Chapter 8 Employee Behavior and Motivation 1. Performance behaviors contribute directly to company productivity. Answer: True Explanation: Performance is related to how well a job is done. 2. In terms of a psychological contract, inducements represent what employees will contribute to an organization. Answer: False Explanation: Inducements represent what will motivate employees to do well. 3. According to the classical theory of motivation, attention from the supervisor is more of a motivator than money. Answer: False Explanation: According to the classical theory of motivation, money is a more fundamental motivating factor. 4. Two-factor theory examines the relationship between effort and performance. Answer: False Explanation: Two-factor theory examines the contributors to motivation. 5. According to expectancy theory, people are motivated to work toward rewards that they want and that they believe they have a reasonable chance of obtaining. Answer: True Explanation: Expectancy theory deals with an employee's perceived ability to reach goals. 6. With job rotation, conventional office space is redesigned to accommodate jobs that are less dependent on assigned spaces. Answer: False Explanation: Job rotation deals with assigning different duties, not rearranging office space. 7. When people feel they are being inequitably treated, they are likely to ask for raises, increase their efforts, and work longer hours. Answer: False Explanation: When people feel they are being inequitably treated, they are likely to lose motivation. 8. The essence behind management by objectives (MBO) is that performance goals are used to direct and motivate behavior. Answer: True Explanation: MBO involves employees and managers in goal-setting. 9. Participation and empowerment work more effectively in large firms than in small firms. Answer: False Explanation: Participation and empowerment work effectively in both large and small firms. 10. Job rotation is a form of job enrichment. Answer: True Explanation: Job rotation gives employees opportunities to try different jobs that may represent growth opportunities. 11. With job sharing, companies often experience increased turnover. Answer: False Explanation: Job sharing gives employees opportunities to work full-time when they might not otherwise have been able to. 12. Hygiene factors affect motivation only if they are absent or fail to meet expectations. Answer: True Explanation: Hygiene factors likely do not make us satisfied, but do keep us from becoming dissatisfied when they are present or suitable. 13. Motivation factors are directly related to the work that employees perform; hygiene factors refer to the environment in which they work. Answer: True Explanation: Once hygiene factors are acceptable, managers can offer motivation factors. 14. For an individual to feel equitably treated, his ratio of contribution to return must be the same as the other individual's ratio with whom he or she is comparing. Answer: False Explanation: The ratios do not have to be the same, only fair. 15. MBO involves managers and subordinates in setting goals and evaluating progress. Answer: True Explanation: As workers become more adept at what they do, rewards can be used less frequently. 16. Individuals may satisfy social needs by making and maintaining friendships at work. Answer: True Explanation: Social needs are the mid-level needs in the hierarchy. 17. Equity theory is based on the premise that workers prefer a workplace where all employees are paid equally. Answer: False Explanation: Equity theory focuses on people evaluating their treatment by the organization relative to the treatment of others. 18. Positive reinforcement is used when a company or manager provides a reward when employees exhibit desired behaviors. Answer: True Explanation: As workers become more adept at what they do, rewards can be used less frequently. 19. According to many experts, motivational impact is the biggest advantage of MBO. Answer: True Explanation: When employees sit down with managers to set goals, they learn more about companywide objectives, come to feel that they are an important part of a team, and see how they can improve companywide performance by reaching their own goals. 20. The use of teams can increase motivation and job satisfaction. Answer: True Explanation: On one level, employees may be given decision-making responsibility for certain narrow activities; on a broader level, they may be consulted on such decisions as production scheduling, work procedures, hiring, etc. 21. Balancing anxiety, fear, and anger so that they do not overly interfere with getting things accomplished is a part of emotional intelligence. Answer: True Explanation: Managing emotions, which is one dimension of emotional intelligence, refers to a person's capacities to balance anxiety, fear, and anger so that they do not overly interfere with getting things accomplished. 22. According to research, emotional intelligence cannot be developed or learned. Answer: False Explanation: Research shows that emotional intelligence can be developed. 23. Organizational commitment reflects an individual's identification with the organization and its mission. Answer: True Explanation: Attitudes can be formed by our personal values, experiences, and personalities; any of the "big five" personality traits can influence our attitudes. 24. What is the term for behavior that is related to doing a certain job? A) performance behavior B) interpersonal behavior C) disruptive behavior D) potential behavior E) assertive behavior Answer: A Explanation: A) Performance behaviors are the total set of work-related behaviors that an organization expects employees to display. 25. Which would an employee who is productive but keeps to himself be lacking in? A) organizational citizenship B) workplace aggression C) performance behavior D) personal productivity E) self-esteem Answer: A Explanation: A) Good organizational citizenship includes such factors as being willing to work overtime and to help orient new employees. 26. Behaviors that detract from, instead of contribute to, organizational performance are known as what? A) inclusive B) disruptive C) counterproductive D) turnover E) associative Answer: C Explanation: C) The prefix counter- means "against," and so counterproductive behaviors work against production and organizational performance. 27. Which of the following is NOT a central aspect of organizational citizenship? A) reporting structure B) corporate culture C) workgroup attitude D) business field E) team composition Answer: D Explanation: D) The qualities that make a good organizational citizen, such as willingness to work overtime if asked, are common across business fields. 28. When does turnover occur? A) when people quit their jobs B) when managers reprimand staff C) when employers cut down costs D) when employees call in sick E) when benefits are improved Answer: A Explanation: A) Turnover is counterproductive because a business must hire a replacement and, in the meantime, other employees have to complete the work of the employee who has left. 29. Which of the following would have the lowest cost to an organization? A) absenteeism B) workplace violence C) sexual harassment D) theft E) racism Answer: A Explanation: A) Although absenteeism does have a cost to the organization, its cost is lower than the monetary and emotional cost of workplace violence, the cost of potential lawsuits from harassment (both in dollars and in lost reputation), and the cost of theft, which can run into the millions. 30. Which of these behaviors best indicates good organizational citizenship? A) being willing to help new employees B) asking for a pay raise C) meeting job performance standards D) keeping regular hours E) using office supplies for business use Answer: A Explanation: A) Good employee citizenship is more than simply showing up and doing the job, but extends to improving and supporting other workers and the organization. 31. Which of these is one of the "big five" personality traits? A) openness B) logic C) creativity D) organization E) musical talent Answer: A Explanation: A) The "big five" personality traits (agreeableness, conscientiousness, negative emotionality, extroversion, and openness) can be viewed as continuums that run from high levels of the trait to low levels of the trait. 32. What is emotionality? A) the ability of a person to get along with others B) the degree to which someone tends to be positive or negative C) the number of things a person tries to accomplish at once D) the relative rigidity of an individual's beliefs E) the likelihood that a person will react aggressively Answer: B Explanation: B) Emotionality is a continuum of positivity and negativity. 