Chapter 05 - Motivation: Background and Theories, Organizations
Chapter 05
Motivation: Background and Theories, Organizations
True / False Questions
1. (p. 128) Baby Boomers are characterized by their lack of willingness to "go the extra mile" to
get the job done.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Baby Boomers are characterized by their optimism, teamwork and willingness to "go the extra mile" to get the job done.
2. (p. 128) The on-the-job characteristics of Baby Boomers make them a perfect match for Gen
Xers.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: More cynical than any other generation, the "it's only a job" attitude of Gen Xers places them in direct conflict with Baby
Boomers.
3. (p. 129) Figuring out why some employees perform better than others is a continual problem
facing managers.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
4. (p. 129) Motivation is difficult to define and to analyze.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
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Chapter 05 - Motivation: Background and Theories, Organizations
5. (p. 129) Almost all aspects of human motivation have been explained.
FALSE
Difficulty: Easy
Rationale: Many aspects of human motivation are still unexplained.
6. (p. 130) Regardless of their nationality or cultural background, people are driven to fulfill
needs and to achieve goals.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
7. (p. 130) Japanese employees are likely to be highly motivated by monetary incentives.
FALSE
Difficulty: Easy
Rationale: Japanese tend to prefer to be awarded with plaques, applause and attention; Japanese employees are likely to be insulted by
material incentives.
8. (p. 132) Needs are energizers or triggers of behavioral responses.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
9. (p. 133) To predict behavior with any accuracy, a manager must know something about an
employee's goals and the actions that he/she must take to achieve them.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
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Chapter 05 - Motivation: Background and Theories, Organizations
10. (p. 134) A person's need deficiencies often repeat themselves in a regular pattern.
FALSE
Difficulty: Easy
Rationale: People change because of experiences, life events, aging, cultural and environmental changes and other factors. Therefore, it is
unlikely that a person's need deficiencies will repeat themselves in a regular pattern.
11. (p. 134) According to Maslow, a satisfied need continues to motivate, but at a lower level.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: According to Maslow, a satisfied need ceases to motivate.
12. (p. 134) Needs, work style and work ethics may differ across cultures.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
13. (p. 134) Americans are more job oriented than there are company oriented.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
14. (p. 134) In China, a monetary bonus for outstanding performance could cause an employee
humiliation.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
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Chapter 05 - Motivation: Background and Theories, Organizations
15. (p. 135) American managers working overseas are less satisfied with autonomy opportunities
than are their counterparts working in the United States.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: American managers working overseas are more satisfied with autonomy opportunities than are their counterparts working in the
United States.
16. (p. 135) Maslow proposed that needs on the next higher level aren't activated until the
currently important needs are adequately satisfied.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
17. (p. 136) If a subordinate's higher-order needs are being blocked, then it's in the manager's
best interest to redirect the subordinate's efforts toward relatedness or existence needs.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
18. (p. 136) Need explanations are popular because they're so easy to remember.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Need explanations are popular because they're simple, easily expressed views of human behavior.
19. (p. 137) Intrinsic conditions include pay, status and working conditions.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Pay, status and working conditions are extrinsic conditions.
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Chapter 05 - Motivation: Background and Theories, Organizations
20. (p. 137) Extrinsic conditions are called the dissatisfiers or hygiene factors.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
21. (p. 139) David McClelland proposed that most needs are acquired from the educational
system.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: David McClelland proposed that many needs are acquired from the culture of a society.
22. (p. 139) When taking a Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), people tend to write stories that
reflect their dominant needs.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
23. (p. 140) High nAch persons prefer easy performance goals and immediate feedback.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: High nAch persons avoid easy and difficult performance goals; they prefer moderate goals that they think they can achieve.
24. (p. 140) Need for achievement correlates highly with the need to attain status or wealth.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
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Chapter 05 - Motivation: Background and Theories, Organizations
25. (p. 141) There are no gender differences regarding competitiveness and money beliefs.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Studies have found that gender differences exist regarding competitiveness and money beliefs; men are inclined to be more
competitive and tend to focus their ambitions toward making money.
