The two factors that the pay adjustment matrix considers are _____.

BUSI 342 EXAM 3

Question 1

1. The high rate of turnover of nursing staff is a major concern at Briar Mountain Regional Medical Center. Many experienced nurses resist moving into management, but exit interviews indicate that many of the best nurses leave Briar Mountain because they feel they cannot advance in the organization. Which of the following steps would be most efficient in reducing the turnover of nursing staff?

a. Hiring nurses who are later in their careers, where advancement is less of a concern to them

b. Providing retention bonuses and significant pay raises tied to seniority

c. Implementing a dual-career ladder for nurses

d. Offering to pay tuition for nurses who wish to enroll in MBA programs so they are more qualified to take managerial positions

2 points

Question 2

1. The modeling process involves only straightforward imitation and copying.

True

False

2 points

Question 3

1. The career stage that hinders the job progression of many women with family responsibilities and blocks them from advancing to executive ranks is the late career stage.

True

False

2 points

Question 4

1. When opportunities for promotion are scarce, a good way to keep employees motivated and develop their talents within the organization is _____.

a. to send them to a corporate university

b. to encourage practices of glass ceiling

c. to give them a sabbatical or leave of absence

d. to rotate them through lateral transfers

2 points

Question 5

1. Encapsulated development occurs when a single work unit in an organization is used to pilot test new training programs.

True

False

2 points

Question 6

1. Which of the following statements is true?

a. Policies that encourage sequencing are needed in order to recruit women with children into the full-time workforce.

b. Glass ceiling allows women to efficiently strike a balance between their personal lives and careers.

c. Job sequencing has proven to be a successful career tactic for women wishing to combine work and family, since its impacts on career advancement are nonexistent.

d. Now that women are in the workforce in nearly the same proportion as men, the differences between men’s and women’s careers are expected to disappear by 2015.

2 points

Question 7

1. What impact does development have on an individual’s career?

a. The employee’s ability to learn specific behaviors is likely to be compromised.

b. The individual’s marketability at other organizations will be reduced due to employer-specific specialization.

c. The employee’s career goals will be subordinated to the organization’s goals.

d. The employee is likely to acquire abilities to handle a variety of assignments that might not be required for his or her current position.

2 points

Question 8

1. A(n) _____ is a sequence of work-related positions a person occupies throughout life.

a. career

b. profession

c. job ladder

d. occupation

2 points

Question 9

1. Ambrose is discussing his college major with his best friend. Ambrose says that his parents want him to be a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) just like them when he graduates. However, Ambrose says, “I just don’t see myself as an accountant!” Which of the following can be concluded from the information given in this scenario?

a. Ambrose’s interest is clashing with his self-image.

b. Ambrose’s self-image is not congruent with his parent’s image of him.

c. Ambrose’s choice is conflicting with that of his peers.

d. Ambrose belongs to a personality type that is not likely to go for a practical job.

2 points

Question 10

1. When an organization ties formal succession plans to career paths for employees, it _____.

a. discourages employees who have not been selected to succeed key managers which reduces overall morale

b. runs the risk that the chosen successors will feel they have a legal or moral right to the job when it becomes available

c. improves employee retention and performance motivation

d. discourages the practice of making status-blind employment decisions

2 points

Question 11

1. The administrative role of performance appraisals often creates stress for managers doing the appraisals and the employees being evaluated, because the rater is placed in the role of judge.

True

False

2 points

Question 12

1. When a key part of performance management, the performance appraisal, is used to punish employees, _____.

a. performance appraisal is more effective

b. performance management is less effective

c. performance management is more effective

d. performance appraisal is less effective

2 points

Question 13

1. _____ is a technique for distributing ratings that are generated with any of the other appraisal methods and comparing the ratings of people in a work group.

a. Behavioral rating scales

b. Forced distribution

c. Critical incident

d. Essay method

2 points

Question 14

1. Employee attitude is classified as trait-based information.

True

False

2 points

Question 15

1. The recency effect occurs when a rater gives greater weight to information received first when appraising an individual’s performance.

True

False

2 points

Question 16

1. _____ recognizes that for many jobs, employee performance is multidimensional and crosses departmental, organizational, and even national boundaries.

a. 360-degree rating

b. Peer rating

c. Outsider rating

d. Self-rating

2 points

Question 17

1. The _____ occurs when a manager uses only the lower part of the scale to rate employees.

a. leniency error

b. strictness error

c. recency effect

d. primacy effect

2 points

Question 18

1. Which of the following statements is true of developing a performance-focused culture throughout the organization?

a. In firms with a performance-focused culture, performance appraisal activities are seen as having few ties to performance and are primarily regarded as a “bureaucratic exercise.”

b. Firms with performance-focused cultures have more positive performance than those with a maintenance-orientation culture.

c. In firms with a performance-focused culture, adequate performance and stability dominate the firm.

d. Firms with performance-focused cultures do not usually provide training to managers and employees.

2 points

Question 19

1. The _____ occurs when ratings of all employees fall at the high end of the scale.

a. central tendency

b. primacy effect

c. leniency error

d. recency effect

2 points

Question 20

1. Performance appraisal is the entire series of activities designed to ensure that the organization gets the performance it needs from its employees.

True

False

2 points

Question 21

1. Which of the following is true of an employer who uses the third-quartile strategy of compensation?

a. The employer pays the employees on par with the market levels.

b. The employer pays the employees above market levels.

c. The employers determine the pay irrespective of the market scenario.

d. The employer pays the employees below market levels.

2 points

Question 22

1. Which of the following is true of the factor-comparison method of job evaluation?

a. It is a qualitative method that combines the classification and ranking methods.

b. In this method, descriptions of each group of jobs are written and then each job is put into a grade according to the group it best matches.

c. It is time-consuming and difficult to use, which accounts for its limited popularity in organizations.

d. It uses subjective judgments to develop the class descriptions and to place jobs accurately in them.

2 points

Question 23

1. If an organization has implemented competitive pay practices and has a fair and reasonable pay structure, employee concerns about inequity can be reduced by sharing this information.

True

False

2 points

Question 24

1. Distributive justice is the perceived fairness of the process and procedures used to make decisions about employees, including their pay.

True

False

2 points

Question 25

1. The two factors that the pay adjustment matrix considers are _____.

a. the employee’s total productivity and the employee’s position in the pay range

b. the employee’s performance as rated in an appraisal and the employee’s position in the pay range

c. the employee’s total productivity and the total number of hours spent at work

d. the employee’s performance as rated in an appraisal and the total number of hours spent at work

2 points

Question 26

1. _____ are payments calculated on the basis of the time worked.

a. Salaries

b. Benefits

c. Wages

d. Commissions

2 points

Question 27

1. Market banding groups jobs into pay grades based on similar market survey amounts.

True

False

2 points

Question 28

1. The most common indirect compensation is employee benefits.

True

False

2 points

Question 29

1. If a state’s minimum wage is higher than the federal minimum wage, _____.

a. employers must pay the difference as employee benefits

b. employers must pay whichever wage is higher

c. employers are free to choose between either of the two

d. employers must pay whichever wage is lower

2 points

Question 30

1. Integrating performance appraisal ratings with pay changes can be done through the development of a merit-based performance matrix.

True

False

2 points

Question 31

1. Team Spark LLC, a producer of consumer goods, practiced gainsharing. After organizational restructuring, the management has decided to replace gainsharing plans with a piece-rate system. Which of the following is true of Team Spark LLC?

a. It provided group incentives; now it provides organizational incentives.

b. It provided group incentives; now it provides individual incentives.

c. It provided individual incentives; now it provides organizational incentives.

d. It provided individual incentives; now it provides group incentives.

2 points

Question 32

1. The focus of gainsharing is to increase “discretionary efforts.”

True

False

2 points

Question 33

1. Variable pay plans attempt to provide tangible rewards, or incentives, to employees for performance beyond normal expectations.

True

False

2 points

Question 34

1. _____ are special benefits—usually noncash items—for executives.

a. Golden parachutes

b. Base salaries

c. Executive salaries

d. Perquisites

2 points

Question 35

1. _____ is a compensation typically computed as a percentage of sales in units or dollars.

a. Basic salary

b. Wage

c. Severance pay

d. Commission

2 points

Question 36

1. Which of the following statements is true of the salary-only approach?

a. The salary-only approach is useful when an organization emphasizes serving and retaining existing accounts.

b. The salary-only approach is not useful in compensating sales representatives who are new to a job.

c. The salary-only approach is useful only when an organization is compensating experienced sales executives.

d. The salary-only approach is useful when an organization emphasizes on generating new sales and accounts.

2 points

Question 37

1. _____ refer to the compensation given to an executive if he or she is forced to leave an organization.

a. Perquisites

b. Golden parachutes

c. Commissions

d. Short-term Incentives

2 points

Question 38

1. To ensure that spot bonuses works efficiently, employers must keep the amounts reasonable and provide them only for exceptional performance accomplishments.

True

False

2 points

Question 39

1. Which of the following is the best example of variable pay?

a. Severance pay

b. Basic pay

c. Incentive

d. Conveyance allowance

2 points

Question 40

1. According to the provisions of the _____, publically listed companies now must allow shareholders to vote on executive compensation.

a. Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act

b. Dodds-Frank Act

c. Sarbanes-Oxley Act

d. Walsh-Healy Public Contracts Act