Exam 5: Foundations of Employee Motivation

Suppose that you supervise two-dozen sales representatives,covering every region of the country,from your office at company headquarters.Describe a feedback strategy that might improve the performance of these employees with respect to increasing sales to new clients.

Four-drive theory offers a contemporary view of how individual drives influence behaviour.The first part of the theory explains how drives generate emotions.Explain how these emotions are translated into employee behaviour.Your answer should identify the three factors that people consider in this translation process.

_________ produce emotions,whereas _________ represent the motivational force of those emotions which are channelled towards particular goals.

Expectancy theory is a useful model that explains motivation.

Comment on the accuracy of the following statement: 'According to goal-setting theory,performance increases with the level of goal difficulty.'

Feedback affects behaviour and job performance by improving which of the following?

Feelings of procedural injustice produce anger,which,in turn,generates either withdrawal or aggression.

According to four-drive theory,three drives are proactive (i.e.we actively seek to fulfill them),whereas the drive to defend is reactive (activated only in reaction to threat).

To determine the fairness of pay or other outcomes,people almost always rely on the equity principle.

Maslow's needs hierarchy explicitly names the following needs EXCEPT:

Young employees aged 25 to 34 are more likely to feel disengaged at work.

According to needs hierarchy theory,the need for self-actualization continues to develop even when it is fulfilled.

According to expectancy theory,employee motivation will remain high even when the P-to-O expectancy falls to zero.

Which of these is found in the expectancy theory model?

One problem with behaviour modification programs is that some employees view the variable ratio schedule of reinforcement as a form of gambling,like a lottery.

Maslow's needs hierarchy theory was dismissed by experts more than three decades ago,yet Maslow's writing has had a lasting and valuable effect by advocating a more holistic and humanistic approach to human motivation.Discuss these two elements and point out how they were applied in Maslow's needs hierarchy theory.

According to expectancy theory,which of the following actions would NOT alter outcome valences?

How is effective feedback related to an employee's task cycle (the time required to complete a typical task in the job)?

Behaviour modification is an effective strategy for helping employees to improve their decision making and other conceptual activities.

The variable ratio schedule of reinforcement makes behaviour highly resistant to extinction.