PSYC 7610 Midterm
Due October 20, 2014 at 5pm
1. Dangers of a poorly implemented performance management system include all of the
following except: (1 point)
a. Increased emphasis on behaviors rather than results
b. Lawsuits/internal complains of discrimination
c. Biased performance ratings
d. Decreased employee motivation
2. Performance management system information is important for the effective
implementation of which of the following HR functions? (1 point)
a. Workforce planning
b. Training
c. Recruitment and selection
d. All of the above
3. In what situation should supervisors not be used as a source of work analytic
information? (1 point)
a. Incumbent sources aren’t possible
b. The organization won’t accept the results without supervisory input
c. The supervisor has little opportunity to observe incumbents
d. Information about incumbent KSAOs is needed
4. According to Dierdorff and Morgeson (2009), which of the following ratings will likely
have the most rater-specific variance? (1 point)
a. Ratings of the importance of conscientiousness for successful performance for a
retail sales manager
b. Ratings of the frequency of responding to customer inquiries and complaints for a
fast food employee
c. Ratings of the frequency of responding to customer inquiries and complaints for a
retail sales manager
d. Ratings of the importance of emotional intelligence for successful
performance for a fast food employee
5. Self-ratings of performance are important because they do all of the following except (1
point):
a. Emphasize discrepancies between the employee’s and supervisor’s views of
performance
b. Reduce employee defensiveness during an appraisal meeting
c. Decrease employee satisfaction with the performance management system
d. Increase employee ownership and commitment
6. Which of the following statements is true? (1 point)
I.
Employees are primarily responsible for finding resources for development plans in
the performance execution state.
II.
Both employees and supervisors should rate performance in the performance
assessment phase.
III. Any discrepancy between employee and supervisor ratings is unacceptable.
IV. Many sources can be utilized for data regarding performance.
A. All of the statements are correct.
B. I, II, and IV only are correct.
C. II and IV only are correct.
D. None of the statements are correct.
7. Which of the following are primarily the responsibilities of the supervisor in terms of
performance execution? (1 point)
a. Regular performance feedback and coaching
b. Observation and documentation
c. Reinforcement
d. All of the above
e. B and C only
8. The __________ approach to measuring performance emphasizes cognitive abilities and
personality. (1 point)
A. trait
B. results
C. behavior
D. objective
9. The behavior approach emphasizes ______________ rather than _____________. (1
point)
A. what employees do; employee traits or results
B. employee traits; results
C. results; employee traits
D. None of these are correct
10. Identify and describe three advantages of a good performance management system.
(3 points)
A good performance management system increases motivation to perform (feedback-lets
you know how you’re doing), increases self-esteem (employee feels valued and
recognized – a part of the company), and defines the job and performance criterion
(employees understand what they should be doing and how performance is classified).
11. Identify and explain two reasons why an accurate work analysis is needed to
develop an effective performance management system. (2 points)
A work analysis identifies what kinds of performance needs to be measured in addition to
identifying behaviors and results associated with performance. A performance
management system based on well-conducted work analysis are more likely to be
accepted by employees because it’s clearly job-relevant.
12. In the work analysis literature, there is a clear divide between those who argue that
there is no objective reality in work analysis, and those who argue that there is an
objective reality. Briefly summarize each argument. Then, in 2-3 sentences explain
which viewpoint you think is correct, and justify this viewpoint using information
about work analysis and/or job performance that we’ve covered in class. (5 points)
There are two viewpoints that discuss the accuracy of a work analysis. The first argues
that there is no objective standard for work analysis information so therefore the
consequential validity of work analysis should be the focus, which is largely proposed by
Sanchez and Levine (2000). One of the main points of the first theory is that due to idea
behind true score for a work analysis, it does not hold up and thus its difficult to find any
objective criterion. The second argues there is an objective standard for work analysis
information, which is largely proposed by Harvey and Wilson (2000). This theory does
support the need to focus on consequential validity of work analysis and that there has to
be objective reality to work analysis due to people engaging in observable verifiable
activities in the work place. Based on both of these theories I would agree with Harvey
and Wilson (2000) that work analysis does have an objective reality. I would also agree
with the authors that there is much work to be done on work analysis for this to be
achieved fully, such as making improvements to methodological gaps in work analysis
research. By doing so, this could reduce the instances of practitioners misusing work
analysis data and therefore making flawed inferences based on the data. I would also
agree that just because there is within job disagreement this does not always mean it is
due to error, rather that there could be serious differences in the way that employees
complete their job.
13. Identify and explain 3 potential sources of inaccuracy in work analysis, based on
Morgeson and Campion’s (1997) framework. (3 points)
There are two sources of inaccuracy in work analysis: social sources and cognitive
sources. Social sources include conformity (going along with the group), extremity shifts
(opinions usually become more extreme after discussion than originally), and motivation
loss (sources don’t feel like helping – social loafing or WA is not seen as meaningful.
