Understanding Business Chapter 10 – Flashcards

Your textbook referred to a Gallup poll taken in 2011 that indicated that only 47% of workers surveyed felt loyalty toward their employer. This figure was down from 59% just three years earlier. This reflects a serious concern about the ________________.

You are a graduate teaching assistant in the Biology department at Fairview University. You have several graduate student friends who have graduate appointments in the business department and the English department. While everyone's compensation and employee benefits are exactly the same, your department requires you to always show-up and tutor students at least four hours each day and to serve on one university committee each semester. Graduates students at the other departments are not required by their management to follow these rules. Lately, you are doing your best to limit your daily obligation to 2 ½ to 3 hours each day. The motivational theory that most closely correlates with your actions is:

According to equity theory, employees are likely to ask:

Management by objectives was developed by:

Brett manages a sales force that sells laboratory supplies to companies and university science labs. He wants to implement a reward program for high performance. Any rep whose territory bills over $500,000 in sales will win a trip for two, to a Caribbean Island. Last year the high billing territory made $400,000 in sales. As his outside consultant on the rewards program project, you suggest that he ask around to make certain that this is something the reps would enjoy. Your other advice is:

Inequity in the workplace is likely to result in:

___________ attempts to increase task efficiency by breaking down jobs into simple steps and assigning people to each of those steps.

Weldon Taskman has just successfully negotiated a new long-term sales agreement with a major client. The personal satisfaction Weldon has about his efforts is his _______ reward.

________ means to work with a subordinate, doing part of the work if necessary.

John dropped out of school after the ninth grade and now must support himself though he has few skills. He is a part-time employee at a small retailer earning the minimum wage. John would like to earn more, but hasn't been able to find a better job. He is having a hard time paying his rent and utility bills and has quit eating breakfast to try to save on his food bills. John is having trouble meeting his:

Abraham Maslow thought that once needs at one level of his hierarchy were met:

Mini-Case The first meeting between the new CEO of Idle Time Gaming, Inc., John Noble, and Howie Spradlin, the production manager did not go smoothly. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the problem of declining productivity and to develop a strategy to turn the situation around. Howie started the conversation by handing Mr. Noble most recent production report. "I've always thought that most of our employees were lazy, and now I've got proof," Howie stated. "We pay these guys the highest wages in the industry, provide them with a safe place to work, and make the job as simple as possible. We aren't asking these guys to do brain surgery, but productivity still lags and our production costs increase. I've told all the supervisors to watch these lazy bums every second to make sure they put in a full day's work. If those guys think I'm going to let them get away with goofing off, they're in for a rude awakening." CEO Noble responded in a way that surprised Howie. "Maybe these employees aren't lazy, Howie, maybe they are just bored and resent the way we've treated them," he said. "The employees are experienced and well trained. They might work harder and smarter if the work were more interesting and rewarding. Their attitudes might even improve if we treated them with more respect. Maybe one of the best ways for you and I to understand where they're coming from is to spend some time along side them." For the next hour, the two discussed ways to improve worker motivation and performance. Howie left the meeting with an unsettled feeling. Many of Mr. Noble's suggestions seemed naïve to Howie. "Mr. Noble is the boss, but I think he is too optimistic regarding human nature," Howie mused. Reluctantly, Howie had to admit that his own approach had not succeeded in improving the plant's performance. He decided to take a hard look at some of Mr. Noble's ideas. Before ending the meeting, John Noble informed Howie that he would be sending out an email to all employees asking for suggestions as to how the jobs could be restructured to improve productivity. As Howie walked back to the production site, he shook his head, "Is Noble from a different planet? Does he really think our workers have a clue?" Unlike Noble, Howie does not realize that:

________ means acting as a resource to a subordinate by teaching, guiding and making recommendations, without actively doing any of the subordinate's work.

Which of the following would be most closely tied to the idea that employee motivation requires that the rewards for completing a task are sufficient to justify the effort?

_____________ studied how the characteristics of the job itself affected worker motivation.

Matt works for a sports marketing firm. He feels that he has been treated unfairly by the organization. He helped three other employees organize a series of successful street hockey tournaments in different regions of the country. While the other employees were given a bonus and corporate recognition, his efforts were ignored. According to equity theory, Matt is likely to respond by:

William Ouchi called the management approach typically used by Japanese firms:

Theory X managers are likely to believe that:

Managers who advocate job enrichment focus on creating jobs with

Jerry Stead, is the chairman of Ingram Micro a technology provider with 13,000 employees. He answers his own phone line to take calls from employees and declares that if the company is doing something right he loves to hear about it. He also wants to know if there's something they should be doing differently. Jerry Stead is building teamwork by: