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Questions and Answers
Describe how the Job Characteristics Model (JCM) motivates by changing the work environment.
Describe how the Job Characteristics Model (JCM) motivates by changing the work environment.
The JCM motivates by increasing the core job dimensions: skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback. This, in turn, leads to a greater sense of meaningfulness in the work, responsibility for the work, and knowledge of the actual results of the work.
What are the main ways jobs can be redesigned? (Select all that apply)
What are the main ways jobs can be redesigned? (Select all that apply)
Which of these is NOT a benefit of job rotation?
Which of these is NOT a benefit of job rotation?
Job enrichment involves adding another layer of responsibility and meaning to a job.
Job enrichment involves adding another layer of responsibility and meaning to a job.
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What is the primary goal of relational job design?
What is the primary goal of relational job design?
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What are the core hours in Flextime Schedule 1?
What are the core hours in Flextime Schedule 1?
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Which alternative work arrangement has declined in use?
Which alternative work arrangement has declined in use?
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Telecommuting is generally discouraged by all businesses.
Telecommuting is generally discouraged by all businesses.
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Which of these is NOT a disadvantage of telecommuting?
Which of these is NOT a disadvantage of telecommuting?
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What is the key advantage of employee involvement programs?
What is the key advantage of employee involvement programs?
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Which type of employee involvement program involves joint decision-making?
Which type of employee involvement program involves joint decision-making?
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Representative participation requires workers to be directly involved in all decision-making processes.
Representative participation requires workers to be directly involved in all decision-making processes.
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What are the two most common forms of representative participation? (Select all that apply)
What are the two most common forms of representative participation? (Select all that apply)
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What is the main goal when determining what to pay employees?
What is the main goal when determining what to pay employees?
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Which of these is NOT a type of variable pay program?
Which of these is NOT a type of variable pay program?
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A pure piece-rate plan provides a guaranteed base salary in addition to compensation for each unit produced.
A pure piece-rate plan provides a guaranteed base salary in addition to compensation for each unit produced.
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What is the primary concern for workers in piece-rate plans?
What is the primary concern for workers in piece-rate plans?
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Merit-based pay is typically based on which of the following?
Merit-based pay is typically based on which of the following?
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Bonuses are only awarded to high-ranking employees in a company.
Bonuses are only awarded to high-ranking employees in a company.
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What is the main advantage of profit-sharing plans?
What is the main advantage of profit-sharing plans?
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Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) are only offered to top-performing employees.
Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) are only offered to top-performing employees.
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What is the purpose of flexible benefits?
What is the purpose of flexible benefits?
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The use of flexible benefits is widespread globally.
The use of flexible benefits is widespread globally.
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What is the key motivation behind employee recognition programs?
What is the key motivation behind employee recognition programs?
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What is the most important aspect of managing employee motivation?
What is the most important aspect of managing employee motivation?
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Managers should avoid giving employees feedback on their performance.
Managers should avoid giving employees feedback on their performance.
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What is a key implication for managers regarding employee involvement?
What is a key implication for managers regarding employee involvement?
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Rewards should always be linked to performance, regardless of individual differences.
Rewards should always be linked to performance, regardless of individual differences.
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What critical aspect of managing rewards must be considered by managers?
What critical aspect of managing rewards must be considered by managers?
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Study Notes
Chapter 8: Motivation
- Chapter 8 of Organizational Behavior (18th Edition) focuses on motivation, from theoretical concepts to practical applications.
Learning Objectives
- 8.1: Describes how the job characteristics model motivates by changing the work environment.
- 8.2: Compares the different ways jobs can be redesigned.
- 8.3: Explains how specific alternative work arrangements motivate employees.
- 8.4: Describes employee involvement measures and their motivational impact.
- 8.5: Demonstrates how variable-pay programs increase employee motivation.
- 8.6: Shows how flexible benefits can turn benefits into motivators.
- 8.7: Identifies the motivational benefits of intrinsic rewards.
The Job Characteristics Model
- Core job dimensions: Skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback.
- Critical psychological states: Experienced meaningfulness of the work, experienced responsibility for outcomes of the work, and knowledge of the actual results of the work activities.
- Personal and work outcomes: High internal work motivation, high-quality work performance, high satisfaction, low absenteeism and turnover, and employee growth-need strength.
- Motivating Potential Score (MPS): A single predictive index combining core job dimensions to indicate the motivating potential of a job; evidence supports the model's effectiveness in generating higher satisfying job performance.
- Supporting leadership behaviors can enhance job characteristics of R&D professionals.
Comparing Ways Jobs Can Be Redesigned
- Repetitive jobs: Offer limited variety, autonomy, and motivation.
- Job Rotation (Cross-training): Periodic shifting of employees from one task to another; Strengths: reduces boredom, elevates motivation, and enhances understanding of work contributions; Weaknesses: disrupts workflow, requires extra training time for supervisors, and decreases efficiency
- Job Enrichment: Increasing a job's level responsibilities to increase intrinsic motivation, involve adding another layer of responsibility and meaning. Effective at reducing turnover.
Alternative Work Arrangements
- Job Sharing: Two or more people share a single 40-hour workweek; Declining in use, requires coordination to ensure job performance; Improves flexibility.
- Telecommuting: Employees work from home at least two days per week; Organizations may encourage or discourage this; Advantages: Positively related to objective performance and job satisfaction, reduces work-family conflict, and reduces carbon emissions; Disadvantages: Social loafing, difficulty coordinating teamwork and evaluating non-quantitative performance, increased feelings of isolation, reduced coworker relationship quality.
Employee Involvement and Motivation
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Employee Involvement: A participatory process using employee input to enhance commitment to organizational success.
- Participative Management: Joint decision-making, acts as a panacea for poor morale and low productivity; trust in leadership is essential, but mixed results exist in the literature..
- Representative Participation: Workers are represented by a small group to participate in decision-making; Common forms include works councils and board representatives; prevalent in Western European Countries.
Variable-Pay Programs
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What to Pay: Complex; balances internal and external equity which some organizations prefer paying leaders above market to incentivize better qualified candidates.
- Variable pay programs:
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Piece-rate plans: compensation solely based on output
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Merit-based pay, Bonuses, Profit sharing, and Employee stock ownership plans.
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Piece-Rate Pay: Pure piece-rate plans provide no fixed salary, paying exclusively based on production. Limitations exist, making it not feasible for many jobs; Financial risk is a major drawback.
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Merit-Based Pay: Allows for pay differentiation based on performance. Perceptions of performance & rewards are created. Concerns exist regarding annual appraisals, fluctuating merit pools, and union resistance.
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Bonuses: Annual bonuses are a crucial part of many compensation packages. Frequently, lower-ranking staff are also included to enhance motivation; The downside is that compensation can be vulnerable to cuts, especially when tied to profit improvement.
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Profit-Sharing Plans: Organization-wide; distributes compensation reflecting company profitability; Positive impacts on employee attitudes, which promote a feeling of ownership.
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Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs): Employees acquire stock at below-market prices through company established plans. Increases employee satisfaction and innovation; psychological ownership and a reduced risk of unethical behavior are other benefits.
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Evaluation of variable pay: Variable pay programs generally increase motivation and productivity, but don't equally motivate all employees.
Flexible Benefits
- Allow employees to customize their benefits package matching current needs and situation. Almost all US organizations offer flexible benefits, but global adoption is still developing.
Intrinsic Rewards
- Organizations recognize the significance of both intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. Employee recognition programs are intrinsically rewarding; compensation systems are extrinsically rewarding.
Implications for Managers
- Recognize individual differences: Understand what motivates each employee; Design jobs to align with individual needs and maximize potential.
- Use goals and feedback: Set clear, specific goals with feedback to monitor progress, aligning with performance expectations and perceptions.
- Allow employee participation: Empower employees in decisions impacting them; this contributes to setting work goals, benefit customization, solving productivity problems, and improving employee's role within the organization..
- Check the system for equity: Employees should perceive individual effort and results drive pay and reward distribution.
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Description
This quiz explores Chapter 8 of Organizational Behavior, focusing on motivation theories and practical applications. It covers the job characteristics model, job redesign, alternative work arrangements, and the effects of variable-pay programs and flexible benefits on employee motivation.