26. (p. 142) According to McClelland, a manager should arrange job tasks so that employees
with a high nAch receive periodic feedback on performance.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
27. (p. 142) Individuals have both innate and learned needs, so job factors result in varying
degrees of satisfaction.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
28. (p. 142) High n Ach individuals who focus on attaining success differ from high n Ach
individuals who focus on avoiding failure.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
29. (p. 142-143) A woman's natural tendencies make her better suited to motivated employees
than are most men.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
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Chapter 05 - Motivation: Background and Theories, Organizations
30. (p. 144) Process explanations of motivation suggest that motivation varies from situation to
situation.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
31. (p. 144) Herzerg's two-factor theory assumes that every worker has different needs and
preferences.
FALSE
Difficulty: Hard
Rationale: Herzerg's two-factor theory assumes that every worker has similar needs and preferences.
32. (p. 145) Second-level outcomes that result from behavior are associated with doing the job
itself.
FALSE
Difficulty: Easy
Rationale: First-level outcomes that result from behavior are associated with doing the job itself.
33. (p. 146) The valence concept applies only to first-level outcomes.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: The valence concept applies to both first- and second-level outcomes.
34. (p. 146) The intent of expectancy theory is to assess the magnitude and direction of all the
forces acting on the individual.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
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Chapter 05 - Motivation: Background and Theories, Organizations
35. (p. 146) The term ability refers to a person's physical and mental ability to do a job, as well
as what the person will actually do.
FALSE
Difficulty: Easy
Rationale: Ability refers to a person's ability to do a job, not what the person will actually do.
36. (p. 147) If expectancy is low, there will be little motivation.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
37. (p. 148) Managers who know what subordinates prefer can offer more highly valued
outcomes.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
38. (p. 148) Motivation programs should be designed with rigidity in order to provide
consistency, regardless of individual preferences.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Motivation programs should be designed with enough flexibility to address differences in individual preferences.
39. (p. 149) Expectancy theory assumes that employees allocate their behavior according to
anticipated consequences of actions.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
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Chapter 05 - Motivation: Background and Theories, Organizations
40. (p. 149) The expectancy approach contains an implicit assumption that all motivation is
subconscious.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: The expectancy approach contains an implicit assumption that all motivation is conscious.
41. (p. 150) According to Equity theory, individual characteristics such as skills, experience and
age are considered inputs.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
42. (p. 150) Equity exists when employees perceive that the ratios of their inputs (efforts) to their
outcomes (rewards) are equivalent to the ratios of similar employees.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
43. (p. 151) Expectancy theory views behavior as the product of what employees know has
happened in the past.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Expectancy theory views behavior as the product of what employees believe will happen in the future.
44. (p. 152) Distributive justice is the perception of fairness of the processes and procedures used
to distribute rewards and resources.
FALSE
Difficulty: Hard
Rationale: This is procedural justice; distributive justice is the perception of fairness of the rewards and resources in an organization.
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Chapter 05 - Motivation: Background and Theories, Organizations
45. (p. 152) The reaction to an inequity will be proportional to the magnitude of the inequity
experienced.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
46. (p. 152) Employees are often told by the organization that they are overpaid, if they fact they
are.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Employees are seldom told that they are overpaid.
47. (p. 152) Perceived overpayment inequity is more likely to occur when friends are involved.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
48. (p. 152) An individual often receives signals from the organization that he/she is being
treated unfairly.
FALSE
Difficulty: Easy
Rationale: An individual is unlikely to receive signals from the organization that he/she is being treated unfairly.
49. (p. 153) Any management attempt to improve individuals' job performance must utilize
motivation theories.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
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Chapter 05 - Motivation: Background and Theories, Organizations
Multiple Choice Questions
50. (p. 129) Motivating employees was an important topic as far back as the
____________________.
A. 1700s
B. 1800s
C. 1900s
D. Motivation has only surfaced as an important topic within the past 10 years
Difficulty: Medium
51. (p. 130) In Japanese firms, bonuses are generally based on all of the following except:
A. Seniority
B. Marital status
C. Gender
D. Individual accomplishments
Difficulty: Medium
52. (p. 130) Motivation has to do with all of the following except:
A. The consistency of the behavior
B. The direction of behavior
C. The strength of the response, once a course of action is chosen
D. The persistence of the behavior
Difficulty: Medium
53. (p. 131) Managers prefer highly motivated employees for all the following reasons except:
A. They want to come to work and be part of a team
B. They're interested in helping coworkers
C. They're willing to accept lower wages in order to get the job
D. They strive to find the best way to perform their jobs
Difficulty: Medium
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Chapter 05 - Motivation: Background and Theories, Organizations
54. (p. 132) Need deficiencies trigger a search for ways to reduce the ____________________
they cause.