33. Which of the following might you, as a manager, expect to see in an employee who has a low degree of conscientiousness? A) a tendency to be unprepared at meetings B) an inability to work in a team setting C) a tendency toward mood swings D) a high level of comfort with other people E) an ability to meet deadlines without fail Answer: A Explanation: A) Conscientious employees tend to be thorough and organized and would not arrive at a meeting unprepared. 34. You need to assign a task to one of your employees. The task involves a high level of detail. To whom should you assign the task? A) Amy, who exhibits high agreeableness and low conscientiousness B) David, who exhibits more negative emotionality and low agreeableness C) Sarah, who exhibits high openness and low negative emotionality D) Winston, who exhibits high conscientiousness and low extraversion E) Liza, who exhibits high creativity and low negative emotionality Answer: D Explanation: D) Winston is your most conscientious employee and will probably excel at the task. 35. The extent to which people are self-aware is an aspect of which of the following? A) attitude B) emotional intelligence C) negative emotionality D) social skills E) empathy Answer: B Explanation: B) Self-awareness, including recognizing and controlling one's emotions, is an important aspect of emotional intelligence. 36. An employee with a low level of social skills would be unlikely to do which of the following? A) be very detail oriented B) circulate a get-well card C) produce creative work D) work well independently E) track milestones effectively Answer: B Explanation: B) People with low levels of social skills tend to have difficulty forming positive relationships. 37. Which of the following is the set of expectations held by employees and the organization regarding what the employee will contribute and what he or she will receive? A) psychological contract B) nondisclosure agreement C) job satisfaction D) mutual commitment E) self expression Answer: A Explanation: A) Although it is not written, the psychological contract is an understanding that each party will provide a benefit to the other. 38. Which of the following aspects of the psychological contract is provided by the organization? A) competency B) effort C) loyalty D) status E) talent Answer: D Explanation: D) Status within the organization is one of the contractual aspects that the organization provides to employees, along with pay, benefits, job security, and job and career opportunities. 39. Which of the following aspects of the psychological contract is provided by the employee? A) benefits B) pay C) skills D) security E) status Answer: C Explanation: C) The employee brings his or her skill to the position as part of the psychological contract, along with effort, loyalty, ability, time, and competency. 40. Michelle has been working at AdCo for five years. The company recently hired a new college graduate to work in a position very similar to Michelle's position. In a casual conversation with the new hire, Michelle discovers that the new employee is making $4,000 more annually than she is. What might Michelle's reaction be? A) Michelle may feel that the psychological contract has been broken. B) Michelle may feel that her job description no longer applies. C) Michelle may feel that her supervisor is not empathetic. D) Michelle may feel that her person-job fit cannot be improved. E) Michelle may feel that she has benefitted from the Hawthorne effect. Answer: A Explanation: A) The pay inequity between herself and a newcomer would make Michelle feel that there has been a violation of the status aspect of the psychological contract. 41. Because job permanence is less likely, which of the following are some companies offering in order to keep the psychological contract in balance? A) additional promotions B) additional vacation time C) fewer training opportunities D) flexible scheduling E) additional sick days Answer: D Explanation: D) Offering a new option to employees when one factor of the psychological contract is uncertain helps keep the relationship solid. 42. What is the term for the extent to which a person's contributions and the organization's inducements match? A) employee equity B) person-job fit C) psychological contract D) time-motion study E) team culture Answer: B Explanation: B) If there is a poor match between a person's contributions, such as skills, and the inducements, such as pay, the result will be a dissatisfied and unhappy employee. 43. If an employee needs to feel that she is a part of a team and yet her position involves working alone, which of the following may not be right? A) the pay scale B) the person-job fit C) the employee's attitude D) the organization's plan E) the team structure Answer: B Explanation: B) Aspects of a person's personality should be taken into consideration when assigning tasks. 44. Jane is a very conscientious worker, but she has poor social skills. Which of the following jobs might be best for her? A) working independently on spreadsheets B) providing customer service C) handling problems in a call center D) training new employees E) working in public relations Answer: A Explanation: A) Asking Jane to work independently on a detailed task makes the best use of her abilities. 45. Brooke was excited to take a job at Film, Inc. She was looking forward to working with the man who had hired her because of his experience and status within the industry. Eight months after her hire, Brooke's supervisor retired. Which aspect of the psychological contract might Brooke feel has been violated? A) benefits B) career opportunities C) pay D) job security E) talent Answer: B Explanation: B) Brooke may have thought that by working with such a mentor, her own career prospects would be improved, but his retirement changed that. 46. What is the Hawthorne effect? A) the belief that employees are motivated by money alone B) the conclusion that workers are more productive if management pays attention to them C) the determination that the level of lighting in a workplace has no effect on productivity D) the theory that workers are more productive if their jobs are analyzed closely E) the unspoken agreement between the employee and the employer Answer: B Explanation: B) Almost any management action that workers viewed as special attention caused an increase in productivity in this study at the Hawthorne Works. 47. What is MOST useful about Theory X and Theory Y? A) They shed light on managers' attitudes toward employees. B) They provide a useful blueprint for taking action. C) They help managers better understand employees. D) They accurately depict the attitude of employees at work. E) They support management decisions and plans. Answer: A Explanation: A) By understanding his or her own attitudes toward employees, a manager can better understand how he or she relates to employees. 48. According to Maslow's model, a set of needs will be a motivator until which of the following occurs? A) The needs are satisfied. B) New needs are identified. C) The person becomes self-motivated. D) A supervisor changes the work. E) The needs are replaced by hygiene factors. Answer: A Explanation: A) Once a set of needs has been satisfied, it is no longer a motivator. 49. Which of the following lists Maslow's Hierarchy of Human Needs in order, starting with the most basic? A) physiological, security, social, esteem, self-actualization B) social, security, physiological, esteem, self-actualization C) physiological, self-actualization, security, esteem, social D) physiological, esteem, security, social, self-actualization E) esteem, self-actualization, social, physiological, security Answer: A Explanation: A) The most basic needs relate to survival (physiological), and then proceed to become more complex until they deal with personal satisfaction. 50. Douglas believes that his employees are self-motivated and growth-oriented. He is what type of manager? A) Theory Y B) Theory X C) classical D) hierarchical Answer: A Explanation: A) According to Theory X, people are lazy and lack ambition, but the view of people (especially employees) in Theory Y is generally much more positive, viewing people as energetic and eager for responsibility. 51. Which of the following theories focuses on people evaluating their treatment by the organization relative to the treatment of others? A) equity theory B) hierarchy of needs C) expectancy theory D) goal-setting theory E) X and Y theory Answer: A Explanation: A) Equity theory is one of the contemporary, more complex theories of motivation. 52. Employees are given a voice in how they do their jobs and how the company is managed according to what theory? A) participative management and empowerment B) job enrichment C) job design D) modified work schedules E) scientific management Answer: A Explanation: A) This allows employees to take more responsibility for their own performance. 