Question_File6_9Dec_3rd

61. In most U.S. organizations, an employee’s performance appraisal interview and
salary review are conducted in the same meeting. Research shows that tying these
two events together:
a) results in employees receiving lower raises than if the two events are
separated.
b) causes managers not to take the performance appraisal as seriously.
c) results in the managers focusing on the salary issue and overlooking the
performance appraisal.
d) leads employees to ignore the performance feedback and focus only on the
salary review.
e) causes managers to take the appraisal more seriously while energizing the
performance discussion.
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62. Your text argues for which of the following as the best model of performance
management?
a) Separating the performance appraisal and salary review.
b) Incorporating judgment and coaching in the performance review.
c) Separating goal setting and action planning from the formal review.
d) Replacing the formal review with informal day-to-day feedback and
performance management.
e) None of the above
63. Which of the following is a benefit of incorporating salary discussion into the
appraisal interview?
a) Tying salary to assessment generally decreases an employee’s anxiety over the
appraisal process.
b) Feedback and assessment may become simply a meaningless exercise if salary
implications are ignored.
c) Managers will be more conscientious when assessing employees if money is at
stake.
d) There is no benefit.
e) b and c
64. Which of the following is a “microskill” that managers should use in employee
appraisal interviews?
a) Using open questions only.
b) Paraphrasing employees’ responses back to them. This often sounds like a
challenge of the employees’ statements.
c) Not referring to feelings or the emotional aspects the employee may have
about the job.
d) Nonverbal attending.
e) Maintaining a distinct manager/subordinate atmosphere.
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65. Those who manage employee performance effectively share some common
management characteristics, such as:
a) the ability to motivate.
b) a thorough knowledge of HRM law.
c) a minimal use of progressive discipline.
d) the exploration of causes of performance problems.
e) a behavioral-based approach to managing people.
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66. Employee performance on the job is primarily a function of the employee’s:
a) ability, motivation, and situational factors.
b) external situational factors largely beyond his/her control.
c) ability and his/her working conditions.
d) supervision and motivation.
e) manager’s effectiveness in directing and listening.
67. More and more companies are adopting an upward performance appraisal process
of:
a) peer reviews.
b) self reviews.
c) team reviews.
d) outcome-based reviews.
e) subordinate reviews.
68. An inclusive list of factors that affect performance includes: ability, motivation,
and situational factors. Which of the following would be a situational factor?
a) An employee arrives at work late every day.
b) An employee exhibits job knowledge.
c) The employee receives poor supervision.
d) The employee is suffering from burnout.
e) All of the above
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69. If supervisors want to help employees gain insight into their performance
problems and have input into the performance appraisal, they should consider
using:
a) peer reviews.
b) self reviews.
c) team reviews.
d) outcome-based reviews.
e) subordinate reviews.
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70. Ahmad has been a line manager at a large jewelry factory for nearly 10 years. This
year, the factory is letting the employees directly under him contribute to Ahmad’s
performance appraisal. This is an example of:
a) subordinate review.
b) superior review.
c) self-review.
d) management revision.
e) 360º feedback.
71. 360º feedback:
a) is inherently less time consuming than any performance appraisal process.
b) takes less planning than traditional processes.
c) is rapidly becoming commonplace.
d) is being used less and less and will probably be gone within five years.
e) is less expensive than other appraisal processes.
72. In recent years, customer appraisals have:
a) become increasingly ineffective.
b) become more important than traditional performance assessment measures.
c) been prohibited by most large employers.
d) influenced stock prices of three major companies.
e) become a valuable source of assessment.
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73. An effective performance appraisal process must include which of the following
steps?
a) The manager giving the employee an action plan to resolve problems.
b) Customer feedback.
c) An absolute outcome-based instrument and performance coaching.
d) The manager coaching the employee to reach a solution.
e) Communication of feelings as well as content in the appraisal feedback session.
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74. A case can be made that the most important element in a manager’s coaching of
an employee’s work performance is:
a) identifying the cause of the performance problem.
b) directing attention to the problem.
c) empowering the worker to reach a solution.
d) the communication between the manager and the worker about the issue.
e) the accuracy of the performance appraisal.
75. The best way to encourage effective performance is to:
a) be specific about desired outcomes.
b) be very detailed about how employees should work to reach goals.
c) design outcome goals without employee input.
d) encourage employees to work harder in areas in which they cannot improve.
e) all of the above
76. The implementation of a 360º performance appraisal process requires:
a) employee training in giving feedback.
b) top management establishing the need for the process.
c) employee/management cooperation in developing appraisal criteria.
d) informing employees of the nature of the process.
e) all of the above
77. Performance-related communication is most effective when directed at:
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a) employee traits.
b) employee performance.
c) the employee directly.
d) the employee/manager relationship.
e) fixing responsibility for performance failures.
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CASE QUESTIONS
Case 7.1
Shannon is the CEO of a service firm that provides high-tech service support to other
small businesses. He wants to revise the performance appraisal system to align it more
closely with company goals. Frank has no preconceived ideas, but he wants a tailored
program that is fair, ethical, and that will produce consistent results.
He wants service employees to work together to assist each other while providing
maximum service quality. The sales force for Shannon’s company has not been
particularly aggressive and sales are lagging. He wants sales people to both sell and
assist in providing service to customers. Happy customers lead to better profits.
In the past, his sales managers have been getting the same raises, regardless of their
effectiveness. He wants to know whom his best-performing managers and executives
are, and he wants to reward them accordingly. He wants to compare managers across
functions so he can identify people ready for greater and different responsibilities.
