Deck 9: The Workplace 2: Todays Challenges

Question 1

The right to privacy of employees

A)takes priority over other moral considerations.
B)is clearly and unambiguously spelled out by the law.
C)may conflict with an organization's legitimate interests.
D)has to be given up in an era of global competition.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

The proper approach to promote safety is to change the "hidden culture" to

A)pay employees more.
B)be proactively oriented toward safety.
C)hides injuries.
D)refuse to talk openly about safety.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

When it comes to obtaining information about employees,a key concept is

A)informed consent.
B)paternalism.
C)economic efficiency.
D)positive externalities.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Polygraph tests

A)are extraordinarily accurate contrary to what the critics say.
B)can produce false positives.
C)cannot reveal with certainty whether a person is or is not telling the truth.
D)are totally reliable because lying always triggers an involuntary response that truth telling does not.

Question 5

The Hawthorne effect shows that

A)quality control circles are important.
B)middle managers are affected by the satisfaction and dissatisfaction of the workers they supervise.
C)attention and recognition can enhance worker productivity and motivation.
D)trade-offs have to be made between productivity and quality of work life.

Question 6

Businesses cite several reasons for using polygraphs to detect lying.Which of the following is one of those reasons?

A)the polygraph is a fast and economical way to verify the information provided by a job applicant.
B)polygraph tests cannot be beaten.
C)the polygraph can reveal with certainty that a person is or is not telling the truth.
D)the polygraph allows companies to increase the number of audits.

Question 7

Douglas McGregor rejects Theory X,which holds that

A)when explained properly,everyone will favor drug-testing programs.
B)workers essentially dislike work and will do everything they can to avoid it.
C)workers basically like work and view it as something natural and potentially enjoyable.
D)sexual harassment is a form of discrimination.

Question 8

The most accurate statement about workplace safety is:

A)workers are often unaware of the hazards they face on the job
B)employees,not their employers,are responsible for creating a safe workplace
C)in an average year,150 workers are killed on the job
D)according to experts,industrial accidents "just happen"

Question 9

Privacy

A)is an absolute value.
B)must be respected if we are to function as complete,self-governing agents.
C)is something that employees today don't care about.
D)is guaranteed by Article 3,section 3,of the Constitution.

Question 10

The most common reason that people leave their jobs is

A)low wages.
B)too much overtime.
C)a poor relationship with their immediate supervisor.
D)lousy benefits.

Question 11

Which statement has the proper perspective about drug testing?

A)Due process need not be followed by a business implementing a drug-testing program for its employees.
B)The government has always opposed testing Federal employees for cocaine and other illicit drugs.
C)Drug testing can only be defensible when it is really pertinent to employee performance and when there is a lot at stake.
D)Informed consent need not be observed by a business implementing a drug testing program for its employees.

Question 12

Which of the following is true?

A)a company is never permitted to test for legal drugs
B)drugs can't harm employee performance
C)business writers agree that drug testing is more cost effective than voluntary drug assistance programs
D)media sensationalism and political posturing can get in the way of sensible answers to the drug problem

Question 13

One of the three chief sources for dissatisfaction in the workplace is

A)lack of opportunities to be promoted faster.
B)lack of opportunities to have a company vehicle.
C)lack of opportunities to have one's own office.
D)lack of opportunities to be one's own boss.

Question 14

Forty-three thousand workers each year are

A)killed on the job.
B)laid off.
C)injured on the job.
D)fall asleep on the job.

Question 15

Out of these four,which one is the only correct statement concerning OSHA?

A)Critics call OSHA a "toothless tiger".
B)OSHA regulates the shifts people work.
C)OSHA says few accidents are caused by sleep deprivation and fatigue.
D)OSHA states the key to worker safety is improved engineering.

Question 16

"Corporate in-fighting," "management power struggles," "maneuvering and politics and power grabbing," and "Machiavellian intrigues" are all phrases H.Ross Perot uses to describe

A)the reality of family life today.
B)the reality of corporate life today.
C)the reality of the lunch room.
D)the reality of the drive into work.

Question 17

A fact about job satisfaction is

A)longevity does not correlate with job satisfaction.
B)the U.S.leads the world in the provision of childcare.
C)a lack of job satisfaction can create mental health problems.
D)worker participation and improved QWL always boost productivity.

Question 18

Used properly,personality tests serve two purposes in the work place.Which of the following is one of those purposes?

A)Personality tests help screen applicants for jobs by indicating areas of adequacy and inadequacy.
B)Personality tests help to determine whether an applicant is a drug user.
C)Personality tests help determine how little the business has to pay an applicant if hired.
D)Personality tests help determine if an applicant will be willing to work for low pay.

Question 19

One key questionable premise underlying personality tests is

A)they sometimes screen out potentially creative or individualistic employees.
B)they presuppose that all employees can be validly placed in a small number of categories.
C)they can help determine job applicants' areas of adequacy and inadequacy.
D)that all individuals can usefully and validly be placed into a relatively small number of categories of personality types and character traits.

Question 20

An early 1970s government study ("Work in America") identified three chief sources of worker dissatisfaction.Which of the following is one of those sources?

A)industry's preoccupation with quality,not quantity
B)the rigidity of rules and regulations
C)the relatively small size of most U.S.corporations
D)mandatory drug testing programs used by many U.S.corporations

Question 21

If a polygraph test is 95 percent accurate,there are unlikely to be any "false positives."

Question 22

The United States has more of what per employee than any other industrial nation?

