Exam 2: Managing Work Flows and Conducting Job Analysis

Teams and flexible work schedules are both being implemented more frequently in modern corporations. Discuss two types of teams and two types of flexible work schedules that firms use to increase employee productivity and satisfaction.

________ is time during which employees can choose not to be at work.

Your relatively flat organization is moving toward a boundaryless structure. Layers of management have been reduced to a minimum. You want employees to be self-managing, to perform several different tasks, and to take complete responsibility for the entire production process. ________ would be your best choice as you implement a job redesign program.

Which of the following is an example of job enrichment?

A(n)________ is a team consisting of volunteers from a unit or department who meet one or two hours per week to discuss quality improvement, cost reductions, or improvement in the work environment.

Additional Case 2.2 You are the HR manager at Steel City, Inc., a firm that is considering going global in its product line and markets. The president realizes that this may require a reorganization. She wants to move into new international markets with minimum time and effort. She also wants to reduce management overhead and labor costs. At the same time, employees have been complaining about their work. Jobs are repetitive, and employees don't know how their work fits into the big picture. The president wants to provide employees with satisfying work, autonomy, and a performance-based pay system. She wants to give them as much control as possible and remove layers of management. -Refer to Additional Case 2.2. The president is discussing the use of teams in the company. Given the company direction and the president's goals, you should recommend:

A team or task force consisting of workers who span functional or organizational boundaries and whose purpose is to examine complex issues is called a(n)________.

________ is a work arrangement that allows employees to work in their homes full-time, maintaining their connection to the office through phone, fax, and computer.

A company with a prospector strategy would most likely:

Additional Case 2.1 Benson Manufacturing is a young, small firm that makes computer components and peripherals for assemblers like Dell and Gateway. Benson's market share is highly volatile based on the entrance and exit of competitors into the market. Benson buys raw materials from several suppliers who also supply competitors. The firm has two layers of management between the CEO and the component maker on the line. The firm's CEO read a book about innovation and organizational change and now wants to look at what HR should do about reorganizing and changing staffing practices. The CEO wants to reduce costs in order to increase profit margins because he believes that margins will continue to shrink. While productivity and quality are largely functions of the machines used in the process, the CEO still wants to focus on motivating Benson employees. He wants to motivate them by increasing wages through a bonus program, improving working conditions, and providing job security. -Refer to Additional Case 2.1. Based on the current market situation, what business strategy would be best for Benson?

According to job characteristics theory, jobs with certain core characteristics are more likely to:

Additional Case 2.2 You are the HR manager at Steel City, Inc., a firm that is considering going global in its product line and markets. The president realizes that this may require a reorganization. She wants to move into new international markets with minimum time and effort. She also wants to reduce management overhead and labor costs. At the same time, employees have been complaining about their work. Jobs are repetitive, and employees don't know how their work fits into the big picture. The president wants to provide employees with satisfying work, autonomy, and a performance-based pay system. She wants to give them as much control as possible and remove layers of management. -Refer to Additional Case 2.2. The president's ideas regarding employee dissatisfaction suggest that her thinking would be most compatible with a ________ theory of motivation.

General job descriptions are associated with:

Your organization is trying to decide if it should implement TQM. Management assembles a team from one department to study the issue. The team will disband once the study is complete. Which of the following would be most appropriate?

Maryland Times News is a publishing company that has a functional division of labor, work specialization, and a pyramid of authority. MTN most likely uses a:

Job enlargement switches workers between different, narrowly defined tasks without disrupting the work flow.

Which of the following has the LEAST influence on job design?

According to goal-setting theory, employees are more motivated by challenging goals than simple goals.

If a company is using a prospector business strategy, its market is stable, its product is mature, and it wants to increase market share by "digging" for new customers with new products.

________ is the process of organizing work into the tasks required to perform a specific job.