California State University, Northridge

MGT 360

Organizational Behavior, Version 1.1

Bauer & Erdogan

FWK Test Item File

Chapter 4

TRUE/FALSE

1)SAS Institute advocates its employees create a work/life balance by suggesting, “If you are working more than 8 hours, you are just adding bugs.”

 

 

2. SAS Institute is a pioneer in perks given by the company with the philosophy that the firm should “offer everything but the kitchen sink” to maintain employee satisfaction.

 

 

3. Attitudes are more strongly related to behaviors than to intentions to behave.

 

 

4. Behavior is influenced by attitudes and situations.

 

 

5. Based on the number of studies conducted, job satisfaction is the most important job attitude.

 

 

6. There is a high overlap between job satisfaction and organizational commitment.

 

 

7. Job satisfaction can be fully explained by the work environment.

 

 

8. Maria just completed a series of personality assessments and is found to have the traits of external locus of control and introversion. Given the results of studies on attitude, it is likely she also has positive work attitudes.

 

 

9. Person/job fit and person/organization fit are positively related to job satisfaction.

 

 

10. People with positive affective dispositions tend to be more satisfied with their jobs.

 

 

11. The job characteristics of autonomy and high skill variety are related to organizational commitment.

 

 

12. Realistic job previews help prevent breaches of the psychological contract.

 

 

13. Employees are happier at work if they are socially accepted in their work groups.

 

 

14. All stress on the job is bad.

 

 

15. The concept of always putting work life first is outdated.

 

 

16. A happy worker is always a productive worker.

 

 

17. The relationship between positive work attitude and behavior is clear.

 

 

18. Natalia is assisting new employee Jane by showing her around the facility. This is an example of organizational citizenship behavior.

 

 

19. If you don’t like your job, it is likely you will reduce your performance.

 

 

20. A departing employee’s manager is the best person to conduct the exit interview.

 

 

21. The success of work attitude surveys depends on the perceived credibility of management by employees.

 

 

22. The most powerful influence on job performance is general mental ability.

 

 

23. The importance of higher general mental ability for high performance is stronger for manual labor positions than management positions.

 

 

24. When an employee is treated well, he wants to reciprocate, so he performs his job more effectively.

 

 

25. General mental ability is likely the most important factor explaining employee citizenship behaviors.

 

 

26. Young people exhibit higher citizenship behaviors than older people.

 

27. Firms with “sick leave” policies tend to have more individuals with unscheduled absences than those with “personal day off” policies.

 

 

28. Age is positively related to both frequency and duration of absenteeism.

 

 

29. Personality is the main reason why individuals turnover in a firm.

 

 

30. In organizations that have a pay for performance system, overall turnover level will be lower.

 

 

31. Whistleblowers, or people who report wrongdoing, tend to be those who have very high levels of commitment to a company.

 

 

32. Work/family conflict lowers job satisfaction in collectivistic cultures.

 

 

33. In China, absence from work due to illness is considered relatively unacceptable.

 

 

 

 

FILL IN THE BLANK

34. An  is an opinion, belief or feeling about an aspect of the environment.

 

35. The feelings people have toward their job is called                                                                .

 

36.                                                               is the emotional attachment people have toward the company they work for.

 

37. The tendency to experience positive moods more often than negative ones is

                                                                                                    .

 

 

38. When                              match job demands, we tend to be more satisfied with our job.

 

39. An unwritten understanding about what the employee will bring to the work environment and what the company will provide in exchange is called a

                                                                             .

 

40.                                                       is vagueness as to what job responsibilities are in the job.

41. Helping new employees and working voluntary overtime are examples of

                                 .

 

 

42.                             are meetings with departing employees.

 

43. The worst person to conduct an exit interview is the                                                                    

                           .

 

44.                                                                       and                                                                            are two key attitudes that are the most relevant to important outcomes in the work environment.

 

45.                                            is the performance level on factors included in the job description.

