Chapter 10: Engaging and Empowering Ethical Employees
1. Employee ______is an emotional bond or attachment an employee has to the work task, organization and its members.
a) morality
b) motivation
c) engagement
d) empowerment
e) none of the above
2. Among the most important features employees want in a job are all but which of the following?
a) job security
b) benefits
c) compensation
d) opportunities to use skills
e) none of the above
3. Developmental psychologist Abraham Maslow differentiated five categories of ______that every individual has.
a) management styles
b) morals
c) virtues
d) needs
e) hierarchies
4. Individuals typically prioritize ______over social needs, according to Maslow’s hierarchy.
a) self-actualization
b) physiological
c) self-esteem
d) all of the above
e) none of the above
5. Individuals typically prioritize ______over self-actualization needs, according to Maslow’s hierarchy.
a) physiological
b) self-esteem
c) safety
d) all of the above
e) none of the above
6. The work of which theorist complements Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, emphasizing the importance of employees experiencing a need for affiliation and achievement, and adds the element of a need for power or authority?
a) Jeffrey Skilling
b) David McClelland
c) Abraham Maslow
d) Frederick Herzberg
e) none of the above
8. Frederick Herzberg’s work exploring employee motivation suggests that job satisfaction can be described in which of the following ways?
a) linear, in that the presence of some factors results in satisfaction and their lack results in dissatisfaction
b) factors contributing to satisfaction are separate and distinct from those contributing to dissatisfaction
c) motivation factors and hygiene factors contribute equally to good working environments
d) all of the above
e) none of the above
9. Job satisfaction factors, called ______, are related to what people do at work.
a) motivation factors
b) hygiene factors
c) Maslow’s factors
d) Herzberg’s factors
e) none of the above
10. Job dissatisfaction factors, called ______, are related to a bad working environment.
a) motivation factors
b) hygiene factors
c) Maslow’s factors
d) Herzberg’s factors
e) none of the above
11. Which of the following is not among the factors impacting job satisfaction?
a) achievement
b) recognition
c) base wage or salary
d) growth
e) none of the above
12. Which of the following is not among the factors impacting job dissatisfaction?
a) quality of supervision
b) relationship with boss
c) the work itself
d) relationship with peers
e) none of the above
13. Many managers falsely continue to assume that the best way to motivate employees is through ______and the threat of disciplinary action.
a) job enrichment
b) recognition
c) achievement
d) financial rewards
e) none of the above
14. High levels of employee performance and satisfaction, according to Daniel Pink, result from employees driven to meet basic needs including ______(self-direction), mastery (continually learning and creating new things), and purpose (work is a personal cause or mission).
a) autonomy
b) hierarchy
c) authority
d) responsibility
e) none of the above
15. The most essential moral value, ______, is positively associated with employee engagement and occurs when employees perceive fairness in decisions associated with organizational policies, procedures and outcomes.
a) honesty
b) justice
c) patience
d) compassion
e) none of the above
16. Scholars distinguish among four forms of organizational justice: procedural, informational, interactional and ______justice.
a) fair
b) engaged
c) distributive
d) autonomous
e) none of the above
17. ______justice is associated with fair decision-making processes.
a) procedural
b) informational
c) interactional
d) distributive
e) none of the above
18. ______justice is associated with fair treatment of employees.
a) procedural
b) informational
c) interactional
d) distributive
e) none of the above
19. ______justice is associated with the way information is conveyed.
a) procedural
b) informational
c) interactional
d) distributive
e) none of the above
20. ______justice is associated with the way outcomes are allocated.
a) procedural
b) informational
c) interactional
d) distributive
e) none of the above
21. Which of the following behaviors is/are associated with employee perceptions of organizational injustice?
a) deviant and retaliatory behaviors from employees
b) de-motivation
c) disengagement
d) all of the above
e) none of the above
22.Workplace ______is defined as repeated verbal abuse or abusive conduct that is threatening, humiliating and intimidating and interferes with work.
a) bullying
b) sexual harassment
c) injustice
d) badgering
e) none of the above
23. ______work is typically defined as spending time at work to achieve something that is personally desirable.
a) Autonomous
b) Meaningful
c) Just
d) all of the above
e) none of the above
24. According to Lips-Wiersma and Morris, the four sources of meaningful work include serving others, unity with others, ______, and expressing one’s full potential.
a) developing and becoming self
b) working independently
c) working diligently
d) all of the above
e) none of the above
25. Representing over 25 years of study, the Gallup Organization’s data suggests that the single most important factor that talented employees want most from the workplace was:
a) high salary
b) family balance
c) an excellent manager
d) nice colleagues
e) none of the above
26. Employee ______refers to an emotional connection to the job task, work unit, or organization.
a) empowerment
b) engagement
c) virtue
d) flow
e) none of the above
27. Employee ______refers to giving employees decision-making authority, which can be further solidified with an ownership stake in the organization.
