362. Which of the following descriptions more appropriately reflects the way that Gen Xers
prefer to communicate at work?
363. A college graduate with a degree in psychology, Diana is in no hurry to find a job. In fact,
she has elected to continue her education until she decides on the type of career she would like
to pursue. Although she really likes some aspects of marketing, social work and social causes
also appeal to her. Having worked part-time in a small business during college, she also thinks
that working in her own business, independent of the control of others, may also be the way to
go. Diana is typical of:
364. Alex, an employee at Green Spaces Irrigation Systems, is pleased that his old supervisor
Wally retired. “Wishy” Wally, as the crew used to call him, seemed like a pretty nice guy, but
seldom let Alex know if installations were adequate until something went wrong. The new
supervisor starts each day with reviewing yesterday’s successes and challenges, and gives
everyone opportunity to voice their concerns. One of the best assets of __________ managers is
their ability to provide timely feedback and to understand that employees want regular
performance reviews.
365. On the long flight back from South Korea, Aaron had plenty of time to reflect upon the
challenges of his business trip that took him to four Asian countries. His goal to sell his
company’s state-of-the-art bicycle pump to several foreign firms certainly could have gone
better. Although the 10 companies he visited didn’t turn him down, only one agreed to place an
order. Representatives from one Indonesian firm and two Chinese firms asked him when he
planned to come again! As Aaron reviewed his memories and notes, he pondered, “Didn’t they
realize the expense of these international trips?” Aaron is experiencing:
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 the 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 me to understand where they’re coming from is
to spend some time alongside 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.
366. According to McGregor, Howie’s views of his employees suggest he is a ____________
manager.
367. Currently, jobs at Idle Time Gaming are broken into small individual steps, and each
employee is assigned to perform a different step in an effort to achieve task efficiency. This
technique is known as job:
368. John Noble speculated that Howie really didn’t know much about his employees,
including the types of rewards that they found meaningful and whether they personally felt that if
they worked hard, they could achieve a reward. Noble’s thoughts referred to:
369. Before ending the meeting, John Noble informed Howie that he would be sending out an
e-mail 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:
370. Describe the contributions of scientific management to improving worker productivity.
What are some of the limitations of this approach?
371. Why did the results of the studies conducted at the Hawthorne plant surprise Elton Mayo
and his fellow researchers? How did these results change the direction of management
research?
372. Describe and compare the basic contributions of Maslow and Herzberg to the
understanding of worker motivation.
373. Compare the assumptions Theory X makes about employees with those of Theory Y. How
do these different assumptions influence management styles?
374. What is the key idea behind goal-setting theory? How does management by objectives
help implement this idea?
375. Explain how managers could motivate employees by using expectancy theory? Create a
story/example of expectancy theory at work, incorporating the three questions that according to
expectancy theory employees will ask.
Expectancy theory states that employees’ expectations about how something will turn out can
affect their motivation. If they expect that their effort will not lead to success, they are less likely
to be motivated to perform a task or achieve a goal that is requested by management.
Victor Vroom says that employees will ask three questions before committing effort toward goal
completion: (1) Can I accomplish the task? (2) If I do accomplish it, what’s my reward? (3) Is the
reward worth the effort?
376. List the three generations in the workplace today, and provide at least two characteristics
of each generation that affect their motivation.
