Final exam Flashcards
anticipates problems and prevents them before they occur.
Feedforward control
allows managers and subordinates to correct problems as they occur.
Concurrent control
allows employees to correct problems after they have occurred. A well-managed company relies on all three types.
Feedback control
the four steps of the Feedback control process
(1) establish performance standards/goals; (2) measure actual performance;
(3) compare the actual performance to the performance standards; and
(4) evaluate the result and take appropriate action.
What is appropriate depends on performance. If the performance meets or exceeds standards,
then managers should reward people who performed well.
If the performance falls short of achieving the performance standard,
then the manager should identify the reasons for the poor performance and correct them.
potential reasons for poor employee performance:
(1) the employee job duties constantly change and the employee hasn’t been informed of his/her new duties;
(2) the performance standards are unrealistic – too challenging for an employee to meet them;
(3) the employee hasn’t been properly trained to perform the job effectively; and (4) the employee lacks the equipment that will let him/her succeed at the job.
If the employee knows his/her job duties, has realistic performance standards, is fully trained and works with effective technology and still performs poorly,
then the manager should inform the employee that he/she will not receive any rewards and will lose his/her job if his/her performance doesn’t improve to a satisfactory level soon.
is an internal reward we give ourselves. For example, the feeling of pride that comes from making a high score on a hard exam is an _______.
intrinsic reward
is a reward that comes from someone else. For example, an employee who receives a pay raise from his/her manager for doing a job well has received an _____.
extrinsic reward
B.F. Skinner’s reinforcement theory:
- positive reinforcement (positive outcomes, i.e., rewards, for positive performance);
- extinction (removal of a reward/positive outcome when poor performance occurs); 3. punishment (unpleasant outcomes for undesirable performance), and
- avoidance learning (the removal of undesired outcomes when poor behavior ceases) to influence people to behave appropriately and effectively.
When using _____, a manager can praise an employee for doing fine work and award him/her a pay raise bonus if his/her performance is average, good or excellent.
positive reinforcement
Using _______ , if an employee who last year performed so excellently that he/she earned a bonus performs poorly this year, then after this year’s performance evaluation, the manager would remove last year’s bonus and the employee this year would receive no bonus.
Extinction
Using _____, whenever an employee performs badly, for example by coming to work drunk, a manager should send him/her home and dock him/her a day’s pay.
Punishment
Using _____ , a manager can remove the punishment that an employee earned by performing poorly (reporting to work while drunk) when the employee no longer engages in the bad behavior.
Avoidance Learning
While sometimes it is necessary for a manager to use Punishment and Avoidance Learning, research suggests that a manager who mostly uses _______ creates a healthy work environment where motivated employees perform well.
Positive Reinforcement and Extinction
This theory states that when Hygiene Factors [working conditions, wages/salary, co-worker relations] are poor, employees will be de-motivated.
Herzberg’s Two Factor Motivator-Hygiene theory
when Hygiene Factors are good, employees take them for granted and, consequently, are ______. However, not being de-motivated doesn’t mean that workers are motivated.
not demotivated
Herzberg says employees are motivated only when
Motivator Factors [the work itself, opportunities for recognition (such as a pay raise) and growth] are good.
Managers who seek to effectively motivate subordinates should focus on both Hygiene and Motivator factors, making sure that Hygiene factors are not ____ (preventing de-motivation) and making sure that Motivator Factors are _____.
a. negative
b. positive
This theory explains what managers should do to motivate subordinates and why subordinates may have a low motivation.
Vroom’s Expectancy theory
Vroom suggests that an employee’s motivation level is determined by his/her ____ (the belief that if I make the effort, I’ll be able to perform the work well)
Expectancy
(the belief that when I perform the job well, I’ll receive a positive outcome, i.e., a reward)
Instrumentality
(the value he/she puts on the reward he/she receives)
Valence
If an employee has high Expectancy, high Instrumentality, and high Valence, he/she will be _____ .
highly motivated
if an employee has either a low expectancy (believing that even if I make the effort, I will not be able to perform the job well), low instrumentality (the belief that if I do the job well, I will not receive a positive outcome or reward) or low valence (the employee does not value the reward at all), the employee will have a _________.
low motivation level
reasons why an employee might have low Expectancy
. (1) The employee may be assigned a job that is too difficult to be done well.
(2) The employee’s job may be poorly defined, with duties either not stated or with duties changing regularly without warning.
(3) The job’s performance standards are unrealistically high – so high no one can possibly achieve them.
(4) An employee may not know how to do the job assigned to him/her.
(5) An employee may lack the equipment he/she needs to do the job well or work with equipment that malfunctions regularly.
To strengthen employee Expectancy, a manager should:
(1) Re-design and simplify the too-difficult-to-be-done job so the duties can be performed by an employee.
(2) Clearly define the job’s duties, stating what they are and not changing them without warning.
(3) Set challenging but realistic performance standards;
(4) Provide the employee the training he/she needs to do the job well; and
(5) make sure the employee has the equipment necessary to perform well.
