Q&A Hero

Q: Which of the following descriptors is not generally considered to be a part of the Simple Adjective Rating Scale?(a) most positive(b) marginal(c) superior(d) satisfactory

Q: A performance appraisal approach that best meets affirmative action guidelines is one that is oriented to(a) job content(b) general job traits(c) the traits of the person in the job(d) using the same criteria for all positions

Q: ____________ is a measure of consistency or stability of a test or other measure over time.(a) Validity(b) Variance(c) Replicability(d) Reliability

Q: When the rater rates the ratee higher than would the normal or average rater, it is called(a) strict rating(b) lenient rating(c) halo effect(d) bias about recent behavior

Q: Which one of the following is least likely to be a characteristic of a useful and valuable performance standard?(a) relates to all jobs(b) presents a challenge to the jobholder(c) must be realistic(d) must be observable

Q: Who is most likely to be involved in the rating of an employee's performance?(a) immediate supervisor's supervisor(b) immediate supervisor(c) the ratee(d) the CEO

Q: All but which one of the following reasons underlie the continuing use of traits for performance appraisal purposes?(a) court rulings have approved their use(b) they relate to all kinds of human qualities(c) they relate to all kinds of work(d) they can be used in different kinds of organizations

Q: Which of the following is the ultimate purpose of performance appraisal?(a) to document a reason for dismissal(b) to give an increase in pay(c) to comply with laws(d) to direct the employees' efforts toward achieving organizational objectives and goals

Q: In designing a reward program, one attempts to(a) design specific rewards for specific positions(b) provide extrinsic rewards as opposed to intrinsic rewards(c) design a reward program to satisfy a significant number of human demands made by almost all people(d) provide rewards for stimulating the highest levels of performance

Q: Which theory of motivation is being enacted when an employee reduces her contribution because she feels her co-worker is being better rewarded for equal contributions?(a) hierarchy of needs(b) reinforcement theory(c) equity theory(d) expectancy theory

Q: Which one of the following is not one of the reinforcement schedules used to encourage desired behaviors?(a) positive reinforcement(b) goal-directed support(c) negative reinforcement(d) punishment

Q: A major problem with any motivational theory based on the satisfaction of needs is(a) bears no relationship to hiring and training practices(b) almost impossible to identify what need(s) an employee is attempting to satisfy(c) money is a demotivator(d) money can be used as a consequence

Q: When should pay increases be considered if, according to expectancy theory, a pay system is to be motivational?(a) immediately preceding the annual performance review(b) on the employee's anniversary date(c) at the start of the budget year(d) when the consequence of an action has the strongest positive force

Q: The instrumentality theory and analyses of expectancy are attributed to(a) Locke(b) Vroom(c) Porter(d) Lawler

Q: All but which one of the following theories are included within content theories of motivation?(a) Maslow's hierarchical needs(b) Herzberg's two-factor theory(c) McClelland's four modes of success(d) Adams' equity theory

Q: In the attempt to understand why things happen when they do or the way they do, researchers first develop(a) assumptions(b) hypotheses(c) investigations(d) experiments

Q: In Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory of Motivation, a hygiene factor is(a) salary(b) achievement(c) recognition(d) responsibility

Q: The motivational approach to human behavior focuses on individual(a) perception(b) commitment to objectives(c) valuing of rewards(d) drives activated to satisfy some current deficiency

Q: Which one of the following is not a barrier to pay for performance in a knowledge-based work setting?(a) work activities are readily definable(b) work varies from day to day(c) time required to perform an assignment may not be a good indicator of task importance or complexity(d) work performed depends on next input which can vary significantly

Q: Knowledge-based workers receive their titles because they(a) have at least a master's degree(b) work in an educational setting(c) must use their brains to solve problems(d) work in high-tech industries

Q: The term gold-collar worker has been directed to(a) top performers(b) knowledge-based workers(c) highly-paid executives(d) managers of financial institutions