53. Which of the following works to achieve a more satisfactory fit between workers and their jobs? A) job redesign B) team management C) MBO D) participative management E) person-position fitting Answer: A Explanation: A) Instead of finding a worker to fit a job, the job is tailored to the worker. 54. Which is an example of a modified work schedule? A) job sharing B) job redesign C) job rotation D) job enrichment E) job elimination Answer: A Explanation: A) Job sharing allows for the accommodation of the needs of employees, increasing the likelihood that they will be retained. 55. Which of the following allows people to choose their working hours by adjusting a standard work schedule on a daily or weekly basis? A) job enrichment B) flextime programs C) job enlargement D) job redesign E) work sharing Answer: B Explanation: B) Flextime allows workers to accommodate the needs of their personal life, such as family and childcare demands. 56. What is telecommuting an example of? A) job sharing B) job rotation C) modified work scheduling D) work sharing E) modified workplace planning Answer: C Explanation: C) Telecommuting allows employees to start their days earlier or extend them past the normal closing time, which is especially useful when dealing with a global client base. 57. Which of the following best describes scientific management? A) a theory of motivation holding that job satisfaction depends on two factors, hygiene and motivation B) a theory of motivation holding that people are motivated to work toward rewards that they want and that they have a reasonable chance of obtaining C) a theory of motivation holding that people evaluate their treatment by the organization relative to the treatment of others D) a theory of motivation holding that managers should analyze jobs to find the most efficient methods and use money as a primary motivator E) a theory of motivation that people will work more productively as long as they receive some kind of attention from management Answer: D Explanation: D) Scientific management led to the application of industrial techniques to each facet of a job to determine how to perform it most efficiently. 58. Which of the following helps explain why some people do not work as hard as they can when their salaries are based purely on seniority? A) two-factor theory B) Maslow's hierarchy of human needs C) scientific management D) expectancy theory E) Theory X and Theory Y Answer: D Explanation: D) Paying employees the same whether they work very hard or just hard enough to get by removes the financial incentive for them to work harder. 59. Tina is the most productive employee in her department. When her manager retires, Tina doesn't apply for the job, in spite of her excellent record and the pay and prestige associated with the job. She believes that the job will go to someone who has more seniority. Based on expectancy theory, which would explain why Tina doesn't apply for the job? A) the effort-performance issue B) the rewards-personal goals issue C) the performance-reward issue D) her personal goals E) her family demands Answer: C Explanation: C) Expectancy theory suggests that employees work harder toward reaching a goal if they know they have a good chance of reaching it; Tina doesn't feel that her chance of getting the position will be based on her excellent performance. 60. Sue works very hard and is the most productive worker on her dayshift. When a position opens on the evening shift, Sue is encouraged to apply but does not; she has children and wants to be home in the evening. Based on expectancy theory, which explains why Sue doesn't apply for the job? A) the effort-performance issue B) the rewards-personal goals issue C) the performance-rewards issue D) her personal goals E) her family demands Answer: B Explanation: B) Sue does not feel that the rewards obtained from the new position will outweigh the value she places on being with her family in the evening. 61. Kent wants to motivate the maintenance staff to be more productive. He starts by providing training and assures employees that high productivity will be rewarded. Employees are asked to identify the rewards that would mean the most to them. Kent likely subscribes to which theory of motivation? A) equity B) expectancy C) two-factor D) hierarchy of needs E) productivity Answer: B Explanation: B) Kent is attempting to convince the maintenance staff that the company's rewards for their work will be worth the increased productivity; expectancy theory suggests that people are motivated when they feel they have a good chance of obtaining the desired rewards. 62. Terry generally likes her job and works hard. However, Terry's level of effort has declined recently. Terry became aware that a new employee, with far less experience, was hired at Terry's current salary. Terry's lack of motivation can best be described by which theory of motivation? A) equity B) expectancy C) two-factor D) scientific management E) planning Answer: A Explanation: A) Equity theory focuses on people evaluating their treatment by the organization relative to the treatment of others. 63. In what three ways is job redesign typically implemented? Answer: Job redesign is usually implemented through combining tasks, forming natural work groups, or through establishing client relationships. Explanation: Job redesign is usually implemented through combining tasks, forming natural work groups, or through establishing client relationships. 64. Jack is a manager at StyleCo. His CEO has started a program that encourages employee empowerment. Jack presented the idea to his staff, and the employees seem reluctant to take part. Jack tells his CEO that his staff is not interested in empowerment. What assumption is Jack making that the CEO needs to take into account? Answer: Jack is attributing the employees' reluctance to take part to a lack of interest. However, they may have good reason to be reluctant, especially if Jack has been a dictatorial-type manager in the past. If Jack himself is not enthusiastic about the empowerment program, the employees probably picked up on his feelings when he presented the idea to them and feel that if they take part, they will annoy Jack and end up paying a price for their involvement. Explanation: Employees must be motivated partly by the manager's managerial approach. 65. What are some potential consequences of employees being dissatisfied? Answer: Dissatisfied employees may be absent more often, may experience stress that disrupts coworkers, and may be continually looking for another job. Explanation: Unlike dissatisfied employees, satisfied employees tend to be absent less often, to be good organizational citizens, and to stay with the organization. 66. How are equity theory and the psychological contract connected? Answer: In both situations, employees compare a ratio of contribution to return. With equity theory, one employee compares his or her ratio with another employee's ratio. Explanation: According to both theories, employees need to know that they are being treated fairly. 67. How does Maslow's hierarchy of needs model explain employee motivation? Answer: Maslow identified five levels of human needs, arranged in a hierarchy of importance. Lower-level needs must be met before a person will try to satisfy higher-level needs. Maslow's theory recognizes that because people have different needs, they are motivated by different factors. Explanation: Maslow's hierarchy of needs explains the human needs that must be met for people to be motivated. 68. According to the two-factor theory, how should managers enhance motivation? Answer: According to this theory, managers should follow a two-step approach to enhance motivation. First, managers must ensure that hygiene factors are acceptable, reducing dissatisfaction. Then they must offer motivational factors as a means of improving satisfaction and motivation. Explanation: The two-factor theory includes hygiene factors and motivation factors. 69. Why is workplace violence increasing? Answer: Workplace violence is increasing because of economic fears regarding job security, heightened concern for personal safety since 9/11, and generalized stress and anxiety among workers. Explanation: Employee insecurity leads to workplace violence. 70. How can managers minimize the chance of workplace violence? Answer: Managers can minimize the chance of workplace violence by treating people with respect, dignity, fairness, and honesty. When cuts to hours or pay or elimination of jobs becomes necessary, managers should provide as much advance information as possible. They should also make sure each person affected understands the basis for the decision. Explanation: Enhancing employee feelings of security and fairness can reduce workplace violence. 