65) A software engineer believes that if she can complete her current project on time she will get
her much awaited promotion to the ranks of a team leader. However, she doubts her capability of
completing the project on time. Within the context of expectancy theory, what level of
motivation would the engineer have and why?
A) very high, since the level of expectancy and the level of valence are both high
B) moderately high, as high levels of valence and instrumentality offset low expectancy levels
C) moderate, since high levels of expectancy and high levels of valence will be balanced by the
low level of instrumentality
D) low, since the expectancy, instrumentality, and valence of the outcome must all be high for
motivation
66) Expectancy theory asserts that ________ or performance-to-outcome is the probability that a
particular level of performance will lead to particular outcomes or consequences.
A) expectancy belief
B) profitability belief
C) associability belief
D) instrumentality belief
67) According to expectancy theory, valence, outcome, and performance interact in a
multiplicative way to determine ________.
A) the cost of a particular course of action
B) the projected results of a particular task
C) the anticipated value of a particular outcome
D) the amount of effort a person will expend on a particular task
68) ________ is a process theory that, in part, describes how to increase an individual’s sense of
self-efficacy, thus increasing motivation.
A) Equity theory
B) Vroom’s expectancy theory
C) Social cognitive theory
D) Herzberg’s two-factor theory
69) ________ is the extent to which a person believes he or she can accomplish a given task in a
specific situation.
A) Self-indulgence
B) Self-esteem
C) Self-image
D) Self-efficacy
70) Self-efficacy is roughly the equivalent of ________ expectancy in the expectancy theory.
A) effort-to-performance
B) performance-to-valence
C) performance-to-outcome
D) effort-to-outcome
71) From an expectancy theory perspective, a manager who wanted to boost motivation levels
would be least likely to ________.
A) identify rewards that are valued
B) limit praise to encourage hard work
C) dispense rewards directly following particular levels of performance
D) strengthen employees’ beliefs that their efforts will lead to valued rewards
72) Albert Bandura’s social cognitive theory defines ________ as succeeding on a similar prior
task and attributing that success to one’s own capabilities rather than to luck or circumstances.
A) enactive mastery experience
B) psychological arousal
C) vicarious learning
D) verbal persuasion
73) Albert Bandura’s social cognitive theory defines ________ as gaining knowledge by
observing how others perform a task and then modeling one’s own behavior in a similar manner.
A) enactive mastery experience
B) vicarious learning
C) verbal persuasion
D) psychological arousal
74) Albert Bandura’s social cognitive theory defines verbal persuasion as ________.
A) potential energizing forces that can increase self-efficacy beliefs if the focus is directed to the
task
B) gaining knowledge by observing how others perform a task and then modeling one’s own
behavior in a similar manner
C) statements from others that convince a person that he or she can successfully perform the task
D) succeeding on a similar prior task and attributing that success to one’s own capabilities rather
than to luck or circumstances
75) Albert Bandura’s social cognitive theory defines physiological and psychological arousal as
________.
A) gaining knowledge by observing how others perform a task and then modeling one’s own
behavior in a similar manner
B) statements from others that convince a person that he or she can successfully perform the task
C) succeeding on a similar prior task and attributing that success to one’s own capabilities rather
than to luck or circumstances
D) potential energizing forces that can increase self-efficacy beliefs if the focus is directed to the
task
76) ________ is a theory that emphasizes the role of conscious aim and intentions in directing
human actions.
A) Goal-setting theory
B) Expectancy theory
C) Equity theory
D) Social cognitive theory
77) A call center manager hopes to improve the performance of her staff by decreasing the
average time spent on a call. First, she sets up a performance board where the average length of a
call for the previous week is posted and compared to the average call length for the preceding
four weeks. Then, she encourages the staff to reduce the average. According to goal-setting
theory, how could she improve this scheme?
A) She should make the goal easier.
B) She should make the goal more specific.
C) She should make the goal more general.
D) She should make the goal incomprehensible.
78) Goal-setting research suggests that people will exert higher levels of effort when goals are
________.
A) easy and general
B) challenging and specific
C) very difficult to attain and specific
D) moderately easy to attain and general
79) ________ is a desirable consequence that, by occurring or being supplied following a
behavior, increases the likelihood of that behavior being repeated in the future.
A) Positive reinforcement
B) Omission training
C) Negative reinforcement
D) Extinction
80) Shortly after Christmas, a catalog company is besieged by complaints of poor service, so a
task force designs an incentive plan to motivate associates to fill orders more quickly and more
accurately. For the proposed incentive plan to be successful, which of the following positive
reinforcement strategies should be used?
A) The rewards should be visible only to the associates who receive it.
B) The size of rewards should be roughly related to the quality of past job-related performance.
C) The catalog company should talk about or offer rewards that are not readily available.
D) The possibility of obtaining rewards should be limited to only a small percentage of
associates.
81) Walter works in the cutting department of a shoe manufacturing company. The workers in
the department are required to cut out the skin of leather into pieces of various shapes using
metal strip knives. This operation requires a high level of skill so as to avoid wastage of leather.
Walter’s working standards have reduced since the last 2 months. His supervisor approaches him
to discuss his substandard performance. To avoid this confrontation again, Walter tries to
achieve the required standards. Which of the following is most similar to the given scenario?