Q: In each of the following groups, make the best match between words in the column on the left and the description or definition in the column on the right. In the blank space to the left of each term, write the letter of the item which best matches it. Do not use an item in the right-hand column more than once7. _____ temporary team(a) good understanding of what each team member does8. _____ self-managed work team(b) includes from 4-8 blocs or levels9. _____ team characteristic(c) Designed and used principally for management and professional employees10. _____ broadband(d) teams of managers and professionals assigned to resolve complex problem11. _____ competency-based pay plan(e) kinds and levels of team-related skills acquired by a team member12. _____ skill-based pay plan(f) teams in an industrial setting that produce a specific product

Q: Which one of the following kinds of incentive plans is being used within organizations using teams?(a) piece rate(b) profit sharing(c) gainsharing(d) stock option

Q: Members of a team operating within a broadbanded, skill-based pay plan can receive an increase in base pay(a) each year(b) when receiving a superior performance rating(c) upon acquisition of increased kinds and levels of team-required knowledge and skills(d) upon promotion to a more advanced team assignment

Q: Critical to team success is(a) paying all members the same(b) understanding work requirements of each member(c) maintaining constant review of performance of each member(d) providing incentive rewards to most productive team members

Q: Which one of the following characteristics is not critical in defining a team?(a) shared leadership roles(b) collective work produced(c) encourage open-ended discussions(d) measure performance of each team member

Q: An ideal membership size for a team is(a) three(b) seven(c) eleven(d) twenty

Q: A team-based organization was designed in the early 60s to manufacture dog food by(a) Ralston Purina(b) Kennel Happy(c) General Foods(d) Quaker Oats

Q: Pay grade 1 has a minimum of $1000 and a maximum of $1600, while pay grade 2 has a minimum of $1400 and a maximum of $2400. What is the overlap between pay grade 1 and pay grade 2?(a) 10%(b) 20%(c) 33%(d) 60%

Q: A pay grade has a minimum of $1000 and a maximum of $1600. The spread of the range is(a) 40%(b) 50%(c) 60%(d) 80%

Q: If analysis of a pay scatter diagram reveals disjointed or distinct breaks in the rates of pay of various jobs, it may be determined(a) that the scatter diagram is drawn to the wrong scale(b) that the least squares procedure should be used(c) that more than one trend line will be required for setting up a workable pay system(d) that the organization has discriminatory pay practices

Q: A possible solution to market pay demands for the job in high demand where the internally evaluated worth of the job is out of line with the market demand rate is to establish(a) an overlapping pay structure(b) multiple pay structures(c) a bimodal distribution(d) a shadow range

Q: Which of the following should be provided for in salary ranges?(a) longevity increases(b) growth opportunity over time(c) little or no salary growth(d) cost of living adjustments

Q: Advantages to having a small number of pay grades within a pay structure include all of the following issues except(a) it normally results in less overlap between grades(b) it requires assignment of more jobs to each pay grade(c) it allows for rates of pay to relate more closely to differences in job worth(d) it permits greater spread, allowing increased recognition of growth of job knowledge through seniority and merit in-grade pay increases

Q: The spread of a range within a pay grade will normally vary anywhere from _____ to _____ percent on either side of the midpoint of a pay scale.(a) 5-40(b) 10-50(c) 50-100(d) 25-75

Q: Many specialists who make extensive use of survey data believe that _______ values provide valuable information for establishing minimum and maximum pay values for a job or a grade.(a) first and second quartile(b) first and third quartile(c) second and third quartile(d) first and fourth quartile

Q: In the majority of companies using rate ranges, where is the market value of a job considered to be?(a) the minimum(b) the maximum(c) the midpoint(d) the 75th percentile

Q: The optimal number of pay grades to be included within a pay structure is(a) 10(b) 25 to 30(c) 18(d) there is no right number

Q: For which one of the following groups of employees would it not be unusual to see a range that is less than 25%?(a) clerical(b) unskilled workers(c) technicians(d) first-level managers

