WOP: Applied Performance Practices summary & Chapter 5 slides

Question 1

How does the perception of money differ between men and women?

Answer 1

Men attach more value to money than women. Women see money in terms of things they can do with it and men see it as a symbol of power and autonomy.

Question 2

Name a way in which perception of money is different across cultures

Answer 2

People in countries with high power distance have a high priority for money.

Question 3

What are the four types of objectives of rewards?

Answer 3

Membership- and seniority based rewards
Job- status based rewards
Competencies rewards (based on certain competencies)
Performance based rewards

Question 4

What is the effect of membership based rewards?

Answer 4

Reduces turnover but doesn’t really affect performance

Question 5

How are jobs status judged for rewards and what is taken into account

Answer 5

Through job evaluation and skill, effort, responsibility and job conditions

Question 6

What is the effect of job status based rewards?

Answer 6

Improves fairness but also competitiveness

Question 7

What are the different performance based rewards?

Answer 7

Individual, team and organisation rewards

Question 8

What plan is associated with team rewards?

Answer 8

Gainsharing plan- The employee’s bonuses is calculated from the unit’s cost reduction and productivity increase

Question 9

Name and describe three plans associated with organisational rewards

Answer 9

Employee stock ownership plan is where the organisation encourages the employee to buy company stock (employee discount)
Stock options is when the organisation gives the employee an opportunity to buy company stock at a set date at a predetermined price
Profit-sharing plan is one that bases the bonuses to employees on the previous years level of corporate profits

Question 10

Generally what is the effect of very large rewards within an organisation

Answer 10

Lower performance

Question 11

Name five methods in making rewards more effective

Answer 11

Tie rewards to performance, Make sure rewards are relevant, Use team rewards for interdependent jobs, Make sure rewards are valued and look out for unexpected consequences such as employees creating problems to solve them

Question 12

Name a method of tying rewards to performance

Answer 12

Objective performance measures

Question 13

What type of rewards do highly productive people prefer?

Answer 13

Individual

Question 14

What can improve intrinsic motivation in employees

Answer 14

Properly designing a job

Question 15

What is meant by job design?

Answer 15

The process of assigning tasks to a job including the interdependency of those tasks with other jobs.

Question 16

What is meant by job specialisation?

Answer 16

Job specialization is the result of a division of labour in which work is subdivided into separate jobs assigned to different people (e.g: a highly specialized job)

Question 17

What is the effect of job specialisation?

Answer 17

Improves efficiency

Question 18

What is meant by scientific management

Answer 18

Systematically partitioning work into its individual elements and standardising tasks to increase efficiency

Question 19

Name a problem with job specialisation

Answer 19

One of the problems of job specialization is that it can become so specialized that they soon become tedious, trivial and socially isolating

Question 20

What are the effects of job specialisation on quality?

Answer 20

Specialization can improve quality, but can also decrease quality if it is too tedious. Also, by performing one small part of the overall work, employees have difficulty striving for better quality or even noticing flaws with that overall output.

Question 21

What does the motivator-hygiene theory state?

Answer 21

Employees experience job satisfaction when they fulfill growth and esteem needs (called motivators), and they experience dissatisfaction when they have poor working conditions, low job security, and other factors categorised as lower-order needs. Employees are primarily motivated by growth and esteem needs, not by lower level needs

Question 22

What function does the job characteristics model serve?

Answer 22

It relates the motivational properties of jobs to specific personal and organisational consequences of those properties. There are five core job dimensions that produce three psychological states.

Question 23

Name the five core job dimensions

Answer 23

Skill variety, Task identity (whether it is required to complete or whole part), Task significance, Autonomy, Job Feedback (the extent to which people can tell if they’re doing a good job)

Question 24

What three psychological states do these core job dimensions lead to?

Answer 24

Skill variety, task identity and task significance = meaningfulness. Autonomy = responsibility. Job feedback = knowledge pf results.

Question 25

What is the purpose of the job characteristics model?

Answer 25

It overlooks social characteristics and information processing demands and uses three main strategies that can increase the motivational potential of jobs

Question 26

Name the three main strategies to increase the motivational potential of jobs and list their benefits

Answer 26

Job Rotation- This increases skill variety, decreases health risk from repetition and increases workforce flexibility through supporting multitasking.
Job enlargement- adding more tasks to one job; adds skill variety and also efficiency and flexibility. Should be matched with autonomy and job knowledge.
Job Enrichment- This is letting an employee have more responsibility for scheduling, coordinating and planning their own work. This can be achieved by assigning highly interdependent tasks in one job.

Question 27

What is meant by the term empowerment?

Answer 27

A psychological concept in which people experience more self-determination, meaning, competence and impact regarding their role in the organization.

Question 28

What factors influence empowerment?

Answer 28

Job characteristics influence the degree to which people feel empowered. To support empowerment, corporate leaders must trust employees and take more risks. Cultural and organisational conditions can influence the extent to which people feel empowered.

Question 29

What is meant by self-leadership?

Answer 29

The specific cognitive and behavioural strategies employed to achieve personal goals and standards through self-direction and self-motivation.

Question 30

What five main activities of self leadership follow each other in a sequence?

Answer 30

Personal goal-setting- goals are self determined and requires high self awareness
Constructive thought strategies
Designing natural rewards
Self-Monitoring
Self reinforcement- ( administering a reinforcer to oneself at a specified time after achieving something. eg break after certain task.)