71. How can teams lead to higher levels of employee motivation and satisfaction in smaller firms? Answer: They help employees make decisions more quickly and effectively; in addition, participation on teams enhances companywide communications and encourages organizational members to feel more like a part of the organization. Explanation: Teams give employees opportunities to feel as if their level of contribution is meaningful. 72. Under what conditions might the use of work teams be inappropriate? Answer: Work teams may not be appropriate when workers perform repetitive, highly specialized tasks. Basing pay on team productivity can result in resentment, as faster workers feel that slower workers reduce the group's total output, and slower workers feel their coworkers are putting pressure on them to produce more. Explanation: Teamwork is not always appropriate for every kind of work. 73. Contrast Theory X and Theory Y. Answer: Theory X carries the assumption that people are lazy, lack ambition, are self-centered, resist change, and are gullible. Theory Y carries the assumption that people are energetic, ambitious, selfless, intelligent, and want to contribute to company growth. Explanation: Theory X and Theory Y are two competing informal theories of motivation. 74. How does expectancy theory explain employee motivation? Answer: Expectancy theory suggests that people are motivated to work toward rewards that they want and that they believe they have a reasonable chance, or expectancy, of obtaining. Expectancy theory states that a number of issues must be considered for individuals to exert high effort. The individual must expect that high effort will result in high individual performance, and thereby organizational rewards. Finally, the individual must expect that the organizational reward will meet their personal goals. Explanation: Expectancy theory explains the circumstances in which employees will work toward goals. 75. Discuss management by objectives (MBO). Answer: MBO is a system of collaborative goal setting that extends from the top of an organization to the bottom. MBO involves both managers and subordinates in setting goals and evaluating progress. MBO can serve as a program for improving satisfaction and motivation. Explanation: Management by objectives is the most frequently used method for setting performance goals, which are commonly used to direct and motivate behavior. 76. Discuss modified work schedules and how they increase job satisfaction. Answer: Modified work schedules are different approaches to working hours. Work sharing programs and flextime programs, such as telecommuting, give employees more freedom in their professional and personal lives. Explanation: Modified work schedules can give employees more flexibility in balancing work with life. 77. Discuss the potential benefits to the employer from a flextime program. Answer: Employers implementing flextime programs can expect a number of benefits. Studies have shown that the increased sense of freedom associated with flextime reduces stress and improves individual productivity. In urban areas, flextime programs can reduce traffic congestion and similar problems that contribute to stress and lost work time. Employers also benefit from higher levels of commitment and job satisfaction. Explanation: Flextime programs can increase employee satisfaction and motivation by helping them to balance work and life. A manager has noticed that her workers are more likely to be in negative moods between 3 pm and 4:30 pm. She believes that employees will make valuable contributions to staff meetings when they are in positive moods, and that staff meetings cannot be successful unless the employees make valuable contributions. For these reasons, she has moved her daily staff meeting from 3 pm to 10 am. 78. Which of the following is assumed by the manager? A) The meetings would be more effective if they were held once a week. B) The staff meetings are not the cause of the workers' bad moods. C) If the workers make valuable contributions, then the meetings will be successful. D) Successful meetings will be an important contributor to the success of the organization. E) The workers' moods will be more positive at 10 am than at any other time of the day. Answer: B Explanation: B) The manager wants to change the daily meeting from 3 pm to 10 am because at 3 pm the employees are in bad moods. But why are they in bad moods? If it's because of the time of day, then the manager's plan might work. But if the bad moods are caused by the meetings themselves, then it doesn't matter what time they are held. So the manager must be assuming that the meetings aren't the cause of the problem, as Choice B indicates. Choice A would undermine the manager's argument, because she wants to hold these meetings every day. Choice C is a distortion of the manager's prediction. She thinks that contributions are necessary for success, not a guarantee of success. Choice D isn't assumed because the manager is not making claims about the success of the organization. She's just talking about her meetings. Choice E goes too far. The workers need to be in positive moods in order for the plan to work, but they don't have to be in more positive moods than they are at any other time of the day. 79. If the manager's statements are all true, which of the following must also be true? A) If the employees make valuable contributions during a staff meeting, then that meeting will be successful. B) If the employees are in positive moods during a staff meeting, then that meeting will be successful. C) If the employees did not make valuable contributions during a staff meeting, then they must have been in negative moods. D) If the employees do not make valuable contributions during a staff meeting, then that staff meeting cannot be successful. E) If the employees are not in positive moods during a staff meeting, then they will not make valuable contributions during that staff meeting. Answer: D Explanation: D) The manager thinks that when the employees are in positive moods, they will make valuable contributions to staff meetings. So positive moods guarantee valuable contributions, but that doesn't mean that they are necessary for valuable contributions, so Choices C and E need not be true. The manager believes that valuable contributions are necessary for successful meetings, but that does not mean that those contributions guarantee a successful meeting, and so Choice A need not be true. Nothing the manager says suggests what would guarantee a successful meeting, and so Choice B need not be true. But Choice D must be true. Since valuable contributions are necessary for successful meetings, if a meeting doesn't have valuable contributions then it cannot be successful. A company is convinced of the benefits of exercise for its workers. Healthy employees take fewer sick days and tend to be more focused on their job. In addition, exercise enhances the workers' positive moods. The company is so persuaded of the value of exercise that it has adopted a new policy: Moving forward, all workers will be allowed to exercise during the work day for up to three hours per week. 80. The reasoning behind the company's exercise policy assumes which of the following? A) Exercise is the most effective way to improve the moods of the workers. B) The exercise that the workers would engage in will be more strenuous than the exercise they would do on their own. C) Most employees will not exercise more unless they are forced to do so. D) Adopting the policy will not require the company to purchase any special equipment or reallocate any office space. E) The employees who would exercise during the work day are not getting enough exercise. Answer: E Explanation: E) The company reaps benefits when the employees exercise during the day only if those employees are otherwise couch potatoes. If employees are already exercising during nonwork hours, displacing that exercise into the work day has no additional effect, so Choice E is the company's assumption. Choice A: The company doesn't assume that exercise is the most effective way to improve workers' moods, only that it is an effective way. There is no mention in the policy about how strenuous the workers will exercise (Choice B) or whether space or equipment is necessary (Choice D). Choice C: The company is not forcing employees to exercise; it's merely providing the opportunity. 