A)timeclocks
B)work injuries
C)sprains and strains
D)managers

Question 23

One problem that OSHA will have to address in the future is the increasing number of musculoskeletal disorders.

Question 24

The general proposition that a firm has a legitimate interest only in employee behavior that significantly influences work performance applies equally to off-the-job conduct.

Question 25

Many major employers routinely monitor the performance of their employees through the computers and telephones they use.Employers are allowed to

A)check the number of keystrokes that word processors enter during the day.
B)eavesdrop on e-mail.
C)eavesdrop on fax transmissions.
D)eavesdrop on cell phone conversations.

Question 26

There is a general consensus among philosophers and lawyers about how to define the right to privacy.

Question 27

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that postal workers who tested positive for drug use in a pre-employment urine test were at least 50 percent more likely to be

A)promoted.
B)transferred.
C)honored for community service.
D)fired,injured,disciplined,or absent than those who tested negative.

Question 28

Businesses often claim polygraphs are a fast and economical way to verify the information provided by a job applicant.

Question 29

Increased productivity by changing the color of the surrounding working environment is known as the "Hawthorne effect."

Question 30

Any drug-testing program,assuming it is warranted,must be careful to respect the dignity and rights of the persons to be tested.

Question 31

Which of the following is a true statement about the information gained from polygraph tests?

A)The information the organization seeks does not have to be related to the job.
B)The organization has used the polygraph as the easiest way to gather the information it wants.
C)Test results should be made public.
D)Not only should the organization have job-related grounds for using the polygraph,but these must be compelling enough to justify violating the individual's privacy and psychic freedom.

Question 32

When used properly,personality tests can help screen applicants for jobs by indicating areas of adequacy and inadequacy.

Question 33

As a general rule,the burden is on an organization to establish the legitimacy of infringing on what would normally be considered the personal sphere of the individual.

Question 34

Employees have a legal right to refuse to work when it exposes them to imminent danger.

Question 35

According to published statistics,each year in the United States nearly 100,000 workers are killed on the job.

Question 36

Notification of employee monitoring constitutes consent on the part of the employee to be monitored.

Question 37

Privacy is widely acknowledged today to be a fundamental right.

Question 38

When employees at all occupational levels are asked to rank what is important to them,the order that put them in is:

A)good pay;enough authority to carry out the work;sufficient help,support,and information;and interesting work.
B)interesting work;sufficient help,support,and information to accomplish the job;enough authority to carry out the work;and good pay
C)sufficient help,support,and information to accomplish the job;interesting work;enough authority to carry out the work,and good pay
D)enough authority to carry out the work;good pay;interesting work;and sufficient help,support,and information to accomplish the job

Question 39

The Employee Polygraph Protection Act permits most private employers to use lie detectors in "pre-employment testing."

Question 40

Informed consent implies deliberation and free choice.

Question 41

OSHA requires safeguards whether or not they are "feasible."

Question 42

The breaking up of jobs into smaller and smaller units,with each worker performing fewer tasks but repeating them thousands of times a day,has contributed to health problems in manufacturing.

Question 43

Give an example of legitimate,and an example of illegitimate,organizational influence over the individual.

Question 44

What moral considerations indicate that companies should provide childcare?

Question 45

Shaw and Barry argue that the world of work tends to reproduce the traditional male-female division of labor within the family.

Question 46

The text states that in the 1970s,"the government conducted a study of work in America ...[and] identified three chief sources of worker dissatisfaction." What are these three sources of worker dissatisfaction?

Question 47

No set of assumptions about human nature is absolutely correct or incorrect,nor is there one perfectly right way to manage.

Question 48

Granting workers new responsibilities and respect can benefit the entire organization.

Question 49

Explain one of the criticisms of personality tests in the workplace.

Question 50

Fatigue and sleep deprivation are no longer prime causes of industrial accidents.

Question 51

What is the Hawthorne Effect?

Question 52

Informed consent requires that two criteria be met.Briefly describe each of the criteria.

Question 53

Granting workers new responsibilities and respect can benefit the entire organization.

Question 54

Suppose that a company has 1,000 workers,20 of whom are thieves.Suppose,too,that a polygraph test is 95 percent accurate.If the company subjects all its employees to a polygraph test,how many thieves will be identified? How many innocent employees will be falsely identified as thieves?

Question 55

An early 1970s government survey of worker dissatisfaction identified that worker dissatisfaction has been linked to the industry's preoccupation with quantity,not quality and the rigidity of rules and regulations.

Question 56

One study suggests a positive correlation between job satisfaction and longevity.

Question 57

Do workplace accidents "just happen"?

Question 58

Different management theories rest on different theories of human nature.Explain one of the theories and how it could effect management.

Question 59

Should one's personal sexual conduct be taken into consideration for any professional job? If no,why not? If so,what job and why?

Question 60

In 1928,U.S.Supreme Court Judge Louis D.Brandeis described the right to privacy,or "the right to be left alone," as "the right most valued by men."

Question 61

"Women should be paid for maternity leave." List the reasoning on both sides of this issue.

Question 62

Explain how the findings of the Hawthorne experiment should be applied to the workplace.

Question 63

Should the activities of a teacher outside of the classroom and school be scrutinized? Should a teacher ever be dismissed for actions outside of the workplace? Justify your answers.

Question 64

"Safety in the workplace is good business." Justify this statement with information from this chapter.

Question 65

Is drug testing ever needed for a workplace? Justify your answer.