Q: Grades(a) are convenient groupings of a wide variety of jobs that are similar in work difficulty and require comparable responsibility(b) are necessary for designing pay structures(c) ensure equality and equity of pay(d) are used only for exempt jobs

Q: The term going rate implies that there is(a) a standard rate for a job in a community(b) a rate of pay that eliminates discriminatory actions(c) union contract established rates of pay(d) single rate of pay for which employees will work

Q: Which one of the following does not describe a nonparametric distribution?(a) mean, mode, median are the same(b) mean is greater than the median(c) mean is less than the median(d) mean and median are the same but the mode is less

Q: The pay of which one of the following groups of workers would be least likely to be influenced by regional or national labor markets?(a) engineers(b) clerical(c) skilled trades(d) technicians

Q: In which one of the following industries would it not be unusual to find jobs with single rates of pay?(a) unionized(b) low paying(c) service(d) mature

Q: Relatively new or different jobs in which demand far exceeds the supply of qualified applicants are known as(a) key jobs(b) exotic jobs(c) high-tech jobs(d) benchmark jobs

Q: The factor that most influences the midpoint value is probably(a) profitability of the firm(b) market value of the job(c) minimum wage legislation(d) desired wage spread

Q: When designing a pay structure, one should be able to(a) recognize the differences in internal relationships among the jobs of the organization(b) follow Equal Pay Act guidelines(c) make use of the multiprocedure approach to job data collecting(d) compete against all organizations in the market

Q: Which one of the following statements best describes a scatter diagram?(a) a line that represents the middle pay value of jobs(b) points or dots on a chart that represent jobs(c) a chart representative of the highest and lowest rates of pay(d) a chart of average rates of pay for all jobs in a pay survey

Q: When designing a pay structure, the first step involved is(a) determining the number of pay grades(b) determining a pay policy line(c) establishing the minimum and maximum of the pay structure(d) locking overlapping pay structures

Q: Some different procedures available for developing a trend line from a scatter plot in determining a pay policy include all but(a) line of sight procedure(b) least squares procedure(c) paired-comparison procedure(d) two-point procedure

Q: A compensation scatter diagram plots the points or dots on a chart where each point represents a(a) wage grade(b) job rate of pay(c) class level(d) point of central tendency

Q: Which one of the following is not a survey conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics?(a) area wage survey(b) industry wage survey(c) municipal government wage survey(d) professional and scientific survey

Q: The job evaluation method of conducting a survey requires(a) letters of the alphabet to identify class-series hierarchy(b) that all participating parties use the same general method for evaluating jobs(c) respondees to match key or benchmark jobs with similar jobs in their organization(d) that certain rates of pay and number of employees be identified

Q: Which one of the following is not a weakness of a third-party prepared pay survey?(a) user may be unable to identify respondent(b) requires little of user's time(c) may require resummarization to meet user demands(d) user is unable to weight data by importance of responding organization to the user

Q: Compensation surveys that are ready-made and are used by more than one organization are known as(a) canned surveys(b) locked-step surveys(c) multiple surveys(d) specialized surveys

Q: The following salaries for a clerk-typist were reported in a recently conducted survey They were $25,846; $27,800; $26,376; $31,458; and $26,600. The median value is(a) $31,458(b) $26,600(c) $26,376(d) $27,800

Q: The following pay survey data were provided for a secretary: 3 employees at $31,500; 5 employees at $32,600, and 2 employees at $33,706. The weighted average is(a) $32,600(b) $32,602(c) $32,491(d) $31,500

Q: A salary survey showed the following data for secretaries:CompanyNo of SecretariesAv Salary/MonthA10$3000B103000C253000D503200How does the weighted average salary compare with the unweighted average?(a) it is $55 lower(b) it is $45 lower(c) it is $45 higher(d) it is $55 higher

Q: What is the raw or unweighted average?1Olympia14$27,400$383,6002Alpha 328,40085,2003Omega529,800149,0004Delta826,800214,400 30$112,400$832,200(a) $26,430(b) $27,500(a) $28,000(b) $28,100