81. All of the following questions are relevant to the company's decision with respect to its exercise policy EXCEPT: A) What is the value of the time the workers will spend exercising during the work day? B) How likely is it that workers will be injured by overexercising? C) Would the workers have different exercise needs if they had formed different behavioral patterns when they were children? D) What resources will be required to monitor the workers to make sure that they do not spend more than 3 hours per week exercising during work hours? E) After how much exercise do the benefits of exercise diminish? Answer: C Explanation: C) All of the choices are relevant except Choice C. The policy is designed to help the workers as they are now. The company can't go back in time and change the patterns they formed in the past. 82. Which of the following, if true, would weaken the argument for the company's exercise policy? A) The company has set up an arrangement with a local gym to provide facilities for exercising. B) The policy is not designed to increase the amount of time that the workers' families will spend exercising. C) Many of the workers who exercise more because of the policy would return to their previous levels of exercise if they left the company. D) Different people require different kinds of exercise in order to get the benefits of exercise. E) The workers who are most in need of additional exercise are least likely to participate in the exercise program. Answer: E Explanation: E) Exercise helps, but if the people who need help the most are least likely to exercise (Choice E), then this voluntary program would not be likely to reach those people. The program could still be valuable, but Choice E makes it sound less valuable. Choice A: Facilities at a local gym are a reasonable option, so there's nothing in Choice A that makes the plan sound worse. Choice B is not a problem because the program isn't designed to get the families exercising, and failing to do so isn't a flaw in the policy. This is about the workers, not everyone. Choice C doesn't matter, because the company has no duty to ensure that ex-employees get enough exercise. But if anything, Choice C would be a strengthener because it suggests that the policy will be effective in getting people to exercise. Choice D would be a problem if the exercise offered was the same for everyone, but there is no reason to believe that this is so. The sales staff at Macmoo Real Estate is compensated primarily based on the value of the properties they sell. However, in order to encourage the salespeople to act in the best interests of the company, Macmoo bases ten percent of each salesperson's yearly bonus on whether the company as a whole reaches its yearly financial goals. 83. Macmoo's compensation structure is based on which of the following principles? A) People will act to accomplish a goal when they have a stake in the accomplishment of that goal. B) An incentive structure should be as simple as possible. C) An incentive structure is more effective when it encourages people to act in ways that benefit society in general as well as themselves. D) Compensation policies should always follow the specific requirements of all applicable laws. E) People will be more likely to follow a policy when they have had some input into the creation of that policy. Answer: A Explanation: A) The incentive policy rewards people when a goal (overall success) is met. This potential reward gives people a stake in accomplishing that goal and encourages them to act in order to make it happen. So the designers of the compensation structure are following the principle in Choice A. They think that people will act to accomplish a goal (overall success) because they will be rewarded if it happens. Choice B: The structure is more complicated than it could be, so Choice B doesn't fit. Choice C: There's no provision for the benefit of society in general here. Choice D is good advice but legal requirements have no role here. Choice E doesn't fit because as far as we know, no salespeople were consulted. 84. The incentive plan is based on which assumption? A) In comparison to other Macmoo employees, Macmoo salespeople are less interested in the overall success of the company. B) Macmoo salespeople believe that they can have a significant effect on the overall performance of the company. C) In the past, Macmoo salespeople have not consistently acted in the best interests of the company. D) The only effective way to motivate employees is through financial incentives. E) Macmoo employees are similar to other salespeople in the industry. Answer: B Explanation: B) The incentive plan rewards salespeople when the company does well because Macmoo wants employees to act in the best interest of the overall company. But incentives only make sense if there's some connection between the actions of the person with the incentive and the chance that they'll get the reward. This incentive will only work if the salespeople believe that their actions make a difference, and so Choice B must be assumed. If the salespeople don't believe that what they do makes a difference to Macmoo's overall success, then why would they alter their behavior? Choices A and E bring in two irrelevant groups, other Macmoo employees (Choice A) and salespeople in other companies (Choice E). This is about Macmoo salespeople, not those groups. Choice C would strengthen the case for the plan but doesn't need to be true in order for the plan to work. Choice D goes too far. The plan assumes that incentives work, but not that they're the only thing that works. 85. In which of the following situations would the interests of the salesperson be most likely to conflict with the interests of the overall organization? A) A Macmoo real estate agent and another real estate agent have a difference of opinion about the fair market value of a property. B) A Macmoo real estate agent completes a transaction, earns a commission, and generates sales leads that become profitable relationships for other Macmoo agents. C) A Macmoo agent becomes the selling agent for the same property multiple times. D) A real estate transaction would generate a high commission for an agent but would associate the agency with the destruction of a beloved local landmark. E) A Macmoo agent works excessively to earn a big bonus but neglects her personal life. Answer: D Explanation: D) In Choice D, the individual agent would have an interest in making the sale, but the company would not want to be associated with destroying something popular. So Choice D has a conflict. Choice A involves a conflict with a person outside the company. Choice B is an example of what the company wants to happen. Choice C has no conflict at all. Choice E is a conflict between two of the employee's own interests. Executive: At Oak Meteors, we want all of our business developers to be outstanding. For these reasons, we have started the "excellence club," whose membership is limited to those who place in the top ten percent in terms of the dollar value of the deals they complete. The annual goals of each business developer include membership in this club. We also believe in continuous improvement. To meet their annual goals the business developers also must generate more dollars in sales than they did last year. In order to keep the business developers focused, they have no other annual goals. 86. Which of the following must be true about the business developers at Oak Meteors during any given year? A) Some of them meet all of their annual goals. B) Some of those that meet all of their annual goals are among the top performers in the entire organization. C) All of those who generate more dollars in sales than they did in the previous year qualify for the "excellence club." D) Some of those in the "excellence club" do not meet all of their annual goals. E) Not all of them meet all of their annual goals. Answer: E Explanation: E) Business developers need to be in the top ten percent in order to meet their annual goals, but it's impossible for everyone to be in the top ten percent, so Choice E is true. At least some (ninety percent, actually) have to fail in this regard. Choice A might be true, but it doesn't need to be. If everyone generates less than they did last year, then no one will meet all of their goals. Choice B need not be true, because we're not told anything about the entire organization. Choice C need not be true because the people who did better in any given year need not be in the top ten percent overall. Choice D could be true, but need not be true. All of them could meet all their goals if they did better than they did last year. 87. A manager criticizes the "excellence club" because she believes that it encourages negative behavior that would not happen otherwise. She believes instead that business developers should be rewarded based on the revenue they bring in. Which of the following, if true, would most strongly support this conclusion? A) Business developers often pursue deals that generate revenue in the year they are completed but are bad