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Chapter 9 - The Workplace (Today's Challenges)
1. Privacy
a.
is an absolute value so corporate interests cannot be considered when it comes to employee privacy.
b.
must be respected if we are to function as complete, self-governing agents.
c.
is something that employees today care less about because of personal sharing on the internet.
d.
is guaranteed by Article 3, section 3, of the Constitution.
2. The right to privacy of employees
a.
takes priority over other moral considerations.
b.
is clearly and unambiguously spelled out by the law.
c.
may conflict with an organization's legitimate interests.
d.
has to be given up in an era of global competition.
3. When it comes to obtaining information about employees, a key concept is
a.
informed consent.
b.
paternalism.
c.
economic efficiency.
d.
positive externalities.
4. Drug testing is mostly an issue for businesses with regards to
a.
informed consent
b.
employee performance
c.
job relevance
d.
all of these aspects are a concern
5. The one key questionable premise underlying personality tests is
a.
they sometimes screen out potentially creative or individualistic employees.
b.
they presuppose that all employees can be validly placed in a small number of categories.
c.
they can help determine job applicants' areas of adequacy and inadequacy.
d.
that all individuals can usefully and validly be categorized on the basis of a relatively small number of
personality characteristics.
6. Polygraph tests
a.
are extraordinarily accurate.
b.
cannot be beaten when properly administered.
c.
can produce false positives.
d.
are reliable because lying always triggers an involuntary response that truth telling does not.
7. The Hawthorne effect shows
a.
the importance of quality control circles.
b.
that middle managers are affected by the satisfaction and dissatisfaction of the workers they supervise.
c.
attention and recognition can enhance worker productivity and motivation.
d.
trade-offs have to be made between productivity and quality of work life.
8. According the chapter, company monitoring of employees often gathers personal information without
a.
informed consent from employees.
b.
notifying employees.
c.
violating privacy rights of employees.
d.
using signs but only for designated purposes.
9. Used properly, personality tests serve two purposes in the work place. Which of the following is one of those purposes?
a.
personality tests help screen applicants for jobs by indicating areas of adequacy and inadequacy.
b.
personality tests help to determine whether an applicant is a drug user.
c.
personality tests help determine how little the business has to pay an applicant if hired.
d.
personality tests allow the business to usefully place applicants into a relatively small number of categories in
terms of personality types and character traits.
10. Which statement has the proper perspective about the testing of employees by a business?
a.
Due process need not always be followed by a business implementing a testing program for its employees if a
legitimate interest is the justification for the testing.
b.
The government has always opposed testing Federal employees for illicit drugs but has continuously supported
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Chapter 9 - The Workplace (Today's Challenges)
polygraph testing of its employees.
c.
Drug testing can only be defensible when there is a legitimate interest at stake and that the steps the business is
taking to protect that interest are reasonable and morally permissible.
d.
Informed consent need not be observed by a business implementing a testing program for its employees if
proper notification has been given.
11. Douglas McGregor rejects Theory X, which holds that
a.
when explained properly, everyone will favor drug-testing programs.
b.
workers essentially dislike work and will do everything they can to avoid it.
c.
workers basically like work and view it as something natural and potentially enjoyable.
d.
sexual harassment is a form of discrimination.
12. An early 1970s government study ("Work in America") identified three chief sources of worker dissatisfaction. Which
of the following is one of those sources?
a.
industry's preoccupation with quality, not quantity
b.
the rigidity of rules and regulations
c.
the relatively small size of most U.S. corporations
d.
mandatory drug testing programs used by many U.S. corporations
13. A fact about job satisfaction is
a.
longevity does not correlate with job satisfaction.
b.
the U.S. leads the world in the provision of childcare.
c.
a lack of job satisfaction can create mental health problems.
d.
worker participation and improved QWL always boost productivity.
14. Out of these four, which one is the only correct statement concerning OSHA?
a.
Critics call OSHA a "toothless tiger".
b.
OSHA regulates the shifts people work.
c.
OSHA says few accidents are caused by sleep deprivation and fatigue.
d.
