Ch. 6: Applied Performance Practices

Question 1

What is the meaning of money in the workplace?

Answer 1

• Money ethic

- Money as a tool or drug

Question 2

What are the gender differences relating to the meaning of money?

Answer 2

Men value money more than women

Men: Symbol of power and status
Women: Symbol of generosity

Question 3

What are the cultural differences relating to the meaning of money?

Answer 3

• High power distance countries: High respect and priority for $
• Strong egalitarian culture: Discouraged from open discussion or display of personal wealth
• Value of saving vs. spending $

Question 4

What are the types of financial reward practices?

Answer 4

1) Membership- & seniority-based rewards
2) Job status-based rewards
3) Competency-based rewards
> Competency-based
> Skill-based
4) Performance-based rewards
> Individual, team, org rewards

Question 5

What are the advantages and disadvantages of membership- & seniority-based rewards?

Answer 5

Adv:

• May attract job applicants
• Less financial insecurity
• Less turnover with seniority

Disadv:

• No performance motivation
• Discourages poor performers from leaving
• May act as “golden handcuffs”

Question 6

What are the advantages and disadvantages of job-status based rewards?

Answer 6

Adv:
- Job evaluation - more pay fairness, less pay discrimination

Disadv:

• Encourages bureaucratic hierarchy
• Reinforce status vs. egalitarian culture
• Employees exaggerate duties, hoard resources

Question 7

What are the advantages and disadvantages of competency-based rewards?

Answer 7

Adv:

• Motivates learning new skills
• Multi-skilled, flexible, creative, adaptive employees
• Improved product/svc quality

Disadv:

• Overdesigned (complex)
• Potentially subjective
• Expensive, higher training costs

Question 8

What are the advantages and disadvantages of performance-based rewards?

Answer 8

Adv:

• ESOPs and stock options create “ownership culture”
• Profit sharing adjusts pay with firm’s prosperity

Disadv:
- Organisational rewards have weak P-to-O link

Question 9

What are the types of individual performance-based rewards?

Answer 9

• Bonuses, piece rate, commissions

Question 10

What are the types of team performance-based rewards?

Answer 10

• Bonuses, gainsharing plans

Gainsharing plans: Calculates bonuses from work unit’s cost savings and productivity improvement

Question 11

What are the types of organisational performance-based rewards?

Answer 11

• Bonuses
• Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs)
• Stock options
• Profit-sharing plan

Question 12

What are the five ways to improve reward practices?

Answer 12

1. Link rewards to performance
2. Ensure rewards are relevant
3. Use team rewards for interdependent jobs
4. Ensure rewards are valued
5. Beware of unintended consequences

Question 13

What are the advantages and disadvantages of job specialisation?

Answer 13

Adv:

• Improves work efficiency
• Scientific management

Disadv:

• Low motivation
• Absenteeism & turnover
• Higher wages to offset tedious work
• Work quality affected

Question 14

What is job specialisation?

Answer 14

The result of a division of labour, in which work is subdivided into separate jobs assigned to different people

Question 15

What are the elements of the job characteristics model?

Answer 15

Core job characteristics:

• Skill variety, task identity, task significance
• Autonomy
• Feedback from job

Critical psychological states:

• Meaningfulness
• Responsibility
• Knowledge of results

Outcomes:
- Work motivation, growth satisfaction, work effectiveness

Question 16

What is the Motivator-Hygiene Theory?

Answer 16

Employees are primarily motivated by growth and esteem needs (i.e. motivators), not by lower level needs (i.e. hygiene)

Lower level needs: poor working conditions, low job satisfaction, etc - experience dissatisfaction

Question 17

What are the contingencies of job design?

Answer 17

Indiv. differences

• Knowledge & skill
• Context satisfaction
• Growth-need strength (High)

Social characteristics

• Extent to which job requires Es to interact with other ppl
• Feedback from others

Information processing demands

• Task variability
• Task analysability

Question 18

What are the three ways to improve employee motivation through job design?

Answer 18

1) Job rotation
2) Job enlargement
3) Job enrichment
- Natural grouping
- Establishing client relationship

Question 19

What are the benefits of job rotation?

Answer 19

• Increase skill variety, employee motivation and satisfaction
• Minimises repetitive strain injury
• Multiskilling – workforce flexibility

Question 20

What are the benefits of job enlargement?

Answer 20

• Increase skill variety
• Increase work efficiency and flexibility
• With more autonomy and job knowledge – increase motivation, performance, job satisfaction

Question 21

What are the benefits of job enrichment?

Answer 21

• Increase job satisfaction and work motivation
• Lower absenteeism and turnover
• Increase product/svc quality

Question 22

What is empowerment?

Answer 22

A psychological concept in which people experience more:

1) self-determination,
2) meaning,
3) competence, and
4) impact regarding their role in the org.

Question 23

What are the strategies that support empowerment?

Answer 23

Individual factors
- Es possess required competencies, can perform the work, can handle decision-making demands

Job design factors
- Autonomy, task identity, task significance, job feedback

Organisational factors

• Readily accessible info, resources
• Learning orientation
• Trust employees, willing to task risks

Question 24

What are the contingencies of empowerment strategies?

Answer 24

1) Culture - may conflict with cultural norms

2) Trust in leadership

Question 25

What is self-leadership?

Answer 25

• Specific cognitive and behavioural strategies to achieve personal goals and standards
• The process of influencing oneself to establish the self-direction and self-motivation needed to perform a task

Question 26

What are the elements of self-leadership?

Answer 26

Personal goal setting > Constructive thought strategies (Positive self-talk + Mental imagery) > Designing natural rewards > Self-monitoring > Self-reinforcement

Question 27

What are the predictors of self-leadership?

Answer 27

Indiv factors

• Higher levels of conscientiousness & extroversion
• Positive self-concept evaluation (i.e. self-esteem, self-efficacy, internal locus of control)

Org. factors

• Job autonomy
• Participative and trustworthy leadership
• Measurement-oriented culture