A) Robin, an employee at Blueberry Interiors, stops making uninvited suggestions as he realizes
that they are constantly being ignored.
B) Following poor grades in his school exams, Frank’s teacher requests a meeting with his
parents. This causes Frank to work harder for better grades.
C) Gary, an employee at a denim manufacturing company, receives a bonus for achieving the
monthly production quota. This motivates him to try and increase his productivity even further.
D) Roger feels highly motivated following an interview with his manager, who praised his
project report.
82) Which of the following will increase the probability that people will repeat a behavior?
A) extinction and punishments
B) extinction and positive reinforcements
C) positive reinforcements and punishments
D) positive and negative reinforcements
83) A sales representative is informed by his supervisor that if he exceeds his sales for the last
quarter by 20 percent then some of his more difficult clients will be transferred to another sales
representative. The supervisor strongly believes that the transfer will help him achieve past sales
targets in the subsequent years. This is an example of ________.
A) extinction
B) punishment
C) negative reinforcement
D) positive reinforcement
84) Jessica, a team leader at Hifenac Corp., has portrayed her managerial skills by successfully
motivating each of her team members to perform exceedingly well. The exceptional performance
of her team prompts the management to increase her team size and assign her new projects.
Soon, however, management observes that this additional responsibility adversely affects
Jessica’s performance and the productivity of the new team is not as impressive. Which of the
following is most similar to the scenario discussed above?
A) Laura convinces her management to hire more people for her team so that they can reduce
their project turnaround time.
B) Workers at a brewery are subjected to loss of pay for uninformed absence. This eventually
reduces absenteeism and improves production.
C) A sales manager with a good past sales record is assigned a larger sales territory. However, he
fails to deliver as expected.
D) Declining productivity at one of its plants caused the Sigma Group to hire Dan Wilkinson as
the new production manager on account of his excellent performance record. Dan is, however,
unable to improve the plant’s performance.
85) A production supervisor receives a bonus for each day a project is completed ahead of
schedule. This is an example of ________.
A) extinction
B) negative reinforcement
C) positive reinforcement
D) omission training
86) When a manager uses ________ to lessen the likelihood of a behavior being repeated, he or
she avoids providing any positive consequences as a result of that behavior.
A) extinction
B) reversibility
C) enactive mastery
D) negative reinforcement
87) A shift manager at a fast-food restaurant is using ________ when she fines a habitually tardy
crew member the equivalent of one hour’s pay each day he is late for work.
A) extinction
B) punishment
C) negative reinforcement
D) employment psychology
88) The manager of a steel manufacturing company is using ________ when he stops raising
output quotas each time workers exceed them.
A) positive reinforcement
B) extinction
C) negative reinforcement
D) omission training
89) David stops making unsolicited suggestions when his team leader no longer mentions them
in group meetings. David’s behavior is most likely due to ________.
A) extinction
B) positive reinforcement
C) punishment
D) negative reinforcement
90) Which of the following is a step in a program that systematically applies the principles of
reinforcement theory to motivate employees?
A) measure desired behaviors and evaluate the effectiveness of the program
B) describe desired performance in broad, general terms
C) limit the possibility of obtaining rewards only to a small percentage of employees
D) avoid providing frequent positive consequences for specified desired behaviors
91) The direction of a group’s influence on the motivation of an individual in that group will
likely depend on ________ of the group.
A) the norms
B) the cohesion
C) the mission
D) the valence
92) From a manager’s perspective, in-group influence ________ when the in-group’s norms
oppose organizational norms.
A) decreases motivation
B) increases motivation
C) neutralizes motivation
D) eliminates motivation
93) Scholarly research has defined ________ as the degree of general importance that working
has in the life of an individual at a point in time.
A) expectancy
B) self-efficacy
C) work centrality
D) positive reinforcement
94) What are “push” forces of motivation? What are “pull” forces?
95) Identify the three basic categories of variables that determine motivation in the work setting.
96) Explain Maslow’s need hierarchy.
97) Discuss Alderfer’s ERG theory.
98) Within the context of the two-factor theory, what are “motivators” and “hygiene factors”?
99) List the three components emphasized in Hackman and Oldham’s job characteristics model.
100) What is equity theory?
101) How can managers use expectancy theory to influence the motivation of employees?
102) What is the difference between positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement?
103) List the steps involved in the programs instituted by organizations to apply the principles of
reinforcement theory.
104) What influence does the situational context have on behavior?
105) Within the context of McClelland’s acquired needs theory, even though Coyle and Sandoz
vary widely in their motivational tactics, is it possible that both supervisors could possess the
same predominant need?
106) What are the implications of Herzberg’s two-factor theory in this scenario?
107) Describe Marx’s attitude toward job enrichment.
108) Discuss the co-supervisory role of Sandoz and Coyle within the context of the “core job
characteristics” of the job characteristics model.
109) According to equity theory, how might the line workers at Marx Inc. benefit overall?
110) Refer to the scenario above. If workers on both lines receive a bonus upon reaching a
specified level of productivity, what reinforcement approach is being utilized?
111) Discuss the potential impact on employee motivation of Coyle and Sandoz accepting co-
supervisory duties of the assembly line.