a) empowerment
b) engagement
c) virtue
d) flow
e) none of the above
28. The type of worker known as a “go-getter” is characterized by which of the following traits?
a) task-oriented
b) a job is a job
c) meet performance expectations
d) managers are ignorant
e) none of the above
29. The type of worker known as a “fence-sitter” is characterized by which of the following traits?
a) can-do attitude
b) meets performance expectations
c) work is a nuisance
d) managers are ignorant
e) none of the above
30. The type of worker known as an “adversarial” is characterized by which of the following traits?
a) task oriented
b) enjoy working
c) a job is a job
d) meet performance expectations
e) none of the above
31. Which of the following is/are not among the strategies for managing “go-getter” employees?
a) empowerment
b) assigning independent work or work with other go-getters
c) close supervision
d) all of the above
e) none of the above
32. The best way to manage adversarial employees includes ______supervision.
a) hands-off
b) close
c) inconsistent
d) harsh
e) none of the above
33. Empowerment techniques include all but which of the following, along with providing employees the authority to make decisions?
a) delegating specific tasks
b) providing access to relevant information
c) consistently close supervision
d) allocating appropriate resources and funds
e) none of the above
34. Every work unit is a team or small ______, which has implications for the way its members work together.
a) community
b) department
c) division
d) function
e) none of the above
35. Which of the following is/are not among the characteristics of members of effective teams?
a) trust one another
b) engage in constructive conflict
c) always agree
d) personally commit to goal accomplishment
4) are accountable for their behaviors
36. The factor that serves as the foundation for effective team performance is:
a) trust
b) fair pay
c) hierarchy
d) diversity
e) none of the above
37. The ______technique is a useful tool for preventing team conflicts from escalating, and involves a 10-step planned reconciliation process.
a) constructive conflict
b) pinch theory
c) solution theory
d) conflict resolution
e) none of the above
38. The team ______process described in the chapter helps access each member’s unique knowledge and helps generate solutions with the highest likelihood of achieving superior performance.
a) pinch theory
b) constructive conflict
c) problem-solving
d) strategic planning
e) none of the above
39. Open book management is a technique whereby managers share ______:
a) pay levels for all employees to ensure transparency
b) conflict resolution to ensure effective teamwork
c) financial and operational information to allow employees to make better informed decisions
d) their office space to ensure they are approachable
e) none of the above
40. The technique known as ______is a particularly powerful team-based management method for aligning different types of employees and uncovering employee and organizational strengths.
a) open book management
b) appreciative inquiry
c) strategic planning
d) problem-solving
e) none of the above
41. Plans involving ______, like the Scanlon-type plans, delegate institutional responsibility and accountability for improving operations to employee teams.
a) gainsharing
b) conflict resolution
c) team-building
d) salary caps
e) none of the above
42. Profit sharing has been shown to be associated with all but which of the following?
a) employee cooperation
b) turnover
c) productivity
d) wage disparity
e) profits
43. Employee ______give employees the right to purchase a specific number of company shares at a fixed price by a particular future date, typically ten years.
a) profit sharings
b) stock options
c) pensions
d) all of the above
e) none of the above
44. Producer, consumer, and employee ______are an alternative communal way to govern a business and raise capital, and involve pooling capital and resources for mutual benefit.
a) profit sharings
b) ESOPs
c) cooperatives
d) pensions
e) none of the above
45. Research indicates that top-down, one-way communication and decision-making processes discourage employees from being passive and reactive, rather than proactive.
46. Engaged employees are less likely to report ethical misconduct, because they have a strong sense of loyalty to their coworkers.
47. The relationship between job satisfaction is quite simple – happy employees always work hard in order to maintain their position.
48. Employers must first meet low-level, basic needs before they can address higher-level needs associated with employee engagement.
49. Generally, employees with a high need for achievement are motivated by challenging work.
50. Generally, employees with a high need for power are motivated by collegial work environments.
51. Higher wages always lead to a more satisfied workplace.
52. Better wages motivate employees to work harder and smarter over an extended period of time.
53. Correcting low wages is ethical and helps to eliminate job dissatisfaction.
54. Employees are more willing to help coworkers who have heavy workloads or are struggling with work-related problems when they themselves have been treated unfairly and without integrity.
55. The phenomenon Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi refers to as “flow” describes the idea that work can engage one’s entire self – mind, body, emotion and spirit.
56. In the name of fairness, systems designed to control performance should be imposed in the same way throughout the organization.
57. Empowering all types of employees, “go-getters,” “fence-sitters,” and “adversarials,” is helpful to ensure employee engagement across the organization.
58. Adversarial employees have leadership skills, which if redirected away from the wrong ends, can allow them to become go-getters.
59. Though employee empowerment is important, it is unwise to delegate any managerial responsibilities and accountabilities.
60. Harmony must be preserved for teams to function effectively, even if it is artificial.
61. Daily performance reflections among empowered team members typically lead to redundancy and fatigue.
62. In successful organizations, profit sharing can replace base pay.
63. Describe the different techniques for managing go-getters, fence sitters, and adversarials.
64. Discuss the steps and advantages involved in the team problem-solving process.
65. Describe the categories included in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, and provide an example from the organizational context at each level.
66. Discuss the factors research consistently finds as most important to employees when considering what they want out of their work.