46) The ________ method of performance measurement uses several statements describing each
trait to produce a final score for that trait.
A) behaviorally anchored rating scale
B) mixed-standard scale
C) behavioral observation scale
D) graphic rating scale
E) behavior-response scale
47) Identify a true statement about the mixed-standard scale.
A) It is intended to define performance dimensions specifically using statements of behavior that
describe different levels of performance.
B) It uses several statements describing each trait to produce a final score for that trait.
C) It may use 15 behaviors to define levels of performance.
D) It lists traits and provides a rating scale for each trait.
E) It involves comparing each employee with each other employee to establish rankings.
48) Zachary was recently made the manager of his department at Cyscon Co. He has to evaluate
his subordinates’ behavior in the next two weeks and is unsure if he should use the behaviorally
anchored rating scale (BARS) or the behavioral observation scale (BOS) to assess their behavior.
Which characteristic of the two would help Zachary decide the scale that would be most
appropriate for him to use?
A) A BARS asks the manager to rate the frequency with which the employee has exhibited the
behavior during the rating period.
B) A BOS discards many items in creating the rating scale.
C) A BOS uses many instances to define the behaviors necessary for effective performance.
D) A BARS is represented by ease of use and maintains objectivity efficiently.
E) A BARS requires a large amount of information as compared to BOS.
49) The ________ performance management method requires managers to rate the frequency
with which an employee has exhibited a behavior during a rating period.
A) behaviorally anchored rating scale
B) behavioral observation scale
C) graphic rating scale
D) mixed-standard scale
E) forced-distribution scale
50) Identify the statement that accurately characterizes behavioral approaches to performance
measurement.
A) They link the company’s goals to the specific behavior required to achieve those goals.
B) They work well for complex jobs.
C) They provide little feedback on areas of improvement.
D) They have a low degree of validity and reliability.
E) They have a low degree of acceptability.
51) Bernard, the CEO of RTT Co., believes the goals of the company must be divided into
smaller departmental and individual goals. The accomplishment of these smaller goals will allow
employees at all levels to contribute to accomplishment of the bigger goals of the company. In
the context of measuring performance results, Bernard’s belief can be best justified using
A) total quality management.
B) the behavioral observational scale method.
C) the critical-incident method.
D) statistical quality control.
E) management by objectives.
52) What is an advantage of using results-oriented performance measurement?
A) It is very effective in providing guidance on how an employee can improve.
B) It is relatively easy to link to the organization’s goals.
C) It is generally more subjective than other kinds of performance measurement.
D) It is highly acceptable to employees but not to managers.
E) It tends to be highly valid.
53) Cameron, a supervisor at Margolia Co., needs to appraise the performance of her
subordinate, Stefan. In the context of performance information, what is the least biased source of
information for appraisal and why?
A) Peers because they often understand an employee better than superiors.
B) Managers because their success depends on the employee’s productivity.
C) Customers because employees are often directly in contact with them.
D) Subordinates because the power relationships motivate a subordinate to provide honest
information.
E) The employee himself because there is generally better agreement between an employee and
his or her supervisor.
54) Min, the production manager of Manning Inc., is writing a recommendation to begin
gathering performance appraisal information from peers along with other sources of information.
Which statement best supports Min’s recommendation for getting peer feedback?
A) Information from peers adds little value to the assessment of performance.
B) Peers are comfortable rating employees for decisions that may affect themselves.
C) Peers typically share the manager’s perspective of the employee being evaluated.
D) Peers have expert knowledge of job requirements.
E) Peers rarely observe an employee in day-to-day activities.
55) Dina, the human resource manager at K-Pack Inc., wants to use subordinates as sources of
performance appraisal information. Which statement best supports that idea?
A) Subordinates often have reliable information about a manager’s behavior toward employees.
B) Subordinates are often willing to say negative things about the person to whom they report.
C) When feedback forms need subordinates’ names on them, the subordinates tend to give lower
ratings to the manager.
D) When managers receive ratings from their subordinates, the employees have less power.
E) Subordinate evaluations are most appropriate for strategic purposes.
56) Subordinate evaluations are the most appropriate to use for which purpose?
A) administrative
B) investigative
C) strategic
D) developmental
E) executive
57) Catarina, the founder of Platter Place, believes in employee empowerment, so as soon as she
began hiring managers, she made subordinate reviews part of her company’s performance
appraisal system. However, she and her human resource manager have realized that the
managers don’t always place enough emphasis on efficiency and results, perhaps out of fear that
their employees will give them lower ratings. What would be the best way for Platter Place to
use subordinate feedback?
A) Discontinue subordinate feedback, because it has undesirable consequences.
B) Require that the employees giving subordinate feedback identify themselves.
C) Give the employees greater opportunities to observe the behavior of their manager.
D) Use the results of subordinate feedback to identify avenues for employee development.
E) Limit the information gathering by subordinates to short periods once a year.
58) Keith, a human resource manager at Uno Inc., is considering the use of self-appraisals.
Which statement is TRUE about self-appraisals?
A) There are no disagreements between a manager and an employee when self-appraisal is used.
B) Self-rating is the most preferred source of performance appraisal information.
