Question_File6_9Dec_2nd

31. Studies of performance appraisal systems show that the most influential element
on the effectiveness of the system is the:
a) number of employees for whom the rater is responsible.
b) intelligence and experience of the rater.
c) type of tool or system used.
d) gender and age of the employee being evaluated.
e) job category for which the performance is being evaluated.
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32. Performance appraisals are subject to any number of errors. ______ is an error
introduced by some type of consistent bias on the part of the rater.
a) Rater error
b) Influence of liking
c) Organizational politics
d) Instrument invalidity
e) Team bias
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33. Which of the following does a manager need to minimize in order to ensure an
accurate measure of worker performance?
a) Organizational politics.
b) Legal issues.
c) The influence of liking.
d) Rater errors and bias.
e) All of the above
34. You are reviewing the performance appraisal conducted by your middle
managers. You notice that Carrie tends to give each employee the same score
across all dimensions of the evaluation. For example, Brian’s scores all are in the
average range while Karl’s all tend to be in the excellent range, even though you
know that each man has done very well on some and very poorly on some of the
dimensions. Brian and Karl’s evaluations exhibit:
a) the impact of liking.
b) a halo error.
c) their awareness of organizational politics.
d) the use of a group evaluation for rating individual performance.
e) restriction of range error.
35. You are training first-line supervisors on how to give performance appraisals. In
your explanation of the halo error, you tell these managers that they can avoid
this mistake if they:
a) are sensitive to organizational considerations when they evaluate employees.
b) remain current on HRM and EEO laws.
c) use the proper tool in the correct format for each evaluation.
d) consider each dimension individually, and don’t make an overall assessment of
performance and then tailor the evaluation to that assessment.
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e) guard against developing personal relationships with their employees.
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36. Two line managers, Cameron and Ty, are performing appraisals on their
subordinates. As they discuss their findings, they realize that they have very
similar views on how they rate performance. The work that Cameron rates as
excellent, Ty rates as excellent. The work that Ty rates as average, Cameron rates
as average. This similarity indicates:
a) a high rate of comparability between the two raters.
b) a restriction of range error.
c) a low rate of comparability between the two raters.
d) central tendency errors between the two raters.
e) the influence of liking.
37. Raters who commit severity errors generally:
a) rate employees on the basis of liking.
b) restrict ratings to the high portion of the appraisal scale.
c) restrict ratings to the low portion of the appraisal scale.
d) rate employee performance similarly in all appraisal areas.
e) become victims of organizational politics.
38. Many organizations train managers to enhance the quality of the performance
appraisal process. Frame-of-reference training has been found to be particularly
effective in eliminating:
a) the effect of organizational politics.
b) the problems of the mismatch of the evaluation tool and the purpose of the
evaluation.
c) the problem of liking the employee.
d) all legal issues in the performance review process.
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e) most errors and the impact of personal bias.
39. Frame-of-reference training for managers who appraise employee performance
uses ______ to help managers improve the accuracy and consistency of the
performance evaluations they conduct.
a) role playing
b) fictitious examples of performance and group discussion of the rating given
c) lecture and discussion
d) examples of incorrect evaluations
e) performance appraisals that managers have actually conducted and small
group discussion
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40. Which of the following is true of rater bias?
a) Training raters to eliminate errors often lowers rater bias.
b) Rater bias is always conscious.
c) Liking is a type of rater bias.
d) Rater bias is always subconscious.
e) Rater bias has little effect upon employee evaluations.
41. As proven by the Segar v. Civiletti case, negative bias:
a) occurs primarily in evaluations of women.
b) occurs primarily in evaluations of African-Americans.
c) is no longer a legal concern.
d) can occur even in the federal government.
e) is always unconscious bias.
42. Which of the following is true about the impact of the influence of liking on the
performance appraisal process?
a) It is a gender and ethnic origin problem that occurs mostly in older, white
male supervisors and less in younger Latina supervisors.
b) A supervisor’s feelings toward an employee have a greater impact on the
performance rating than does actual performance.
c) It has little actual impact on an individual’s performance evaluation.
d) The impact is greatest in absolute performance appraisal systems.
e) All of the above are true.
43. _____ is one way managers can counter or minimize the influence of liking on the
performance evaluations they conduct.
a) Frame-of-reference training
b) Experience, simply having conducted many performance evaluations,
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c) Keeping a performance diary on each employee they evaluate
d) Developing a sensitivity to the organizational politics involved in the process
e) Conducting group, rather than individual, performance evaluations
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44. The first step in managing personal bias due to an emotional reaction to an
employee is to:
a) keep a monthly performance log.
b) go through diversity or sensitivity training.
c) be aware of your personal emotional reaction so you can guard against its
effect.
d) form a general impression of the employee’s performance and write the
evaluation from that perspective.
e) get to know employees on a personal level so you understand why they
behave the way they do.
45. One way to guard against the impact of liking on a performance appraisal is to keep
a performance diary for each employee. For managers, keeping performance
diaries is often:
a) tedious and time consuming.
b) a way to vent their frustrations about individual employees.
c) a guarantee against bias due to liking.
d) a relatively speedy process which provides legal justification for the appraising
process.
e) a good alternative to intervening directly when poor employee performance
becomes a concern.
46. When managers use performance appraisals to communicate a message to an
employee rather than to measure actual performance, the performance appraisal
is being influenced by:
a) rater bias.
b) the rater’s frame-of-reference.
c) personal bias.
d) organizational politics.
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e) the influence of liking.
47. Sheila believes the value of her employees’ performance depends on her agenda
or goals, and not on any objective standard. Sheila’s perspective is a(n):
a) rational perspective.
b) absolute perspective.
c) political perspective.
d) relative perspective.
e) trait-based perspective.
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48. Which of the following is a true comparison between the rational perspective of
appraisal and the political perspective of appraisal?
a) A rater’s bias is less likely to be a deciding factor in the political perspective
than in the rational perspective.
b) In both cases, workers are expected to actively influence their evaluations.
c) Supervisors’ roles in the rational approach are much more active than
supervisors’ roles in the political approach.
d) The goal of appraisal from the political perspective is accuracy. The goal of
appraisal from the rational perspective is accuracy.
e) The goal of appraisal from the political perspective is utility. The goal of
appraisal from the rational perspective is accuracy.
49. Managers using a rational perspective to appraise performance believe that:
a) the goal of an appraisal is accuracy.
b) appraisals are utilitarian in purpose.
c) the employee is an active participant in the process.
d) the focus of the process is management of performance.
e) the assessment of specifics follows the overall assessment of the worker.
50. One could draw which of the following conclusions from your text’s explanation of
the political perspective in performance appraisal?
a) Performance appraisals always reward specific behavior.
b) Performance appraisals communicate approval and disapproval, and manage
an employee’s behavior.
c) Performance appraisals provide a way to compare different employees
working at the same or similar jobs.
d) Performance appraisals accurately measure performance against clear
standards in order to improve functioning in the organization.
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e) Performance appraisals give the employee as much power and discretion as
possible.
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51. Managers who follow a rational perspective when conducting performance
appraisals:
a) value the employee’s performance relative to the manager’s goals.
b) seek to clearly define a worker’s performance and the criteria to evaluate that
performance.
c) disdain training on the process.
d) first decide who should get the highest rating in a group setting, and then
complete the evaluation.
e) use relatively ambiguous criteria or definitions in the appraisal process.
52. Your text argues that the performance appraisal process in most organizations is:
a) an absolute process.
b) a rational exercise.
c) a political exercise.
d) generally a group, rather than individual, process.
e) a trait-based process.
53. Automotive, Inc. (A.I.) is an automotive manufacturing company that uses self-managed teams to produce large automotive parts. When performing evaluations,
A.I. needs to remember to:
a) appraise both individual and team performance.
b) value individual performance over team performance.
c) value team performance over individual performance.
d) use outcome measures when evaluating the performance of individual team
members.
e) use behavioral measures to assess overall team performance.
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54. Most experts agree that in a team environment:
a) individual assessment should stop.
b) behavioral-based assessments are the best in most cases.
c) outcome-based assessments are the only type of appraisal that should be
used.
d) only internal customers should make judgments regarding employee
performance.
e) both individual and team performance should be evaluated.
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55. When creating criteria for evaluating individuals’ performance in a team effort, it
is important that:
a) the appraisal measures are outcome-related.
b) only designers of the evaluation know the areas of assessment before the
appraisal is performed.
c) criteria measures should be developed with the input of team members.
d) quantity and quality measures be the focus of individual performance
appraisal.
e) performance criteria should be ambiguous so that they do not become
confused with team performance criteria.
56. The legal requirements that any performance appraisal system must meet are set
forth in:
a) Executive Order 110267.
b) the Civil Rights Act of 1991.
c) an addendum to the Americans with Disabilities Act.
d) Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
e) no single document or federal law.
57. The most significant court test of discrimination in performance appraisal was:
a) Griggs versus Duke Power.
b) Brito versus Zia.
c) Denny’s versus the U.S. government.
d) the University of Massachusetts Medical Center case.
e) Dominos versus the U.S. government.
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58. A review of court decisions regarding performance appraisal legal issues, shows
that the courts:
a) tend to be favorably influenced by the use of job analysis.
b) tend to rule in favor of the employee.
c) prefer clear-cut, non-discrimination cases.
d) tend to refer the issue back to the EEOC or OFCCP.
e) have used the 1973 Supreme Court case to widely expand the definition of
discrimination in performance appraisal.
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59. Judges’ decisions on appraisal systems have been favorably influenced by which
of the following factors?
a) The age of the rater.
b) The job experience of the ratee.
c) The use of verbal assessment instruction.
d) The presence of rater training.
e) The strength of organizational politics within the business.
60. Catina is designing an assessment and performance managing program for her
company’s HR department. To manage employee performance most effectively,
Catina should:
a) simply initiate formal reporting and annual rating. This is sufficient.
b) mandate that performance appraisals and assessment interviews be
performed once every three years.
c) prohibit managers from combining performance and salary discussion.
d) stress that day-to-day interactions need to occur between manager and
employee in addition to face-to-face interviews.
e) create a program that measures employee performance in terms of
productivity per year.