propositions in the long term. B) Business developers who are less successful have been known to try to take credit for deals completed by more successful business developers. C) Business developers have sometimes lied to customers about the real value of the deals they offer. D) Toward the end of the fiscal year, business developers outside the top ten percent put in extra hours in order to increase their chances of qualifying for the "excellence club." E) Business developers outside the top ten percent have contacted some customers of those in the top ten percent in an effort to prevent those customers from completing their deals. Answer: E Explanation: E) The "excellence club" rewards people in the top ten percent. That could encourage people to try to earn more in order to qualify. But it could also encourage people to destroy other people's deals in an attempt to bring those rivals out of the top ten percent. Choice E, if true, would be an example of negative behavior that most likely would not occur under the "revenue only" approach. The "excellence club" gives people an incentive to destroy their rivals' deals, but that incentive would disappear if others' performances were irrelevant. Choices A, B, and C are bad things, but they would be encouraged by either approach. Choice D is an example of what the company wants to happen. 88. Suppose that Oak Meteors institutes a "Super Bonus" program that provides a large cash award for the business developer with the greatest year-to-year increase in revenue. A manager claims that this would encourage business developers to do poorly in one year in order to make it easier to do much better in the subsequent year. All of the following would help address this concern EXCEPT: A) restricting eligibility for the "Super Bonus" program to those who achieved their annual goals in the previous year B) changing the "Super Bonus" so that it is awarded only to those who have increased their revenue by a substantial percentage C) offering the "Super Bonus" for the current year's performance and then never offering it again D) including a review panel empowered to disallow the "Super Bonus" for those who have abused the process E) disqualifying all business developers who have earned a negative performance review within the last three years Answer: B Explanation: B) Giving a bonus for a big increase can give people an incentive to underperform in one year, making it easier to get that big increase in the second year. To stop this, Oak Meteors could use its judgment to disqualify people who seem to be doing this, as Choices D and E suggest. Oak Meteors could also use a clear rule such as the one in Choice A. Choice C also addresses the problem, because the business developers can't go back in time and sabotage last year's performance. If Choice C is true and the award is never offered again, there will be no year in which the employees have an incentive to underperform. The one that doesn't help is Choice B. Switching to a percentage increase gives people even more of an incentive to underperform. If someone earned $1 this year and $100 next year, their revenue would have gone up by only $99, but it would have gone up by a staggering 9900 percent! That's a big percentage increase and a terrible performance. 89. If it were possible to qualify for membership in the "excellence club" by completing a new product deal worth over $1,000,000, then which of the following business developers would have met all of his or her annual goals? A) Ali, who did not complete any deal worth over $1,000,000 but generated more dollars in sales than he did last year. B) Yero, who completed more new product deals worth over $1,000,000 than any other business developer. C) Kelly, who qualified for the "excellence club" and completed a new product deal worth over $1,000,000. D) Shelly, who did not place in the top ten percent in terms of the dollar value of the deals completed, completed a new product deal worth over $1,000,000 and generated more dollars in sales than she did last year. E) Bobby, who did not qualify for the "excellence club," completed a deal worth over $1,000,000, and generated more dollars in sales than he did last year. Answer: D Explanation: D) If completing a new product deal worth $1,000,000 or more gets you into the "excellence club," then Shelly in Choice D qualifies by completing that deal and doing better this year. Choice A: Ali might not qualify because we don't know if he placed in the top ten percent. Choices B and C: Yero and Kelly might not qualify if they didn't do better this year than they did last year. Choice E: We know Bobby completed a deal worth over $1,000,000, but we don't know if it was a new product deal. We're also told that he didn't qualify for the "excellence club." Gordon: Our experimentation with a teams-focused product development process is complete, and the evidence clearly supports adopting this process across our organization. We picked a test project to see if productivity would be better under shared leadership, team accountability, and collaborative work. That project, Zen Park Frantic, was a market success. What more do we need to know? Linda: You are jumping to conclusions. If Zen Park Frantic went especially well, then that improvement was probably caused by the "Hawthorne effect": Almost any change from the normal procedures would have produced a benefit. 90. Which of the following is a point at issue between Gordon and Linda? A) Was Zen Park Frantic a market success? B) Would Zen Park Frantic have been as successful if it had followed the organization's normal procedures? C) Are team-based product development processes successful in any organizational setting? D) Is the "Hawthorne effect" an important concept in explaining the causes of increased productivity? E) Does the evidence support a move to team-based product development? Answer: E Explanation: E) Gordon thinks that the success of the Zen Park Frantic project demonstrates the superiority of the team-focused product development process. Linda thinks that any change would have resulted in improved performance. So Linda believes that the evidence isn't strong enough to support a general move to team-based product development. So the speakers disagree about Choice E. Choice A: Linda agrees that it was a success, but has a different view about the cause. Choice B: Both speakers agree that it would have been worse using normal procedures. Choice C goes too far to be covered by Linda. She is talking about this organization, not all of them. Choice D: Gordon doesn't mention the "Hawthorne effect," so we don't know what he thinks about it in general. He probably thinks that it doesn't apply here, but Choice D makes a much broader claim. Peck: Our new incentive system is the best way to encourage high performance out of each employee. It specifies the things that employees should do and the results that will lead to rewards. Witt: You ignore a key issue: no matter what else is going on, employees will not be motivated if they do not feel that they are being treated fairly. Workers who feel that they are paid less than others for the same work will not feel that they are being treated fairly unless the organization provides some kind of persuasive justification. For example, Robin cannot possibly be motivated given that she is paid much less than Jonaki. 91. All of the following are assumed by Peck's argument EXCEPT: A) Employees can understand the new incentive system. B) Employees are capable of achieving the results specified by the new incentive system. C) Employees who exhibit a similar level of effort will receive similar rewards. D) Employees will perceive that the rewards offered by the new incentive system are worth the effort required to achieve the results that lead to those rewards. E) Employees believe that the things that the new incentive system calls for them to do are likely to have an effect on the outcomes that affect their rewards. Answer: C Explanation: C) All of the choices are assumptions in an expectancy-theory based approach except for Choice C, which is something that a supporter of equity theory would want to see. Choice A: If they don't understand what they're supposed to do, they'll be unlikely to do it. Choice B: Asking people to do the impossible won't work. Choice D: Employees won't do what the system calls for if the rewards aren't worth it. Choice E: Incentives don't work when there's no connection between the actions of the individual and the outcome that's rewarded. 