Deck 6: Job Design and Performance

Question 1

Product, territory, and customer departments are comprised of jobs that are quite similar (homogenous).

Answer 1

False

Question 2

The trade-offs between the gains in human terms from improved quality of work life and the gains in economic terms from revitalization aren't fully known.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Performing a job can sometimes result in health problems for the worker.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Jobs can provide intrinsic or extrinsic outcomes, but not both.

Question 5

The pioneering Walker and Guest study was concerned with the social and physiological problems associated with mass production jobs in automobile assembly plants.

Question 6

Performance will turn down as individuals reach the limits imposed by their abilities and time.

Question 7

Managers expecting higher performance to result from increased task variety will be disappointed if the jobholders do not have strong growth needs.

Question 8

An employee with the same job title, who is at the same organizational level as another employee, may possess more or less job depth.

Question 9

Persons who are not involved in their work or the organization that employs them cannot be expected to realize the same satisfaction as those who are.

Question 10

As used in the text, the term job design refers to a one-time, static process.

Question 11

According to the "General Model of Job Design" perceived job content leads to job performance.

Question 12

Employees with relatively weak higher-order needs are more concerned with performing a variety of tasks than are employees with relatively strong growth needs.

Question 13

If an individual perceives a job as boring, job performance will suffer.

Question 14

Job depth reflects the number of operations that a job occupant performs to complete a task.

Question 15

Job satisfaction depends on the levels of intrinsic and extrinsic outcomes and how the job-holder views those outcomes.

Question 16

Job depth reflects the amount of control that an individual has to alter or influence the job and the surrounding environment.

Question 17

Managers cannot understand the causes of job performance without considering the social setting in which the job is performed.

Question 18

Job designs describe the objective characteristics of jobs.

Question 19

The term "job design" specifically refers to any instance in which management specifies the duties and responsibilities of a job.

Question 20

Without the opportunity to communicate, people will be unable to establish cohesive work groups.

Question 21

Self-managed teams (SMT) represent a job enrichment approach at the group level.

Question 22

People differ in the extent that _______________.

A) work is a central life interest
B) they perceive work as central to self-esteem
C) they perceive work as consistent with self-concept
D) All of the choices are correct.

Question 23

According to the "General Model of Job Design" job performance is influenced by:

A) perceived job content
B) personalized job content
C) extra-organizational job content
D) All of the above.

Question 24

All of the following are considered extrinsic outcomes of a job except:

A) Pay
B) Co-workers
C) Feeling challenged
D) Working conditions

Question 25

Job __________ has been defined as the feelings beliefs and attitudes that employees have regarding their jobs.

A) satisfaction
B) depth
C) joy
D) EQ

Question 26

Higher-level needs regain importance when the economy moves through periods of recession and high inflation.

Question 27

Job design attempts to ______________.

A) identify the most important needs of employers and organization
B) remove obstacles in the workplace that frustrate the needs of the organization and employees
C) match applicants to positions
D) Both A and B

Question 28

The concept of quality of work life (QWL) is widely used to refer to a philosophy of management that does all of the following except:

A) Streamlines and standardizes the job
B) Enhances the dignity of all workers
C) Introduces changes in an organization's culture
D) Improves the physical and emotional well-being of employees

Question 29

Perceived job content is influenced by:

A) Job design
B) Individual differences
C) Social setting differences
D) All of the above.

Question 30

Job enrichment and job enlargement are competing strategies.

Question 31

What we do on the job plays a major role in our _______________ status as well as our economic standing.

A) social
B) health
C) psychological
D) All of the choices are correct.

Question 32

An individual who executes eight tasks to perform a job has a wider job _______ than a person executing four.

A) specification
B) range
C) diversity
D) richness

Question 33

Mike's position requires the use of more discretion than Jack's. Mike's position could be characterized as having greater job _______.

A) depth
B) range
C) diversity
D) "Q"

Question 34

An employee with the same job title who's at the same organizational level as another employee may possess __________ job depth because of personal influence.

A) more
B) less
C) the same amount of
D) All of the above

Question 35

All of the following are typically thought of as "objective" measures except:

A) Output
B) Tardiness
C) Turnover
D) Job satisfaction

Question 36

Job enlargement strategies focus on dividing work into more specialized tasks.

Question 37

Job designs specify all of the following job characteristics except:

A) Range
B) Depth
C) Relationships
D) Specific duties

Question 38

Contemporary job design theory defines intrinsic motivation in terms of the employee's _______________ to achieve outcomes from the application of individual ability and talent.

A) potential
B) empowerment
C) incentives
D) directives

Question 39

Job enlargement is a necessary precondition for job enrichment.

Question 40

Which of the following jobs would have the highest job depth?

A) Assembly-line worker
B) Bookkeeper
C) Chief of surgery
D) Anesthesiologist

Question 41

Which of the following departmental bases places jobs with similar depth and range into the same group?

A) Customer
B) Functional
C) Product
D) Territory

Question 42

A pioneering Walker and Guest study found that many workers were dissatisfied with their highly specialized jobs. In particular, they disliked:

A) Mechanical pacing
B) Repetitiveness of operations
C) A lack of a sense of accomplishment
D) All of the choices are correct.

Question 43

A ____________ departmental bases places jobs with similar depth and range into the same groups.

A) flat
B) fundamental
C) functional
D) focused

Question 44

There are ____________ precise equations that managers can use to decide job range and depth.

A) multiple
B) specific
C) no
D) Both A and B are correct.

Question 45

An advantage of job enlargement is that it__________.

A) may increase employee training requirements
B) may decrease employee boredom
C) allows employees to be more self-directed
D) Both A and B are correct.

Question 46

Taylor proposed that the way to improve work is to determine _________.

