82) Ricky is a hardworking, reliable employee in a warehouse. His supervisor notices that this is
the fifth year in a row in which Ricky’s performance appraisal shows that he has met
requirements for every performance standard of his job. Even so, the supervisor has identified
areas for improvement. Which statement gives the most significant reason for seeking
improvement in Ricky’s performance?
A) Ricky has a poor attitude; the supervisor believes that if Ricky improves his performance, his
attitude will improve as well.
B) Ricky has high levels of ability and motivation, which the supervisor wants to put to good
use.
C) There is no reason for Ricky to improve; the supervisor has a policy of always finding
something to criticize.
D) Ricky may seek further career development within the company, which will be aided by
improving his performance.
E) If Ricky does not respond to the supervisor’s suggestions, the supervisor will have to demote
or terminate him.
83) Georgia, a new employee at Dino Co., has demonstrated low productivity for a long period.
Her manager evaluates her performance and finds that she requires more training to improve her
productivity. In the context of improving employees’ performance, Georgia lacks
A) the required motivation.
B) the necessary abilities.
C) accountability.
D) ethical values.
E) integrity.
84) The receptionist at Brunt Inc. is punctual, polite, and always cheerful. The firm’s employees
and customers all love her. However, she has difficulty with the clerical tasks that the firm’s prior
receptionists handled. The receptionist’s supervisor recommends redesigning the receptionist’s
job. That recommendation would be most appropriate in which situation?
A) The employee is low in both ability and motivation to meet standards.
B) The employee has the ability to do better but lacks the necessary motivation.
C) The employee is highly motivated but lacks ability unless she gets training.
D) The employee is highly motivated but lacks ability, and training is not expected to help.
E) The employee is motivated but does not understand the significance of the problem.
85) William, a supervisor, is discussing an employee with Barb, the human resource manager at
his company. The employee’s performance has been falling, and the employee has been absent
on several workdays. William is concerned about this change in behavior. The HR manager
suggests that William encourage the employee to contact the employee assistance program
(EAP) for a referral to a counselor. In which situation would Barb’s advice be most appropriate?
A) The employee no longer has the ability to carry out the tasks required for the job.
B) The employee probably would respond to some praise and encouragement.
C) The employee is unaware of the significance of the performance problem.
D) The employee has the necessary skills but lacks motivation.
E) The employee lacks motivation as well as the necessary knowledge and skills.
86) Derrick, a sales manager at Kappa Corp., finds that Jack, a salesman, lacks motivation to
perform well in his job. In the context of finding solutions to performance problems, what is the
right way to deal with this situation?
A) Derrick must reduce Jack’s pay to punish him.
B) Derrick must warn Jack that he will be demoted if his performance continues to be poor.
C) Derrick must ask Jack to learn from salespeople who perform better than he does.
D) Derrick must counsel Jack to help him understand the factors that are affecting his
motivation.
E) Derrick must ask Jack to take a vacation to think about what is causing his lack of motivation.
87) Rebecca, a supervisor, is meeting with an employee whose performance has deteriorated
since the previous year. The employee used to do the same work well, so Rebecca believes the
problem is not likely to be related to ability. Which response would be most likely to help in this
situation?
A) offering to make coaching available
B) enrolling the employee in a training program
C) directing the employee’s attention to the significance of the problem
D) investigating whether the employee feels she has been treated fairly
E) demoting the employee
88) Virginia considers Howard, her office assistant, to be both highly skilled and highly
motivated. Howard frequently surprises Virginia with his creative problem solving, above and
beyond the basic job requirements. What response should Virginia make to Howard’s
performance?
A) She should not respond to Howard’s behavior because no changes are necessary.
B) She should refer Howard for help with stress management.
C) She should offer Howard feedback that is more detailed in areas needing improvement.
D) She should reward Howard and offer him opportunities for career development.
E) She should investigate whether Howard feels he is being treated fairly.
89) The human resource department of Tull Time is reviewing its performance management
system to make sure it can show fairness if an employee ever complains of discrimination.
Which statement is a problem that must be addressed if Tull Time is to meet that goal?
A) Research shows that female managers give fairer appraisals than male managers.
B) Most appraisal instruments are so objective that supervisors find them inflexible.
C) Employees assume that rating errors are common, though they are rare.
D) Evidence shows that raters tend to give higher ratings to persons of the rater’s own race.
E) Performance management systems often punish people for whistleblowing.
90) According to research evidence, in which situation would an employer most have to guard
against raters giving unfair low performance ratings to black employees?
A) when most of the employees in a work group are male
B) when supervisors have received rater training
C) when the federal government’s Uniform Guidelines do not apply to performance ratings
D) when most of the employees in a work group are white
E) when the performance management system is legally defensible
91) When Thomas Inc. dismissed Jim, his supervisor told him the reason was that he did not
meet performance standards. The supervisor assumed that would prevent Jim from claiming he
had been dismissed unjustly. What is the main flaw in the supervisor’s assumption?