Question 31

What different forms of constructive thought strategies are there?

Answer 31

Self talk is the internal dialogue of talking to oneself and mental imagery is mentally practising a task and visualising its successful completion.

Question 32

How do self leadership strategies fare across cultures?

Answer 32

They are relevant across cultures

Question 33

What personality traits are more likely to be better at self leadership strategies?

Answer 33

High conscientiousness and extraversion

Question 34

What factor has a large impact on the extent to which employees engage in self leadership?

Answer 34

Work environment

Question 35

What different factors contribute to different types of motivations to contribute to work behaviour?

Answer 35

Needs and rewards contribute to personal motivation. VIE theory, Goal setting and self regulation contribute to goal motivation. Equity (fairness) and job design contribute to socio-environment motivation.

Question 36

What is meant by VIE theory

Answer 36

Vroom’s expectancy theory assumes that behaviour results from conscious choices among alternatives whose purpose it is to maximise pleasure and to minimise pain, an employee’s performance is based on individual factors such as personality, skills, knowledge, experience and abilities.

Question 37

List Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in ascending fashion

Answer 37

Physiological, safety, social, esteem, self actualisation

Question 38

What determines what the main motivator is according to Maslow?

Answer 38

If a lower need is satisfied, the following need becomes the main motivator

Question 39

What satisfies higher order needs according to Maslow?

Answer 39

Self actualisation - Creative and challenging work, participation in decision making and job flexibility and autonomy
Esteem- responsibility of important job, promotion to higher ranked position, positive reinforcement form boss

Question 40

What satisfies lower order needs according to Maslow?

Answer 40

Social- friendly coworkers, interaction with customers and friendly supervisor
Security- Job security, Safety needs met, base compensation and benefits
Physiological- fair work hours, fair breaks and physical comfort on the job

Question 41

What were the criticisms of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

Answer 41

Little support for theory, Especially for its

hierarchical structure; Needs hierarchy is not universal and Needs change faster than Maslow predicted

Question 42

Name another needs theory and the basis behind it

Answer 42

The learned needs theory by McClelland which is based on the idea that needs are amplified or suppressed through self- concept, social norms and past experience

Question 43

What needs were included in McClelland’s learned needs?

Answer 43

Need for achievement (nACH), affiliation (nAFF) and power (nPOW)

Question 44

What personality traits are associated which each learned need?

Answer 44

nACH- needs clear feedback, is moderate in taking risks
nAFF- Seeks approval from others, conforms to other’s wishes, avoids conflict
nPOW- Needs to control his or her own environment

Question 45

Differentiate between two different types of power

Answer 45

Personalised power- strives especially for influence or respect for him or herself
Socialised power- strives to use power to help people

Question 46

What roles in organisations are associated with which levels of learned needs

Answer 46

Successful entrepreneurs are associated with a strong performance need (nACH), Decision makers are associated with a low need for connection (nAFF) and effective leaders have a high need for socialised poor (nPOW)

Question 47

Are these needs ‘fixed’ in people?

Answer 47

No, needs can be “learned” (more accurate, enhanced or attenuated)

Question 48

Compare characteristics of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation

Answer 48

Intrinsic - needs, complex tasks, quality

Extrinsic- rewards, simple tasks, quantity

Question 49

What is the idea behind expectancy theory?

Answer 49

Work effort is directed toward behaviors that people believe will lead to desired outcomes

Question 50

What factors play a part in VIE theory

Answer 50

Expectancy x instrumentality x Valence

Question 51

According to the expectancy theory diagram; _______ is needed to get ________ this is affected by _________. This should then lead to _________, partly depending on ________. How this is perceived depends on ________.

Answer 51

According to the expectancy theory diagram; effort is needed to get performance this is affected by expectancy. This should then lead to an outcome, partly depending on instrumentality. How this is perceived depends on valence.

Question 52

How do you increase E-to-P (expectancy)

Answer 52

Properly select and train employees with right skillset and knowledge, Ensure role clarity and give sufficient resources (time + training) and give good feedback.

Question 53

How do you increase P-to-O (Instrumentality)

Answer 53

Accurately measure performance, Be clear what good performance is, Explain how performance is linked to rewards

Question 54

How do you increase outcome valences (valence)

Answer 54

Make sure rewards are valued and individualised

Question 55

What are the requirements of a good goal?

Answer 55

Specific and sufficiently challenging

Question 56

When is goal setting most effective according to certain factors?

Answer 56

Specific 
Measurable
Achievable (but challenging)
Relevant
Time framed (due date and review)
Exciting (not just compliant)
Reviewed (feedback)

Question 57

Differentiate between two forms of justice

Answer 57

Distributive justice is the perceived fairness of the outcomes we receive relative to our contributions and the outcomes and contributions of others
Procedural justice is the perceived fairness of the procedures used to decide the distribution of resources

Question 58

What is meant by equity theory?

Answer 58

A theory explaining how people develop perceptions of fairness in the distribution and exchange of resources

Question 59

Give an equation which represents equity theory

Answer 59

Own contributions + outputs/ Other’s contributions + outputs = Perception of equity or inequity

Question 60

Give 7 methods of reducing equity tension with an example for each

Answer 60

Reduce inputs - Reduced effort
Increase outcomes - ask for raise
Increase other input - Ask other to do more work
Reduce other outcome - worse jobs/ conditions
Change beliefs about comparison
Change object of comparison - someone closer to you
Leave situation - leave company