A) the best way to do a task
B) determine the standard time for the completion of tasks
C) incorporate social factors into work design
D) Both A and B are correct.

Question 47

Individuals who work in __________departments experience feelings of dissatisfaction and stress more intensely than those in ________, functional departments.

A) heterogeneous, homogeneous
B) homogeneous, heterogeneous
C) heterogeneous, heterogenic
D) heterogenic, hologynic

Question 48

Managers of General Electric, Ford, and Deloitte Services LP all utilized different forms of the _______________ strategy.

A) job enlargement
B) job rotation
C) job redesign
D) job enhancement

Question 49

If managers desire to increase job performance by changing perceived job content, they can change ________.

A) job design
B) individual perceptions
C) social settings
D) All of the above

Question 50

Job design describes the _________ characteristics of jobs.

A) perceived
B) objective
C) true
D) All of the above

Question 51

Variety, task identity, and feedback are perceptions of job _______________.

A) range
B) depth
C) relationships
D) autonomy

Question 52

Highly specialized jobs are those having all of the following except:

A) Few tasks to accomplish
B) Job-specific rules
C) Job-specific procedures
D) Discretion over means and ends

Question 53

______________ revised the RTAI to include six characteristics.

A) Hackman and Lawler
B) Herzberg and Locke
B) Taylor and Lawler
D) Hackman and Locke

Question 54

Employees sharing similar _______________ should report similar job characteristics.

A) perceptions
B) job designs
C) social settings
D) All of the above.

Question 55

A position with a wider ______________ means it has more direct reports.

A) job depth
B) job span
C) span of control
D) control depth

Question 56

A management initiative is increasing the amount of discretion individuals have to decide job activities and outcomes. Management is increasing _________.

A) job range
B) job depth
C) task diversity
D) task range

Question 57

A management initiative is increasing the number of tasks jobholders perform. Management is increasing _________.

A) job range
B) job depth
C) task diversity
D) task range

Question 58

Increasing task variety should, according to recent studies, do all of the following except:

A) Increase employee satisfaction
B) Increase mental overload
C) Decrease the number of errors due to fatigue
D) Reduce the number of on-the-job injuries

Question 59

Research studies have pointed out, how one perceives a job is _______ affected by what other people say about it.

A) generally not
B) weakly
C) inversely
D) greatly

Question 60

Organization behavior researchers have attempted to measure perceived job content in a variety of work settings, primarily through _______________.

A) face-to-face interviews
B) observation
C) questionnaires
D) time and motion studies

Question 61

Jobs can be designed on the basis of:

A) range and significant depth
B) a moderate amount of range and depth
C) significant depth and generally low range
D) All of the choices are correct.

Question 62

In the context of job design SMT is an acronym for _________.

A) social media teams
B) situational mediated teams
C) self-managed teams
D) solo-man team

Question 63

________________ is a process in which best practices are monitored and adopted.

A) Six sigma
B) Benchmarking
C) TQA
D) Cloning

Question 64

The text presented all of the following as tips for creating a flextime schedule except:

A) Survey employees to determine their scheduling needs
B) Assign manageable workloads
C) Evaluate flexible arrangements on a regular basis
D) Assess job performance based on hours worked

Question 65

If employees are able to carry out enriched jobs and managers are willing to delegate authority, performance gains can be expected. This positive outcome is the result of all of the following except:

A) Employees' increased expectations that efforts lead to performance
B) Employees' increased expectations that jobs will be further enriched
C) Employees' increased expectations that performance lead in rewards
D) Employees' expectations that the achieved rewards will lead to satisfied needs

Question 66

_____________ theory emphasizes that too great an emphasis on the technical system in the manner of scientific management or too great an emphasis on the social system in the manner of human relations will lead to poor job design.

A) Human relations
B) Social impact
C) Sociotechnical
D) Technical minimization

Question 67

When switching from a traditional hierarchy structure to work teams, two notable barriers are resistance and _______________.

A) misunderstanding
B) distrust
C) increased personnel needs
D) insufficient communication

Question 68

One of the earliest forms of alternative work arrangements was _______________.

A) flex-time
B) telecommuting
C) the compressed work week
D) job sharing

Question 69

Name three positive things that a job can provide for an individual.

Question 70

Six sigma is a quality standard that specifies a goal of no more than _____ defects per million opportunities.

A) 1
B) 3.4
C) 7.3
D) 10

Question 71

Name three work place indicators of quality of work life.

Question 72

Employees with a strong need for _______________ will respond more positively to job redesign efforts than those with relatively weak growth needs.

A) accomplishment
B) learning
C) challenge
D) All of the choices are correct.

Question 73

Total quality management (TQM) refers to a (n) _______________that is dedicated to continuous improvement and the production of high-quality products and services, ultimately resulting in higher levels of customer satisfaction.

A) organizational culture
B) job design
C) job philosophy
D) organized ethos

Question 74

In a __________ arrangement, employees can determine, within some limits, when they work.

A) flex-time
B) telecommuting
C) compressed work week
D) job sharing

Question 75

A _______________ team relies on interactive technology to work together when separated by physical distance.

A) self-directed
B) virtual
C) job sharing
D) All of the choices are correct.

Question 76

Describe the concept of QWL.

Question 77

Team-building training exercises should be used_______________ to facilitate the development of trust.

A) during the initial periods of team formation
B) every meeting
C) after teams have solidified
D) as conflicts arise

Question 78

If employees are amenable to job enlargement and have the requisite ability, then job enlargement should _______________.

A) increase product quality
B) decrease absenteeism
C) decrease turnover
D) All of the choices are correct.

Question 79

Contrast job redesign and job design.

Question 80

Management attempts to do two things when designing a job. What are they?