Question 1

A video journalist is someone who performs all jobs previously done by a traditional news team - from operating the camera to reporting the story.Thus, a video journalist is an example of job enlargement and job enrichment.

Accepted Answer

This statement is true. A video journalist has a wide range of responsibilities, including camera operation, reporting, and editing, which expands and enriches their job beyond a traditional news team. This is an example of job enlargement and job enrichment.

Question 2

Job enlargement increases an employee's growth needs.

Accepted Answer

Job enlargement involves increasing the variety of tasks a worker performs, but it doesn't necessarily address or increase an employee's growth needs, such as opportunities for personal development or advancement.

Question 3

Research suggests that increasing job enlargement increases employee motivation almost as much as job enrichment.

Accepted Answer

Job enrichment, which involves enhancing job roles to provide more meaningful work and challenge, tends to have a more significant impact on employee motivation compared to job enlargement, which simply increases the number of tasks without necessarily making the work more fulfilling.

Question 4

All employees feel more motivated to perform their jobs when the core job characteristics are increased.

Accepted Answer

While increasing core job characteristics (such as skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback) can enhance motivation for many employees, individual differences mean that not all employees will respond in the same way. Some may feel overwhelmed or stressed by increased responsibilities or changes in their job structure.

Question 5

Employees are more likely to feel empowered in jobs with a high degree of autonomy, task identity, and task significance.

Accepted Answer

Studies have shown that employees feel more empowered when they have autonomy and control over their work, can see the impact of their work on a larger scale (task significance), and have a clear understanding of the task they need to complete (task identity). These factors contribute to a sense of ownership and responsibility over their work, leading to a higher level of empowerment.

Question 6

Empowerment is the process of putting employees in situations involving job rotation and job enlargement.

Accepted Answer

Empowerment involves giving employees more autonomy, authority, and control over their work, including decision-making, rather than just changing their job roles or increasing their workload.

Question 7

Two ways to enrich jobs are by clustering jobs into natural groups and by establishing client relationships.

Accepted Answer

Clustering jobs into natural groups allows for specialization and skill development within a certain area, while establishing client relationships allows for more personalized and meaningful work that can lead to job satisfaction.

Question 8

Increasing the core job characteristics will not increase employee motivation for those who lack the required skills.

Accepted Answer

Increasing core job characteristics (skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback) is based on the Job Characteristics Model, which suggests that enhancing these characteristics can increase employee motivation and job satisfaction. However, if employees lack the required skills to effectively engage with their tasks, simply increasing these characteristics without addressing skill deficiencies may not lead to increased motivation. Employees need to feel competent and capable of performing their tasks to experience the motivational benefits associated with enriched job characteristics.

Question 9

One of the most important characteristics of empowerment is that it is a personality trait.

Accepted Answer

Empowerment is not a personality trait, but rather an ongoing process of building and developing skills, knowledge, and confidence to take control of one's life and make decisions that affect it.

Question 10

According to the Job Characteristics Model, experienced meaningfulness increases with the level of job feedback.

Accepted Answer

The Job Characteristics Model states that experienced meaningfulness is primarily influenced by skill variety, task identity, and task significance, not job feedback. Job feedback primarily affects knowledge of results.

Question 11

Companies are applying job specialization when employees are made directly responsible for specific customers and having them communicate directly with those customers.

Accepted Answer

Job specialization refers to the process of assigning employees to specific tasks and roles, focusing on a narrow aspect of a company's operations. Making employees responsible for specific customers and having them communicate directly with those customers is more related to customer relationship management or roles specific to account management, rather than job specialization.

Question 12

Companies sometimes introduce job rotation for reasons other than reducing job boredom.

Accepted Answer

Job rotation can also be introduced for employee development, to create a better understanding of different roles and departments within the company, and to promote cross-functional collaboration.

Question 13

Job enrichment tends to increase the quality of products or services.

Accepted Answer

Job enrichment involves giving employees more challenging and meaningful tasks, which can lead to increased motivation and job satisfaction. This, in turn, can lead to improved performance and higher quality products or services.

Question 14

Job enlargement increases skill variety.

Accepted Answer

Job enlargement is the process of adding new tasks or responsibilities to an employee's job. This results in an increased skill variety for the employee as they have the opportunity to learn and perform new tasks.

Question 15

Empowerment flourishes in organizations with a learning orientation.

Accepted Answer

When an organization has a learning orientation, it values continual improvement and embraces new ideas and perspectives. This creates an environment where employees are encouraged to learn and grow, and where empowerment is more likely to occur. When employees feel supported in their learning and development, they are more likely to take initiative and make decisions that contribute to organizational success.

Question 16

Self-leadership involves finding ways to increase job specialization.

Accepted Answer

Self-leadership involves taking responsibility for one's own actions, thoughts, and emotions in order to achieve personal and professional goals. While job specialization may contribute to job satisfaction and productivity, it is not the main focus of self-leadership. Self-leadership is more about setting goals, managing time, developing skills, and staying motivated.

Question 17

One problem with empowerment is that it tends to make employees less responsive to the company's needs and objectives.

Accepted Answer

The purpose of empowerment is to give employees the skills and authority they need to make decisions and take action to achieve company goals. This can actually make them more responsive to the company's needs and objectives, as they are given the trust and responsibility to contribute to the overall success of the organization.

Question 18

Task identity is the main job characteristic related to job enrichment.

Accepted Answer

Job enrichment involves enhancing a job by increasing the level of responsibility, autonomy, and opportunities for personal growth, not just focusing on task identity. Task identity is one aspect, but job enrichment encompasses more, including skill variety, task significance, autonomy, and feedback.

Question 19

People are empowered when they feel self-determination, meaning, competence, and impact regarding their role in the organization.

Accepted Answer

Empowerment is a psychological concept that refers to the feeling of having control over one's work and the ability to make decisions that affect one's work. Self-determination, meaning, competence, and impact are all factors that contribute to this feeling of empowerment, according to research. Therefore, the statement is true.

Question 20

Forming natural work units tends to increase task identity and task significance.

Accepted Answer

Forming natural work units, such as creating teams or departments, allows employees to see how their contributions fit into the larger goal of the organization, increasing their perceived task identity and significance.

Quiz 6: Applied Performance Practices