OSHA states the key to worker safety is improved engineering.
15. The most accurate statement about workplace safety is:
a.
workers are often unaware of the hazards they face on the job
b.
employees, not their employers, are responsible for creating a safe workplace
c.
in an average year, 150 workers are killed on the job
d.
according to experts, industrial accidents "just happen"
16. “Corporate in fighting,’’ “management power struggles,’’ “maneuvering and politics and power grabbing’’ and
“Machiavellian intrigues’’ are all phrases, H. Ross Perot,
uses to describe
a.
the reality of family life today.
b.
the reality of corporate life today.
c.
the reality of the lunch room.
d.
the reality of the drive into work.
17. OSHA statistics indicate that on the job, 32 people each day are
a.
killed.
b.
laid off.
c.
maimed.
d.
fall asleep.
18. The proper approach to promote safety is found in the “hidden culture” which is
a.
a culture in which employees are hard to find.
b.
a culture that is proactively oriented toward safety.
c.
a culture that hides injuries.
d.
a culture that does not talk openly about safety.
19. The most common reason that people leave their jobs is
a.
low wages.
b.
too much overtime.
c.
a poor relationship with their immediate supervisor.
d.
lousy benefits.
20. One of the three chief sources for dissatisfaction in the workplace is
a.
lack of opportunities to be promoted faster.
b.
lack of opportunities to have a company vehicle.
c.
lack of opportunities to have one’s own office.
d.
lack of opportunities to be one’s own boss.
21. When employees at all occupational levels are asked to rank what is important
to them, the order that put them in is:
a.
good pay; enough authority to carry out the work; sufficient help, support, and information;and interesting
work
to accomplish the job
b.
interesting work; sufficient help, support, and information to accomplish the job; enough authority to carry out
the work; and good pay
c.
sufficient help, support, and information to accomplish the job; interesting work; enough authority to carry out
the work,and good pay
d.
enough authority to carry out the work; good pay; interesting work; and sufficient help, support, and
information
to accomplish the job
22. Which of the following is an true statement about the information gained from polygraph tests?
a.
The information the organization seeks does not have to be related to the job.
b.
The organization has used the polygraph as the easiest way to gather the information it wants.
c.
Test results can be made known to any or all.
d.
Not only should the organization have job-related grounds for using the polygraph, but these must be
compelling enough to justify violating the individual’s privacy and psychic freedom.
23. Many major employers routinely monitor the performance of their employees
through the computers and telephones they use. The one check that they can do is
a.
check the number of keystrokes that word processors enter during the day.
b.
eavesdropping on e-mail.
c.
eavesdropping on fax transmissions.
d.
eavesdropping on cell phone conversations.
24. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed
that postal workers who tested positive for drug use in a pre-employment urine
test were at least 50 percent more likely to be
a.
promoted.
b.
transferred.
c.
honored for community service.
d.
fired, injured, disciplined, or
absent than those who tested negative.
25. The United States has more of what per employee than any other industrial
nation?
a.
timeclocks
b.
work injuries
c.
sprains and strains
d.
managers
26. As a general rule, the burden is on an organization to establish the legitimacy of infringing on what would normally be
considered the personal sphere of the individual.
a.
True
b.
False
27. There is a general consensus among philosophers and lawyers about how to define the right to privacy.
a.
True
b.
False
28. Informed consent implies deliberation and free choice.
a.
True
b.
False
29. The Employee Polygraph Protection Act permits most private employers to use lie detectors in "pre-employment
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Chapter 9 - The Workplace (Today's Challenges)
testing."
a.
True
b.
False
30. One problem that OSHA will have to address in the future is the increasing number of musculoskeletal disorders.
a.
True
b.
False
31. Increased productivity by changing the color of the surrounding working environment is known as the "Hawthorne
effect."
a.
True
b.
False
32. Notification of employee monitoring constitutes consent on the part of the employee to be monitored.
a.
True
b.
False
33. Privacy is widely acknowledged today to be a fundamental right.
a.