C) Employees have a tendency to inflate their self-assessments.
D) Self-appraisals serve as an ideal basis for administrative decisions.
E) Self-appraisals are necessary for a 360-degree performance appraisal.
59) Dylan, a vice president of human resources, recommends adding self-appraisals to the
company’s performance management system. The other executives wonder why, since people
would certainly want to inflate scores of their own performance. Which statement best supports
Dylan’s idea of using self-appraisals?
A) Self-ratings are the best source of information.
B) Differences between employees’ self-ratings and peer’s ratings can be fruitful topics for
discussion.
C) Employees can wait until after a feedback session to evaluate their own performance.
D) Evaluating one’s contributions gets employees thinking about their performance.
E) Self-appraisals are especially important when an employee’s job requires direct service to
customers.
60) The HR team at Rod Inc. is meeting to discuss ways to improve the validity of its
performance management system. One staffer suggests adding customer evaluations of the sales
representatives in order to gauge their impact on customer satisfaction and sales. What is the
major challenge of this approach?
A) Customers have a tendency to inflate assessments of salespeople’s performance.
B) The customers are the only people who directly observe a sales representative’s performance.
C) The employees’ jobs do not involve direct service to customer.
D) Customer evaluations could cost hundreds of dollars for each salesperson.
E) Information about customer satisfaction would be easier to gather from peers.
61) Benny, a supervisor, needs to assess Amanda’s, a subordinate’s, performance. He considers
Amanda to be reliable and meets all his requirements, so he rates her as a good performer. But
then Benny thinks about an exceptional employee, Christina, in his department, and decides that,
compared with her, Amanda is just average. In this way, Benny’s rating is a ________ error.
A) horns
B) contrast
C) leniency
D) halo
E) distributional
62) Corey, a supervisor, needs to rate the performance of 20 subordinates. He uses a rating scale
to rate them on a scale of 1 to 10. He rates 18 employees at 5, which leads to central tendency. In
the context of types of rating errors, Corey commits a ________ error.
A) distributional
B) contrast
C) horns
D) statistical
E) halo
63) Spencer & Solomon, CPAs, brought in an HR consulting firm to evaluate the firm’s
performance management system. The firm has offices in six locations, and the manager of each
location rates the office’s staff members using a 5-point rating scale. After studying the appraisal
results from the past three years, the consultants reported that they cannot make comparisons
among the offices. What is the most likely problem?
A) The consultants aren’t qualified to analyze this type of rating system.
B) One office has exceptional people, so contrast errors are occurring.
C) The managers let their opinions of one quality color their opinions of others.
D) The managers are making distributional errors, each using only part of the rating scale.
E) The managers tend to give higher ratings to people they consider similar to themselves.
64) Angor, a manager at Primely Co., is asked by his manager to rate his subordinates’
performances. He needs to rate 30 employees on a scale that ranges from 1 to 10. He rates 25
employees with a score of 8. In doing so, Angor commits a rating error. In the context of types of
rating errors, Angor’s mistake is called
A) central tendency.
B) halo error.
C) horns error.
D) leniency.
E) statistical error.
65) April, a production manager at Alton Corp., needs to evaluate the performance of her
employees. She asks her subordinate, Tiff, to carry out this job. Tiff uses a rating scale, which
ranges from 1 to 10, to rate 50 employees. She gives a score of 3 to 39 employees. In doing so,
Tiff commits a ________ error.
A) mean inclination
B) strictness
C) central tendency
D) halo effect
E) statistical
66) What is the name of the rating error that leads employees to believe that no aspect of their
performance needs improvement?
A) contrast error
B) halo error
C) horn error
D) strictness error
E) central tendency error
67) When an employee evaluates his or her manager low on all performance criteria due to
dissatisfaction with the manager’s disposition, the employee has most likely committed a(n)
A) error based on similarity.
B) halo error.
C) central tendency.
D) horns error.
E) contrast error.
68) How can data analytics improve the measurement of employees’ performance?
A) by training raters to look at many aspects of performance
B) by showing raters how errors affect their rating decisions
C) by preventing raters from making distributional errors
D) by finding patterns in an employee’s behavior
E) by indicating all the circumstances, intentions, and outcomes associated with an employee’s
behavior
69) Under which circumstance is appraisal politics most likely to occur?
A) when top executives forbid distorted ratings
B) when the goals of rating are compatible with one another
C) when performance appraisal results are directly linked to developmental programs
D) when senior employees tell newcomers stories about distorted ratings
E) when performance appraisal is not directly linked to highly desirable rewards
70) When Keenan joined Rod Riders as its human resource manager, he was surprised to hear
some of the executives repeatedly laughing over stories about how the company’s founder
ensured that his fraternity brothers moved into management positions. According to the stories,
the executives embellished the performance appraisals of these employees, which also influenced
later staffing decisions. Keenan talked to some employees about performance management at
Rod Riders and learned that the system was widely viewed as corrupt. What can Keenan do,
besides discouraging the storytelling, to decrease the political behavior related to performance
management?
A) He should learn to accept political behavior, because it occurs in every organization.