78. Refer to Case 7.1. Shannon’s first step in developing the new performance
appraisal system is to:
a) identify the performance dimensions to measure.
b) identify the performance appraisal tool(s) he wants to use.
c) provide training for himself and other managers to avoid rater error.
d) develop the performance management process he will use.
e) communicate the changes in the program to the employees.
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79. Refer to Case 7.1. The best appraisal system to enhance cooperation among
service personnel would be:
a) a trait-based appraisal system.
b) a performance appraisal system that focused on the person rather than
performance.
c) the relative judgment process.
d) rank ordering.
e) a behavioral appraisal system.
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80. Refer to Case 7.1. The best appraisal system for Shannon’s sales management
team would be:
a) rank order.
b) trait based.
c) outcome based.
d) relative judgment.
e) behavioral based.
81. Refer to Case 7.1. What perspective do you believe Shannon has when it comes to
the performance appraisal process?
a) A political perspective.
b) An absolute perspective.
c) A relative perspective.
d) A legal perspective.
e) A trait perspective.
82. Refer to Case 7.1. If Shannon wanted a system that would help him make clear
distinctions among his managers by job, i.e., all MIS managers would be rated
together, all executives would be rated together, etc., you could recommend that
he use a(n) ____ appraisal tool.
a) behavioral
b) trait
c) relative judgment
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d) outcome
e) absolute judgment
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Case 7.2
You are reviewing performance appraisals from across the company for a report to the
president regarding manager performance. She wants to know not only how employees
are doing, but also how well managers are evaluating their employees.
Reading through Matt’s evaluations of his MIS team, you note that he tends to rate all
of his people in the middle of the scale. You recall a conversation last week when he told
you that overall his people were okay, but nothing to cheer about. He would like to get
them more training and institute an incentive program to get them motivated.
Madeline’s employee evaluations look pretty good. They range from very good to some
weak performers. You are startled to see that Madeline has rated Juan rather low.
Pulling his file, you note that he has always had very high ratings until this time. You
remember a meeting two months ago when Juan vehemently disagreed with Madeline
in front of the president, who sided with Juan (to Madeline’s embarrassment).
Edward’s employee evaluations seem to have no reason to them. Gary, a noted average
performer has a very high rating. Jenny, another average performer who Anuar has
been trying to convince to quit, has a very low rating. You remember hearing Edward
say that Gary was the president's son-in-law and that he thought Jenny needed to be
motivated to do more than just get by.
83. Refer to Case 7.2. Based on what you know, you could draw the conclusion that
Matt’s evaluations exemplify:
a) a normal manager’s evaluations. There is no problem.
b) a halo effect error, where Matt has already made an overall assessment of his
employees and rated them accordingly.
c) the influence of liking.
d) a problem with organizational politics.
e) a frame-of-reference error.
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84. Refer to Case 7.2. Madeline’s overall evaluations tell you that she:
a) is doing a good job of evaluating her people.
b) is subject to the halo effect.
c) tends to make leniency errors.
d) is sensitive to organizational politics.
e) would have difficulty comparing her employees across the board.
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85. Refer to Case 7.2. Madeline’s evaluation of Juan may have a(n) ___ error.
a) central tendency
b) organizational politics
c) influence of liking
d) frame-of-reference
e) assessment criteria
86. Refer to Case 7.2. Edward’s employee evaluations show that Edward:
a) tends to have halo errors.
b) is subject to the influence of liking.
c) takes a rational or absolute perspective on performance appraisals.
d) is not considering situational factors in his appraisals.
e) believes in a political perspective regarding performance appraisals.
87. Refer to Case 7.2. Which of these managers might leave the company vulnerable to
a lawsuit because of the way they conduct their performance appraisals?
a) Matt .
b) Edward.
c) Matt and Edward.
d) Madeline and Edward.
e) Madeline.
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Case 7.3
In a training session for managers, you mention the fact that the most important part of
the performance appraisal process is performance improvement. Then you move into
an explanation of the improvement of performance process.
During the ensuing discussion, Chris, a middle manager with 20 direct reports, tells you
that he has a finely tuned ability to discover the causes of performance problems. It is
always that the employee either doesn’t want to do the job or he/she doesn’t have the
skills and knowledge to do it. For example, no matter how often Sam showed Wilson
what to do and encouraged him, he just couldn’t meet production demands.
Another supervisor, Gena, says that once she has discovered the cause of the
performance problem, all she has to do is create a supportive environment and work
in partnership with the employee, and the problem is solved. While she strives to
communicate acceptance, she also likes to use trait-type terms--crabby, argumentative,
unimaginative, etc., to help her employees understand where she is coming from.
She finds that if she gives the employee all the time he/she needs and then offers
suggestions for improvement, she generally has positive results from the meetings.
88. Refer to Case 7.3. In this training session you point out to the managers that to
improve performance, they need to begin by:
a) exploring the causes of the performance problem with the employee.
b) directing attention to the causes of the problem.
c) empowering workers to reach their own solutions to performance problems.
d) directing their communication toward performance issues.
e) conducting a formal performance appraisal.
89. Refer to Case 7.3. Chris’s analysis of the causes of performance problems ignores
what possible cause of poor performance?
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a) Employee ability.
b) Employee motivation.
c) Situational factors beyond the employee’s control.
d) Legal hindrances.
e) Observer bias.
90. Refer to Case 7.3. Gena’s strategy for solving performance problems skips what
step that an effective manager uses for solving performance problems?
a) Exploring the causes.
b) Directing attention to the cause.
c) Empowering employees to reach a solution.
d) Motivating the employee to solve his/her own problems.
e) Management control of the process.