True
b.
False
34. The general proposition that a firm has a legitimate interest only in employee behavior that significantly influences
work performance applies equally to off-the-job conduct.
a.
True
b.
False
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Chapter 9 - The Workplace (Today's Challenges)
35. Businesses often claim polygraphs are a fast and economical way to verify the information provided by a job
applicant.
a.
True
b.
False
36. If a polygraph test is 95 percent accurate, there are unlikely to be any "false positives."
a.
True
b.
False
37. When used properly, personality tests can help screen applicants for jobs by indicating areas of adequacy and
inadequacy.
a.
True
b.
False
38. Any drug-testing program, assuming it is warranted, must be careful to respect the dignity and rights of the persons to
be tested.
a.
True
b.
False
39. According to published statistics, each year in the United States nearly 100,000 workers are killed on the job.
a.
True
b.
False
40. Employees have a legal right to refuse to work when it exposes them to imminent danger.
a.
True
b.
False
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Chapter 9 - The Workplace (Today's Challenges)
41. Fatigue and stress is less of a health problem than it used to be.
a.
True
b.
False
42. An early 1970s government survey of worker dissatisfaction identified the lack of opportunities to be one's own boss
as one of the three chief sources of worker dissatisfaction.
a.
True
b.
False
43. One study suggests a positive correlation between job satisfaction and longevity.
a.
True
b.
False
44. The key purpose of quality of work life (QWL) programs is to involve workers more fully in the production process
by seeking their ideas.
a.
True
b.
False
45. In 1928, U.S. Supreme Court Judge Louis D. Brandeis described the right to privacy, or "the right to be left alone," as
"the right most valued by men."
a.
True
b.
False
46. No set of assumptions about human nature is absolutely correct or incorrect, nor is there one perfectly right way to
manage.
a.
True
b.
False
47. The breaking up of jobs into smaller and smaller units, with each worker performing fewer tasks but repeating them
thousands of times a day, has contributed to health problems in manufacturing.
a.
True
b.
False
48. OSHA requires safeguards whether or not they are "feasible."
a.
True
b.
False
49. Parental leave and flexible work arrangements always hurt the bottom line, however much they may benefit parents.
a.
True
b.
False
50. Granting workers new responsibilities and respect can benefit the entire
organization.
a.
True
b.
False
51. Informed consent requires that two criteria be met. What are these criteria? Briefly describe each of the criteria.
52. Give an example of legitimate, and an example of illegitimate, organizational influence over the individual.
53. Suppose that a company has 1,000 workers, 20 of whom are thieves. Suppose, too, that a polygraph test is 95 percent
accurate. If the company subjects all its employees to a polygraph test, how many thieves will be identified? How many
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Chapter 9 - The Workplace (Today's Challenges)
innocent employees will be falsely identified as thieves?
54. Explain one of the criticisms of personality tests in the workplace.
55. Different management theories rest on different theories of human nature. Which is the correct theory of human
nature?
56. Should one's personal sexual conduct be taken into consideration for any professional job? If no, why not? If so, what
job and why?
57. The text states that in the 1970s, "the government conducted a study of work in America ... [and] identified three chief
sources of worker dissatisfaction." What are these three sources of worker dissatisfaction?
58. What is the Hawthorne Effect?
59. What moral considerations argue for companies' providing childcare and dealing flexibly with employees' family
needs? How can doing so also be cost-effective in the narrow sense?
60. Do workplace accidents "just happen"?
61. Explain how the findings of the Hawthorne experiment could be applied to your workplace.
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Chapter 9 - The Workplace (Today's Challenges)
62. Should the activities of a teacher outside of the classroom and school be scrutinized? Should a teacher be terminated
for actions outside of the workplace? Present your views.
63. “Safety in the workplace is good business.” Justify this statement with information from this chapter.
64. “The cost of employing women in management is greater than the cost of employing men.” List reasonings on both
sides of this issue to defend both sides.
65. An employee comes and challenges you as to why drug testing is necessary at your workplace. How would you
answer him?
