Exam 9: Motivating, Satisfying, and Leading Employees

The Executive Committee at Oak Meteors made the following statement: "We want all of our business developers to be outstanding. For these reasons, we have started the "excellence club," whose membership is limited to those who place in the top 10 percent in terms of the dollar value of the deals they complete. The annual goals of each business developer include membership in this club. We also believe in continuous improvement. To meet their annual goals, the business developers also must generate more dollars in sales than they did last year. In order to keep the business developers focused, they have no other annual goals." A manager criticizes the "excellence club" because she believes that it encourages negative behaviour that would not happen otherwise. She believes instead that business developers should be rewarded based on the revenue they bring in. Which of the following, if true, would most strongly support this conclusion?

Theory X and Y distinctions are somewhat simplistic and offer little concrete basis for managerial action.

What are leadership styles? Identify the three major styles.

The classical theory of motivation says that

According to the path-goal theory of leadership, what is the primary job of a leader?

Leadership and management mean essentially the same thing.

Ben says: "We need to select the team members for the Dragon Owls project. I have identified seven essential skills we need to make this project successful: leadership skills, creative skills, conceptual skills, collaborative skills, technical skills, interpersonal skills, and planning skills. Therefore, we should bring at least seven people on to the team." Which of the following is assumed by Ben's argument?

Leadership is

Estelle took a new position as team leader of a software development team and is finding the position far more frustrating than she had expected. Estelle finds that the team members do not accept her direction well. When she makes assignments to the team, some of the members openly question whether she is distributing the work effectively. Estelle has pointed out that since she is the team leader, she should make the assignments, and although she says it pleasantly, she can tell from the faces around her that the team members resent her. How might an understanding of authoritarianism help Estelle lead her team more effectively?

Problem-solving teams are based on the idea that the best solutions to problems are likely to come from the employees who actually do the work.

Mary's boss withholds positive consequences when Mary exhibits undesirable behaviours. This is an example of the omission strategy of reinforcement.

Deidra is a manager of a team that has a morale problem. According to the two-factor theory of motivation, which of the following, if true, would be the most reliable indication that the morale problem with Deidra's team is primarily due to a lack of motivators?

The path-goal theory of leadership suggests that the primary functions of a leader are to make valued or desired rewards available in the workplace.

How would you tell if a given individual was high in Machiavellianism?

At Levi Strauss, team members who were faster workers resented slower workers because they reduced the team's total output.

What is involved in participative management and empowerment?

What is organizational citizenship?

Transformational leadership involves managing change.

In McClelland's acquired needs theory, which need typically is the most important?

In the democratic managerial style, subordinates are asked to vote on which alternative is the best, with the alternative getting the most votes being the one that is selected.