A) People who file lawsuits for unjust dismissal are usually lying.
B) People who sue for unjust dismissal usually claim the real reason for the dismissal differs
from what the employer said.
C) People who file lawsuits for unjust dismissal are irrational.
D) Lawsuits often challenge an organization’s performance management system.
E) The supervisor provided Jim with inadequate coaching.
92) Payton was recently dismissed from her job in a hardware store. She had often been late for
work, and she was so unresponsive to customers’ needs that the store had received several
complaints about her. Furthermore, she frequently complained about policies and procedures. A
week after Payton’s dismissal, the store’s manager learned that Payton intended to sue the
company for wrongful dismissal. She was saying she had complained of management’s
misdeeds, so the company retaliated. How should the human resource department have prepared
the company for this situation?
A) by using a single well-trained rater to evaluate each employee and by having upper-level
managers review those evaluations
B) by dismissing poor performers quickly, rather than raising false hopes with coaching and
training programs
C) by basing the performance management system on measurement of employee traits, not
behaviors
D) by setting up a performance management system that documents employee performance
problems
E) by setting up a performance management system that provides evidence of management’s
misdeeds
93) How can an organization protect itself against discrimination and unjust dismissal lawsuits?
A) The organization should provide a review of all top performance ratings by senior managers.
B) Performance measures should evaluate personal traits.
C) The requirements for job success should be clearly communicated to employees.
D) The organization should use a single rater to rate all the employees.
E) The organization should dismiss poor performers.
94) Jordan, the CEO of Sinc Co., believes in providing employees with a flexible and open
environment to enhance their skills and growth in the company. In the context of performance
management and ethical issues associated with it, which of the following would Jordan most
likely oppose and why?
A) He would oppose calibration meetings because they question the integrity of performance
appraisal information provided by managers.
B) He would oppose 360-degree appraisal because it gathers information from colleagues and
subordinates, which can make the employees self-conscious.
C) He would be against having a legally defensible performance management system because it
focuses on scrutinizing employees who file a case against the company.
D) He would be against electronic monitoring systems because they make the employees feel
like robots and that they are being watched.
E) He would be against top management carrying out performance appraisal of employees
because it may lead to appraisal politics.
95) The management of D&D Group wants to begin electronically monitoring the computer
work of the employees who process claims filed by customers. Eden, the company’s human
resource executive, expects that employees will resist the monitoring, because they will feel
robbed of their human dignity. How could the human resource department best address this
concern?
A) by telling employees the company has reason to believe something is wrong with their
performance
B) by keeping quiet the real purpose of the monitoring
C) by making the data available on the company’s intranet, so employees can compare their daily
results with what others accomplished
D) by applying the data to employee development programs that can help employees advance in
their careers
E) by sending the data to employee assistance programs to help with their mental health
problems
96) Discuss the steps involved in the performance management process.
97) Discuss the various purposes of performance management systems.
98) Distinguish between behavioral observation scales (BOS) and behaviorally anchored rating
scales (BARS).
99) List the advantages and disadvantages of using managers, peers, subordinates, self, and
customers as sources of performance information.
54
Copyright 2020 © McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior
written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Customers. Advantages: Services are often produced and consumed on the spot, so the customer
is often the only person who directly observes the service performance and may be the best
source of performance information. Using customer evaluations of employee performance is
appropriate in two situations. The first is when an employee’s job requires direct service to the
customer or linking the customer to other services within the organization. Second, customer
evaluations are appropriate when the organization is interested in gathering information to
determine what products and services the customer wants. Disadvantages: Customer surveys are
expensive, and as a result, many organizations limit the information gathering to short periods of
once a year.
Difficulty: 3 Hard
Topic: Sources of Performance Information
Learning Objective: 10-05 Describe major sources of performance information in terms of their
advantages and disadvantages.
Bloom’s: Understand
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
100) Describe the types of rating errors that influence performance evaluation, and explain the
ways in which they can be minimized.
55
Copyright 2020 © McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior
written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Besides training raters, a growing number of organizations are bringing data analytics into the
rating process. Analytic software, for example, can find patterns in what employees do, as well
as in the messages they post.
Difficulty: 3 Hard
Topic: Characteristics of Effective Performance Appraisals
Learning Objective: 10-06 Define types of rating errors, and explain how to minimize them.
Bloom’s: Understand
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
101) Briefly describe the five criteria that measure the effectiveness of a performance
management system.
102) Briefly describe a calibration meeting.
103) List three ways a manager can schedule performance feedback.
104) Explain the corrective action that is needed when an employee lacks both ability and
motivation.
105) Identify the measures that a company should take to ensure a legally defensible
performance management system.