Chapter 4 - Workforce, Jobs, and Job Analysis

Question 1

Define “Labor Force Participation Rate”.

Answer 1

-The percentage of the population working or seeking work.

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Question 2

Define “Work”.

Answer 2

-Effort directed toward accomplishing results.

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Question 3

Define “Job”.

Answer 3

-Grouping of tasks, duties, and responsibilities that constitutes the total work assignment for an employee.
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Question 4

Define “Workflow Analysis”.

Answer 4

-Study of the way work (inputs, activities, and outputs) moves through an organization.
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Question 5

Define “Job Design”.

Answer 5

-Organizing tasks, duties, responsibilities, and other elements into a productive unit of work.
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Question 6

Define “Job Redesign”.

Answer 6

-Changing existing jobs in different ways to improve them.

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Question 7

Define “Contingent Worker”.

Answer 7

-Someone who is not a full-time employee but is a temporary or freelance worker for a specific period of time and type of work.
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Question 8

Define “Job Simplification”.

Answer 8

-Breaking a more complex job into relatively small subparts.

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Question 9

Define “Job Enlargement”.

Answer 9

-Broadening the scope of a job by expanding the number of different tasks that are performed.
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Question 10

Define “Job Enrichment”.

Answer 10

-Increasing the depth of a job by adding responsibility for planning, organizing, controlling, and/or evaluating the job.
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Question 11

Define “Job Rotation”.

Answer 11

-Process of shifting a person from job to job.

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Question 12

Define “Skill Variety”.

Answer 12

-Extent to which the work requires several activities for successful completion.
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Question 13

Define “Task Identity”.

Answer 13

-Extent to which the job includes a recognizable unit of work that is carried out from start to finish and results in a known consequence.
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Question 14

Define “Task Significance”.

Answer 14

-Impact the job has on other people and the organization as a whole.
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Question 15

Define “Autonomy”.

Answer 15

-Extent of individual freedom and discretion in the work and its scheduling.
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Question 16

Define “Feedback”.

Answer 16

-The amount of information employees receive about how well or how poorly they have performed.
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Question 17

Define “Special-Purpose Team”.

Answer 17

-Organizational team formed to address specific problems, improve work processes, and enhance the overall quality of products and services.
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Question 18

Define “Self-Directed Team”.

Answer 18

-Organizational team composed of individuals who are assigned a cluster of tasks, duties, and responsibilities to be accomplished.
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Question 19

Define “Virtual Team”.

Answer 19

-Organizational team that includes individuals who are separated geographically but who are linked by communications technology.
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Question 20

Define “Flexible Work Arrangements”.

Answer 20

-Enables employees to perform their jobs independent of time and location.
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Question 21

Define “Coworking Space”.

Answer 21

-Communal space shared by freelancers and remote workers.

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Question 22

Define “Work-Life Integration”.

Answer 22

-Employer-sponsored programs designed to help employees blend and bring elements of work and life together.
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Question 23

Define “Job Analysis”.

Answer 23

-Systematic way of gathering and analyzing information about the content, context, and human requirements of jobs.
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Question 24

Define “Task”.

Answer 24

-Distinct, identifiable work activity comprised of motions that employees perform.
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Question 25

Define “Duty”.

Answer 25

-Larger work segment comprised of several tasks that are performed by individuals.
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Question 26

Define “Responsibilities”.

Answer 26

-Obligations that individuals have to perform certain tasks and duties within a job.
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Question 27

Define “Competencies”.

Answer 27

-Individual capabilities that can be linked to enhanced performance by individuals or teams.
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Question 28

Define “Triangulation”.

Answer 28

-Using two (or more) methods in a study to increase validity of the results.
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Question 29

Define “Marginal Job Functions”.

Answer 29

-Duties that are part of a job but are incidental or ancillary to the purpose and nature of the job.
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Question 30

Define “Job Description”.

Answer 30

-Identifies a job’s tasks, duties, and responsibilities.

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Question 31

Define “Job Specification”.

Answer 31

-The knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) an individual needs to perform a job satisfactorily.
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Question 32

Define “Performance Standards”.

Answer 32

-Indicators of what the job accomplishes and how performance is measured in key areas of the job description.
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