Cognitive sources include information overload, use of heuristics (can be inaccurate), and
categorization (tendency to categorize information and judgments made based off them).
14. What are generalized work activities (GWAs)? How do they differ from tasks?
Using O*NET, list 1 GWA and 1 task for the occupation “Industrial-Organizational
Psychologist.” (3 points)
GWAs are generalized work activities, which are activities that are common across many
industries and occupations, and more specifically are very general categories of work
activities. Whereas tasks are specific tasks performed by members of an occupation, there
are occupation specific which means they are not designed to apply to a large number of
occupations. A task for an I/O Psychologist would include providing expert testimony in
employment lawsuits. A GWA for an I/O Psychologist would include judgment and
decision-making.
15. Identify and describe the 3 elements of performance planning. (3 points)
There are three elements of performance planning: Results, Behaviors, and Development
plan. Results are what outcomes the employee is responsible for which includes the main
areas in which an employee is expected to perform (i.e. car salesman – sell automobiles
to customers). Behaviors are what a person does on the job, such as networking with
potential customers. Development plan usually includes both results and behaviors. Both
supervisors and employees should agree on the areas that need improvement and what
goals should be reached. For example, for a car salesman, a results goal would include
selling a certain number of cars to clients, and a behavior goal would include behaviors
such a networking to assist in meeting the results.
16. Identify and describe 3 purposes of strategic planning. (3 points)
1. Helps organization define who they are and what their purpose is. More specifically
what their focus is, for example environmental safety or providing sustainable products to
consumers.
2. Helps organizations plan for the future, and forces them to decide which direction the
want to go. Specifically, what the company wants to accomplish in a certain amount of
time, for example become a fortune 500 Company by 2017 or reduce gas emissions by
20% by 2017.
3. Requires organizations to analyze their environment, which also alerts them to
potential problems and changes ahead. For example, changes in economic market such as
labor costs or demand for product/service (i.e. whether or not demand will sustain or if
demand is limited – trendy).
17. For an organization that you have worked for, briefly evaluate 3 components of its
external environment, and 3 components of its internal environment. Based on this
analysis, does this organization have leverage, a constraint, a vulnerability, or a
problem? Explain your decision. (8 points) lecture 6
Mental health profession
External
-Social aspect – increased acceptability of mental illness and treatment of such.
-Technological – increase of telemedicine use could increase the number of
facilities worked at and patients seen.
-Customers – increase of social acceptability, increase of people seeking
treatment
Internal
-Politics – no rivalries/divisions
-Size – growing rapidly – causing operations to not run as efficiently
-Processes – could be more efficient
Based off the strength in the opportunity aspect but lacking in the organizational feature
makes this situation a constraint. Need for more employees, but organizational features
view processes are more efficient that they really are.
18. According to Campbell et al. (1993), what are the 3 determinants of job
performance? If one of these determinants is missing, what happens to job
performance? (2 points)
There are three antecedents of performance: declarative knowledge, procedural
knowledge, and motivation. Performance equals declarative knowledge times procedural
knowledge times motivation. Based on this equation if any component is lacking
(therefore = 0) the other components will also equal zero and performance will suffer.
19. What is criterion deficiency? What is criterion contamination? Give one example
of each. Examples pulled from the slides or the text will not receive any credit. (4
points)
Criterion deficiency is when a measure is missing something important, or when the
ultimate criterion and actual criterion do not match. An example of criterion deficiency
would be a measure of conscientiousness, but failing to include self-efficacy as one of the
variables. Criterion contamination is when something is included in the measurement that
is irrelevant. An example of criterion contamination would be a measure of
conscientiousness but including eye color as one of the predictors.
20. What is organizational citizenship behavior? How does it differ from task
performance? Using Borman et al.’s (2001) classification of OCBs, list and classify
3 OCBs. Examples pulled from the slides or the text will not receive any credit. (5
points)
OCB is behavior that goes beyond what is expected and also known as non-task
performance. There are 3 types of OCB: personal support, organizational support, and
conscientious initiative. Personal support includes helping others in the organization,
such as assisting a co-worker purchase and/or set up supplies for an important meeting.
Organizational support includes supporting and standing behind the organization (i.e.
loyalty) such as if the organization is forced to make cut backs supporting the
organization for doing so. Conscientious initiative includes putting in extra effort as
needed, such as contributing in any way you can to help ensure an organizational goal is
accomplished such as using personal time or resources to do so (i.e. hosting a dinner
party to help gain an important client). Task performance is classified by activities that
help transform materials into goods and services that are produced by the organization.