92. Witt's claim that Robin must be dissatisfied assumes which of the following? A) Jonaki is aware of Robin's salary. B) Most people in the organization would agree that Robin and Jonaki do comparable work. C) Jonaki receives more favorable employee reviews than Robin does. D) Robin has met all of the goals specified by the organization's incentive system. E) Robin has not been provided with a persuasive justification for the difference in salary. Answer: E Explanation: E) Jonaki is paid more than Robin, and Witt says that will be a barrier to motivation unless there's some kind of persuasive justification. Since Witt concludes that Robin must be dissatisfied but never mentions anything about any justification, Witt must assume that no persuasive justification was offered. If it were, then the fact that Jonaki is paid more than Robin would not guarantee that Robin is not motivated. Choice A: The argument does assume that Robin is aware of Jonaki's salary, but not the reverse. Choice B: The argument does assume that Robin thinks that the work is comparable, but it does not assume that most people agree. This is about Robin's perspective only. Choice C might be part of a persuasive justification for the difference, which could only weaken the argument. Choice D sounds like something Peck would say, but Witt says that these fairness considerations apply no matter what else is going on. So nothing about the incentive program need be assumed. 93. If all of Witt's statements are true, which of the following must also be true? A) If Robin were paid more than Jonaki, she would be motivated. B) All employees who are motivated and feel that they are paid less than employees who do the same work have received a persuasive justification. C) If Robin felt that she is being treated fairly, then she would be motivated. D) Workers who are provided with a persuasive justification for differences in pay will be motivated. E) Any employees who are not motivated and feel that they have been treated unfairly must not have received a persuasive justification. Answer: B Explanation: B) Witt says that feeling that you are being treated unfairly guarantees that you will be unmotivated, and feeling that you are paid less for the same work guarantees that you will feel that you are being treated unfairly. The one exception to this is if you receive a persuasive justification. So if you are motivated despite the pay difference, you must have received a persuasive justification, which makes it impossible that you didn't receive such a justification. That's what Choice B says in very complicated language. Choices A, C, and D: The pay gap and feeling that you are being treated unfairly may not be the only things that can destroy motivation. So Robin (or anyone else) could be unmotivated even if she is paid fairly, treated fairly, and/or gets a persuasive justification. Choice E: The persuasive justification is necessary only in the pay gap case. Someone who is unmotivated for other reasons might have received a persuasive justification. 94. Which of the following, if true, would BEST show that a manager's strategy for motivating his team is consistent with "Theory Y" about employee motivation? A) The employees would need to see incentives as worth having for their own sake. B) The employees would need to see their work as contributing to a success that they share in. C) The manager wants his team to feel rewarded by doing their job well. D) The manager thinks that his team will not do their work well without added incentives. E) The manager thinks that incentives are needed in order to boost morale. Answer: B Explanation: B) Theory Y says that employees will be most motivated by factors intrinsic to their work itself. If employees see their work as contributing to their own success, this will help. Choice A is about the incentives and not about how employees are motivated to do the work itself. Choices C and E do not tell whether the manager's strategy will reward employees on factors inherent in the job itself. Choice D would show that the manager's strategy is consistent with Theory X, not Theory Y. 95. If, instead of offering incentives for sales goals, a manager were to get ideas on increasing sales revenue from his sales team to implement, which of the following would most likely result? A) The sales team would be more motivated by feeling more invested in the process. B) The sales team would prefer to be given clearly defined goals to meet. C) The sales team would not have enough information to go on in order to get ideas. D) The sales team would come up with too many different ideas. E) The sales team would be more motivated because of the chance to earn more money. Answer: A Explanation: A) Letting the sales team engineer their own solution from their own ideas is likely to motivate them much more than merely being given incentives. Choice B describes what may be true in some situations, but being able to engineer their own solutions will be much more motivating. Choices C and D are possible outcomes, but not particularly likely, given the information. Choice E does not apply, since the plan described is not primarily focused on earning more money as the primary motivation. 96. Suppose that a manager decides to experiment with making changes in his employees' working environment to see if morale increases. Which of the following is most likely to result? A) The employees will be annoyed at any of the changes made. B) One of the possible environmental changes will work much better than others. C) The changes will have no effect because the source of the employees' morale problems likely come from elsewhere. D) No environmental changes will be possible in his team's work environment due to the nature of their work. E) His employees will increase their productivity regardless of which changes are made. Answer: E Explanation: E) Employees will likely be more motivated simply because they know that attention is being paid to them. (This is known as the "Hawthorne effect.") Choices A and B are possible outcomes, but not more likely than any other. Choice C is incorrect because even if the employees' morale problems come from elsewhere, the manager's experimentation is likely to have an effect. Choice D is incorrect because there are always changes in the work environment that can be made. 97. Deidra is a manager whose team has a morale problem. According to the two-factor theory of motivation, which of the following, if true, would be the MOST reliable indication that the morale problem with Deidra's team is primarily due to a lack of motivators? A) Deidra's team members all report that they like the building and location in which they work. B) A survey of Deidra's team members shows that most of them have a sense of the importance of their work. C) Many of Deidra's team members have difficulty relating to each other. D) Deidra's team members report getting negative messages about customers from other parts of the company. E) When surveyed, Deidra's team members do not express any dissatisfaction with existing work conditions. Answer: E Explanation: E) Dissatisfaction with existing work conditions would indicate the presence of "hygiene" issues, according to the two-factor theory of motivation. By the process of elimination, according to the two-factor theory of motivation, if no hygiene factors are causing dissatisfaction, then it must be due to lack of motivators. 98. Sam manages a team of employees and wants to motivate them. Which of the following, if true, would provide the BEST reason for thinking that Sam operates under Theory X of employee motivation? A) Sam decides to arrange private conferences individually with his employees to gauge their sources of dissatisfaction. B) Sam decides to give all of his employees a raise in order to boost their morale. C) Sam decides to initiate a system of stricter rules and work policies in order to increase his team's productivity. D) Sam assumes that something must be wrong with the conditions under which his employees work. E) Sam decides to survey his employees to determine what it would take to make them work more productively. Answer: C Explanation: C) Sam seems to be working under the assumption that his team will dislike their work anyway, in which case he needs to put stricter policies in place to make them do the work. 99. Alexus, a manager, decides to increase the morale of his team by giving more conspicuous praise for work done well. Which of the following, if true, would likely make this strategy ineffective? A) Alexus's employees are already receiving effective praise from their co-workers. B) Alexus's employees feel that their salaries are below industry standard. C) Alexus's employees feel that they are not living up to their full potential. D) Alexus's employees are already being paid very well by industry standards. E) Alexus's employees indicate that they are satisfied with their physical working environment. Answer: B Explanation: B) In the "hierarchy of needs," the need for financial security comes before the need for recognition. So recognition for a job well done will not be an effective motivator if the more fundamental need for financial security is not met first. Tarnofsky: We must become more flexible if we are to meet our personnel needs and maximize efficiency. In the past, we simply hired as many full-time employees as we thought we needed. But this focus has caused us to lose many valuable employees. We should offer flextime and job sharing options to help us keep and attract talented employees. Robin: Alternatives to traditional job design approaches can lead to significant cost savings. Next year we are expected to have 500 more employees than our current facility allows, but my analysis reveals that 600 of our employees could telecommute. Therefore, we can avoid costly actions such as moving our offices or building extensions if these workers became telecommuters. Job sharing can also reduce facility costs as well as payroll costs. 