A. Conflict
B. Tension
C. Fear
D. Confusion
Difficulty: Medium
55. (p. 133) McClelland was the founder of the ____________________.
A. Learned needs theory
B. Two-factor theory (hygiene-motivators)
C. Five-level need hierarchy
D. Three-level hierarchy (ERG)
Difficulty: Medium
56. (p. 133) ____________________ was the founder of the reinforcement theory concerned
with the learning that occurs as a consequence of behavior.
A. Vroom
B. Adams
C. Skinner
D. Locke
Difficulty: Medium
57. (p. 133) Process theories describe and analyze how behavior is energized, directed, sustained
and stopped by factors primarily ____________________ to the individual.
A. Internal
B. External
C. Unrelated
D. Oblivious
Difficulty: Medium
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Chapter 05 - Motivation: Background and Theories, Organizations
58. (p. 133) Content theories focus on individual needs in explaining all of the following except:
A. Job satisfaction
B. Worker behavior
C. Reward systems
D. Quality-quantity relationships
Difficulty: Medium
59. (p. 134) Maslow hypothesized five classes of needs. In order of level (lowest to highest),
they are:
A. Social, esteem, physiological, safety and self-actualization
B. Physiological, safety, social, self-actualization and esteem
C. Physiological, safety, social, esteem and self-actualization
D. Self-actualization, safety, social, physiological, esteem
Difficulty: Medium
60. (p. 135) Managers at upper levels in large companies are ____________________ their
counterparts in small companies.
A. More satisfied than
B. Less satisfied than
C. Just as satisfied as
Difficulty: Medium
61. (p. 135) If a person is continually frustrated in attempts to satisfy growth needs,
____________________ needs reemerge as a major motivating force.
A. Development
B. Existence
C. Relatedness
D. All of the choices are correct
Difficulty: Hard
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Chapter 05 - Motivation: Background and Theories, Organizations
62. (p. 135) New employees are often very interested in salary, scheduled work hours and
working conditions. According to Maslow, these employees are motivated to satisfy the
____________________ needs category.
A. Physiological
B. Safety
C. Social
D. Self-actualization
Difficulty: Medium
63. (p. 135-136) Which of the following statements about Maslow's theory is correct?
A. Needs can be satisfied in any order
B. People's needs depend on what they already have
C. Satisfied lower order needs still motivate
D. Upper order needs are the most motivating
Difficulty: Medium
64. (p. 137) ____________________ developed the two-factor content theory of motivation.
A. Adams
B. Herzberg
C. Maslow
D. Vroom
Difficulty: Medium
65. (p. 137) According to Herzberg's motivation model, which of the following factors is a
"motivator"?
A. Working conditions
B. Salary
C. Recognition
D. Working conditions
Difficulty: Hard
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Chapter 05 - Motivation: Background and Theories, Organizations
66. (p. 138) The validity of Herzberg's theory is criticized because it was based on a sample of
American workers that included only ____________________.
A. Bankers and lawyers
B. Business owners
C. Accountants and engineers
D. Blue-collar workers
Difficulty: Medium
67. (p. 139) McClelland proposed all of the following needs except:
A. The need for security
B. The need for achievement
C. The need for power
D. The need for affiliation
Difficulty: Easy
68. (p. 140) McClelland proposes that the economic growth of a society is based on the level of
____________________ inherent in its population.
A. Need for power
B. Need for affiliation
C. Need for achievement
D. Both A and C
Difficulty: Medium
69. (p. 141) In comparison to women, men place more value on all of the following except:
A. Salary
B. Interesting work
C. Motivation
D. Directing others
Difficulty: Medium
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Chapter 05 - Motivation: Background and Theories, Organizations
70. (p. 142) In comparison to men, women place more value on all of the following except:
A. Good interpersonal relationships
B. Feelings of accomplishment
C. Professional growth
D. Motivation
Difficulty: Medium
71. (p. 142) A major difference between the four content theories is McClelland's emphasis on
____________________.
A. Distributive justice
B. Motivation
C. Socially acquired needs
D. All of the choices are correct
Difficulty: Hard
72. (p. 142) ____________________ stresses that only certain job features and characteristics
can result in motivation.