Q: The following describes which measure of central tendency? Organizations provide only average pay data for a job and the average value is calculated by summing the average values and dividing by number of averages provided.(a) trimmed mean(b) unweighted average(c) weighted average(d) modified weighted average

Q: The term trimmed mean describes(a) a weighted average of an array(b) an unweighted average of an array(c) the average value where extreme values are eliminated from the array(d) a technique that should never be used in measuring statistical data

Q: The interquartile range is the range involving _______ rates of pay.(a) mean-minimum(b) median-minimum(c) middle 50%(d) maximum-minimum

Q: In the following array of data, which value is the 9th decile?3 8 13 204 8 15 245 9 15 25 5 10 17 287 12 18 29(a) 20(b) 24(c) 25(d) 28

Q: The measures of central tendency most used by compensation managers are(a) the mean and the mode(b) the mean and the midrange(c) the median and the midrange(d) the mean and the median

Q: The 50th percentile of a distribution is the same as the(a) mode(b) mean(c) median(d) average

Q: The average of a group of numbers is the same as its(a) mode(b) mean(c) median(d) middle value

Q: Which of the following is not one of the three major factors to be considered when determining whether or not to conduct a compensation survey?(a) promoting worker productivity(b) hiring and retaining competent employees(c) developing an adequate and acceptable pay structure(d) identifying the labor market that organizations hire from

Q: Which one of the following organizational qualities is least valuable in determining who should participate in a pay survey?(a) major employers(b) organization that appears to attract surveying organization's employees(c) organizations that have many similar kinds of jobs(d) including the organization recognized as the lowest payer in the labor market area

Q: The survey method which requires that all parties participating in the survey use the same general method for evaluating jobs is(a) Broad Classification Method(b) Job Evaluation Method(c) Key Job Matching(d) Occupational Survey Method

Q: The most commonly used survey method requires respondees to match benchmark jobs with similar jobs in their organizations through comparison with identification data supplied by the survey. It is called(a) Occupational Survey Method(b) Job Evaluation Method(c) Broad Classification Method(d) Key Job Matching Method

Q: The main purpose for conducting a compensation survey is to collect data which will assist a company in(a) establishing internal equity in its compensation program(b) establishing minimum job requirements(c) identifying the market competitive pay rates(d) identifying its key or benchmark jobs

Q: Normally the best technique for collecting compensation survey data, considering time required, costs, and accuracy, is(a) telephone survey(b) completion of a questionnaire during a personal interview(c) mailed questionnaire(d) a conference with a group of compensation specialists

Q: Characteristics of key or benchmark jobs include all but which one of the following?(a) unique to the company(b) common throughout the industry(c) contain large numbers of incumbents(d) representative of the entire pay structure

Q: ________________ is a study of relationships that exist among selected items that form a specific group and are representative of the entire group.(a) Statistical sampling(b) Job evaluation(c) Correlation(d) Multiple regression

Q: In designing a compensation survey, different kinds of pay data may be obtained. The most useful kind of pay data to collect is(a) average pay and number of employees(b) the actual pay for each employee(c) the median pay(d) the pay range and midpoint of a particular job

Q: The simplest technique for collecting survey data is the(a) personal interview survey(b) mailed questionnaire survey(c) telephone survey(d) conference survey

Q: Which pay survey data collection technique will normally provide the best matching of jobs?(a) telephone(b) mailed questionnaire(c) survey logs(d) personal interviews

Q: The least used system of collecting compensation data is the(a) conference(b) personal interview(c) telephone(d) questionnaire

Q: The ____________ method begins by identifying certain basic occupational groups such as accounting or manufacturing and then identifying certain class-series within the groups.(a) key job matching(b) broad classification(c) job evaluation(d) occupational survey

Q: The term sore thumbing when applied to the job evaluation process relates to(a) physical problems related to the job(b) a rating that appears to be inappropriate(c) a profile that is too high(d) a very low rating score