BADM3740 Mid-Term Exam Questions

Please remember and reflect on the fact that having these questions in advance heightens the
expectation for answer quality and crispness beyond what would be expected if you didn’t have
them in advance. As I have mentioned numerous times, preparation in the form of a structured
scripted answer is advisable. In addition to the questions below (you will be asked to do three
questions for a total of 60 points) , there will be a merit pay performance case (20 points) and
10 multiple choice questions (20 points)
1. Throughout the semester we have relied upon a useful diagnostic heuristic, Behavior =
function (person x situation). Imagine that you have been asked to diagnose the
performance related behavior of a group of employees performing a similar job.
Describe the job (i.e. typical tasks, duties, and responsibilities) and what high
performance behavior looks like in this job. Discuss how your understanding of
attribution theory and theories of motivation would inform your approach and analysis.
If you could ask five questions to generate greater diagnostic clarity, what would they
be?

2. You are a middle manager at a medium sized organization. One of your colleagues who
is a new manager to the organization has asked for your advice about how to approach
and handle the work performance behavior of one of their employees. Based on what
your colleague has shared, this employee seems to exhibit classic signs of low job
satisfaction and low commitment, and their overall work performance is much lower
than desirable. Describe your analytic approach being sure to anchor and justify your
approach in models and theories discussed in class.

3. Describe the tasks duties and responsibilities of a job you are familiar with, or a job you
aspire to. Assume you have been asked to provide input about how to increase the
motivational potential of the job. Using Hackman and Oldham’s Job Characteristics
Model of Job Redesign, describe what you would change and why you believe this
would improve motivation of the job incumbent.

4. Describe and explain the five attributes correlated with effective performance goals.
Differentiate between learning goals and performance goals, identify the conditions
under which each might be appropriate, and provide an example of each. Use a work
related example to illustrate your understanding.

5. Explain why employee perceptions of fairness should be an important consideration for

managers to be concerned with. Explain and describe equity theory of motivation and
the three different types of equity assessments. Use an example to illustrate a situation
of under-reward inequity, and discuss what actions an individual might take to restore
equity.
6. Describe and explain expectancy theory of motivation. Be sure to identify key linkages
and relationships between effort and performance and performance and outcomes.
Use an example to illustrate your understanding.

7. Explain the four strategies that comprise reinforcement theory. Provide a work related
example that helps to illustrate how each strategy increases or decreases the frequency
of behavior.

8. A close friend has just informed you that she believes she has been a victim of sexual
harassment in her workplace. Based on what you know about sexual harassment
discrimination, describe how you would approach the situation from an analytic
perspective (i.e. what kinds of questions would you ask her that would be most helpful
for her in determining what she should do next and what she can do next?)

9. The concept of bias has been an important part of many of our conversations in class to
date, including the ‘actor-observer’ bias, various forms of implicit bias (i.e. project
implicit) including gender bias (as we also punctuated in the Casey Jamison promotion
case), and leniency bias inherent in most performance evaluations. Discuss whether you
feel these kinds of biases are good or bad. What specific actions can we take to reduce
or mitigate bias in organizations? Be sure to provide at least three examples of bias and
related actions to reduce bias.