A. Maslow's need hierarchy
B. Alderfer's ERG theory
C. Herzberg's two-factor theory
D. McClelland's learned needs theory
Difficulty: Hard
73. (p. 143) Which of the following items on Maslow's need hierarchy is considered a basic
need?
A. Self-actualization
B. Safety
C. Belongingness
D. Esteem
Difficulty: Easy
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Chapter 05 - Motivation: Background and Theories, Organizations
74. (p. 143) Which of factors identified by Herzberg is considered a motivator?
A. Quality of interpersonal relations among coworkers
B. Job security
C. Working conditions
D. Recognition
Difficulty: Medium
75. (p. 144) ____________________ stresses that a person's needs are learned from society.
A. Maslow's need hierarchy
B. Alderfer's ERG theory
C. Herzberg's two-factor theory
D. McClelland's learned needs theory
Difficulty: Medium
76. (p. 145) Vroom defines ____________________ as a process governing choices among
alternative forms of voluntary activity.
A. Ethics
B. Morality
C. Motivation
D. Expectancy
Difficulty: Medium
77. (p. 145) Which of the following would be considered a first-level outcome?
A. Absenteeism
B. Merit pay raise
C. Group acceptance or rejection
D. Promotion
Difficulty: Medium
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Chapter 05 - Motivation: Background and Theories, Organizations
78. (p. 150) Expectancy theory explanations have some validity in countries where employees
believe they have some control over the work context and their own behavior expectancy. In
which of the following countries would expectancy theory not be valid?
A. New Zealand
B. Canada
C. United States
D. Iraq
Difficulty: Medium
79. (p. 150) The essence of ____________________ is that employees compare their efforts and
rewards with those of others in similar work situations.
A. Expectancy theory
B. Equity theory
C. Learned needs
D. Needs hierarchy
Difficulty: Easy
80. (p. 150) According to equity theory, a ____________________ is any individual(s) or group
used by Person as a referent regarding the ratio of inputs and outcomes.
A. Person
B. Comparison other
C. Ratio comparison
D. Perceptive other
Difficulty: Easy
81. (p. 151) Jeff senses an inequity and has decided to put less effort into his job. He will be
____________________.
A. Changing the reference person
B. Changing the situation
C. Changing outcomes
D. Changing inputs
Difficulty: Medium
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Chapter 05 - Motivation: Background and Theories, Organizations
82. (p. 151) Jeff senses an inequity and has decided to ask his boss for more time off. He is
trying to ____________________.
A. Change the reference person
B. Change the situation
C. Change the outcome
D. Change inputs
Difficulty: Medium
83. (p. 152) Most of the research on equity theory has focused on ____________________ as the
basic outcome.
A. Pay
B. Self-esteem
C. Achieving organizational goals
D. Feedback
Difficulty: Medium
84. (p. 152) ____________________ is the degree to which individuals feel fairly treated within
the organizations for which they work.
A. Procedural justice
B. Organizational justice
C. Distributive justice
Difficulty: Medium
85. (p. 152) ____________________ is the perceived fairness of how resources and rewards are
distributed throughout an organization.
A. Procedural justice
B. Organizational justice
C. Distributive justice
Difficulty: Medium
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Chapter 05 - Motivation: Background and Theories, Organizations
Fill in the Blank Questions
86. (p. 130-131) ____________________ is the concept we use to describe the forces acting on or
within an individual to initiate and direct behavior.
Motivation
Difficulty: Hard
87. (p. 131-132) Deficiencies may be physiological, psychological or ____________________.
sociological
Difficulty: Hard
88. (p. 133) Motivation theories fall into two categories: content theories and
____________________ theories.
process
Difficulty: Medium
89. (p. 135) Alderfer proposed three sets of needs: existence, relatedness and
____________________.
growth
Difficulty: Hard
90. (p. 145) The ____________________ theory of motivation proposes that when an employee
is faced with a set of first-level outcomes, he/she will select an outcome based on how the
choice is related to second-level outcomes.
expectancy
Difficulty: Hard
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Chapter 05 - Motivation: Background and Theories, Organizations
91. (p. 146) ____________________ is an individual's preference for an outcome.