100. Tarnofsky and Robin would be most likely to disagree about which of the following questions? A) Would telecommuting likely lead to cost savings? B) Does the organization have a moral obligation to offer flextime and job sharing options? C) If offering a job sharing option would not reduce costs, should the organization still offer it? D) Would the organization be better able to keep valuable employees if it offered flextime and job sharing options? E) Are any other organizational structure decisions important for the future of the organization? Answer: C Explanation: C) Tarnofsky talks about retaining talent but not costs, and so Tarnofsky has no opinion on Choice A. Robin focuses on costs only, and so has no opinion on Choice D. But Robin's support for job sharing is based on its ability to control costs, so while Robin would say "no" to Choice C, Tarnofsky would say "yes." Choices B and E: Neither speaker mentions moral obligations (Choice B) or makes any claims about other organizational structure decisions (Choice E). 101. Which of the following, if true, would strengthen Tarnofsky's argument? A) Most of the jobs at the organization do not require the employee to be physically present. B) Employees tend to believe that employees in nontraditional job arrangements are the most vulnerable to layoffs. C) Flextime arrangements are more common in service industries than in other industries. D) The number of employees interested in flextime is higher than the number of employees interested in job sharing. E) A large number of people with desirable job skills cannot commit to taking full-time positions. Answer: E Explanation: E) Tarnofsky says that flextime and job sharing would help keep and attract talent. Choice E says that there are good candidates out there who aren't interested in full-time jobs. Those people might be interested in a flextime or job sharing arrangement, and so Choice E supports Tarnofsky's argument. Choice A supports a telecommuting option, but Tarnofsky doesn't mention that. Choice B would weaken Tarnofsky's argument by making those nontraditional arrangements sound worse. Choice C doesn't matter because we don't know what kind of industry Tarnofsky is in. Choice D doesn't help because flextime and job sharing are simply two options that Tarnofsky suggests. Knowing that one is more popular than the other doesn't make either one sound like a good idea. If they were equally popular, it wouldn't make any difference. 102. Which of the following is assumed by Robin's argument? A) Other companies in the organization's industry have encouraged telecommuting. B) Overcrowding in the company's facilities has gotten worse in recent years. C) It would not be possible to offer telecommuting and job sharing options to the same employees. D) The number of employees who currently telecommute is no more than 100. E) The opportunity to save costs is the only possible justification that upper management will accept. Answer: D Explanation: D) Robin points out that the "overflow" at the facilities is expected to be 500, and so convincing 600 people to telecommute sounds like a solution. But if Choice D is false, and over 100 of them already telecommute, then bringing the telecommuting population up to 600 wouldn't solve the overflow problem. Therefore, Choice D is assumed. Choice A: Other organizations are irrelevant. This concerns Robin's organization only. Choice B would strengthen the argument if it were true, but it doesn't need to be true in order for Robin's argument to work. Choice C would weaken the argument (slightly) by making it sound harder to use these techniques to reduce costs. Choice E is irrelevant because Robin makes no claims about what management is willing to listen to. 103. If Robin's statements are all true, which of the following must also be true? A) If the organization is forced to relocate its offices next year, then the number of telecommuters must be fewer than 600. B) If the number of telecommuters is more than 600, then the organization will be forced to either move its offices or build an extension. C) The organization cannot build an extension and move its office at the same time. D) If the number of telecommuters is fewer than 600, then the organization will be forced to either move its offices or build an extension. E) The potential cost saving from telecommuting is greater than the potential cost saving from job sharing. Answer: A Explanation: A) Robin says that getting 600 people to telecommute would avoid the moving/building extension problem. So if Robin is correct and the organization still has that problem, then, as Choice A points out, fewer than 600 people must be telecommuters. 600 telecommuters would have fixed the problem, and so if the problem isn't fixed, there can't be 600 telecommuters. Choice B is impossible, because 600 telecommuters would have solved the problem. Choice C is possible but not definite. Either approach would solve the overflow problem, but that's no reason to be sure that they can't both happen. Choice D: 600 telecommuters would solve the overflow problem, but there could be other ways to solve the overflow problem. Telecommuting was a sufficient solution, but that doesn't mean that it's the only solution. Choice E: Robin never compares these two sources of savings. 104. Consider the following argument: Marcia's primary leadership trait is her ability to give commands because if all else fails, she can always be an effective leader by directing others. Which of the following, if true, would undermine this argument? A) Marcia has the ability to give clear direction in uncertain circumstances. B) Marcia relies on her experience in order to know the right thing to do when a decision needs to be made. C) Marcia has been known to be firm and decisive when dealing with problem employees. D) Marcia is well-respected by her colleagues in the organization. E) In almost all cases, Marcia's decisions are backed up by her superiors. Answer: B Explanation: B) This answer choice would suggest that Marcia would not be able to exercise her decisiveness without her broad knowledge base that allows her to make firm decisions. In that case, the ability to give commands is not in itself her primary leadership trait. Choices A and C would lend support to the given argument. Choices D and E neither support nor undermine the argument. 105. Consider the following argument: Marcia's command skills rely on her ability to get to know what makes people "tick" and thereby communicate well with them; she has to rely on this ability, without which effectively leading people in any manner would not be possible. Which of the following, if true, would strengthen this argument? A) Marcia can quickly train new employees on company best practices and get them started on their work. B) Marcia relies on a small group of trusted colleagues to keep abreast of industry best-practices. C) Employees have reported that they feel that Marcia listens well and that she "gets" where they are coming from. D) Marcia's employees indicate that she tends to not spend much one-on-one time with them personally. E) Marcia's immediate superior likes to be able to get to know each of Marcia's employees personally. Answer: C Explanation: C) This suggests that Marcia tailors her command skills to what works best for each individual, rather than simply relying on a one-size-fits-all approach to leadership by command. Choices A and D tend to undermine, not strengthen, the argument, because they suggest that Marcia's command skills stand alone without needing support from any other skill base. Choices B and E do not bear directly on the contention at issue. Test Bank for Business Essentials US Edition Ronald J. Ebert, Ricky W. Griffin 9780133034028, 9780273766599, 9780136070764
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