Deck 3: Managing Diversity and Individual Differences

Question 1

Labor shortages in the U.S. are due to scarcity of workers.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Training can change people's personality styles.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

A problem many professionals (such as accountants) face when being promoted into management is a lack of people skills.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Selecting for an attribute and training for an attribute can be equally effective strategies.

Question 5

One can increase a person's level of conscientiousness through training.

Question 6

Reengineering presumes a willingness by an organization to modify jobs to fit the skills and aptitudes of employees.

Question 7

The Americans with Disabilities Act requires most employers to make changes in jobs to accommodate disabled workers.

Question 8

Successful managers do not rely on reengineering.

Question 9

In a wide variety of jobs, the best personality measure to assess job performance is conscientiousness.

Question 10

Conscientiousness predicts trustworthiness and honesty but not job performance.

Question 11

Companies are increasingly relying on personality measures to select and place job candidates.

Question 12

In general, more extroverted salespeople perform the same as introverted ones.

Question 13

Emotional adjustment is related to likelihood of an employee engaging in deviant acts on the job.

Question 14

Openness to experience probably promotes learning and creativity.

Question 15

Most people can readily perceive individual differences in personality dimensions such as aggressiveness, sociability, and impulsiveness.

Question 16

Conscientiousness, even in the absence of ability, is a valuable asset in a worker.

Question 17

Salespeople who were not very skilled have been found to make low commissions even when their emotional stability is high; but when they are skilled, their emotional stability enhances their job performance.

Question 18

General cognitive ability is the same as intelligence.

Question 19

The heart of reasoning ability is the capacity to work with numbers.

Question 20

Generally, ability tests are much better than personality tests at predicting job performance.

Question 21

General cognitive ability predicts performance both in school and on the job.

Question 22

Cognitive ability is just as important for simple jobs as complex ones.

Question 23

Over time, experience wipes out differences in the performance of high- and low-cognitively able workers.

Question 24

Spatial visualization does not contribute to mechanical skills.

Question 25

Jobs in protective services are more likely to require physical abilities than jobs in most jobs in the hospitality industry.

Question 26

The belief that people are all "just like me" is called ____________.

A) attribution bias
B) self-fulfilling prophecy
C) mirror image fallacy
D) diversity training

Question 27

The "mirror image fallacy" is the belief that others ____________.

A) are just like me
B) mirror the stereotypes of their groups
C) mirror each other
D) are different from each other

Question 28

Because of differences between individuals, organizations must carefully manage ____________.

A) selection processes
B) training programs
C) reengineering efforts
D) all of the above

Question 29

Selection and placement processes enable managers to assess ____________.

A) people
B) jobs
C) fit between people and jobs
D) all of the above

Question 30

Selection and placement programs look at the __________________ of individuals.

A) traits
B) abilities
C) motivation
D) both a and b
E) all of the above

Question 31

Which of the following types of programs should take individual differences into account?

A) selection
B) training
C) reengineering
D) all of the above

Question 32

Selection would be most important for a company that has a strategy of ____________.

A) hiring temporary workers
B) growing talent and innovation within the organization
C) hiring minimum wage employees
D) living with high turnover

Question 33

According to the National Association of Manufacturers, about _____ percent of job applicants for manufacturing jobs are currently rejected because of gaps between their skills and job requirements.

A) 20 percent
B) 40 percent
C) 60 percent
D) 80 percent

Question 34

An organization that is committed to training its employees in needed job skills would be best advised to assess its employees' potential on ____________.

A) job-relevant skills
B) general competencies
C) reputation
D) past experience

Question 35

Modifying jobs to fit the abilities and traits of employees who are available is called ____________.

A) selection
B) placement
C) training
D) reengineering

Question 36

All of the following are components of the "Big Five" personality characteristics, EXCEPT ____________.

A) dominance
B) extroversion
C) conscientiousness
D) openness to experience

Question 37

If a person is secure and content, he/she is probably ____________.

A) extroverted
B) conscientious
C) agreeable
D) emotionally stable

Question 38

If a person is courteous and trusting, he/she is probably ____________.

A) extroverted
B) conscientious
C) agreeable
D) open to experience

Question 39

If a person is organized, thorough, and achievement oriented, he/she is probably ____________.

A) extroverted
B) conscientious
C) agreeable
D) open to experience

Question 40

If a person is imaginative, artistic, and playful, he/she is probably ____________.

A) extroverted
B) conscientious
C) agreeable
D) open to experience

Question 41

If a manager is extroverted, the best adjective to describe them would be ____________.

A) expressive
B) secure
C) good natured
D) persevering

Question 42

If a subordinate is emotionally adjusted, the best adjective to describe them would be ____________.

A) expressive
B) secure
C) good natured
D) persevering

Question 43

If a co-worker is agreeable, the best adjective to describe them would be ____________.

A) expressive
B) secure
C) good natured
D) persevering

Question 44

If a supervisor is conscientious, the best adjective to describe them would be ____________.

A) expressive
B) secure
C) good natured
D) persevering

Question 45

If a colleague is open to experience, the best adjective to describe them would be ____________.

A) expressive
B) secure
C) good natured
D) curious

Question 46

Conscientiousness has been shown to be a valid predictor of ____________.

A) employee theft
B) white collar crime
C) job performance
D) all of the above

Question 47

If I want to hire an employee whom I can trust, I should give job candidates a ___________________:

A) emotional stability test
B) reasoning ability test
C) conscientiousness test
D) openness to experience test

Question 48

The general trend in hiring is for organizations to use _______ tests of personality in hiring.

A) more
B) the same amount
C) fewer
D) no one knows

Question 49

Extroversion has been shown to be a valid predictor of ____________.