Valence
Difficulty: Hard
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Chapter 05 - Motivation: Background and Theories, Organizations
Short Answer Questions
92. (p. 131) Every six months, the chief executive officer at Lincoln Electric personally reviews
each employee's merit rating. What four things are employees rated on?
Everyone is rated on output, quality, dependability and cooperation.
Difficulty: Hard
93. (p. 146) What is expectancy?
Expectancy is the perceived chance of something occurring because of a behavior.
Difficulty: Medium
94. (p. 148) Three conditions must hold for the valence of outcomes to be related to effort. The
first is "performance-outcome instrumentalities must be greater than zero." What are the other
two?
(a) Effort-performance expectancies must be greater than zero. (b) There must be some
variability in the valence of outcomes.
Difficulty: Hard
95. (p. 153) What does referent cognitions theory predict?
Reference cognitions theory predicts resentment of unfair treatment when procedures yield
poor outcomes for a person.
Difficulty: Hard
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Chapter 05 - Motivation: Background and Theories, Organizations
Essay Questions
96. (p. 128) List five workplace preferences of Generation Y workers (a.k.a. Internet Gen or
Echo Boomers, who were born between 1977 and 1997).
Any five of the following:
(1) A fair boss.
(2) Belief in the company.
(3) Safety in the workplace.
(4) Meaningful work.
(5) Training and learning opportunities.
(6) A flexible work schedule.
(7) Constructive feedback.
(8) Timely and fair reward systems.
Difficulty: Medium
97. (p. 130) List five things that the National Cash Register Company did for employees that cut
turnover, increased productivity and helped it dominate the cash register market for many
years.
Any five of the following:
(a) Increased wages
(b) Cleaned up the shop floor
(c) Improved safety
(d) Made showers and dressing rooms available
(e) Opened a company cafeteria that served lunches at reduced rates
(f) Provided free medical care at its dispensary
(g) Gave additional food to underweight employees
(h) Redesigned factories to allow in natural light
(i) Instituted a paid suggestion system
(j) Provided educational opportunities
Difficulty: Easy
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Chapter 05 - Motivation: Background and Theories, Organizations
98. (p. 131-132) Discuss needs and how they relate to employee motivation and management
practices.
A need is the deficiency or lack of something of value that an individual experiences at a
particular point in time. These needs may be physiological, sociological or psychological.
When needs are present, the individual will seek to fulfill those needs. If a manager can
understand an employee's needs, she can create a mutually beneficial, motivating environment
by making it possible for the employees to meet their needs and the preferred behavior
(performance) of the organization. This is accomplished by:
1. Determining what needs trigger desired performance,
2. Offering rewards that meet employee's needs, and
3. Staying "tuned-in" to employees, because needs can change over time.
Difficulty: Medium
99. (p. 139) Explain how a Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) is administered and what
evaluators look for when reviewing them.
A person is shown a series of pictures and asked to write a story about what he/she sees
portrayed in them. The evaluator would then search the stories for recurring themes related to
a need for achievement, a need for affiliation or a need for power.
Difficulty: Easy
100. (p. 151) When inequity exists, a person will be motivated to take one of five possible
actions to bring the situation back into balance. The first possible action is changing inputs.
What are the other four actions?
(1) Changing outcomes; (2) Changing the reference person; (3) Changing the inputs or
outcomes of the reference person; (4) Changing the situation.
Difficulty: Hard
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Chapter 05 - Motivation: Background and Theories, Organizations
Matching Questions
101. (p. 133) Match the Founders to the most appropriate statement about their theory.
1. Herzberg
2. Maslow
3. Adams
4. Vroom
5. Locke
6. McClelland
7. Skinner
8. Alderfer
Five-level need hierarchy.
Three learned needs acquired from the culture: achievement,
affiliation and power.
Equity theory, based on comparisons that individuals make.
Reinforcement theory concerned with the learning that
occurs as a consequence of behavior.
Goal setting theory that contends that conscious goals and
intentions are the determinants of behavior.
Three-level hierarchy (ERG).
Two major factors call hygiene-motivators.
An expectancy theory of choices.
Difficulty: Hard
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