may not be large enough to generate a bell-shaped distribution. D. the length and content of the appraisal can vary from supervisor to supervisor.

Q: (p. 328) A major advantage of the ________________ approach is that it bases the performance appraisal on factors that are generally more objective than those used in other methods. A. critical-incident B. ranking method C. work-standards D. forced-choice

Q: (p. 327) The supervisor keeps a written record of unusual positive and negative actions by an employee in which of the following techniques? A. Critical-incident appraisals B. Work-standards appraisals C. Ranking method appraisals D. Forced-choice appraisals

Q: (p. 326) Which of the following is NOT one of the disadvantages of the checklist form of performance appraisals? A. Creating the questions is difficult. B. Scoring and recording results is difficult. C. Bias can be introduced. D. Different questions are needed for different job categories.

Q: (p. 326) The performance appraisal method where the supervisor only records performance rather than evaluating is the: A. graphic rating scale. B. essay. C. checklist. D. forced-choice rating.

Q: (p. 326) Which of the following techniques is most likely to be biased by the supervisor's writing skills? A. Graphic rating scale B. Checklist C. Essay appraisal D. Forced-choice rating

Q: (p. 326) Which of the following performance appraisal methods requires the supervisor to write a series of statements about an employee's past performance, potential for promotion, and strengths and weaknesses? A. Graphic rating scale B. Checklist C. Forced-choice rating D. Essay appraisal

Q: (p. 324-325) When performance appraisals are based on personal characteristics, which of the following may be a problem? A. The supervisor is not placed in the role of a judge. B. Favoritism may influence ratings. C. Supervisors prefer these programs. D. They are so seldom used that they are not understood.

Q: (p. 323) Identify the correct statement about job descriptions. A. Job descriptions result from a job analysis. B. They state the qualifications necessary to perform a job. C. In most large organizations, job descriptions are developed by supervisors. D. In small organizations, supervisors are not allowed to develop job descriptions even for jobs under their authority.

Q: (p. 321) Performance should be measured in terms of: A. effort expended. B. mistakes made. C. results achieved. D. problems encountered.

Q: (p. 321) ________________ refers to how well the person understands what is expected on the job. A. Effort B. Ability C. Direction D. Appraisal

Q: (p. 321) Conducting a performance appraisal, ideally, involves: A. establishing a plan for improvement for the employee. B. only going over the mistakes that the employee made since the last performance appraisal. C. identifying all related environmental factors. D. allowing the supervisor to tell the employee off.

Q: (p. 336) Many extrinsic rewards provided by organizations do not lend themselves to being related to performance.

Q: (p. 333) The supervisor's only alternative in dealing with a poor performer is termination.

Q: (p. 332) After the completion of the performance evaluation, ideally, the employee must get a signed copy of the evaluation.

Q: (p. 332) The employee should be given at least a week's notice of an upcoming performance appraisal.

Q: (p. 331) The halo effect occurs when a supervisor allows a single prominent characteristic of an employee to influence his or her judgment on each of the items during a performance appraisal.

Q: (p. 330) Central tendency occurs when the supervisor groups all of the ratings at the positive end instead of spreading them through the performance scale.

Q: (p. 329) The forced-distribution ranking makes each employee's performance evaluation a function of the performance of other employees in the job.

Q: (p. 328) Two of the most commonly used ranking methods of performance appraisal are alternation ranking and paired-comparison ranking.

Q: (p. 327) With the critical-incident appraisal, the supervisor simply keeps a written record of only the negative actions of each employee.

Q: (p. 327) The forced-choice rating method attempts to eliminate bias by forcing the supervisor to choose between statements that are not obviously distinguishable.

Q: (p. 326) One problem with the essay appraisal is that the length and content of the written statements can vary considerably from supervisor to supervisor.

Q: (p. 325) With the graphic rating scale, the supervisor does not actually evaluate but merely records performance.

Q: (p. 325) Supervisors usually decide which type of performance appraisal system an organization will use.

Q: (p. 323) One of the purposes of a performance appraisal system is to prepare employees for future opportunities that may arise.

Q: (p. 323) Job specifications state the characteristics of a job and the types of work performed in the job.

Q: (p. 322) If an employee has above-average ability and puts forth a great deal of effort, then that employee should be a satisfactory performer.

Q: (p. 321-322) Environmental factors are those things on a job that are within an employee's control.

Q: (p. 321) Direction refers to how hard a person works.