 

46. The most powerful influence over job performance is                                                           

                        .

 

47.                                                include reasoning abilities, verbal and numerical skills, and analytical skills.

 

48. Jobs with high complexity need to have employees with high                                               .

 

49. Predictors of                                       include general mental abilities, how we are treated at work, stress, and positive work attitudes.

 

50. Predictors of                                             include how we are treated at work, personality, positive work attitudes and age of the employee.

 

51. Predictors of                              include health problems, work/life balance issues, poor work attitudes and age of the employee.

 

52. Predictors of                                      include poor performance, poor work attitudes, stress, personality, and age of the employee.

 

53. With regard to age,                                           individuals are better citizens.

 

54. .       is unscheduled absences from work.

 

55. With regard to age,                                   employees are less likely to be absent from work.

 

56.         is an employee leaving an organization.

 

SHORT ANSWERS

 

57. Briefly discuss some of the reasons why SAS Institute is ranked on Fortune’s “Best Places to Work” list.

 

 

 

 

58. Briefly describe which two job attitudes have the greatest potential to influence behavior.

 

 

59. Name and define two work attitudes.

 

 

 

60. What is the relationship between attitude and behavior?

 

 

61. List three factors that contribute to job satisfaction.

 

 

62. List three factors which contribute to organizational commitment.

 

 

63. Differentiate between positive and negative affective disposition.

 

 

64. Describe two specific personality traits related to positive work attitudes.

 

 

65. What is meant by person/job fit?

 

 

66. Give an example of how a psychological contract between an employee and a firm could be breached.

 

 

67. Briefly describe how stress can be related to high levels of satisfaction.

 

 

68. Amanda is a new mother. Briefly describe two programs that Alcoa, her employer, might implement to attempt to create some work/life balance for Amanda and others like her.

 

 

 

 

69. What is the value of an exit interview for a firm?

 

 

70. What influence does general mental ability have over job performance?

 

 

71. Why does how an employee is treated in a firm predict citizenship behavior?

 

 

72. John is a 57-year-old employee at XYZ, Inc. Describe the expectations we might have with regard to the likelihood that he will be absent quite frequently from work.

 

 

73. Give an example of when turnover is a problem and when turnover is beneficial to a firm.

 

 

 

74. Describe the impact pay for performance systems could have on the employees in a firm.

 

 

75. Describe the link between work attitudes and turnover.

 

 

76. Discuss the impact stress has on turnover in a firm.

 

 

77. Which personality traits tend to be exhibited by those employees who are less likely to turnover?

 

 

78. Tyler is a 22-year-old, recent graduate of a large university. Given the research on age and turnover, what are some expectations a manager may have with regard to Tyler’s likelihood of remaining with the firm?

 

 

79. Discuss the findings of studies examining job attitudes and ethical work climates.

 

 

80. Discuss the dilemma companies face in trying to prevent their employees from behaving unethically by monitoring employees.

 

 

81. Briefly describe differences in job attitudes held around the world.

 

 

 

82. Briefly discuss how cultures around the world influence work behaviors.

 

 

ESSAY

 

83. Is a happy worker a productive worker?

 

 

 

 

84. Rosaline is the superintendent of a school district. A new board of directors, to whom she is responsible, has just been elected and the philosophical direction the board wishes to take varies from the direction Rosaline has taken the district over the past five years. Rosaline is going to tender her resignation. How can she do so gracefully?

 

85. Agnes is so frustrated. This morning she called a meeting for 9 o’clock sharp to discuss the new product launch. Though most of the key players were on time, Kim and Nelson were both 25 minutes late, making some excuses about how they had to make an important call before either could attend. That made four meetings in a row when they were late. What can you do? Other members at the meeting are getting frustrated too as you have to repeat information and re- explain key points.

 

First, find out why they are late. Are they late because they are unhappy or dissatisfied? Or, are they simply late because it is their nature to be so?