A) job performance, for a wide variety of jobs
B) job performance for sales and management jobs
C) job performance for sales and management jobs, but only when one factors in the amount of freedom in the job
D) employee theft

Question 50

An important predictor of a person's likelihood of engaging in deviant acts on the job is ____________.

A) extroversion
B) openness to experience
C) conscientiousness
D) emotional stability

Question 51

Using the Big Five framework, the strongest predictor of leadership is ____________.

A) extroversion
B) emotional stability
C) conscientiousness
D) openness to experience

Question 52

Which is a criticism leveled at the use of personality measures in predicting human behavior?

A) most of the measures don't predict job performance successfully
B) generally, most people don't understand what they mean
C) they take an extensive amount of time to complete
D) there are no valid measures available

Question 53

In general, personality tests are __________ than ability tests are predicting job performance.

A) better
B) the same as
C) worse
D) no one knows

Question 54

Conscientiousness has been shown to be most closely related to job performance when ____________.

A) ability of the individual is low
B) ability of the individual is medium
C) ability of the individual is high
D) both b and c

Question 55

In general, which of the following groups is most likely to perform well in a sales job?

A) low skill, high emotional stability
B) high skill, high emotional stability
C) low skill, low emotional stability
D) high skill, low emotional stability

Question 56

In general, which of the following groups is most likely to perform poorly in a sales job?

A) low skill, high emotional stability
B) low skill, low emotional stability
C) high skill, low emotional stability
D) Both b and c

Question 57

People high in general cognitive ability will tend to ____________.

A) learn jobs more quickly
B) perform better in more complex jobs
C) perform better in undergraduate education
D) perform better in graduate school
E) all of the above

Question 58

As opposed to simple personality inventories, _____________ can often provide more useful information about personality and interpersonal skills.

A) cognitive ability test
B) spatial interviews
C) quantitative interviews
D) situational interviews

Question 59

All of the following are dimension of cognitive ability discussed in the textbook EXCEPT ____________.

A) Verbal ability
B) Quantitative ability
C) Spatial ability
D) Creative ability

Question 60

The ability to think inductively and deductively to invent solutions to novel problems is ____________.

A) verbal ability
B) quantitative ability
C) spatial ability
D) reasoning ability

Question 61

To determine the importance of specific abilities to a particular job, one should ____________.

A) try out many tests until one is found that works
B) conduct a job analysis
C) ask people in the job what they believe
D) use reason and logic to choose

Question 62

The most effective way to predict the performance of a draftsperson is ____________.

A) general cognitive ability test
B) spatial visualization test
C) reasoning ability test
D) both a and b

Question 63

What abilities are most critical to success in executive, administrative, and professional positions?

A) spatial ability and reasoning ability
B) spatial ability and verbal ability
C) verbal ability and quantitative ability
D) verbal ability and reasoning ability

Question 64

For which of the following job is quantitative ability likely to be most important?

A) executive
B) machinist
C) accountant
D) elementary school teacher

Question 65

For which of the following jobs is quantitative ability likely to be most important?

A) salesperson
B) english teacher
C) janitor
D) truck driver

Question 66

All of the following are dimensions of physical ability EXCEPT ____________.

A) muscular strength
B) cardiovascular endurance
C) movement quality
D) general health

Question 67

Physical abilities would be needed most frequently in which of the following type of jobs?

A) manufacturing lines
B) protective services
C) distribution of products (e.g., trucking)
D) medical workers

Question 68

Compared to Americans, Europeans are more likely to approach work and sports with a ____________ orientation.

A) extraverted
B) individual
C) team
D) goal

Question 69

The authors suggest that US companies will be most hurt by ____________ when challenged to join the global competition for talent.

A) an American-centric attitude
B) lack of understanding cultural influence on personalities
C) prejudice against certain groups
D) the need to diversity across generations

Question 70

About what percent of new entrants into the labor pool by 2005 will be women, minorities, or immigrants?

A) 20 percent
B) 40 percent
C) 60 percent
D) 80 percent

Question 71

Financial markets from around the globe believe that diversity management can ____________.

A) increase bottom line results
B) increase employee stock options
C) increase global profits
D) increase a firm's stock price

Question 72

Turnover rates for minorities at the managerial level are often ___ those of white males.

A) ten times
B) five times
C) two to three times
D) slightly higher

Question 73

To retain minority workers, companies can ____________.

A) set diversity goals for promotions and career-enhancing experiences
B) provide training programs
C) encourage minority workers to form networks
D) all of the above

Question 74

The single most important factor in the success of diversity programs is ____________.

A) setting promotion goals
B) providing mentors
C) encouraging minority networks
D) top management support

Question 75

Many people consider diversity in terms of race and gender, however in the very near future managers should consider diversity based on ____________ as an essential element to diversity management.

A) age
B) disability
C) nationality
D) sexuality

Question 76

Concerns about security have led many organizations to perform background checks on ____________.

A) job candidates
B) present employees
C) both a and b
D) neither a nor b

Question 77

Employees at Eli Lilly who were discharged due to secret findings provided by background checks may ____________ any such findings.

A) appeal
B) not appeal
C) explain with documentation
D) confirm

Question 78

A key dimension of individual differences, which will be of increasing importance to organizations of the future, that has not been studied extensively (although measures of it have been developed) is:

A) dominance
B) need for affection
C) ability to work with others
D) adaptability

Question 79

The trait which is predictive of adaptability to new and different situations is:

A) extroversion
B) openness to experience
C) conscientiousness
D) agreeableness

Question 80

Employees that can display one trait in one situation, and then the opposite trait in another situation may be described as ____________.

A) open to experiences
B) emotionally stable
C) adaptive
D) actively strategic