B) He should make sure that raters are accountable to each employee being evaluated.
C) He should make sure appraisal results are directly linked to highly desirable rewards.
D) He should persuade executives not to tolerate or ignore distorted ratings.
E) He should train managers to list only the accomplishments their employees are aware of.
71) Kate, the CEO of Era Co., wants to carry out the first company-wide performance appraisal.
However, she needs to make sure that the information obtained for performance appraisal is free
of bias and that the managers have provided information about subordinates without any
personal issues influencing the information. Which option will assist Kate in obtaining her
objective?
A) Kate must focus on obtaining information only from supervisors of employees being
appraised because managers have incentives for giving accurate information.
B) Kate must occasionally work alongside the employees to ensure that they are working
diligently.
C) Kate must personally question all the managers who appraise their subordinates in the
performance appraisal as this will ensure integrity of information.
D) Kate must devise a policy that focuses on confidentiality of appraisal information once it is
gathered from different sources because this will ensure security of information.
E) Kate must hold calibration meetings because they hold managers accountable for the appraisal
information they provide about their subordinates.
72) Identify a way in which an organization can promote fairness and reduce political behavior
in the appraisal system.
A) use different performance standards to evaluate different employees
B) hold a calibration meeting in which managers discuss employee performance ratings and
provide evidence supporting their ratings
C) discourage employees from discussing their weaknesses
D) require that managers give feedback once a year during the annual appraisal
E) encourage managers to recognize accomplishments that only employees have identified
73) Brianna, a supervisor in a shoe store, observes Charles, an employee, becoming anxious and
defensive when a customer complains about some shoes. The customer reacts to Charles’
behavior by raising her voice and demanding to talk to a manager. When should Brianna give
Charles performance feedback related to his handling of customer complaints?
A) at Charles’ annual performance appraisal
B) within the next few weeks, whenever she has time for a formal meeting with Charles
C) as soon as she has time to list all of Charles’ areas for improvement
D) as soon as she is finished talking with the complaining customer
E) during the next month in which performance appraisals are scheduled
74) What attitude do employees typically express toward performance feedback?
A) They prefer not to get feedback, because the experience feels awkward.
B) They prefer to get all their feedback at one time, during an annual performance review.
C) They like to be surprised, especially if the feedback is positive.
D) They appreciate regular feedback, because they want to know if they are on track.
E) They are most engaged when the company schedules feedback every few months.
75) Helen, a supervisor at Covington Materials, asks Hunter, the human resource manager, for
advice on delivering performance feedback. Helen finds that the meetings tend to be
confrontational and don’t lead to performance improvement. She tells Hunter how she carefully
fills out the appraisal form ahead of time and then invites the employee into the conference room
to discuss her feedback immediately, before the employee has time to think up excuses for poor
performance. What advice should Hunter give Helen for delivering performance feedback?
A) Helen should move the feedback meetings into her own office.
B) Helen should have Hunter conduct the feedback meetings.
C) Helen should forbid employees from overstating their accomplishments.
D) Helen should give employees a chance to complete a self-assessment ahead of time.
E) Helen should define all areas for discussion when she fills out the appraisal form.
76) Which approach to performance feedback is generally most effective?
A) problem-solving
B) tell-and-sell
C) tell-and-listen
D) tell-and-train
E) listen-and-sell
77) The ________ approach to performance feedback is used by most managers.
A) problem-solving
B) tell-and-sell
C) tell-and-listen
D) tell-and-train
E) listen-and-sell
78) How can managers improve employee satisfaction with the feedback process?
A) by keeping the feedback session short and concentrating on only the positive aspects of
performance
B) by using the tell-and-sell approach during the feedback session
C) by avoiding decisions about following up on goals as these tend to intimidate the employee
D) by letting employees voice their opinions and discuss performance goals during the feedback
process
E) by focusing on the employee’s personality
79) Which manager is using the most effective approach to conducting a performance feedback
session?
A) Bianca focuses on her employees’ personalities, as she helps each one work with her to solve
problems.
B) Pamela tells each employee his or her ratings and then justifies each rating, citing specific
behaviors.
C) Craig goes through the evaluation form, point by point, telling why he provided the
information in each item.
D) Evan works with each employee to solve performance problems respectfully, focusing on
behaviors.
E) Ruby lets the employee voice his or her opinions, and then she replies with her assessment of
the employee’s personality traits.
80) Olivia is giving feedback to an employee who hopes to move into a supervisory role
someday. Which statement represents the most effective kind of feedback?
A) “You don’t seem very motivated lately.”
B) “You need to demonstrate stronger leadership if you want a promotion.”
C) “You are well organized, and your co-workers really like you.”
D) “Last week, when we had a problem, your comments shifted the team from complaining to
problem solving.”
E) “When we have problems, you have a great attitude, and that will help you as a supervisor
someday.”
81) Besides a discussion of the employee’s past behavior, what other topic(s) are most important
to include in a performance feedback meeting?
A) a description of the employee’s personality
B) the supervisor “telling and selling” the ratings
C) opinions about other employees in the organization
D) goal setting and a decision about when to follow up
E) strategic planning and a link to personal goals